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Sabbath or Lord's Day?


What is the Sabbath? Why did God include keeping the Sabbath in the 10 Commandments? Does the Bible call Christians today to keep the Sabbath? Should believers do any work on the Sabbath? Is the Sabbath Saturday or Sunday? Does any of this matter? These are all questions that the Bible answers for us, although there are a variety of different practices among churchgoers.

It must first be noted that the keeping of the Sabbath was commanded by God Himself to the people of Israel as they wandered through the wilderness. God wanted His people to so reflect His holy character that He called them to rest from their work as He rested from the work of creation (Ex. 20:8-11). As He often does, God had called Israel to do the opposite of what common sense states. To take a day off of work is seen by many to be contrary to good productivity, but in the Lord's economy, it shows true success. By resting on the Sabbath day, Israel was publicly declaring to God their faith in His ability to support them and not a stubborn self-reliance on their own skill. Israel was able to testify that God alone sustains them by their weekly exercise of the Sabbath. 

But is the keeping of the Sabbath still in effect today for Christians? Shockingly, the only one of the 10 Commandments not commanded in the New Testament is the keeping of the Sabbath. Why would God so strongly call His people Israel to keep the Sabbath that death was the penalty for not doing so (Num. 15:32-36), then in the New Testament age give no specific command to keep it? In fact, Jesus Himself walks around breaking the Sabbath multiple times (Mk. 2:23ff, 3:2ff) in His encounters with the Pharisees and religious leaders, so what's the deal? 

In the Old Testament, if you recall, the Sabbath was always on Saturday. However, when we reach the post-resurrection time, Christians are seen worshiping on the Lord's Day (Rev. 1:10). What is the distinction between the Sabbath and the Lord's Day? The Sabbath was replaced by the Lord's Day when Jesus rose from the dead on Sunday. It was as if God's people completely re-ordered their worship to properly respond to the salvation the resurrection of Christ verified for them. The Sabbath was about expressing dependence on God to provide physical success. The Lord's Day is about expressing dependence on God to provide our spiritual success. When Christian's come together on Sunday, they are not coming to celebrate the Sabbath, for that age has been overshadowed by a greater one. Christians worship the Lord's Day together on Sunday in celebration of Jesus' work for their soul's salvation (Heb. 4:1-13). So on Sunday, Christians celebrate the Lord's Day by reveling in the work God has done for them in Christ to atone for their sins and not simply refraining from physical work. 

Should Christians refrain from any physical work on the Lord's Day? That is up to the individual, but it misses the point. More important than physically working or not physically working is one's worship in response to Christ's work on the cross. I do believe that it is healthy for believers to have a day off of physical work (though it doesn't matter the day- Col. 2:16-23) so they can contemplate the way God has worked for them salvation in Christ. Today is the Lord's Day and I am writing this blog and I also just washed both of my cars. Before you pick up stones to throw my way, I do not normally do any of this on the Lord's Day, but my doing it does not somehow mean that I am not reveling in Christ's work on behalf of my soul at Calvary. As I washed my car, I meditated on God's amazing love given me in Christ and how He washed my sins white as snow. As I write this blog, I remind myself and you that God has done something marvelous for the human soul in offering His only Son to die in the place of sinners. This is not about doing and not doing….this is about delighting and enjoying and basking and reveling in something we could never accomplish on our own, but that God accomplished on our behalf…namely, salvation by grace through faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross.  

Comments

Unknown said…
Very encouraging Austin! Thank you!
11:04 AM
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