{"id":4361,"date":"2019-05-16T14:00:53","date_gmt":"2019-05-16T19:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=4361"},"modified":"2019-05-16T14:00:53","modified_gmt":"2019-05-16T19:00:53","slug":"how-should-christians-regard-the-sabbath","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-should-christians-regard-the-sabbath\/","title":{"rendered":"How Should Christians Regard the Sabbath?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\tby Ken Weliever
\nvia The Preacher\u2019s Word\n

The fourth commandment simply says, \u201cRemember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy<\/em>\u201d (Exodus 20:7).<\/p>\n

First of all, it\u2019s important to remember the regulations, restrictions as well as the basis of the Sabbath. The text provides some insight.<\/p>\n

\u201cSix days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it<\/em>\u201d (Exodus 20:9-11).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Observance of the Sabbath has its roots in the Genesis account following creation. \u201cAnd on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it<\/em>\u201d (Genesis 2:2-3).<\/p>\n

Thus God instructed Moses that the Sabbath become a day of rest and worship. Even the animals rested. It was also a day for Israel to remember the Lord\u2019s work when he delivered them from Egyptian bondage (Deuteronomy 5:15). Specified animal sacrifices were offered to the Lord on the Sabbath (Numbers 28:9-10). \u00a0Furthermore, the Sabbath served as a sign of God\u2019s covenant with Israel (Exodus 31:12-17).<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also important to note that violating the Sabbath was a serious matter. The death penalty was inflicted on those who intentionally broke the Sabbath (Exodus 31:14-15). In fact, Israel\u2019s disregard for the Sabbath was one of the reasons they were exiled into Babylonian captivity (Jeremiah 17:21-27).<\/p>\n

So, as we have briefly observed, the Sabbath was a uniquely Old Testament command. As we pointed out in our previous post, Paul affirmed that the \u201claw of commandments\u201d was abolished \u201cthrough the cross\u201d (Ephesians 2:14ff). And the \u201cbond written in ordinances\u201d which included feast days, Sabbath worship and other Old covenant commands, was taken out of the way, having been nailed to the cross (Colosians 2:14-16).<\/p>\n

Dr. D. A. Carson was right when he wrote, \u201cWe believe the Old Testament regulations governing Sabbath observances\u2026are no longer in force, but have passed away along with the sacrificial system, the Levitical priesthood, and all other aspects of Moses\u2019 law that prefigured Christ.\u201d<\/p>\n

The post-apostolic patristic writers, including Justin Martyr, Clement of Alexandria, and Tertullian, uniformly agreed that Christians worshiped on Sunday, the 1st day of the week, not Saturday, the 7th day of the week. Eusebius (A.D. 324), known as the \u201cfather of church history,\u201d stated that Sabbath observance does not \u201cbelong to Christians.\u201d On the other hand, he asserted that Christians \u201ccelebrate the Lord\u2019s day . . . in commemoration of his resurrection\u201d (26,113).<\/p>\n

The first day of the week, Sunday, is a uniquely God-ordained day under the New Covenant:<\/p>\n