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Defending the Christian Sabbath | Ben Carlson

Defending the Christian Sabbath | Ben Carlson

by | Oct 7, 2024 | Apologetics, Systematic Theology


We must defend the Lord’s Day.

Opponents of Christian Sabbatarianism (specifically, anti-sabbatarians) are quick either to pity us as weak brethren or decry us as staunch legalists by citing several passages which they believe destroy any notion of sacred time and days in the NT.

  • Romans 14:5-6: 5One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.
  • Colossians 2:16-17: “16Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath [literally, Sabbaths]. 17These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.”
  • Galatians 4:8-11: 8Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. 9But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more? 10You observe days and months and seasons and years! 11I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain.

Do these passages really teach that all days are alike in the church age, that the Sabbath Day has completely disappeared like a shadow, and that Sabbath-Day observance now in the gospel age is likened to being enslaved to weak, worthless, and worldly elementary principles? Do these passages really give us the freedom to formulate our own convictions concerning when to worship God?

 

1.) If this interpretation is correct, it is absurd.

If there is no distinction of days any longer, no one has the right to tell individual Christians when to worship God—not even the churches they are members of! In fact, for a church to impose on its members a day every week for corporate worship would be to infringe upon their Christian liberty. For example, if someone is convinced that worshiping God on Saturday is best for him, then no one should be able to tell him he is in sin for never showing up for Sunday services! After all, Saturday is the day he esteems as better than the rest!

Richard Barcellos comments, “If the words, ‘Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind’ refer to the Lord’s Day, the first day of the week, as well as all other days, how could a church discipline any of its members for forsaking the assembly of the saints, let alone encourage them to assemble on a stated day?”[2]

 

2.) If this interpretation is correct, it contradicts what we have already seen about the uniqueness of the first day of the week.

Clearly the NT teaches something special about the first day of the week. And the early church affirmed this belief. But if there is no distinction of days (or if the 7th Day Sabbath still exists), every mention of the first day of the week loses most if not all its significance. The facts that on the first day of the week Jesus rose from the dead, Jesus appeared to His disciples, the Spirit was poured out and the church was established, Christians gathered together for corporate worship, and the apostle John calls it the Lord’s Day would be merely coincidental if there is nothing inherently special or sacred about that day. Jesus’ first-day resurrection would become a good fact to know but not a life-changing truth to embrace. And the entire early church would have been mistaken to hold their worship services on Sunday!

3.) If this interpretation is correct, it proves too much.

The elimination of sacred time also leads to the elimination of sacred meals. Why do I say this? Because in Romans 14 and Colossians 2, days and diets are linked together. If there is now in the gospel age no distinction of days, there is also now no distinction of meals.  And if there are no longer any sacred meals, what does that mean for the Lord’s Supper?

To be consistent, it would mean that along with the Lord’s Day, the Lord’s Supper should be seen as a common meal and its observance a matter of Christian liberty! Richard Barcellos comments, “Romans 14 cannot be a universal law against all holy days, just as it cannot be a universal law against all holy food and drink, and neither can Galatians 4 or Colossians 2. If they were, the Lord’s Supper could just as well be observed by using tacos and beer.”[3]

 

4.) Some have argued that these passages are not referring to the weekly Sabbath Day but to festival sabbath days.

There are many sound commentators who argue that Paul is not dealing with the weekly Sabbath here but is referring to the numerous religious festival days in the Jewish calendar. In other words, Paul speaks about days that were ceremonial in nature and uniquely Jewish, like the Passover, the Feast of the Firstfruits, the Feast of Weeks, the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Booths where a special holy sabbath rest was required for the Israelites.

They argue that what Paul is saying is that the Jewish calendar made up of feasts, new moons, and sabbaths (Colossians 2:16) and special days, months, seasons, and years (Galatians 4:10) has passed away in Christ and holds no authority over the NT Christian.

Albert Barnes is representative of this perspective: “The word Sabbath in the Old Testament is applied not only to the seventh day, but to all the days of holy rest that were observed by the Hebrews, and particularly to the beginning and close of their great festivals. There is, doubtless, reference to those days in this place, since the word is used in the plural number [“sabbaths”], and the apostle does not refer particularly to the Sabbath properly so called.”[4]

 

5.) If these passages also refer to the weekly Sabbath Day, they refer to the shadowy shape of the OT Sabbath, not its everlasting standard.

Although I appreciate the position just explained, I don’t think it goes far enough. I believe these passages not only refer to the OT occasional Sabbaths but also to the OT weekly Sabbath.  They teach us that the Sabbath Day has passed away in its Old Covenant form! Regarding the weekly Sabbath, the 7th Day Sabbath has passed away.

This is especially true in Colossians 2:16-17. Part of the Colossian heresy was the teaching that Christians had to keep all kinds of old creation/old order institutions, including OT laws. But the apostle Paul says no! In this passage, he alludes to Hosea 2:11 which proclaims the end of “her Sabbaths”, i.e. Israel’s Sabbaths, in the gospel age. He then calls the Jewish Sabbaths “a shadow of the things to come”. The word “shadow” is also used in the book of Hebrews to describe the OT tabernacle (Hebrews 8:5, “a copy and shadow of the heavenly things”) and the entire Mosaic law (Hebrews 10:1, “the law has but a shadow of the good things to come”).

