More Thoughts on Sabbath Keeping

This was posted by Lee Wishing, who has a regular column with WORLD Magazine (for whom my son-in-law worked for several years),  on the Grove City College Vision and Values site.

Entitled, Sabbath Wrestling, the piece certainly is aptly named.  When you read the comment section, you'll understand.


Remember the Sabbath day by keeping 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, neither you, nor your son or daughter, not your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates.  For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day.  Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.  Exodus 20: 8-11 (NIV)

"Of all the commandments, which is the most important?"
"The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'  The second is this:  'Love your neighbor as yourself.'  There is no commandment greater than these."  Mark 12: 28c-31.  (NIV)

One Man's Look at the Sabbath Keeping Issue

This excerpt from an upcoming book, Is the Sabbath Still Required for Christians?, was posted on Justin Taylor's blog.  This is one man's answer to my Sabbath keeping question.

I think the comments are interesting to read as well.

Yes, I do believe the Lord's Day is what we observe and the ceremonial and dietary laws do not apply.   We are not saved by keeping the Law, but, I believe, we show our obedience through our attempts at keeping it.

This is what the Westminster Confession says on, Of the Law of God.

Here is what the Westminster Larger Catechism says, beginning with Question/Answer #99.

We are not saved by the keeping of the Sabbath, or the Lord's Day.  I do believe biblically, that Christ summarizes the moral law when he said we are to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and our neighbor as ourselves.   G. I. Williamson, in his commentary on the Confession, says that we may rightly infer the divisions of the law of God in this statement. 

I admit, that I am not a theologian and do not know enough of my Westminster Confession.  That said, I'm not sure that I agree with the article on Mr. Taylor's blog.

The Gospel frees us from the killing judgment of the Law.  It liberates us from the curse of Law; but it never denigrates the Law of God.  The Gospel saves us not from duty, but unto duty by which the Law of God is established.  --R. C. Sproul in the forward to Reasons for Duty, by John H. Gerstner

Sabbath Keeping

Our Sunday school class is looking at what the PCA, my denomination, believes on certain issues.  The last several weeks has been on worship.  Today, we were ending the worship discussion and the homework that we were to read included a section of the Westminster Confession of Faith (scroll down to pages 19 & 20) and it's statements about the Sabbath or Sunday and what is expected.  The last part of the section on "Religious Worship and the Sabbath Day" says this:

viii. This Sabbath is then kept holy unto the Lord, when men, after a due preparing of their hearts, and ordering of their common affairs beforehand, do not only observe an holy rest, all the day, from their own works, words, and thoughts about their worldly employments and recreations;(1) but also are taken up, the whole time, in the public and private exercises of His worship, and in the duties of necessity and mercy.(2)



(1) Ex 20:8; Ex 16:23,25,26,29,30; Ex 31:15; Ne 13:15-19,21,22.


(2) Isa 58:13; Mt 12:1-13.
 
Now, I don't know if we ran out of time, which happens a great deal, but we never got here.  Our family does  not keep the Sabbath perfectly--not even close--but I would love someone to make a stand about this!!  Does God change his mind?  What about the way He talks about the keeping of the Sabbath in the Old Testament?  I think He is serious.  Sunday has become another Saturday.  Our culture has lost any concept of what this day really means and the reason God commanded it.  Many think that if they have attended church service, they are done--card is punched.  We can do whatever we want. 
 
Of course, I am old enough to remember the days when the stores were all closed on Sunday, except for the drug store for a few hours.  It was a great scandal when our local corner store opened at noon for people to get the Sunday paper.  My dad told me that they were only permitted to read the Bible or nap on Sundays when he was a boy.  They were not even permitted to read the Sunday comic strip.  How far we have come.
 
I just want to know if God has changed or if our culture has perverted this day so badly that it seems that it cannot be redeemed.
 
If God commanded a day of rest, he has good reasons.  We work against this perfect plan when we disobey. Will there be some sort of judgement on our nation, or on us personally?  I don't really know. 
 
I want to understand how to do Sunday in an obedient way.  Please tell me how!!

No doubt, I need to start with blogging on Sunday.  This was something I had to get off my chest.
 
O LORD,
We commune with thee every day,
   but week days are worldly days,
   and secular concerns reduce heavenly impressions.
We bless the therefore for the day sacred to our souls
   when we can wait upon thee and be refreshed...
--an excerpt from Worship from the Valley of Vision