Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. (Exodus 20:8-11)
We say that we uphold the Ten Commandments, but that fourth commandment has always troubled me. Can the Seventh Day Adventist be right? They are of the few sects of Christianity that can actually claim that they keep the fourth commandment. What do we claim, as Baptists?
It seems that there are only two ways to go on this. One, we actually uphold the Nine Commandments. We just don’t observe that one anymore. Or two, we loosen up on the meaning of sabbath day. We say that our sabbath is Sunday, the first day of the week. I’ve never been comfortable with either of these choices. But it seems, fundamentally, we must, or at least think that we must, hold one of these two positions concerning the sabbath.
A third view…
I’ve always had a hunch that there is another way of looking at this. When trapped from going to the right and going to the left, perhaps there’s another way out. Maybe up or down? Maybe there is a whole other dimension to all this that we’re missing? I know. Too much Star Trek.
I feel also that with such a move in this country to take down the Ten Commandments from our public institutions, there has also been a take down of the Ten Commandments in the heart of our country already. So it troubles me to say We don’t do that anymore. We do this. Simplistic and irreverent. I certainly don’t want to admit that what we actually believe is the Nine Commandments. And I certainly don’t agree with changing the commandment. Is there a position that we can take that will uphold the fourth commandment without changing it? I believe so. It’s nothing new though. It’s just application of established doctrine.
You can easily do a Google search on the Lord’s Day and get a three point outline on why we observe the Lord’s Day instead of the Sabbath. But I usually do that after I go through what I do know and what’s fresh in my mind.
We Do Not Make Void the Law…
Our faith in Jesus Christ fulfills the fourth commandment. Paul said, Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law. (Romans 3:31) This is the essence of this perspective. This is the foundational truth to our understanding of the fourth commandment. We are not to make it void. We don’t toss is out. Our faith does not abolish the fourth commandment. But rather, it must establish it.
We do view other aspects of the law in this manner. We no longer sacrifice because our faith is in the sacrifice made on the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. But we do not make void the law that calls for sacrifice. We would never say that the shedding of blood is no longer necessary for the remission of sin. We would never say that we thought that the law was no longer valid. Our salvation proves and established the validity of the law; it satisfies the law. And in this manner, our salvation satisfies the fourth commandment.
Faith is Rest…
Paul made it very clear in the letter to the Hebrews, Chapter 4, that there does exist a rest for the people of God. For we which believed do enter into rest… (Hebrews 4:3) Now as we stated earlier, our faith does not make void the law, but rather establishes it. The key is faith. Our faith in Jesus Christ establishes the law. It’s faith. Paul said, For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. (Hebrews 4:2) The profit is in the faith.
Paul makes it clear that entering into this rest by the faith of Jesus Christ is a one time happening. He said, Again, he limiteth a certain day… (4:7) Then he makes this curious statement: For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. (4:8) If Adam, or if the Israelites, or if David, had truly entered into this rest, then Jesus would have not spoken of another day. There remains therefore a rest to the people of God. (4:8) I believe the day that you put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, you enter into that rest.
Now Paul does say, Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after same example of unbelief. (4:11) I believe that is a call for all Hebrews to enter into that rest; to cease from the labours of the law and enter to the rest in Christ. To fall after the same example of unbelief is to never enter into that rest; to be lost and stay lost; to never cease from your works and rest. Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. (Romans 4:4-5) I believe that Paul uses that word labour purposefully. Instead of labouring to satisfy the law, labour to cease from the law. Honestly, I think Paul is just being witty.
Now, does us mean all Hebrews in the rest of the text? Is that problematic? Sure. But it’s problematic the other way too: for us to mean only Christians. Then, a man could fall from salvation. I don’t see a real problem for Paul to speak specifically regarding things pertaining to salvation while addressing more than just the saved. Remember Paul did say, That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh: (Romans 9:2-3) To address his kinsmen in this manner is consistent. To include them, his kinsmen, in the us of Hebrews is not to include them in salvation, but rather to appeal to them for salvation. To make that distinction can give you much liberty in understanding the scriptures. Don’t quote me on that. I’m still exploring that. Remember, We which have believed do enter into rest… (Hebrews 4:3) So when we get to Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest… (4:11) what happened? I thought we which are saved have already entered in. We have. Therefore us is more broad. He’s appealing to all Hebrews, and all man, to enter into the rest that he has entered in by faith in Christ Jesus.
Anyhow, I’m getting off the track. To place your faith in Christ is to cease from your labours and enter into his rest. So to garner some spritual advantage from working six days and resting on Saturday is to make void faith. The rest that Jesus has procured for us is not something we can enter in and fall out of on a weekly basis. Just like the blood that he shed for us is not shed over and over and over. Once for all. The rest that Jesus gives, in the same manner, is once for all. Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28) Rest from your labour is freedom from it. And Jesus said, If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. (John 8:36)
Making Void Faith…
So in this light, our faith does not make void the fourth commandment. And it doesn’t change the commandment. However, to observe the Sabbath in the manner that Jews observe it makes void faith. Just like getting a lamb and sacrificing on an alter for our sins would make void faith, observing the sabbath also makes void faith.