This means the shadowy Mosaic Old Covenant disappears in light of the arrival of its fulfillment, Jesus Christ and His New Covenant. Tabernacle/temple worship, animal sacrifices, dietary laws, circumcision, and 7th Day Sabbath observance are all laid to rest in the new age that Christ has instituted.

But the apostle Paul says nothing about the Sabbath Day as a natural/moral law and creation ordinance. What he says has to do with the old creation version of the Sabbath; the Sabbath instituted at the beginning of creation and specifically tailored to the nation of Israel “until the time of reformation” (Hebrews 9:10).

Therefore, we can affirm that the shadowy, 7th Day Sabbath has been abolished without having to affirm that the Sabbath Day has been eliminated altogether. All these passages teach us is that the Jewish appendages and attachments and ceremonies associated with the Sabbath Day have been abolished in the light of the coming of Christ and the new creation. They do not teach us that the Sabbath Day principle has vanished!

Sam Waldron states, “The passing of the positive institution of the observance of a religious rest on the seventh day of every week, known popularly as the Sabbath, may be asserted without at the same time asserting that the natural and moral foundation of that institution has been wrecked. The passing of the seventh-day observance of rest may be asserted without denying the coming of a positive institution which the first day of the week is observed as a day of rest or a Sabbath.”[5]

 

 

[1] Richard Barcellos, Getting the Garden Right, 225-226.

[2] Richard Barcellos, Getting the Garden Right, 225.

[3] Richard Barcellos, Getting the Garden Right, 225. Sadly, there are professing Christians who observe the Lord’s Supper in a similar way. For example, the Christian rapper Lecrae’s Twitter post on 1/2/22 read, “Just did communion at home with wheat bread and apple juice. I hope this still counts.”

[4] Albert Barnes, comments on Colossians 2:16.

[5] Sam Waldron, The Lord’s Day, 93-94.

The Precept of the Sabbath Day | Ben Carlson

The Precept of the Sabbath Day | Ben Carlson

by | Oct 7, 2024 | Systematic Theology

The concept of sacred time has been largely lost in our society today. Most people treat every day the same. Jobs are worked 7 days a week. Sports are played 7 days a week. Hobbies are enjoyed 7 days a week. Shopping is done 7 days a week.

Even many professing Christians treat all days alike. On Sunday, many hurry out of church to head to the restaurant or turn on the sports game and get back to their normal routines.

What does the Bible say about this? Is there such thing as sacred time that God has appointed in order to be set apart exclusively for His service and worship?

The Bible and our Confession say “Yes” in their teaching on the Sabbath Day! Just as God tells us the what, who, how, why, and where of worship, He also tells us the when of worship. Our Confession deals with this in Chapter 22, Paragraphs 7-8.

Paragraph 7 teaches the precept of the Sabbath Day. Paragraph 8 tells us the practice of the Sabbath Day. In other words, in these paragraphs we have the doctrine and the application of the Sabbath Day for the church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Precept of the Sabbath Day

Paragraph 7 teaches us three important truths concerning the precept of the Sabbath Day.

 

I. God has placed in the hearts of all people that a certain amount of time should be set apart to publicly worship Him.

Paragraph 7 begins by stating, “As it is the law of nature, that in general a proportion of time, by God’s appointment, be set apart for the worship of God,”. The law of nature, i.e. the moral law of God imprinted on the hearts and souls of all God’s image-bearers, teaches us that there are set times to worship God. Richard Barcellos states, “Time set apart for special service to God is written on our hearts.”[1] This has been by God’s appointment, not ours.

The concept of sacred time, then, is not uniquely Christian. Every religion in the world prescribes set times for worship. From Islam to Druidism, all observe holy days that are to be sanctified for the worship of their god(s). In fact, even before Moses penned the Pentateuch, Assyrian and Babylonians observed the Sabbath Day for the worship of the seven planets![2]

This just proves that the work of the law still remains in the hearts of sinners. Though they distort and misunderstand that law, they still know that they were made to worship God and a proportion of time needs to be set aside to do that.

 

II. God has placed in His Word the particular time when we are to publicly worship Him.

Paragraph 7 goes on: “so by his Word, in a positive moral, and perpetual commandment, binding all men, in all ages, he hath particularly appointed one day in seven for a sabbath to be kept holy unto him,”.

All men may know that time needs to be given to the worship of God, but they don’t know exactly when. Only a positive command or a command added to the law of nature can tell us this. In other words, although general revelation informs us on the principle of sacred time, only special revelation gives us the particular time. We can’t know exactly when God commands us to worship Him by looking at the stars or listening to our consciences. Instead, we need God to specially reveal this to us.

And God has revealed this to all mankind when He first created the world. We are told in Genesis 2:2-3, “2And on the seventh day God finished His work that He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work that He had done. 3So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all His work that He had done in creation.”

God rested on, blessed, and sanctified the seventh day of the creation week. He marked it out as a special, holy day. He didn’t do this merely for Himself; He did it to set an example for all His image-bearers to follow. In imitation of God, we are to rest on, bless, and sanctify one day in seven (or once a week) for a sabbath to be kept holy to the Lord.

As such, all men in all places at all times are obligated to do this! Adam was obligated to do this. Noah was obligated to do this. Abraham was obligated to do this. Moses was obligated to do this. David was obligated to do this. Christ was obligated to do this. And we are obligated to do this.

So, the Confession here teaches that the Sabbath Day is a creation ordinance that is binding upon all mankind, no matter their covenant, culture, or creed.

