Remember the Sabbath of the Lord

Sunday or Saturday Worship?

And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching (Heb 10:24-25).

Christians need the encouragement and exhortation of other Christians. Surely that was a primary reason that God instituted the local church body as the basis of Christian brotherly love and worship. And according to this verse, end-time church fellowship is particularly essential to motivate one another, to hear sound exhortation and to warn against the deceptions of heresy, apostasy, apathy and following the wisdom of man. Unfortunately, some Christians disregard the Apostle’s charge, perhaps thinking the local body is unimportant, or maybe to avoid the accompanying responsibilities and duties that dedicated membership requires. The Scriptural rule is quite clear – the meetings of the faithful are not optional.

The general practice has long been that churches formally meet on Sunday, but in the twentieth century increasing numbers of Christians began reject that tradition in favor of meeting on Saturday. This paper endeavors to summarize the arguments of both groups and will propose a Scriptural solution. I do not attempt to “convert” sabbath-worshippers, but intend to establish the good reasons for worshipping on Sunday.

One of the most important commandments in Judaism was to remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy (Ex 20:8). In giving the Law to Moses, God further explained that the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work (Ex 20:10). This rule was enforced by strict penalty of death (Ex 35:2). The Hebrew noun shabbath, which means “a rest,” first appears in Exodus 16:23, and its verb form, shabath, first appears in Gen 2:2. Besides being a name for the seventh day of the week, shabbath was also used to refer to special holy days and particular years in the Law (Lev 23:32; 25:4). The Jews named the days of the week according to number: first day, second day, third day, etc, but the seventh day had an additional name: shabbath. Other than the Sabbath, only the sixth day of the week was privileged with a name, it being called, “the preparation” since certain work needed to be done on that day in preparation for the Sabbath (John 19:31).

The present practice of using names for the days of the week is not that ancient, having originated around 100 A.D. in the Greco-Roman culture. They named the days after the seven visible luminaries in the night sky (Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn). These names were apparently not yet in common use when the New Testament Scriptures were written, but they do appear in second century church writings. Saturday corresponds to the seventh day of the Jewish week, and Sunday is the first day of the week.

From the time they left Egypt until Christ’s resurrection, true Israelites kept every seventh day as a holy rest day in obedience to the Old Covenant. It was not an easy transition. At first, some went out to gather food on the Sabbath in spite of God’s command (Ex 16:27), and one man was put to death for gathering sticks on the Sabbath (Lev 15:33). In the time of Christ though, the Sabbath laws were widely known and strictly kept by every believing Jew and proselyte.   

How and when did the churches of Christ begin to meet on the first day of the week instead of the seventh day? Those who argue for Sabbath-keeping argue that, in a major compromise with pagan Sun-worshippers, the Roman Catholic Church unilaterally changed the day of worship to Sunday, the first day of the week. Many say this change is the fulfillment of the mark of the beast prophesied in Revelation 13 and that those who worship on Sunday are worshipping the Beast! According to Sabbath-keepers, it is a grave sin against God to not keep Saturday holy unto the Lord.

While it may be true that the Catholic Church officially recognized Sunday as the universal day of worship, it is not true that they changed the worship day from Saturday to Sunday. From the very beginning, even before Jesus’ ascension, the Apostles and disciples met for worship and Communion on Sunday. They never wavered in that custom.

Somewhat surprisingly however, the New Testament Scriptures do not specifically command the churches of God to meet upon Sunday, or Saturday, or any other day of the week. Nevertheless, every time a day of the week is mentioned in connection to the assembling of the church, it is always Sunday, the first day of the week. The Apostles would often attend the Jewish synagogues for the sake of evangelism, but the weekly Communion took place on Sunday.

