June 26th, 2024
by Raef Chenery
by Raef Chenery
A common question I receive from both members and visitors to our Church is whether or not Christians are supposed to keep a Sabbath one day a week. Recently, I preached on the theme of the Sabbath out of Luke 6:1-11, and I felt a responsibility to speak into this underlying question which causes much confusion in the modern Church.
The question at hand—whether or not Christians are to practice a Sabbath— has at least two underlying issues that must be addressed if we are to be thorough. First, we must back up and ask the question of a Christian’s relationship to the entire moral law of the Old Testament (as summarized in the 10 Commandments). If it can be demonstrated from the Scriptures that we are in fact responsible for observing all 10 Commandments, then of course it follows that we are responsible for observing the fourth commandment, to keep the Sabbath day holy. Second, we must deal a selection of New Testament passages that lead some to believe that Christians are morally free from the Sabbath.
Below, I offer two paragraphs from the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith that summarize well the historic teaching on this topic, with which I agree. The remainder of the article is working through the two practical questions stated above.
22.7 It is the law of nature that in general a portion of time specified by God should be set apart for the worship of God. So by His Word, in a positive-moral and perpetual commandment that obligates everyone in every age, He has specifically appointed one day in seven for a sabbath to be kept holy to Him. From the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ the appointed day was the last day of the week. After the resurrection of Christ it was changed to the first day of the week, which is called the Lord’s Day.This day is to be kept to the end of the age as the Christian Sabbath, since the observance of the last day of the week has been abolished.
22:8 The Sabbath is kept holy to the Lord when people have first prepared their hearts appropriately and arranged their everyday affairs in advance. Then they observe a holy rest all day from their own works, words and thoughts about their secular employment and recreation. Not only that, but they also fill the whole time with public and private acts of worship and the duties of necessity and mercy.
-Excerpt from the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith
Issue 1: A Christian’s Relationship to the Moral Law of the 10 Commandments
The question of a Christian’s relationship to the Old Testament law is one full of debate. Many well meaning Christians have not taken the time to really weigh what the Bible teaches on this topic. And those that have often find themselves feeling confused, as if the New Testament taught two different approaches to the law. On the one hand Jesus taught that “whoever relaxes of of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be least in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:18-19), and on the other hand the Apostle Paul wrote that “the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian” (Galatians 3:24-26). Is the Bible somehow inconsistent? Did Jesus and Paul teach different things about our relationship to the Old Testament law?
Fortunately, we are not the first people to ask these questions. For 2,000 years wonderful theologians have wrestled through them meaningfully. While it is true, that there is some disagreement within Protestantism on this question, the vast history of Protestantism (especially within the Reformed tradition that I stand within) has been clear and consistent. I offer below a summary.
The Old Testament law can largely be divided into three categories of laws: moral, civil, and ceremonial. Moral laws are those laws that speak to how one ought to conduct themselves in their relationship with God and with others in a just and righteous manner. Civil laws speak to how a society ought to punish crime in order to maintain justice over a nation. Ceremonial laws speak to how individuals are to offer proper alms and sacrifices as part of the cultic traditions of God’s people particularly under the Old Covenant.
To put it simply, the historic Reformed position is that the Ceremonial Laws and the Civil Laws have been fulfilled in Christ. As the Apostle Paul says, they were our guardian to lead us towards Christ (Galatians 3:24). But now that Christ has come, we no longer need the guardian. In fact, were we to continue to follow the commands of the ceremonial law, and offer a sacrifice on an altar to God, we would be in sin, because we would be denying Christ’s final atoning sacrifice.
But, we cannot apply that same principle in the same way to the Moral Law. The Moral Law, as is classically summarized in categories in the 10 Commandments, is of a different property entirely. The 10 Commandments, or the Moral Law, are God’s universally true moral code. Each of these commandments are category headers of sorts, under which many moral laws find their home. So, the moral law forbidding homosexuality falls underneath the seventh commandment forbidding adultery.
In fact, even without the 10 Commandments written on stone, every person would be aware of them simply by being made in the image of God. They are, in a sense, the written and recorded version of Natural Law. This is precisely what Paul means when he says that “when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts…” While they may have never read the 10 Commandments, simply by being human they are aware of the moral code communicated through the 10 Commandments.