 

III. God has the prerogative to change the specific day we are to publicly worship Him.

The Sabbath command is unique in that it is made up of both natural/moral and positive elements. The principle of “one day in seven” is natural/moral and is therefore unalterable. The specific day, however, is positive. It was not embedded into the fabric of creation and written on man’s heart but was sovereignly appointed by God.

Therefore, if God so desired, He could bless another day and make it holy. And Christ, as the God and Lord of the Sabbath, did just that! While keeping the Sabbath principle of one in seven the same, Christ changed the Sabbath Day from Saturday (the seventh day) to Sunday (the first day) when He rose from the dead and inaugurated the new creation.

The Confession states that the 7th Day Sabbath was part of the former days of the old creation: “which from the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ was the last day of the week,”

The Confession also states that the 1st Day Sabbath is part of the latter days of the new creation: “and from the resurrection of Christ was changed into the first day of the week, which is called the Lord’s day: and is to be continued to the end of the world as the Christian Sabbath, the observation of the last day of the week being abolished.”

Edmund Clowney states, “The celebration on the seventh day has been transformed by Jesus’ resurrection. Christ’s victory over the powers of darkness in his resurrection glory accounts for the shift in the New Testament from the seventh day of the week to the first day of the week.”[1]

When Jesus accomplished a new redemption and brought in a new creation at His resurrection from the dead, God changed the public day of worship from Saturday to Sunday or from the seventh day of the week to the first day of the week in commemoration of it. He abolished 7th day observance and set up 1st day observance. In this way the natural and moral principle of the command is preserved throughout human history while the positive element is changed to reflect the new redemptive-historical realities for the people of God.

What biblical evidence is there for this? Where in the Bible do we see this change in the day taking place? While this is not explicitly stated, we should see this change taking place because of these five necessary inferences and historical truths:

 

1.) The stated end of the seventh day Sabbath in OT prophecy.

As we saw earlier, the OT prophesies that in the latter days the Sabbath day will be kept by God’s New Covenant people (Isaiah 56). But the OT also prophesies that the Sabbath day will cease! Richard Barcellos states, “The Old Testament clearly prophesies the abrogation and cessation of ancient Israel’s Sabbaths. It does so in Hosea 2:11, which says, ‘I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her New Moons, her Sabbaths—all her appointed feasts.’”[2]

He then goes on to show that this prophecy is fulfilled in the days of the inaugurated New Covenant. The context of Hosea 2 proves this. But the NT also bears witness to this. Colossians 2:16-17 is one such place: “16Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. 17These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.”

More will be said on this passage later, but I think it is teaching us that all of Israel’s Sabbaths (whether weekly or occasionally) were fulfilled and laid to rest by Christ. In other words, the Sabbath given to Israel in its specific old creation and Old Covenant forms has been done away with. Barcellos states, “. . . The Sabbath as given to the people of Israel under the Mosaic covenant has been abolished.”[3]

According to the apostle Paul, the shadowy Old Covenant version of the Sabbath Day has ceased. Specifically, the “7th” Day Sabbath has passed away. But the substantial New Covenant version of the Sabbath Day has taken its place. That is the “1st” Day Sabbath Christ instituted at His resurrection from the dead!

 

2.) The steady dissolution of the seventh day in the NT.

During the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Sabbath Day was on the seventh day of the week.

  • Luke 4:16: “And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as was His custom, He went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and He stood up to read.”
  • Matthew 28:1: “Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb.”

This is true even throughout the book of Acts.

  • Acts 13:14: “And on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down.”
  • Acts 18:4: “And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks.”

But we know that everything associated with the old creation and old covenant was beginning to pass away at the inauguration of the new creation and new covenant of Jesus Christ.

  • Hebrews 8:13: “In speaking of a new covenant, He makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.”
  • 2 Corinthians 5:17: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

It was only a matter of time (AD 70 to be exact) when the old creational/covenantal order of worshipping and serving God would finally end at the destruction of Jerusalem and be completely replaced by the new creational/covenantal order in Jesus Christ. This included the abolition of animal sacrifices, dietary laws, the theocratic kingdom, and the seventh day Sabbath.

 

3.) The special activities on the first day.

Very important events occurred on the first day of the week (Sunday) in the early church which indicate the uniqueness and holiness of the day.

 

A.) Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week.

Mark 16:9 simply summarizes what all four Gospel accounts teach concerning when Jesus’ resurrection took place: “Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom He had cast out seven demons.”

 

B.) Jesus revealed Himself in a special way to His disciples on the first day of the week.

  • John 20:14: “Having said this, she [Mary Magdalene] turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus.”
  • Matthew 28:9: “And behold, Jesus met them [Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and several other women, Luke 24:10] and said, ‘Greetings!’ And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him.”
  • Luke 24:13-15: “13That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, 14and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. 15While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus Himself drew near and went with them.”
  • John 20:19: “On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’”
  • John 20:26: “Eight days later [counting inclusively from the resurrection], His disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’”

 

C.) The Spirit of God was poured out and the first Christian church was officially established at Pentecost on the first day of the week.

Acts 2:1: “When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place.”

The outpouring of the Spirit, the preaching of the gospel in various languages, the salvation and baptism of about 3,000 people, and the establishment of the new temple of God in Jerusalem all happened on Pentecost, which was on Sunday, the first day of the week.