The simple reason the people of God now meet to worship Him on the Lord’s Day instead of Moses’ Sabbath is potently compelling – it is that greatest event in the history of the world, the resurrection of the Son of God. For Jesus rose from the dead very early in the morning the first day of the week (Mark 16:2; Luke 24:1; Mat 28:1; John 20:1). And from the very beginning, His disciples commemorated that momentous event by gathering together on Sunday for the Communion ceremony. The very first Sunday meeting was the evening of Lord’s resurrection, when He appeared to them all except for Thomas (John 20:19). The following Sunday, the Apostles were again gathered together. This time Thomas was also present when Jesus appeared to them a second time (John 20:26).

The third appearance of Christ to the Apostles almost certainly took place the following Sunday at the conclusion of a famous fishing trip, although the Scriptures do not actually state the day. After Thomas’ encounter, the Apostles obeyed Christ’s order to travel to Galilee, a few days journey away. There they waited awhile until Peter’s restless declaration:  I go a fishing! There would not seem to be time for the Apostles to go fishing before that week’s Sabbath, so the timing is perfect for a Saturday night fishing trip that ended early Sunday morning when Jesus appeared for the third time after that He was risen from the dead (John 21:14).

At that meeting Jesus presided over the first post-resurrection Communion service on record. Only the book of John describes that beautiful scene of a brotherhood in fellowship. Jesus is waiting on the shore with bread and fish cooking over a bed of coals and He invites His disciples to Come and dine. The details paint a storybook-like setting: a freshly-grilled breakfast served early in the calm of morning on the shores of Lake Galilee with the sun’s first rays lightening the waters. Brothers and loved ones are there to share it and Jesus Himself is serving the bread and fish, presumably in much the same manner that He had broken the bread at the Last Supper two weeks prior. What a wonderful meeting!

Whether this reunion took place on Sunday or not, from here on the Scriptures show the churches meeting on the first day of the week. There is not even one passage hinting that they met together on Saturday and that is true even into the earliest writings of the primitive church. 

The next important event in the Scriptural record was the formal coming of the Holy Spirit, which took place at Pentecost seven weeks after Jesus’ resurrection. The Mosaic Law of Pentecost was written by God so that its dual ceremonies always fell upon a Sunday (Lev 23:15). Again we find the disciples gathered with one accord in one place (Acts 2:1), even though there was no reason to meet that particular Sunday (the Pentecost rituals were priest-only affairs). Nevertheless, the disciples had already established the custom of meeting on Sunday, so on the morning of Pentecost they were congregated to commemorate Jesus’ resurrection upon that day and at that very time of day (Acts 2:15). The Pentecost ritual is just one of many strong indications that the New Covenant would feature a change in the manner and day of worship.

The fledgling Church was, however, made up entirely of Jews who had no idea of beginning a new religion. The Apostles and disciples continued to observe the Jewish customs, keep the Sabbath and attend the festivals. This only began to change after God revealed to Peter His great plan to extend mercy to the Gentiles (Acts 10:28). The Apostles, Paul in particular, would use the Jewish Sabbath as an opportunity to preach (Acts 16:13; 17:2; 18:4), but the Christian meeting was held on Sunday….upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread (Acts 20:7; 1Cor 16:2). Again, the ceremony of Communion, the Lord’s supper, was a central reason for this weekly church meeting (1Cor 11:17-34).

The earliest church writers, without exception, describe the normal meeting of the churches upon the first day of the week:

• “But every Lord’s day, do ye gather yourselves together, and break bread…” (Didache, ca 80 AD).
• “…[Jewish Christians] who were brought up in the ancient order of things have come to the possession of a new hope, no longer observing the Sabbath, but living in the observance of the Lord’s Day, on which also our life has sprung up again by Him and by His death ” (Ignatius, ca 100 AD).
• “Wherefore, also, we keep the eighth day with joyfulness, the day also on which Jesus rose again from the dead” (Epistle of Barnabas, ca 100 AD).
• “And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read…Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly…” (Justin Martyr, ca 130 A.D, First Apology, ch67). “For we too would observe the fleshly circumcision, and the Sabbaths, and in short all the feasts, if we did not know for what reason they were enjoined you” (Dialogue with Trypho the Jew, ch18).
• “We devote Sunday to rejoicing, from a far different reason than Sun-worship” (Tertullian, ca 200 AD).

