Sabbath in the True Story | Part 3

Today we finish our three-part series on the Sabbath. Read Part One and Part Two.

What response is the Christian to make regarding the Sabbath today? Is the observance of the Sabbath necessary, or has it been reinterpreted? We’ve already seen that this is precisely the point the writer to the Hebrews addresses in Hebrews 4:10. The Sabbath observance in which the New Testament people of God are to participate is to enter God’s rest by faith and thereby cease from their works. Since “faith” in Hebrews refers not just to an initial commitment but is an attitude that requires perseverance and endurance (see 6:11, 12; 10:36ff.; 11), this cessation from dead works is not mere inactivity but an ongoing process of dying to self and putting to death of sinful deeds (see Romans 8:13).

The Sabbath applies to our every day and the whole of life. We find these roots in three places in the New Testament:

• The concept of cessation from evil works is found in Hebrews 4:10.
• Paul’s view about treating all days alike is in Romans 14.
• The interpretation of Old Testament laws found in the Sermon on the Mount to the Old Testament Sabbath law.

The old Christian apologist, Justin Martyr, gives this interpretation:

The new law requires you to keep perpetual Sabbath, and you, because you are idle for one day, suppose you are pious … The Lord our God does not take pleasure in such observances; if there is any perjured person or a thief among you, let him cease to be so; if any adulterer, let him repent; then he has kept the sweet and true Sabbath of God.

Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho, Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.200

In this interpretation, believers obey the fourth commandment by devoting all their time to God.

Our discussion has attempted to respect the discontinuity and continuity involved in fulfilling the Sabbath in Christ, how Christ transforms the Sabbath law and guards against a legalism about a particular day, and a lack of concern about our time and activities in connection with God.

The primary focus of the Sabbath was abstention from work, but the observance of the Lord’s Day today centers on the worship of the risen Lord. The Old Testament Sabbath was the seventh day of the week; the New Testament Lord’s Day was the first day. Although the Sabbath was considered a special holy day for the whole day, there is no evidence that the Lord’s Day was regarded in this way; it was simply the appropriate day on which worship was to take place.

A.T. Lincoln puts it succinctly:

“As believers celebrate the salvation rest achieved for them through Christ’s resurrection, they can give thanks that it is not their own achievements or productivity that gives them value in God’s eyes. By the Resurrection they have been liberated and their failures, feeble undertakings and unfinished work need not bring them into bondage. If the Lord’s Day involves joyful celebration of the rest Christ provides, if it involves mutual exhortation to enter into and live out that rest, then believers will not need to worship their work or work at their play, but there will be an inner liberation, a genuine leisure in the way in which they go about both the work and the play of the week to the glory of God…the Lord’s Day may be seen as the day from which the Lord reigns over the rest of the week. When the significance of the Lord’s Day is grasped, every day is transformed, so that in fact it can be said of each day, ‘This is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it’ (Psalm 118:24).

A. T. Lincoln, From Sabbath to Lord’s Day: A Biblical, Historical, and Theological Investigation, 405.

So if our true Sabbath rest is found in Jesus, should we take deliberate Sabbath rest today? No doubt, if we don’t take time without the responsibilities of work, activities, meetings, and chores, we’ll burn out. Our busy, hectic lives often distract us from intentional time in which we watch God work, hear his voice, and remember his faithfulness. Since this is true, it is one practical reason why taking a day of Sabbath rest is strongly encouraged.

Sabbath can is described often as deliberate disengagement. We leave our everyday world to remind ourselves that Jesus is the Lord of our lives, work, and world. But a Sabbath is also deliberate engagement in the gifts and presence of God. During a Sabbath, we observe God’s control, work, mystery, grace, and favor by taking time to see them apart from our control, work, and drive.

Here are some things to consider as you engage in Sabbath rest today:

Pursue Inactivity: Take time to be still and practice silence and solitude. Reflect on all God has done during the previous week and the burdens you carry. Inactivity means you avoid filling the day with kids’ practices, errands, and household chores.

Engage in Prayer: Take time to read God’s word, reflect on it, and pray. Plan prayer times and make prayer a constant priority throughout the day. Family Sabbaths can also be significant; share and pray about what you’re thankful for at work, school, and home. Give thanks for who God is and what He has done.

Play, Create, Enjoy: Sabbath is a sweet gift from a God who loves you. Consider ways you can do enjoyable, enjoyable things. Go on a hike, swim, ski, paint, write, do woodworking, and eat good food, remembering that all these activities are ways to worship God. You may avoid watching television, surfing the Internet, or devouring social media.

Resting in Jesus with you, Church!

–Wade