Note 1: This is long. Read only if the topic is interesting. Otherwise, you will think I am very boring.

Note 2: All references I use are in the ESV.

Recently, I was confronted by a theological issue that I never thought about much before. The Fourth Commandment is the keeping of the Sabbath Day. Jesus said in Matthew 5:17, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” So the Law still stands. Why is it that the majority of modern Protestant Christians adhere to every single one of the Ten Commandments but the fourth? Have they been blind all this time?

My first thought was to think of an excuse. Maybe it’s not that big of a deal. I sleep on the seventh day, so that might be good enough. But careful reading of Exodus 20 (The Ten Commandments) points in the opposite direction. “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”

Exodus 31:12-17 puts it in a darker context. “And the Lord said to Moses, ‘You are to speak to the people of Israel and say, “Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the Lord, sanctify you. You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you. Everyone who profanes it shall be put to death. Whoever does any work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall be put to death. Therefore the people of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, observing the Sabbath throughout their generations, as a covenant forever. It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.”‘”

What the. “Whoever does any work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among the people.” And God walked the talk. This is Numbers 15:32-36.

“While the people of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day. And those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation. They put him in custody, because it had not been made clear what should be done to him. And the Lord said to Moses, ‘The man shall be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp.’ And all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death with stones, as the Lord commanded Moses.”

Evidently, this keeping of the Sabbath was a big deal. People died for breaking it. This random guy was killed for gathering sticks. What if I do homework, or what if I buy groceries?

That is the background information of my predicament. I have since discovered a beautiful truth through various conversations that I would like to share with you, though it is still very much debated in the Christian community. I now believe that keeping the Sabbath day in the same sense that the Israelites did is now not necessary, but at the same time a greater calling has been given to us. Are you being heretical, Larry? No. Now I will explain why I think this way.

Point #1: The New Testament repeats every one of the Ten Commandments in some way or form multiple times except for the Fourth Commandment. It is mentioned briefly in Hebrews, and that is all.

Point #2: Paul seemed to oppose the idea of adhering to a Sabbath day. Galatians 4:9-11 says, “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! I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain.” Colossians 2:16 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.”

Point #3: Jesus often opposed those who stressed the following of the Sabbath. Examples would include Luke 6:1-5, Luke 6:6-11, Luke 13:10-17, Luke 14:1-6, John 5:1-18, and John 9:1-41. The ones in John are particularly interesting. John 5:18 says, “This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.” Note that this is not just the Pharisees claiming that Jesus broke the Sabbath. This was said by the narrator, John the Apostle. John the Apostle said himself that Jesus was breaking the Sabbath. In John 9, Jesus heals a blind man on the Sabbath, and the Pharisees say of Jesus, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath” (v16). That makes sense. If breaking the Sabbath was a sin, then Jesus would not be perfect and therefore would not be God. After a series of exchanges, the healed man says, “We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him.” God obviously listened to Jesus, because Jesus healed the blind man. Logically, then, Jesus did not sin when He healed that man on the Sabbath. How is disobeying the Fourth Commandment not a sin? How is disobeying any commandment not a sin? This leads to Point #4.

Point #4: Let’s look at the similar case of circumcision. Genesis 17:10-14 says, “This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.” How can God be any clearer? Be circumcised if you are a guy. And it uses the same language. Anyone who disobeys shall be cut off from his people. But what happens in the New Testament? 1 Corinthians 7:18-19 says, “Was anyone at the time of his call already circumcised? Let him not seek to remove the marks of circumcision. Was anyone at the time of his call uncircumcised? Let him not seek circumcision. For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God.” Here there is a clear distinction between circumcision and keeping God’s commandments. Paul seems to say that circumcision or uncircumcision is not a command of God anymore. That is very interesting. That means that some rules applied to the ancient Israelites that don’t apply to us anymore. This implication actually became a truth in Acts.

Point #5: Ancient Jewish laws are no longer applicable to Gentile Christians. Acts 15:1-21 describes the Jerusalem Council. This council was called because people disagreed on whether or not Gentile Christians had to be circumcised like the Jews were. The final decision was no, Christians don’t have to follow ancient Jewish laws. In fact verse ten called the Jewish laws “a yoke on the neck of our disciples.” James had the final word, in which he provided specific cases in which Gentiles should adhere to Jewish law, and they should do so when around Jews so that they do not create stumbling blocks for them (This idea of refraining from certain rules to prevent people from stumbling is expounded in I Corinthians 8). James said in v19-20, “Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood.” Of those, the Sabbath is not listed. Why are there then two sets of rules?