These are powerful, early evidences that the churches of Christ were accustomed to meeting on Sunday. Proponents for Saturday worship are forced to either impugn these testimonies and/or somehow make the Lord’s day to be a reference to Saturday. Yet in his writing, Ignatius separated the Sabbath from the Lord’s Day, which he names as the day that Jesus rose from the dead. Additionally, John was in the spirit on the Lord’s day when the Lord met him once again and communicated the Apocalypse (Rev 1:10). By the time the Revelation was written (ca 96 A.D.), the first day of the week had probably already come to be called the Lord’s day, in recognition of His resurrection. This doesn’t mean that the Apostles or early church did not recognize the Sabbath at all, but that the Christian meeting was held on Sunday. 

Unfortunately, many who advocate Sabbath-keeping are really not interested in honestly seeking the truth – they just want to “prove” their belief. This has given rise to a lot of misinformation due to highly biased manipulation of the texts and specious interpretations thereof, for the Sabbathites only recourse is to enter into complex arguments explaining why the writings do not really mean what they plainly say, and why certain words do not actually mean what they appear to mean! Unhappily, their best argument is to undermine and cast doubt upon the authenticity of the ancient texts. We live in a day where sensational age-old “truths” are supposedly being newly discovered, but at the expense of much distortion, spin and new interpretation of very clear texts. I am truly amazed at the lengths that many will go to overturn the plain and simple reading of the Scriptures themselves, the saddest example of that being the complete nullification of Col 2:16 by grammatical tricks and nuances.

While on this topic, let us recognize that we use the early church writings to understand what the early churches believed and practiced, not to establish doctrines of the Bible. The Scriptures alone are authoritative for doctrine and instruction in righteousness (2Tim 3:16). Much of the squabbling about what the early church believed or didn’t believe is a distraction from the real issue at hand and those who initiate it are content with that diversion. Do not be detoured from the real search to determine what the New Testament teaches concerning the keeping of the Sabbath. We will find that it is not silent on that topic.

The real posture of Sabbath-keepers is to elevate the Old Testament commandments above the New Testament. Likely they would protest against that assessment, but I stand firm in it. Genesis 2:3 is their foremost proof-text: And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made. They argue that this early truth is universally in effect and forever fixed. Since this command of God even predates the Law, it MUST rule for all time, they say. Why then do they not follow the law of circumcision? It too was given long before the Law as an everlasting covenant (see Paul’s argument in Rom 4). We will return to examine Genesis 2:3 later, but recognize here that this argument is the old bait-and-switch tactic. By quoting the Old Testament they make us appear to be arguing against the Scripture, yet we too believe that Genesis 2:3 is good, true and right, along with the fourth commandment of Exodus 20:8-11. Yet even the Ten Commandments, which constitute the foundational unchanging moral law of God for mankind, are not rigidly static laws. A key feature of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount was the expansion and refitting of those Ten Commandments for appropriate usage in the New Covenant. So we believe the fourth commandment continues in force along with the other nine, but will show conclusively that all ten have been re-applied conducive to the purposes of the New Covenant. The Old Covenant is just that – old (Heb 8:13).

Today we obey the Ten Commandments as they are explained by Jesus in the New Testament. Under the Old Covenant, Thou shalt not kill, did not have the same meaning as it does under the New. Thou shalt not commit adultery is newly defined to include lust and immoral thoughts. Thou shalt not bear false witness now extends to every idle word that man shall speak. When the Old Covenant said, Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, it meant that oaths given in God’s name were to be strictly performed and kept, but in the New Covenant it means to refrain from all oaths. Under the New Covenant, bowing down to a graven image is not just literal idolatry, but extends to the worship of material possessions:  he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. Each of the Ten Commandments have been newly expanded and redefined in the spirit and intent of the New Covenant. For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the Law (Heb 7:12).