Roy H. Lanier, Jr. comments, “This day of ‘Pentecost’ literally means ‘fifty days.’ It was a special feast of the Jewish Law which was to be observed fifty days after their Passover Feast. It is to be ‘on the [day] after the sabbath’ (Leviticus 23:11, 15). So, the day on which the apostles received the Holy Spirit and began their work in preaching the gospel [I would also add, and in organizing the first church] was on a Sunday.”[1]

 

D.) The early church regularly met for corporate worship on the first day of the week.

We are never told that the church of the risen Lord Jesus Christ met on the 7th Day Jewish Sabbath to worship God.

Matthew Poole comments, “Nor indeed do we read in all the Scripture of any congregation of Christians on the Jewish sabbath, . . . we have not so much as one instance after the resurrection of any congregation, where Christians only [my emphasis] were assembled upon the Jewish sabbath.”[2]

It was the apostle Paul’s custom to go into the Jewish synagogues on the 7th Day Sabbath not for corporate worship but for public evangelism. He went to preach the gospel to Jews who needed to hear that Jesus their Messiah had come (Acts 13:14, 42-44; 16:13; 17:1-3; 18:4; See also Acts 9:20; 13:5; 14:1; 17:10, 17; 19:8).

But the custom of the apostolic church was to meet on the 1st Day Sabbath to worship God through Jesus Christ their Lord. Two passages make this clear:

  • Acts 20:7: “On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and he prolonged his speech until midnight.”

The church in Troas gathered together on the first day of the week to hear Paul preach the Word of God and to break bread, which is most likely a reference to taking the Lord’s Supper (Matthew 26:26; Acts 2:42; 1 Corinthians 10:16; 11:23-24).

  • 1 Corinthians 16:1-2: “1Now concerning the collection for the saints: as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do. 2On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come.”

I think the most likely interpretation is that the churches in Galatia and Corinth were in the habit of gathering together “On the first day of every week” to worship God. When they did so, they were to place their offerings into a common treasury for easy pick-up when the apostle Paul visited them.

 

E.) The sacred nature of the first day.

The Lord Jesus Christ has special ownership of the first day of the week. This is because it is called “the Lord’s Day” by the apostle John in Revelation 1:10: “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day,”.

This is not referring to a special day in the year or the final day of judgment but to the first day of the week. As we will soon see, the testimony of the early church to this is indisputable. And from what we have already seen concerning the work and worship of Christ on the first day of the week, it makes perfect sense that Sunday takes on the official title of “The Lord’s Day”.

In Revelation 1:10, the adjective translated “Lord’s” literally means “belonging to/owned by the Lord”. Every day is the Lord’s, but this day belongs to Him in a special way. Even in the Greek language today, the name for Sunday is this exact same adjective: Κυριακή!

The only other place in the Bible this word is used is in 1 Corinthians 11:20: “When you come together, it is not the Lord’s supper that you eat.” Just as the Supper belongs in a special way to the Lord Jesus Christ, so does Sunday. It is His Table as it symbolizes His sacrificial death on the cross, and it is His Day as it marks His earth-shattering resurrection from the dead and the pouring out of His Spirit on His people!

The fact that the first day of the week in NT times belongs in a special way to the Lord Jesus Christ is very similar to how the seventh day of the week in OT times belonged in a special way to Yahweh. The Sabbath Day in the OT is called by a similar title: it is “the day of the Lord” or “the Lord’s day”.

  • Isaiah 58:13: “If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on My holy day [literally, My holy], and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the LORD [literally, the holy of the LORD] honorable;”

The Sabbath Day in the OT belongs exclusively to the LORD (Yahweh). It is His holy day, and it was to be hallowed and honored by His OC people. The same is true for the Sabbath Day in the NT. It belongs exclusively to the Lord Jesus Christ, the resurrected and reigning Lord of the Christian Sabbath. It is His holy day, and it is to be treated as holy by His NC people.

F.) The strong testimony of the first day in the early church.

It is undeniably clear that the early Christian church, following apostolic precedent, believed the first day of the week was the Lord’s Day and met on that day for corporate worship. Although it cannot be said that all the great theologians of the early church explicitly articulated the confessional view of the Sabbath found in paragraphs 7 and 8, it can be said that they all considered Sunday “The Lord’s Day” and held it in high and holy esteem. And I think many of them embraced the basic elements of the Christian Sabbath.

In what follows, I have provided a sample of their statements in chronological order regarding the first day of the week.

