Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened. For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, “As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest,'” although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” And again in this passage he said, “They shall not enter my rest.”
Hebrews 4:1-5, 9-101
So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.
Even a brief study of Hebrews 4 reveals a powerful portrait of a Christian’s abiding rest in God. But a deeper study uncovers a rich linguistic contrast. The author, while urging his readers to enter the gospel rest God has made available, presents them with 3 Greek words for rest.
The first two, katapausis and katapauō, describe a quieting, a calming rest. Throughout the discussion of God’s rest from creation, Israel’s failure to enter the rest offered them, and the existing offer of rest for all humanity, only these two are used.
Then, in verse nine the author makes a crucial switch. Katapausis and katapauō are replaced by sabbatismos. Notice “sabbath” within the word. To this point only a general rest is referenced, but now we have a specific type of rest – a sabbath rest. This is same rest God entered in Genesis 2:2, “God rested on the seventh day from all His works.” The author defines our gospel rest by connecting it to God’s creation rest. As God rested from His works in creation, so a Christian rests from his in salvation.
Now, before you label me a heretic, let me define how we rest from our works. James is clear that a faith devoid of works is no faith at all. Salvation must yield transformed living. Coupling James with the clear teaching here unveils a picture of gospel freedom. Rather than grasping for God’s favor through “good” works, we rest in God’s salvation, freed from condemnation through Christ’s finished work.
Sabbatismos is a salvation rest. It reminds us of the sweet freedom that is ours in the gospel. We rest in our Father’s love, reconciled through Christ, freed to live to His glory alone. “Let us therefore strive to enter that rest.”
- The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2011.