All of the Ten Commandments are addressed in the Gospels and most are recited virtually verbatim. The fourth commandment however, is a special case. It is not really repeated in the New Testament and is notably absent from Jesus’ answer to the young Jew who asked Him which commandments he should keep in order to inherit eternal life: Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself (Mat 19:18-19). One would expect Jesus to have included, Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy, if it is so essential and important to God as the sabbath-keepers claim.

Due to the absence of a direct injunction, some say the fourth commandment has been completely discarded in the New Testament. I was once of that opinion. The general rule followed by most Anabaptist groups is that we do not follow Old Testament rules and laws unless they are repeated in the New, and we will search in vain therein for any clear declaration of the fourth commandment. Some passages even speak against keeping the Sabbath (Col 2:16, for example).

Several facts have caused me to reconsider. First, while Jesus may not have distinctly repeated the commandment, neither did He pronounce its end, even when presented with several golden opportunities (see Luke 6, for example). Instead, as with the other commandments, He gave it additional meaning. Second, the general rule of periodically setting aside one day to honor the God of all grace is a reasonable service of the redeemed. It would seem highly inappropriate to entirely annul that form. Third, the Scriptures do enjoin formal meetings of the church body and it is only natural that these are undertaken upon a set day of the week. In sum, we believe that the body of New Testament Scripture indicates that the spirit of the fourth commandment continues, but that the letter of it has ended (2Cor 3:6). 

It is commonly thought that one reason God instituted the New Covenant is because the Old Law was too difficult for Man to keep. That is false. The truth is that no law is so high and lofty, so stringent and strict, so exceedingly difficult to keep, as the one Jesus laid out in the Gospels! It is altogether the highest code of conduct and worship ever proposed to mankind and it can only have originated in the mind of God (see Mat 5:20; Rom 8:4). The Law of Christ speaks first to the heart of man, who then must act in the world according to those precepts. This basic and foremost premise applies to all of the Ten Commandments. Unfortunately, some well-meaning churches fail to appreciate this truth and attempt to promote spirituality by legislation.       

So we do not have to reject either Genesis 2:3 or Exodus 20:8 in order to follow the Apostles’ example of meeting on Sunday. That, however, has apparently escaped the notice of many who claim to be following the commandment of remembering the Sabbath day to keep it holy and yet inconsistently do not obey the rules as they are set forth in the Scriptures! Instead, they have made a Sabbath law all of their own. They typically refrain from remunerated work beginning very strictly on the evening of each Friday in accordance to the Jewish Law’s reckoning of days, but then they ignore the rest of that Law and prepare food, kindle fires and do all manner of personal work and recreation on that day. Consistency dictates that one either follow the Sabbath as detailed in the Old Covenant, or eschew it entirely in favor of the New Covenant precept. 

Moreover, many Sabbath-keepers that argue the meanings of words in the texts of the Scripture and early church writings have overlooked the fact that beyond changing the day, the Apostles and early church also stopped keeping any day holy as defined by Judaism. In other words, they didn’t just change the day from Saturday to Sunday but go on following the same sabbath law. For one example, see Tertullian’s, Of the Observance of the Sabbath. 

As already mentioned, Saturday-worship proponents argue that the Sabbath commandment was in force before it was commanded in the Mosaic law. Citing Genesis 2:3, they teach that from Adam unto Moses the faithful patriarchs kept the seventh day holy to the Lord. There is no affirmative indication of that statement anywhere in the Scriptures, but even conceding the point our position is unaffected: the Old Testament commandments were refitted by Jesus Christ to correspond with a New Covenant that God has made with His people. The laws of the Old have been fulfilled and completed in Christ, who did not destroy the Law, but inaugurated a new one to take its place (Mat 5:17). It is a better Covenant that builds upon the Old, but with new and better promises (Heb 8:6).