  • The Didache, AD 100: “On every Lord’s Day—His special day—come together and break bread and give thanks, first confessing your sins so that your sacrifice may be pure” (Didache 14:1).
  • Ignatius, AD 107: “Those, then, who lived by ancient practices, arrived at a new hope. They ceased to keep the Sabbath and lived by the Lord’s Day, on which our life as well as theirs shone forth, thanks to Him and His death, though some deny this” (Magnesians 9).
  • Ignatius, AD 107: “And after the observance of the Sabbath, let every friend of Christ keep the Lord’s Day as a festival, the resurrection-day, the queen and chief of all the days [of the week]” (Magnesians 9).
  • Pliny the Younger, AD 112: “this they were in the habit of meeting on a certain fixed day before sunrise and reciting an antiphonal hymn to Christ as God, . . . After this, they went on, it was their custom to separate, and then meet again to partake of food, but food of an ordinary and innocent kind” (Letter of Pliny to the Emperor Trajan).[3]
  • Barnabas, AD 131: “Wherefore, also, we keep the eighth day with joyfulness, the day also on which Jesus rose again from the dead” (Epistle of Barnabas 15:9).
  • Justin Martyr, AD 155-157: “And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, . . . But Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly, because it is the first day on which God, having wrought a change in the darkness and matter, made the world; and Jesus Christ our Saviour on the same day rose from the dead” (The First Apology 67).
  • Dionysius of Corinth, AD 170: “Today we have kept the holy Lord’s day, on which we have read your letter, which we shall ever possess to read and to be admonished, even as the former one written to us through Clement.” (Epistle to the Romans, II).
  • Tertullian, AD 200: “We have nothing to do with Sabbaths, new moons or the Jewish festivals, much less with those of the heathen. We have our own solemnities, the Lord’s Day, for instance, and Pentecost. As the heathen confine themselves to their festivals and do not observe ours, let us confine ourselves to ours and not meddle with those belonging to them” (On Idolatry, Chapter 15).
  • Athanasius, AD 345: “The Sabbath was the end of the first creation, the Lord’s day was the beginning of the second, in which he renewed and restored the old in the same way as he prescribed that they should formerly observe the Sabbath as a memorial of the end of the first things, so we honor the Lord’s day as being the memorial of the new creation” (On Sabbath and Circumcision 3).
  • Theodoret, AD 448-452, concerning the heretical Ebionites: “They keep the Sabbath according to the Jewish law, and sanctify the Lord’s day in like manner as we do” (Compendium of Heretical Accounts 2:1).

 

Conclusion

  • The OT prophesied that in the latter days the Sabbath would cease and yet at the same time would continue on.
  • The seventh day Sabbath passed away and was replaced by the first day Sabbath due to the resurrection of Christ from the dead and the new creation He inaugurated.
  • On the first day of the week, Christ rose from the dead, met with His disciples, poured out His Spirit, established the church, gathered His people for worship, and sanctified the day to be uniquely His.
  • The early church clearly honored and set apart Sunday as the Lord’s Day and saw it as the holy day of corporate worship.

 

Therefore, in Christ the new creation has come; the New Covenant has been cut; the new temple has been laid; and the new day has dawned to rest in and worship our conquering King!

[1] Richard Barcellos, Getting the Garden Right, 194.

[2] Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church Volume I, 477 footnote 1.

[3] Roy H. Lanier, Jr., “Rather Than On The Sabbath She Worships On The Lord’s Day”, http://www.thebible.net/introchurch/ch28.html.

[4] Matthew Poole, comments on John 20:26.

[5] Pliny the Younger was a Roman governor (of now modern-day Turkey, where the churches Peter wrote to) writing to Emperor Trajan. This letter is one of the earliest surviving Roman documents referring to the Christian community.

[6] Edmund Clowney, How Jesus Transforms the Ten Commandments, 63.

[7] Barcellos, Getting the Garden Right, 195-196.

[8] Ibid.

 

The Perpetuity of the Sabbath | Ben Carlson

The Perpetuity of the Sabbath | Ben Carlson

by | Oct 7, 2024 | Systematic Theology

 

Here are 12 biblical arguments for the perpetuity of the Sabbath Day throughout human history.

 

1.) God’s act on the seventh day of creation set an example for all mankind to follow.

Someone may be thinking, “God may have rested on, blessed, and sanctified the seventh day of creation. But that was only for Himself. He nowhere says His creative action becomes our moral example to follow.” Genesis 2 may not explicitly tell us this. But other places of Scripture shed additional light on Genesis 2 and tell us this. Two passages (which will come up later) are Exodus 20:11 and Mark 2:27.

In Exodus 20:11, the Israelites are told to rest on every seventh day precisely because God rested on the seventh day of creation. And in Mark 2:27, Jesus says that the Sabbath Day was specifically and intentionally made by God for mankind.

God’s action comes to us as an example to imitate and a command to follow. John Frame comments, “. . . When God took his own rest from his creative labors and rested on the seventh day, which he hallowed and blessed, he also hallowed and blessed a human Sabbath, a Sabbath for man (Mark 2:27). In other words, when God blessed his own Sabbath rest in Genesis 2:3, he blessed it as a model for human imitation. So Israel is to keep the Sabbath, because in Genesis 2:2-3 God hallowed and blessed man’s Sabbath as well as his own.”[1]

 

2.) The Sabbath is a creation ordinance for all people, not just a Mosaic ordinance for Jewish people.

Genesis 2:2-3: 2 And on the seventh day God finished His work that He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work that He had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all His work that He had done in creation.

It is clear from this passage that the Sabbath Day is a creation ordinance. This means it was established at the beginning of the creation of the world.

The same is true for the institution of day and night and the seasons (Genesis 1:14-19), marriage (Genesis 2:17-25), the covenant of works (Genesis 2:15-17), and the dominion mandate (Genesis 1:28-30). These things remain in effect for as long as the original heaven and earth stand. This must also be true of the Sabbath Day. It will not pass away until heaven and earth pass away at the second coming of Jesus Christ.

 

3.) The weekly Sabbath serves as a sign in this age which points to an eternal Sabbath rest in the age to come.

God designed the Sabbath Day in His original creation as a sign which points to the Sabbath Age in His new creation. In a very real sense, the Sabbath Day is a foretaste of heaven. The rest one experiences on that day points forward to the rest one will experience for all eternity.

Originally, this was all wrapped up in the covenant of works given to Adam to fulfill as the representative of the whole human race. He was to obey God’s law and observe the weekly Sabbath in anticipation of experiencing God’s eternal Sabbath rest for himself and all creation. He failed to do this, but Christ as the second Adam has accomplished this. He obeyed God’s law on earth, entered into God’s rest in glory, and secured God’s rest for all who trust in Him.