The great Francis Turretin summarizes the historic position this way, “Is the moral law [the 10 commandments] so perfect a rule of life and morals that nothing can be added to it or ought to be corrected in it for the true worship of God? Or did Christ fulfill it not only as imperfect, but also correct it as contrary to his doctrines? The former we affirm; the latter we deny against the Socinians, Anabaptists, Remonstrants and papists.” In other words, Turretin affirms that the 10 Commandments are binding on a believer, and simultaneously classifies those who disagree with this position as falling into one of four larger heretical camps.
What this means is that the 10 Commandments are God’s Moral Law given to guide our lives today. It is true, we are no longer “under the law” in the sense that we must obey the law in order to earn God’s favor. To believe that would be to fall into the error of legalism! May it never be even hinted at among an authentic Christian! Only Christ perfectly obeyed the entirety of the law. Where every one of us failed, Christ succeeded. But now that we are freed from the penalty of the law, we are empowered to live according to it, not for God’s favor, but from God’s favor. Thus, the Christian who delights in righteousness will obey the fourth commandment along with the other nine. As the Apostle Paul so clearly states,
"Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law." Romans 3:31
Issue 2: Certain Passages That Seem to Indicate an End to the Sabbath
The second issue to be discussed is Hebrews 4.Those who disagree with the position I am stating in this article, often turn to Hebrews 4 in order to defend their case. Blake White, who holds to what is called New Covenant Theology, believes that Christians are to maintain the other 9 commandments because they are repeated in the New Testament, but the Sabbath is not repeated and therefore is not necessary anymore. He writes, “One also must take the Sabbath commandment into account. The other nine commandments do not pose a problem, for the NT repeats them. However, the NT does not reinforce the Sabbath command. Quite the contrary! After the coming of Christ, observing days is akin to returning to paganism (Gal. 4:8-10). Romans 14:5 says that regarding observing special days, each should be fully convinced in their own mind. That is a far cry from “remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.” Paul calls the Sabbath a shadow in Colossians 2:16-17. Again, exegesis must inform our theology.”
How do we respond to this argument? After all, a handful of verses are cited that seem to defend the case being made. Let us work through each verse referenced in order to thoroughly respond.
Galatians 4:8-10 says, “Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. But 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? You observe days and months and seasons and years!” Paul explicitly states in this passage that he is referring to honoring of days, seasons, and months that his audience practiced when they were pagans. He is not referring to the Hebrew sabbath, but specifically to pagan practices of worship to false gods, that they were tempted to import into their new Christian faith.
Romans 14:5 says, “One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The 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.” The issue in this passage is once again, not the weekly sabbath prescribed in the 10 commandments. The issue discussed in this passage is all of the Jewish annual festivals that were celebrated. New Jewish converts were confused why everybody in the church was not celebrating the Feast of Booths (sukkot) or Passover (pesach). Paul clarifies for this church that those annual festivals and days are no longer required practices that must be adhered to. But he does not specifically mention the Sabbath, for the reason that the Sabbath was unique among those rhythms, as it was specifically placed within the 10 Commandments. As the great theologian Charles Hodge summarizes about this verse, “Paul has reference to the Jewish festivals, and therefore his language cannot properly be applied to the Christian Sabbath. The sentiment of the passage is this, ‘One man observes the Jewish festivals, another man does not.’
Colossians 2:16-17 says, “Therefore 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. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.” Here in this passage we have the exact same type of language is present in Romans 14:5. We do notice that the word “sabbath” is explicitly used in this passage, but what my ESV translation misses is that the word is actually plural. It should read “Sabbath days.” Among the Jews, the term “sabbath” applied to many different days of rest prescribed in the annual calendar, especially the beginning and end of their festivals. The fact that the term is in the plural is a clear indicator that Paul is not referring to the weekly Sabbath prescribed in the 10 Commandments. This would have been clear to early readers, even though it might seem murky to modern readers.
Concluding Thoughts
In response to those who claim that the weekly Sabbath as prescribed in the 10 Commandments is no longer part of the moral responsibility of a Christian, I beg to differ. In fact, it would be sin to forget or forsake the Sabbath. In the case of one who has broken this command, by God’s grace we can repent of our sin, and turn to the cross where we find all of our sin done away with in full by Jesus, the righteous one. But may this great gift of Christ offered to us through the cross never become reason for license or antinomianism.
We have much to learn about how to make the most of the Sabbath. It is a gift from God. But I conclude here with words from the great Thomas Watson.