Sabbath-keepers propose that the first rule God made after creating the Universe was to require Man to keep the Sabbath day holy. It would seem the fourth commandment is the most important of all laws! It is far more likely that Genesis 2:2-3 is God’s communication to Moses some 2,000 years later so that he might give better foundation to the sabbath law that He instituted at the time of the Jewish exodus. In fact, God Himself said the Sabbath was given to the Jews after their bondage:  I caused them to go forth out of the land of Egypt, and…I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD that sanctify them (Eze 20:10-12). This should put an end to all arguments that keeping Saturday holy is a universal, timeless law of God. 

Nevertheless, let’s suppose Genesis 2:2 actually is intended for us today. How are we to keep it holy? There’s nothing in it about worship, about not working, or about what time of day it began and ended. The bare fact is that the Old Testament shows God establishing a pattern in Genesis that was incorporated into the Jewish Covenant many years later. However, I am inclined to agree that God’s blessing continues upon every seventh day, although I am more influenced by its inclusion in the Ten Commandments than by its appearance in the Creation Account. Nevertheless, it is logical that it be reapplied in the New Covenant along with the other nine. 

Exactly how has the fourth commandment been affected in the revamping of the Covenants? First, in keeping with the core difference between the two Covenants, the spiritual aspects of keeping the day holy is emphasized over the bodily, physical aspects. Under the Old Covenant, keeping the Sabbath holy and observing the rite of circumcision were the most important mandates of the Law. They were identity markers, or constant reminders to the Israelite nation of God’s covenant with them. And they were formulated using very strict applications to the physical world. Under the New Covenant, setting aside one day of the week to publicly honor God may serve a similar purpose, but the final result is to worship Him in spirit and truth (John 4:24); it is time set apart for sacred communion between God and the human soul (Rev 1:10).   

The Fourth Commandment reads as follows: Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates (Ex 20:8-10). The Law defined “work” to include all physical exercise (Ex 16:29), even to preparing food (Ex 16:23) and making a fire (Ex 35:3). Jesus however, did not follow the sabbath Law – at least in the way the Pharisees interpreted it. Neither did He reaffirm it verbally. On several occasions the Jewish leaders confronted Christ for not keeping the Sabbath according to the Law. The Son of Man is Lord even of the sabbath, He responded (Mat 12:8). It is lawful on the sabbath days to do good (Luke 6:9). The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath (Mark 2:27). These are the principles that teach the new meaning of the Sabbath and they come straight from the lips of our Leader Himself. 

While Jesus did not challenge the validity of the sabbath law, it is clear that He did change the spirit of the law such that it conflicted with Jewish practice. Yet in saying, The Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath, He proclaimed that He had the right to redefine it! Jesus taught that in the New Covenant, the Sabbath would be for the benefit of man. It would become the best time for the spiritual man to work in doing good. Jesus made clay on the sabbath to anoint a blind man’s eyes (John 9); He told the cripple to carry his bed on the sabbath (John 5); His disciples picked corn on the sabbath (Mat 12:1-2); He healed a withered hand in the synagogue on the sabbath (Mat 12). And the coup-de-grace took place on a certain sabbath when, under the disapproving eyes of the Jews, He said, I must work the works of Him that sent Me, and then He healed a man blind from his birth (John 9). Indeed, the many clashes between Jesus and the Jews over the Sabbath day makes it seem like Jesus purposely picked that day to work miracles. Certainly He was teaching us something.

According to Jesus, the new spirit of the command to keep the seventh day holy is not to burden man with cumbersome duties, but to benefit him and others in body and soul. In the New Covenant, one day set aside to rest from the labors of life is a privilege and a blessing! And yet, keeping the day holy is a voluntary act, a personal expression of our commitment and love for Christ. Under the Old Covenant, the law of the tithe required giving a portion of one’s belongings to God, while the law of the Sabbath required giving a portion of one’s time to God. Both are not repeated as commandments under the New Covenant because the rule has become stricter! Now we give all our possessions to God and all of our time. Justin Martyr, who we quoted earlier, reasoned similarly to the Jews of his day: “The new law requires you to keep perpetual sabbath, and you, because you are idle for one day, suppose you are pious, not discerning why this has been commanded you” (Dialogue with Trypho, ch12).

