By the time this article is published, the summer holiday season will be coming to an end. We all enjoy having a break from the routine of daily work – surely there’s nothing controversial about that? And yet the most controversial of the Ten Commandments is number four, relating to the Sabbath.
My own position is that the moral law is expressed in the Ten Commandments, which continue to have universal and binding authority. The Sabbath continues today, being celebrated now on the first day of the week (the Lord’s Day). This view is expressed in the Westminster Confession, the 1689 Baptist Confession, and the Savoy Declaration.
Others, taking a “New Covenant Theology” position insist that Old Testament laws are only binding on believers insofar as they are repeated in the New Testament (and they say that the Sabbath is not). They believe that the Sabbath points only to our rest in Christ, and to the future eternal Sabbath rest.
It would be foolish to try to argue the point in such a brief article; I would do justice to neither position. However, I would observe that whatever position we hold, Sundays are important. If only from a practical point of view of gathering for corporate worship, we need to set apart Sundays as special. It is helpful not only to attend worship services, but spend time in fellowship with God’s people and give hospitality in a way we don’t have time for on other days of the week.
Most would also agree that a regular pattern of work and rest is helpful. The pattern of the seven day week comes from creation, with the Lord resting on the seventh day. Stalin experimented with changing the length of the working week in communist Russia, but these reforms were soon abandoned. The constant pressure of a 24/7 society today is burdensome. Matthew Sleeth MD, in his book 24/6 (Tyndale, 2012) argues for a day of rest on the basis of creation design.
Surely we can all agree that it is a privilege to have one day each week consecrated specifically to the Lord. Which one of us would say that we have enough time for prayer, or worship, or fellowship with God’s people? We can squeeze our devotions into each day, but the Sabbath was given to us as a gift, for our delight, to focus specifically on Christ, His word and His people in a way we cannot at other times.
Is it legalistic to keep Sundays special? Or is it the Lord’s gift to command us to “Stop!” our regular labours and activities and devote the day to Him, with a devotion which then spills over into living every day for His glory? As we return from our summer holidays, this is a good opportunity to reflect on our weekly routine.
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