“When the falling dust of the world has clogged the wheels of our affections, that they can scarce move towards God, the Sabbath comes, and oils the wheels of our affections and they move swiftly on. God has appointed the Sabbath for this end… The heart, which all the week was frozen, on the Sabbath melts with the word. The Sabbath is a friend to religion; it files off the rust of our graces…”
The question at hand—whether or not Christians are to practice a Sabbath— has at least two underlying issues that must be addressed if we are to be thorough. First, we must back up and ask the question of a Christian’s relationship to the entire moral law of the Old Testament (as summarized in the 10 Commandments). If it can be demonstrated from the Scriptures that we are in fact responsible for observing all 10 Commandments, then of course it follows that we are responsible for observing the fourth commandment, to keep the Sabbath day holy. Second, we must deal a selection of New Testament passages that lead some to believe that Christians are morally free from the Sabbath.
Below, I offer two paragraphs from the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith that summarize well the historic teaching on this topic, with which I agree. The remainder of the article is working through the two practical questions stated above.
22.7 It is the law of nature that in general a portion of time specified by God should be set apart for the worship of God. So by His Word, in a positive-moral and perpetual commandment that obligates everyone in every age, He has specifically appointed one day in seven for a sabbath to be kept holy to Him. From the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ the appointed day was the last day of the week. After the resurrection of Christ it was changed to the first day of the week, which is called the Lord’s Day.This day is to be kept to the end of the age as the Christian Sabbath, since the observance of the last day of the week has been abolished.
22:8 The Sabbath is kept holy to the Lord when people have first prepared their hearts appropriately and arranged their everyday affairs in advance. Then they observe a holy rest all day from their own works, words and thoughts about their secular employment and recreation. Not only that, but they also fill the whole time with public and private acts of worship and the duties of necessity and mercy.
-Excerpt from the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith
Issue 1: A Christian’s Relationship to the Moral Law of the 10 Commandments
The question of a Christian’s relationship to the Old Testament law is one full of debate. Many well meaning Christians have not taken the time to really weigh what the Bible teaches on this topic. And those that have often find themselves feeling confused, as if the New Testament taught two different approaches to the law. On the one hand Jesus taught that “whoever relaxes of of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be least in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:18-19), and on the other hand the Apostle Paul wrote that “the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian” (Galatians 3:24-26). Is the Bible somehow inconsistent? Did Jesus and Paul teach different things about our relationship to the Old Testament law?
Fortunately, we are not the first people to ask these questions. For 2,000 years wonderful theologians have wrestled through them meaningfully. While it is true, that there is some disagreement within Protestantism on this question, the vast history of Protestantism (especially within the Reformed tradition that I stand within) has been clear and consistent. I offer below a summary.
The Old Testament law can largely be divided into three categories of laws: moral, civil, and ceremonial. Moral laws are those laws that speak to how one ought to conduct themselves in their relationship with God and with others in a just and righteous manner. Civil laws speak to how a society ought to punish crime in order to maintain justice over a nation. Ceremonial laws speak to how individuals are to offer proper alms and sacrifices as part of the cultic traditions of God’s people particularly under the Old Covenant.
To put it simply, the historic Reformed position is that the Ceremonial Laws and the Civil Laws have been fulfilled in Christ. As the Apostle Paul says, they were our guardian to lead us towards Christ (Galatians 3:24). But now that Christ has come, we no longer need the guardian. In fact, were we to continue to follow the commands of the ceremonial law, and offer a sacrifice on an altar to God, we would be in sin, because we would be denying Christ’s final atoning sacrifice.
But, we cannot apply that same principle in the same way to the Moral Law. The Moral Law, as is classically summarized in categories in the 10 Commandments, is of a different property entirely. The 10 Commandments, or the Moral Law, are God’s universally true moral code. Each of these commandments are category headers of sorts, under which many moral laws find their home. So, the moral law forbidding homosexuality falls underneath the seventh commandment forbidding adultery.
In fact, even without the 10 Commandments written on stone, every person would be aware of them simply by being made in the image of God. They are, in a sense, the written and recorded version of Natural Law. This is precisely what Paul means when he says that “when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts…” While they may have never read the 10 Commandments, simply by being human they are aware of the moral code communicated through the 10 Commandments.
The great Francis Turretin summarizes the historic position this way, “Is the moral law [the 10 commandments] so perfect a rule of life and morals that nothing can be added to it or ought to be corrected in it for the true worship of God? Or did Christ fulfill it not only as imperfect, but also correct it as contrary to his doctrines? The former we affirm; the latter we deny against the Socinians, Anabaptists, Remonstrants and papists.” In other words, Turretin affirms that the 10 Commandments are binding on a believer, and simultaneously classifies those who disagree with this position as falling into one of four larger heretical camps.