Point #6 (This might be confusing. Skip to Point #7 if so.): God has established a New Covenant. The reason why we have two sets of rules is because God has established a New Covenant through Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 3 is an amazing chapter that is very relevant, but for the sake of time I’ll only hit on a few points. Verse 3 says, “And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.” Previously, God wrote His rules on tablets of stone, but now He convicts hearts with the Spirit. Verse 6 says, “For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” This is similar to Paul’s tie between the Law and death in Romans. The law allows us to be aware of our sin, and people literally died because of the law (the dude who gathered sticks). Paul goes on to write, “Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses’ face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory.” Basically, the giving of the law, which is death, was accompanied with much glory. Then, all the more so, the giving of the Spirit will be accompanied with more glory. On top of that, the old glory has been “brought to an end” (v7). There is now no more glory in following ancient Jewish laws. “But wait!” you exclaim. Does that mean God changed His mind? Isn’t He an unchanging God? And didn’t Jesus say that He did not come to abolish the Law? The answer is no, He did not change His mind. And yes, He is an unchanging God. And yes, Jesus did say that.

Point #7: The New Covenant is an expansion of the Old Covenant. Everything in the Old Testament was a foreshadowing of what was to come, and everything was fulfilled by Jesus Christ. For example, Abraham was told to sacrifice Isaac in Genesis 22. Isaac willingly carried wood up a mountain and willingly laid down his life. This was a pointer to Jesus willingly carrying the cross and willingly dying. Jesus’ death was final. After His death, animal sacrifices no longer need to be made (Hebrews 9, 10). Then why did we have animal sacrifices before? Hebrews 10:1 calls these laws “a shadow of the good things to come” (also Colossians 2:17). They were pointers to Jesus Christ. So we’re off the hook now? By no means!

Point #8: Jesus did not come to abolish the law. In fact He raised the standard. The significance of circumcision is talked about in Romans 2:28-29, which says, “For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.” We are not transformed outwardly but inwardly by the Spirit. So, circumcision, though different, still exists. It is now an inward circumsion rather than an outward circumsion, and it is much harder to live with inward circumcision. Fair enough. A more well-known example would be Matthew 5:21-26, where Jesus says that anybody who is angry toward a brother has murdered him in his heart. Also, in Matthew 5:27-30, Jesus says that anybody who looks at a woman with lustful intent has committed adultery in his heart. If He raises the standard for these, what does that mean for the Sabbath?

Point #9: Hebrews 4:9. This is the only NT command to follow the Sabbath. I read through the chapter several times, and I still don’t understand a lot of it. But Hebrews 4:9 seems to clearly support the Sabbath. “So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God,” and the method of doing this is explained in the following verse. “…for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.” Therefore having a Sabbath rest is to enter God’s rest. What is God’s rest? Jesus says in Matthew 11:28, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” God’s rest is the action of coming to Jesus. In other words, it is to believe and trust Jesus with our life. We can never “work” our way into heaven, but we can “rest” in the assurance that Jesus will get us there. Therefore, obeying the Sabbath is simply believing and trusting Jesus to be our Savior and Lord. So now what?

Point #10: We rest in Jesus Christ. This is not the abolishing of the Sabbath but the fulfillment of the Sabbath. What was the original purpose of the Sabbath? “Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the Lord, sanctify you” (Exodus 31:13). The Sabbath originally was the reminder that God is the one who sanctifies. The Israelites were to keep the Sabbath so that they can remember that what they have is not a result of the work that they do. It is a result of God’s provision. This core purpose of the Sabbath has been fulfilled beyond imagination. God, through Jesus Christ, has sanctified us once and for all, for He has provided us Himself, and we need not to do anything but rest in this assurance, or as the author of Hebrews writes in Hebrews 4:11, “Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.” This resting is not laziness. It requires striving. Why? Because Jesus’ fulfillment of the Sabbath law did not abolish the law. In fact, He raised the standard. The Bible is clear that the Christian life is not limited to one day of the week like the original Sabbath law. We are to pick up our cross daily and follow Him (Luke 9:23). Every moment of our life throughout eternity should be dedicated to the Christian life. That is what it means to rest. That is what it means to keep the Sabbath.

Beautiful. God rested on the seventh day to teach us to rest. Then He brought the Fourth Commandment to us as a law so that we are without excuse, in order to provide a shadow of what was to come. Then He provides a means for us to obey this law, and that is to rest in Jesus Christ, the fulfillment of the Law.

– Larry