Perhaps you are thinking, “Ok, maybe Jesus did change the spirit of the sabbath law, but He didn’t change the day from Saturday to Sunday.” Well, maybe not in so many words, but in practical example He did much to effect that change. For some reason, He chose to work on the Sabbath, to rise from the dead on the day following the Sabbath, and to appear again and again to His disciples on Sunday.

The epistles of the Apostles are even more emphatic in exalting the Lord’s Day over the Sabbath. Hebrews 4 explains that the Old Testament Sabbath rest pre-figures the New Testament believer’s continual spiritual rest in Christ: We which have believed do enter into rest (Heb 4:3). However, a future, eternal sabbath rest awaits in the heavens: There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God (Heb 4:9). Those who wish to keep the Sabbath rest on earth do not recognize that they are in effect living in the past, for the core difference between the two covenants is dramatically illustrated by the fourth commandment. The Old Covenant was ordained in such fashion that a man “worked” to gain a promised future rest, but the Christian begins his week by resting in what Christ has worked for him. The Old Covenant proved that man cannot gain salvation by his own works (Rom 8:3). In the New Covenant, we work because of our salvation (Eph 2:10). 

In keeping with these grand differences, it is only appropriate that a new seventh day be observed and it is natural that it be the Lord’s Day, Sunday, the day that our Savior rose from the dead. How natural that we begin the week by resting in His work of love and worshipping Him for that unspeakable grace! Then we use the other six days to labor in His vineyard. In the New Covenant, we might paraphrase Genesis 2:3 as follows: “God blessed the eighth day and sanctified it, because that on it He had raised Jesus Christ from the dead.” Notice that by saying this we do not change the fundamental pattern of Genesis 2:2, that every seventh day is a day of rest, sanctified and holy for the Lord. How blessed it is!

The Law had many Sabbaths. Besides the seventh-day Sabbath, there were feast-day Sabbaths, seventh year Sabbaths and fiftieth year Sabbaths (Lev 25:4-12). All of these were a shadow of things to come. They have been fulfilled in Christ and have not been reaffirmed as mandates under the New Covenant. That does not mean the fourth commandment has been abolished, but that its earlier purpose has been fulfilled. As with all the Ten Commandments, it has been refitted for good purposes in the New.

• Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain (Gal 4:10-11).
• Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ (Col 2:16-17).
• One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it (Rom 14:5-6).

These verses are emphatically against Sabbath-keeping, at least in the form and practice of Judaism. Only by sleight of grammar and mind can they be taken any other way (2Pet 3:16). However, while the Old Testament rules concerning the Sabbath are no longer in effect, I cannot think that there is no purpose for the fourth commandment under the New Covenant. The preceding warnings must be taken alongside the warning not to forsake the assembly of the church (Heb 10:25).

The Ten Commandments are underpinned by two greater, immutable Laws: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, and, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself (Mat 23:37-40). The first four of the Ten Commandments pertain to the former and the last six pertain to the latter. In the Old Covenant, those two laws were primarily concentrated upon physical actions but in the New Covenant, they are first aimed at the spiritual heart of man, who then puts them into physical action.

Strict enforcement of form and practice tends to obscure the spirit of any rite or ordinance, a fact which explains the sharp change from very detailed Old Covenant rites to unregulated New Covenant ordinances. Baptism and Communion are hallowed ordinances in Christianity, but the Bible leaves their exact pattern of observance astonishingly undefined. Very sadly, many churches ignore this striking fact and have forced these ordinances into molds that may not be varied on pain of dis-fellowship and charges of heresy. Such strict and literal requirements do nothing for the Church of Christ and heavily detract from the deeper spiritual purpose of these beautiful types. This is acutely true for sabbath-keeping. Forcing all to worship on Saturday and further defining it in stringent detail misses, to great detriment, the spirit of the commandment.