It’s like telling God that the rest that he has provided in Christ Jesus is not sufficient or effective. Now I know that nobody that observes the sabbath will conscientiously admit to making faith void. They’d deny it up and down and explain their doctrine, no doubt.
But for us, as Baptists, worshipping on the first day of the week instead of the seventh is a testament to our faith; a testament to the sufficient rest that Christ has given us; as well as a testament to the new life in Christ that we now live. In fact, all Ten Commandments are kept because of our faith in Christ; not in order to gain favor with God. We don’t observe the fourth commandment. Our faith satisfies and establishes it.
Think about this for a second. It’s not much different for any other commandment. Take any one of them. Commandment #6: Thou shalt not kill. (Exodus 20:13) Do we think that we have successfully observed that law? I think not. What did Jesus say?
Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. (Matthew 5:21-22)
We’re murders in our hearts. But by faith in the blood of Jesus, Commandment #6 is satisfied and established. That goes with all of them. Love the Lord God with all your heart? The gospel says that we love him because he first loved us.
Anyhow, for us, worshipping on the first day of the week and not the seventh, is a matter of standing fast in the Christian liberty. Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. (Galatians 5:1)
Paul had addressed this in the early church as well. He said But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. (Galatians 4:9-10) Faith in Christ made a change in the life of a Jew back in the day; and Paul preached as such.
This was evident in Jerusalem when the Jews of Asia saw Paul in the temple, laid hands on him, and cried out, Men of Israel, help: This is the man, that teacheth all men every where against the people, and the law… (Acts 21:28) My son is always quoting Rick Green, Communication: It’s not what you intend, but what the other person perceives. There obviously was a change that Paul was preaching that they perceived to be bad. Paul never said that the law was not valid or made void. And neither do we. But there is a change that is effected in Christ. For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law. (Hebrews 7:12)
The letter to the Galatians deals specifically with Christian going back to Judaism. Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. He obviously taught them observing sabbaths was no longer necessary under grace. And that’s all we’re continuing to do today in this present time.
Keep it holy…
So then, if our faith in Christ satisfies and establishes the fourth commandment to Remember the sabbath day, then can you now see what it means to keep it holy?
Paul said to the Ephesians, For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9) He asked in Romans, Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. (Romans 3:27) The law of faith excludes boasting and works from salvation through faith. Therefore, if our faith upholds the remembering of the sabbath, then to keep it holy, works must be excluded. Thou shalt not do any work… (Exodus 20:10)
We keep the sabbath day holy by not frustrating the grace of God. When we don’t trust the grace of God and lean on our own flesh and abilities and righteousness, we desecrate God’s holy sabbath; pollute and defile the rest of God. For us, to observe the sabbath day in the same manner as the Jews did would be to desecrate it. So in a sense, we keep it holy by not keeping it.
In conclusion…
So we do observe the sabbath day; and we do strive to keep it holy. But we fulfill the law in Christ Jesus. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. (Romans 10:4) A believer is one who has ceased from his labours, has come to the Saviour, and entered into His rest. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us… (Romans 8:3-4) So my point in all this is that we don’t have to make void the law. We don’t have to change the law. We can, however, be in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day.
Does this not wet your appetite for good bible study? I know that this just barely scratches the surface on the sabbath day, the Lord’s day, law and grace. There’s nothing wrong with questioning what we’ve learned. The Bible can handle it. It can handle us. Them Berean Christians searched the scriptures daily. Preacher Allen always says that meant that they ransacked them. Anyhow, moving on…
The Israelites drifted away from God when they defiled the Sabbath. In the days of Nehemiah the prophet, the common activities of life crowded out the sacredness of the Sabbath. The Israelites were influenced by their heathen neighbors. Nehemiah describes the scene this way: “In those days I saw people in Judah treading wine presses on the Sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and loading donkeys with wine, grapes, figs and all kinds of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. And I warned them about the day on which they were selling provisions” (Nehemiah 13:15). Nehemiah was concerned. God’s Sabbath became a common, ordinary day. The day our Creator set aside for spiritual, physical, and mental renewal became a day of exhausting toil. The day of liberation from the bondage of buying and selling, working and earning, had deteriorated into a business-as-usual day. Nehemiah could not keep silent. His words echoed like thunder through the streets of Jerusalem. “Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said to them, ‘What evil thing is this that you do, by which you profane the Sabbath day?’ ” (verse 17). The principle is plain. When we become so absorbed in the earthly that we forget the eternal, we defile the Sabbath. The book of Isaiah adds this insight: “If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, From doing your pleasure on My holy day, And call the Sabbath a delight, The holy day of the Lord honorable, And shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, Nor finding your own pleasure, Nor speaking your own words, Then you shall delight yourself in the Lord; And I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth” (58:13, 14). In other words, we will be abundantly blessed.