Editing Sabbath in Christianity (section)

===Spiritual rest===
Non-Sabbatarians who affirm that Sabbath-keeping remains for God's people<ref>{{Bibleverse||Heb.|3:7–4:11}}</ref> frequently regard this as present weeklong spiritual rest or future heavenly rest rather than as physical weekly rest. For instance, [[Irenaeus]] saw Sabbath rest from secular affairs for one day each week as a sign of the way that Christians were called to permanently devote themselves to God,<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|title=Against Heresies|volume=3.16.1|url=http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf01.ix.vi.xvii.html}}</ref> and an eschatological symbol.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|title=Against Heresies|volume=4.33.2|url=http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf01.ix.vii.xxxiv.html}}</ref> One such interpretation of Hebrews states that seventh-day Sabbath is no longer relevant as a regular, literal day of rest, but instead is a [[typology (theology)|symbolic metaphor]] for the eternal salvation "rest" that Christians enjoy in Christ, which was in turn prefigured by the promised land of Canaan.

{{blockquote|The NT indicates that the sabbath followed its own channel and found its goal in Christ's redemptive work.<ref>John 5:17, cf. 7:23, Colossians 2:16, Matthew 11:28–12:14, Hebrews 3:7–4:11</ref> It is true to the NT to say that the Mosaic Sabbath as a legal and weekly matter was a temporary symbol of a more fundamental and comprehensive salvation, epitomized by and grounded in God's own creation Sabbath, and brought to fulfillment (in already–not yet fashion) in Christ's redemptive work. Believers are indeed to "keep Sabbath", no longer by observance of a day of the week but now by the upholding of that to which it pointed: the gospel of the [Kingdom of God].<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Martin |first1=R. P. |last2=Davids |first2=P. H. |name-list-style=amp |year=2000 |orig-date=1997|title=Dictionary of the Later New Testament and Its Developments|edition=electronic|location=[[Downers Grove, Illinois]]|publisher=InterVarsity Press}}</ref>|author=|title=|source=}}