Therefore, the weekly Sabbath serves as a reminder to all people in this present age that when Christ returns in glory, He will bring in the eternal Sabbath rest to this world. And only those who are in Christ will enter that rest!

 

4.) The seven-day weekly cycle that God established at creation (this includes the Sabbath Day) was known by the patriarchs.

The lives of the patriarchs were structured according to the seven-day week.

This is expressly true with Noah:

  • Genesis 7:4: For in seven days I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground.
  • Genesis 7:10: And after seven days the waters of the flood came upon the earth.
  • Genesis 8:10: He waited another seven days, and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark.
  • Genesis 8:12: Then he waited another seven days and sent forth the dove, and she did not return to him anymore.

And Laban and Jacob:

  • Genesis 29:27-28: 27Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other also in return for serving me another seven years.” 28Jacob did so, and completed her week.

5.) The Sabbath was observed before the specific command was given in the 10 Commandments.

Exodus 16:22-30: 22On the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers each. And when all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses, 23he said to them, “This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD; bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over lay aside to be kept till the morning.’” 24So they laid it aside till the morning, as Moses commanded them, and it did not stink, and there were no worms in it. 25Moses said, “Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to the LORD; today you will not find it in the field. 26Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, which is a Sabbath, there will be none.” 27On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they found none. 28And the LORD said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep My commandments and My laws? 29See! The LORD has given you the Sabbath; therefore on the sixth day He gives you bread for two days. Remain each of you in his place; let no one go out of his place on the seventh day.” 30So the people rested on the seventh day.

 

6.) The fourth commandment is not just one of observance but is also of remembrance, which implies the Israelites already knew it and were observing it before the Old Covenant was established.

Deuteronomy 5:12: Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you.

Exodus 20:8: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.”

Although remembering here involves not forgetting something in the future, it also entails recalling something that already happened in the past.

The Israelites were to remember God’s instructions to them about the Sabbath Day just days before recorded in Exodus 16. But the context is clear in Exodus 20 that they were to remember God’s institution of the Sabbath Day thousands of years before recorded in Genesis 2:3.

 

7.) The reason the Israelites were to keep the fourth commandment is rooted in creation, not just redemption from Egypt.

Deuteronomy 5:15: You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.

Exodus 20:11: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

Exodus 31:17: It is a sign forever between Me and the people of Israel that in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.

Moses points the Israelites back to the action of God in redeeming them from Egypt as a reason to remember the Sabbath Day and keep it holy. But he also points them back even farther to the pattern and example of God in the creation of the world as a reason to obey this commandment.

 

8.) The fourth commandment is included in the 10 Commandments, which are all natural/moral and perpetual laws.

The 10 Commandments must be seen as a unit. They are the 10 words written by the finger of God on two stone tablets. They are the reflection of God’s holy nature and the summary of God’s will for all mankind. Though they can be distinguished, they cannot be separated. And they certainly cannot be eradicated!

Why then do so many Christians believe they can conveniently cut out the fourth commandment from their ethical behavior? How can they say that commands 1-3 and 5-10 are binding on everyone but say command 4 is not? If you affirm the perpetuity of one of the 10 Commandments, you must affirm the perpetuity of them all!

 

9.) The OT prophesies that in the latter days the Sabbath would not be abolished but would be kept by all of God’s people, including Gentile believers (i.e., “the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD”).

Isaiah 56:1-8: 1Thus says the LORD: “Keep justice, and do righteousness, for soon My salvation will come, and My righteousness be revealed. 2Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath, not profaning it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil.” 3Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD say, “The LORD will surely separate me from His people”; and let not the eunuch say, “Behold, I am a dry tree.” 4For thus says the LORD: “To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, who choose the things that please Me and hold fast My covenant, 5I will give in My house and within My walls a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off. 6“And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, to minister to Him, to love the name of the LORD, and to be His servants, everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it, and holds fast My covenant—7these I will bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on My altar; for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” 8The Lord GOD, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, declares, “I will gather yet others to Him besides those already gathered.”

God is speaking prophetically in OT terms. But He is speaking about the latter days of the gospel when He will bring Jew and Gentile together on His holy mountain. And those worshipers of God on that day will keep the Sabbath and not profane it!

Richard Barcellos comments, “Isaiah is speaking prophetically of Sabbath-keeping during the era of the inaugurated new covenant. The English John Bunyan, commenting on Isaiah 56, said, ‘Also it follows from hence, that the sabbath that has a promise annexed to the keeping of it, is rather that which the Lord Jesus shall give to the churches of the Gentiles.’ Bunyan sees Isaiah 56 speaking prophetically of that which is given to the church by Christ. I think he is right.”[2]

 

10.) Jesus, who is the Lord of the Sabbath, says the Sabbath was made for man in general, not just for the Jews in particular.

Mark 2:27-28: 27 And He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”

With Jesus’ choice of the generic Greek word for “man” (anthropos) and the way He is arguing, it seems that He has in mind the creation account to show that the Sabbath was made by God for mankind’s good. Albert Barnes states, “Man was made ‘first,’ and then the Sabbath was appointed for his welfare, Genesis 2:1-3. The Sabbath was not ‘first’ made or contemplated, and then the man made with reference to that.”[3] If it was made for Adam, the representative of the whole human race, it was made for everyone, both Jew and Gentile.