This was the chief error of Jewish legalism and Jesus severely reprimanded them for it (see Mat 23). Legalism ignores the context, or accompanying situation, and demands unbending obedience to the rule even when it conflicts in principle with another rule. Liberty recognizes and submits to the rule of law, but remembers that context and situation also matter and that other rules may be at play. The legalism of the Pharisees found a way to negate the command to honor one’s parents by invoking the command to tithe (Mark 7:10-13). Jesus’ example in keeping the law of the Sabbath is according to the law of liberty and not legalism. Obviously, there are many New Testament laws that circumstances can neither affect nor qualify. It’s much like the laws of mathematics, in which 4+4=8 without fail, but 2x+3y=12 has an infinite number of combinations for x and y that will yield the same answer of twelve.  

Given that the fourth commandment is not declared to be a Law in the same fashion as 4+4=8, I believe that God expects us to wisely decide how to keep holy the Lord’s seventh day – note by a set of unchanging rules that define what is sinful and what isn’t, but by guidelines which are not over-ruled by other rules and circumstances. Deciding to avoid traveling on Sunday is not legalistic, but dictating that it is unlawful to ever travel on Sunday may be entering too far along the path of the Pharisees. Deciding to avoid buying things on Sunday is not legalistic, but making it to be a sin requiring church confession no matter the circumstances seems equally unwise. This view may not find popular agreement in some Anabaptist communities, but I believe it does follow Jesus’ own example in dealing with the Jews on their Sabbath.

I am not arguing for libertarianism, relativism, or the unimportance of church guidelines. The rule of law is based firmly on Scriptural authority. And let us remember that the only Judge who counts is weighing not just the outward actions, but our very thoughts and motives. If there is any idea of using this liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, think again! The point I am attempting to make is that in the course of our lives we will be presented with many diverse situations and opportunities. Let us follow the wise, good example of Christ and not the dead legalism of the Pharisees.

Why then did the Apostle warn to let no man judge us concerning the keeping of the Sabbath? (Col 2:16). If this paper has been successful, the answer is not that difficult: the old manner of remembering the Sabbath day has been updated to fit New Covenant precepts. There is no purpose to following old laws and rituals that have been fulfilled in Christ and His Kingdom. The epistle to the Galatians warns that to keep the OT law is to deny Christ (Gal 5:2).

And yet, the Apostle recognizes that, One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. (Rom 14:5). The context of that passage involves sincere Jews who had converted to Christianity but were still keeping various Jewish traditions, such as not eating certain meats and keeping the Sabbath as prescribed by the Law. It warns against judging our brother’s conscience, and asks that the believing Jews and Gentiles accept each other in the Lord. For whatsoever is not of faith is sin (Rom 14:23).

This is the New Testament solution to those who worship the Lord. Let us not judge those whose consciences lead them to keep the Sabbath on Saturday (Rom 14:5). And we urge them in turn to not judge us in meats, drink, holy days, or Sabbaths (Col 2:16-17). The Apostle concludes his exhortation, Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another (Rom 14:19). That seems a fitting conclusion to this examination.

 The Ten Commandments in the book of Matthew:

1. Thou shalt not have any other gods before Me ……………………(Mat 4:10; 6:24)
2. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain…….(Mat 5:33)
3. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image………………..(Mat 19:21)
4. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy ………………………….(Mat 12:1-12)
5. Honor thy father and mother ……………………………………………….(Mat 15:4)
6. Thou shalt not kill …………………………………………………………………(Mat 5:21)
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery …………………………………………..(Mat 5:27)
8. Thou shalt not steal………………………………………………………………(Mat 19:18)
9. Thou shalt not bear false witness …………………………………………(Mat 5:33)
10. Thou shalt not covet …………………………………………………………….(Mat 23:11-12; Luke 12:15)