What this means is that the 10 Commandments are God’s Moral Law given to guide our lives today. It is true, we are no longer “under the law” in the sense that we must obey the law in order to earn God’s favor. To believe that would be to fall into the error of legalism! May it never be even hinted at among an authentic Christian! Only Christ perfectly obeyed the entirety of the law. Where every one of us failed, Christ succeeded. But now that we are freed from the penalty of the law, we are empowered to live according to it, not for God’s favor, but from God’s favor. Thus, the Christian who delights in righteousness will obey the fourth commandment along with the other nine. As the Apostle Paul so clearly states,
"Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law." Romans 3:31
Issue 2: Certain Passages That Seem to Indicate an End to the Sabbath
The second issue to be discussed is Hebrews 4.Those who disagree with the position I am stating in this article, often turn to Hebrews 4 in order to defend their case. Blake White, who holds to what is called New Covenant Theology, believes that Christians are to maintain the other 9 commandments because they are repeated in the New Testament, but the Sabbath is not repeated and therefore is not necessary anymore. He writes, “One also must take the Sabbath commandment into account. The other nine commandments do not pose a problem, for the NT repeats them. However, the NT does not reinforce the Sabbath command. Quite the contrary! After the coming of Christ, observing days is akin to returning to paganism (Gal. 4:8-10). Romans 14:5 says that regarding observing special days, each should be fully convinced in their own mind. That is a far cry from “remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.” Paul calls the Sabbath a shadow in Colossians 2:16-17. Again, exegesis must inform our theology.”
How do we respond to this argument? After all, a handful of verses are cited that seem to defend the case being made. Let us work through each verse referenced in order to thoroughly respond.
Galatians 4:8-10 says, “Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. But 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? You observe days and months and seasons and years!” Paul explicitly states in this passage that he is referring to honoring of days, seasons, and months that his audience practiced when they were pagans. He is not referring to the Hebrew sabbath, but specifically to pagan practices of worship to false gods, that they were tempted to import into their new Christian faith.
Romans 14:5 says, “One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The 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.” The issue in this passage is once again, not the weekly sabbath prescribed in the 10 commandments. The issue discussed in this passage is all of the Jewish annual festivals that were celebrated. New Jewish converts were confused why everybody in the church was not celebrating the Feast of Booths (sukkot) or Passover (pesach). Paul clarifies for this church that those annual festivals and days are no longer required practices that must be adhered to. But he does not specifically mention the Sabbath, for the reason that the Sabbath was unique among those rhythms, as it was specifically placed within the 10 Commandments. As the great theologian Charles Hodge summarizes about this verse, “Paul has reference to the Jewish festivals, and therefore his language cannot properly be applied to the Christian Sabbath. The sentiment of the passage is this, ‘One man observes the Jewish festivals, another man does not.’
Colossians 2:16-17 says, “Therefore 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. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.” Here in this passage we have the exact same type of language is present in Romans 14:5. We do notice that the word “sabbath” is explicitly used in this passage, but what my ESV translation misses is that the word is actually plural. It should read “Sabbath days.” Among the Jews, the term “sabbath” applied to many different days of rest prescribed in the annual calendar, especially the beginning and end of their festivals. The fact that the term is in the plural is a clear indicator that Paul is not referring to the weekly Sabbath prescribed in the 10 Commandments. This would have been clear to early readers, even though it might seem murky to modern readers.
Concluding Thoughts
In response to those who claim that the weekly Sabbath as prescribed in the 10 Commandments is no longer part of the moral responsibility of a Christian, I beg to differ. In fact, it would be sin to forget or forsake the Sabbath. In the case of one who has broken this command, by God’s grace we can repent of our sin, and turn to the cross where we find all of our sin done away with in full by Jesus, the righteous one. But may this great gift of Christ offered to us through the cross never become reason for license or antinomianism.
We have much to learn about how to make the most of the Sabbath. It is a gift from God. But I conclude here with words from the great Thomas Watson.
“When the falling dust of the world has clogged the wheels of our affections, that they can scarce move towards God, the Sabbath comes, and oils the wheels of our affections and they move swiftly on. God has appointed the Sabbath for this end… The heart, which all the week was frozen, on the Sabbath melts with the word. The Sabbath is a friend to religion; it files off the rust of our graces…”
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