 

11.) The NT considers the Sabbath part of “the commandments”.

Luke 23:56: “Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments. On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.”

The Greek word for “commandment” here is entolé. Although it is used in various ways in the NT, one main way is to refer to the 10 Commandments.

  • Commandments 1-10 (Matthew 5:19; 1 Corinthians 7:19)
  • Commandments 1-4 (Matthew 22:36-38)
  • Commandments 5-10 (Matthew 22:39; Mark 10:19; Luke 18:18-23; Romans 13:9)
  • Commandment 5 (Matthew 15:3-4; Ephesians 6:1-3)
  • Commandment 10 (Romans 7:7-13)

This is especially true in the Synoptic Gospels. Out of the 16 times it is used, 12 of them refer to the 10 Commandments. And it seems probable here in Luke 23:56 that this is one of those places. Luke extols the holy faith of Jesus’ female disciples in their Sabbath-keeping, which is seen in their obeying the commandment of God in Exodus 20:8, even waiting to anoint the dead body of their Lord until the next day!

This passage teaches us that Sabbath-keeping is not merely ceremonial but moral and on the same level as the other 9 Commandments.

 

12.) The Sabbath principle continues to be in effect for the New Covenant people of God.

Hebrews 4:9: “So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God.”

“The people of God” here refers to those Christ died for (2:17) and those who experience all the blessings of the New Covenant (8:8-13). There remains for them a Sabbath rest.

This is either speaking of a future Sabbath rest, an already/not yet Sabbath rest, or a present Sabbath rest. It could be saying, “There remains a heavenly rest for us to look forward to” OR “There remains a salvation rest for us to initially enjoy now but more later on” OR “There presently remains a Sabbath rest for us to keep”.

Which one is it? Although I think all three statements are theologically correct and weaved into Hebrews 3-4, I think the most probable interpretation of this verse is that it is speaking of the present-day practice of Sabbath-keeping for the NT church.

Why do I think this is the case?

1.) The other uses of the phrase “there remains” in the book of Hebrews (Hebrews 4:1, 6; 10:26) have at least a present element to them and it is no different here (there [now] remains).

2.) The Greek noun translated “Sabbath rest” [sabbatismos] literally means “Sabbath keeping” or “Sabbath observance”. When its related forms are used in the LXX (Exodus 16:30; Leviticus 23:32; 26:34-35; 2 Chronicles 36:21) and Apocrypha (2 Maccabees 6:6), it refers to the practice and activity of observing the Sabbath.

3.) The reason that there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God (v. 10) seems to be based on two previous rests which God took: One after the old creation was finished and one after the new creation was finished.

Hebrews 4:10 (NKJV): “For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.”

  • First rest: God ceased from His work of creation (“as God did from His”)
  • Second rest: Christ ceased from His work of salvation (“He who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from His works”)

Since God rested from His work of creation on the seventh day, and since Christ the God-man rested from His work of re-creation on the first day at His resurrection from the dead, I think the NT people of God are being told to follow this pattern and rest from our works on a weekly basis to remember the works of creation and redemption and to ready themselves for God’s eternal rest in glory.

 

 

[1] John Frame, The Doctrine of the Christian Life, 532-533, quoted from Barcellos’ Getting the Garden Right.

[2] Richard Barcellos, Getting the Garden Right, 194.

[3] Albert Barnes, comments on Mark 2:27.

Postscript on the Increase of Knowledge of God | Job | Tom J. Nettles

Postscript on the Increase of Knowledge of God | Job | Tom J. Nettles

by | Oct 7, 2024 | Old Testament, Practical Theology

 

One of the lessons of Job is this: Everyone must increase in the knowledge of God (Colossians 1:9, 10). Among the many affirmations made about God in the Second London Confession are these: “whose essence cannot be comprehended by any but himself; . . . who is immutable, immense, eternal, incomprehensible, almighty, every way infinite, most holy, most wise, most free, most absolute, working all things according to the councel of his own immutable, and most righteous will.” His incomprehensibility is directly the result of his infinity. We are finite and will, therefore, never reach exhaustibility in the knowledge of God.

Job, his friends, Elihu, Job’s wife, and all their friends in the town were put through a process of increasing in the knowledge of God. The friends who had such absolute confidence in the level of their knowledge were reprimanded for such arrogant deductions derived from extremely partial knowledge. Many of the concepts they held about God were true, but they refused to examine their understanding with openness to expansion. Their single stringed lyre could not harmonize with the rich and complex chords being created at the joining point of Job’s suffering and God’s apparent silence. Even Job was too sure of himself in his ability to stand on a platform with God and engage in dialogue for explanation.

Elihu’s remonstrations called Job to account for his implication that God was somehow being unfair to him: “I have heard the sound of your words, saying, ‘I am pure, without transgression; I am innocent, and there is no iniquity in me’” (33:8, 9). In this process of suffering and instruction, all involved, Job most intensely, were filled with the elevation of mystery without any suspicion cast on the goodness and justice of God. All of them were stretched beyond their present state of knowledge to an increase that necessarily altered their views of sin, righteousness, personal piety, and the mercy, grace, sovereignty, goodness, justice, patience, and lovingkindness of God. So, three brief observations about the knowledge of God.

Increase in the knowledge of God is connected without exception to his pleasure in revealing himself to us. In this process, God himself reveals truth through the struggles of Job, the observations of Elihu, and his own awesome appearance in chapters 38-42. We will never exhaust the richness of Scripture revelation of God in this life; we must, therefore, with unbroken consistency apply our minds to mastering its contents. By this revelation we grow in the knowledge, and thus love, of God.

