Justin Taylor recently posted a piece at his blog from Tom Schreiner’s newest book, 40 Questions About Christians and Biblical Law. The post is entitled “Is the Sabbath Still Required for Christians?” As of October 20, 2010, it had received 225 comments. I have not read all of them, but of the ones I did read, I appreciated those by Richard D. Phillips the most. I recommend you read them – Phillips’ comments, that is. I found his comments very informed and Reformed.
Before I interact with what Dr. Schreiner wrote, let me say that any assessment remains a bit premature until the book comes out and it is read in its entirety and allowed to shed its light on Dr. Schreiner’s fuller position on the Sabbath. I say this because I am certain there is more in the book that shed’s light on his view of the Sabbath. He tips his hat in that direction at least twice in the piece posted by Taylor. For instance, Schreiner says, “…it is not my purpose to reiterate what I wrote about the Sabbath in the Gospels since the Sabbath texts were investigated there” and “…as I have argued elsewhere in this book, …” Also, Justin tells us that he did not post the footnotes. I have requested a review copy from the publisher and plan on doing an extensive review in the future.
To get things going, I think it fair to include Schreiner’s own summary of his arguments. Here it is as posted by Taylor.
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SUMMARY
Believers are not obligated to observe the Sabbath. The Sabbath was the sign of the Mosaic covenant. The Mosaic covenant and the Sabbath as the covenant sign are no longer applicable now that the new covenant of Jesus Christ has come. Believers are called upon to honor and respect those who think the Sabbath is still mandatory for believers. But if one argues that the Sabbath is required for salvation, such a teaching is contrary to the gospel and should be resisted forcefully. In any case, Paul makes it clear in both Romans 14:5 and Colossians 2:16–17 that the Sabbath has passed away now that Christ has come. It is wise naturally for believers to rest, and hence one principle that could be derived from the Sabbath is that believers should regularly rest. But the New Testament does not specify when that rest should take place, nor does it set forth a period of time when that rest should occur. We must remember that the early Christians were required to work on Sundays. They worshiped the Lord on the Lord’s Day, the day of Jesus’ resurrection, but the early Christians did not believe the Lord’s Day fulfilled or replaced the Sabbath. The Sabbath pointed toward eschatological rest in Christ, which believers enjoy in part now and will enjoy fully on the Last Day.
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From my reading of Schreiner, it appears to me that his first, and primary, argument against the Sabbath being required for Christians is that “The Sabbath was given to Israel as a covenant sign…” This is the first line of argumentation taken up in the piece Taylor posted. He says, “…the Sabbath is tied to Israel’s covenant with the Lord…” “The Sabbath, then, is the sign of the covenant between the Lord and Israel…” “The Sabbath was the sign of the Mosaic covenant. The Mosaic covenant and the Sabbath as the covenant sign are no longer applicable now that the new covenant of Jesus Christ has come.” This is the first issue in his summary (see above) as well. In effect, Dr. Schreiner says that the Sabbath is an old covenant ceremonial or temporary law. It is uniquely connected to the old covenant. When the old covenant goes, the Sabbath, its sign, goes along with it. The old covenant went when Christ appeared and inaugurated the new covenant. The Sabbath, therefore, is not required for Christians. He has other arguments, but I want to focus on this one in this and at least one more post.
I find myself in agreement with Schreiner, in part, and in disagreement, in part. Anyone who has read the Old Testament has read texts that teach the unique status of the Sabbath as a “sign” between God and old covenant Israel (cf. Exod. 31:12-17, esp. vv. 13, 16-17; Ezek. 20:20). These texts seem to indicate, as Schreiner claims, that the Sabbath had a unique function in relation to Israel as God’s old covenant nation. This is where I find myself agreeing with Schreiner’s argument, though I think he over-extends it. I, too, think the Sabbath had unique and temporary functions in its relation to God’s ancient covenant people. I affirm that the Sabbath functioned in a unique and temporary manner in relation to ancient Israel as God’s covenant nation under the old or Mosaic covenant and that those covenantally/redemptive-historically conditioned functions have served their purposes. But to affirm this does not necessarily imply that, as Dr. Schreiner asserts, “I do not believe the Sabbath is required for believers now that the new covenant has arrived in the person of Jesus Christ,” and “Believers are not obligated to observe the Sabbath.” In other words, one can affirm, along with Dr. Schreiner, temporary aspects of the Sabbath under the old covenant that have served their purpose and are no longer required for the people of God, and yet still affirm an abiding requirement for Christians to keep the Sabbath. In my thinking, there is more to the Sabbath than a temporary function under the old or Mosaic covenant and a foreshadow of eschatological rest that “will be fulfilled on the final day when believers rest from earthly labors” (These are Dr. Schreiner’s words.).
In order to see what this “more to the Sabbath” is, a wider, biblical-theological lens must be utilized. I hope to begin to explore the functions of the Sabbath with this wider lens in the next post.
Dr. Richard Barcellos is associate professor of New Testament Studies. He received a B.S. from California State University, Fresno, an M.Div. from The Master’s Seminary, and a Th.M. and Ph.D. from Whitefield Theological Seminary. Dr. Barcellos is pastor of Grace Reformed Baptist Church, Palmdale, CA. He is author of Trinity & Creation, The Covenant of Works, and Getting the Garden Right. He has contributed articles to various journals and is a member of ETS.
Courses taught for CBTS: New Testament Introduction, Biblical Hermeneutics, Biblical Theology I, Biblical Theology II.
