The Sabbath Command Still Exists

As hard as it is to believe in our lawless age, God's command to keep the Sabbath is still a viable and binding moral requirement for every Christian. Let me give at least three biblical reasons which prove that the Sabbath command still exists for today. First, the perpetuity of the "moral law" as a whole proves the continued existence of the Sabbath command. Nowhere in the Bible is God's command to keep the Sabbath isolated from the binding nature of God's moral law as the rule and standard for how we are to live. For instance, in God's promise for the New Covenant, He declared through Jeremiah: "I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts..." (Jer.31:33). He does not say, "I will put My law, except for the Sabbath command, in their minds, etc..." It is the whole of the moral law that God promises to inscripturate on the new hearts and minds of His people in the New Covenant (see Heb.8:8-13). And this includes the Sabbath command which is "the fourth commandment" in God's moral law (see Ex.20:8-11).

There is also the teaching of Jesus Christ Himself regarding the moral law, where our Lord maintained that He came to fulfill it and not to destroy it; and whoever teaches men to break one of the least of the law's commands would be called least in the kingdom of heaven (Matt.5:17-19). The Sabbath command was no exception to this standard Christ laid down. Moreover, there are the descriptions of the moral law as being "holy, just, and good", along with "spiritual" (Rom.7:12,14). Again, the Sabbath command is not excluded from these descriptions. Henceforth, by the perpetuity of the moral law as a whole, establishes clearly the perpetuity of the Sabbath command for today.

Second, the extensive teaching of Christ Himself regarding the Sabbath establishes its continuation for today (see Matt.12:1-14; Mk.2:23-3:6; Lk.6:1-11; 13:10-17; 14:1-6; Jn.5:1-18; 7:20-24). In all four Gospels , no less than eight times, Jesus is recorded as giving a thorough teaching and clarification on the Sabbath command. Nowhere does Christ undermine or abolish the Sabbath. Rather He clears the confusion which the Jewish leaders in His day were propagating about it. Concerning this fact, J.C. Ryle elaborated:

"The plain truth is that our Lord did not abolish the law of the weekly Sabbath: He only freed it from incorrect interpretations, and purified it from man-made additions. He did not tear out of [the Ten Commandments] the fourth commandment: He only stripped off the miserable traditions with which the Pharisees had encrusted the day, and by which they had made it, not a blessing, but a burden. He left the fourth commandment where he found it, - a part of the eternal law of God, of which no jot or tittle was ever to pass away. May we never forget this!"

Now one of the most prominent errors of the Jewish leaders regarding the Sabbath was that a "day of rest" meant a day of total inactivity and non-exertion. But human dormancy in which one becomes completely passive has never been the point of keeping the Sabbath. In response then to such gross misinterpretation, Jesus advocated three types of activity that were lawful for the Sabbath. First, there are to be works of piety. This is the most obvious reason for God ordaining a day of rest from our normal employments: it is to redirect our energies and efforts toward the work of worshipping and serving the Lord with unhindered devotion (cf., Isa.58:13-14; e.g., Matt.12::5; Jn.5:17).

Second, there are to be works of necessity (see Matt.12:1-6). This would include such things as food, sleep, and cleanliness which all meet basic human needs and are in full accord with keeping the Sabbath. The third and final type of work Jesus advocated for Sabbath-keeping was works of mercy (see Matt.12:7-13). Above all other conflicts Jesus had with the Pharisees over the Sabbath, it was at this point that the greatest contention ensued. The Pharisees were infuriated with Christ for healing people and feeding His disciples on the Sabbath (Mk.2:23-3:6). But Jesus reproved their Sabbath errors and lack of love for God and others by both example and teaching. He fed hungry disciples and healed the sick. And in this way, Jesus teaches us what is lawful and right and honoring to God in keeping the Sabbath.

Making a pointed application by Christ's example concerning these "works" which should be carried out on the Sabbath, Walter Chantry noted:

"When you confront specific questions regarding behavior on the Sabbath, you will find some issues of application to be obvious, while others are less clear. If you think of the issue of necessity, all will at once recognize that it is proper on the Sabbath for armed forces and police to defend society. It is appropriate for ambulance drivers, nurses and firefighters to work on God's holy day. None will question in these cases. On the other side of the continuum it is altogether clear that the work of athletes, clowns and trinket salesman is unnecessary on the Sabbath. Some cases are black and white."

The final reason for the continuation of the Sabbath, is that the New Testament clearly teaches a continued Sabbath-keeping for the Church; having only changed the day of worship from the seventh to the first, as the result of Christ's resurrection which accomplished the redemption the Old Covenant looked forward to which the New Covenant now fulfills. The essential and greatest proof of this continued Sabbath-keeping in the New Covenant is seen in the historical narratives immediately following Christ's resurrection. In all four Gospel accounts of the resurrection, at the head of each narrative, we see the words: "Now on the first day of the week..." (Matt.28:1; Mk.16:1; Lk.24:1; Jn.20:1). And what follows this revelation of time, is the several appearances that Christ makes on this "first day of the week" to all His disciples. The whole of the day from "morning" (see Matt.28:1-10) till "evening" (see Lk.24:13-32; Jn.20:19-23) becomes a "holy day" of worship to the risen Lord. Hence, by the events of this first day of the week, the Lord Jesus Christ was setting a new pattern: the seventh-day Sabbath of the Old Covenant was changed by Christ Himself to the "Lord's day" as the Christian Sabbath for all New Covenant believers. This means therefore that the substance of the Sabbath commandment (Ex.20:9-11) remains unchanged except for the day itself that is now to be observed on Sunday (see Acts 20:6-7; I Cor.16:1-4; cf. Heb.4:9-11). The famed church historian, Philip Schaff, summed up the continuation of the Sabbath on Sunday in this way:

"This is the beginning of the history of the Lord's Day, which to this day has never suffered a single interruption in Christian lands...Sunday is here pointed out by our Lord Himself and honored by His special presence as the day of religion, and public worship, and so it will remain to the end of time. God's word and God's day are inseparable companions and the pillars of God's church."