Increase in the knowledge of God is painful but edifying. For Job, as well as for Bildad, Zophar, and Eliphaz the learning curve about the purpose, character, and wisdom of God caused pain. For Job, the pain was exquisitely physical as well as emotional. In the maturity of the revelation given to him, Paul yearned for the knowledge of God through Christ even when it meant suffering. “That I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead” (Philippians 3:10, 11).

But the three friends also had to learn the error of their ways. They were brought to repent, be instructed, change their perceptions, and train themselves to meditate, consider, and speak with more enlightened content and in a different tone. These intellectual changes can be painful. We must be ready with unwavering fidelity to undergo such pain regularly.

Increase in the knowledge of God is necessarily unending. Though growth often involves pain in this life, in heaven it will take the form of unending increase of joy and fulfilled capacity for delight. The redeemed will by rapid accumulation, layer upon layer, grasp the power of infinity and the richness of immutability. In the sphere of redemption, the simultaneous fulfillment of eternal love and forgiving purpose toward the elect while the eternal attributes of God exhibited in his justice are also manifested will remain a mystery to be explored. The worthiness of the slain Lamb to open the scroll of God’s unfolding purpose will never reach a point of exhaustion. The expansion of true experiential knowledge embedded in the forerunner’s proclamation, “Behold the Lamb of God,” will be unending. “The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him” (Revelation 22:3).

The trinitarian expression of God’s attributes—sameness in all attributes yet coexisting in the distinctly personal properties of Father, Son and Holy Spirit—seen and experienced as one God yet eternally perceived in the distinctness of persons, will never cease to excite amazement, wonder, and intellectual fascination with the singularity and simplicity of this eternal threeness of God.

In the midst of this beautiful observation of trinitarian ontology, that which brings intended wholeness to our ever-expanding joy is the consideration of the redemptive purpose executed by the three persons of this glorious God. The Father’s election of us in Christ will eternally bring expressions of wonder and worship “to the praise of the glory of His grace” (Ephesians 1:3-6). The execution of this redemptive plan in the person and work of Christ will prompt equal, yet discreet, praise to the Son for in our very existence as redeemed sinners, for eternity we will be “to the praise of his glory” (Ephesians 1:7-12). All that has been predestined in the Father’s purpose and executed in the redemptive work of the Son—all of it without exception—is sealed to them by the efficacious call and preserving grace of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13, 14).

The painful perplexity of Job finally gives way to clarity and unfiltered worship. “Praise God from whom all blessings flow; praise him all creatures here below; praise him above ye heavenly host; Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.”

Within and Beyond Job | Tom J. Nettles

Within and Beyond Job | Tom J. Nettles

by | Oct 7, 2024 | Old Testament, Practical Theology

 

To end a discussion that could continue to challenge us, I close with some of the lessons formerly stated that we might derive from this study. To that will be added, as a conclusion, some reflections on the necessity of increase in the knowledge of God.

One, embrace and absorb into your central spiritual world view that providence and redemption are no less in the control of God and under his ultimate purpose than was the immediate operation of creation. Creation was the initial temporal expression of the eternal desire of God for expanding to finite beings a knowledge of his glorious character. Wisdom always resides in submission to the divine will.

Two, the driving passion of our lives should be a reverent and filial fear of God that leads to discernment and enjoyment of the attributes of God. A worshipful respect for God’s wise purpose is embedded in repentance and faith and constitutes much of the happiness of heaven.

We should take care that some knowledge of God and his ways not drive us to arrogance, judgmentalism, and sinful over-confidence. We must not retreat from what we know to be true but must also realize that other dimensions of present knowledge will constantly flow into our heads and hearts.

We must value spiritual knowledge and holiness of life above all earthly advantage. If God will teach us more of Himself and his purity through the loss of what can be lost, then loss is a great advantage. “But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.” (Philippians 3:7, 8).

While maintaining integrity in individual cases as each relates to the judgment of men, we must submit to God’s prerogative to design any event for our overall sanctification. True godliness always involves resignation.

Be thankful for the progressive nature of revelation—learn to admire the divine wisdom in the gradually unfolding of layer upon layer of truth—as well as the immediate perfection of the redemptive action of God.

We should contemplate the importance of the question, “How can a man, sinfully despicable from the sole of his feet to the crown of his head, be in the right before God?” Where will we find a ransom? Of what honor must such a ransom be? A serious, biblically-founded meditation on the relation between sin and ransom will have a purifying effect on our exaltation of the Lord Jesus Christ.

There is no such thing as innocent suffering. When we proportion temporal suffering to apparent temporal evil, we might be puzzled as to why the apparently good suffer and the apparently less-good prosper; but this sense of disproportion finds plausibility only because of our limited and dull reflections on divine holiness. If our knowledge of the moral character of a fallen world and fallen human beings were truly commensurate with the reality, we would immediately concede the justice of God in any infliction of punishment or discipline.

We must not forget that God’s granting of pleasure in this life should drive us to see the bountiful nature of his goodness and mercy, and any interruption of our pleasure in this life, whether mild or severe, is designed to bring us to a knowledge of sin and the need for a mediator that can restore righteousness, for God will not be finally reconciled to us apart from true and complete righteousness. Like Paul, we must “be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith’ (Philippians 3:9).

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