In part VII and part VIII, we discussed the doctrine of justification by faith alone.  While most Protestant Christians will endorse this Reformation understanding of justification, some believe this doctrine makes the law obsolete, citing the sixth chapter of Romans: “For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace” (Romans 6:14 ESV).  While the Bible teaches that the Christian is no longer under the condemnation of the law, it does not imply that the moral precepts of God’s law are worthless.  Some believe that those who acknowledge an ongoing purpose for the law in the Christian life are one step away from embracing legalism.  But is it legalistic to acknowledge the moral qualities embedded in God’s law?  Does a Christian nullify his salvation and return to a works-based mindset if he asks, having been washed in the blood of Jesus, what God requires of him?

If the Christian seeks to maintain his justification by works of the law, as many within Adventism have historically taught, he clearly contradicts Scripture:

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if justification were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.” (Galatians 2:20-21 ESV)

“For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.” (Romans 3:20 ESV)

Attempting to maintain a state of justification or salvation by works of the law is a heresy the Galatian church was guilty of, drawing the apostle Paul’s strongest rebuke.  It is curious to note that his treatment of the Galatians was much stronger than the way he addressed even the blatantly immoral Corinthians!

“O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” (Galatians 3:1-3 ESV)

Having established that we are in no way justified by keeping the law and that law-keeping does not maintain our justification, the natural question becomes “What is the purpose of the law in the life of a Christian?”

We would be mistaken to discard the law as worthless in the Christian life.  Indeed, without the law as our schoolmaster, we would never have known what sin was and we would not have seen our need for a Savior (Galatians 3:23-26).

But the law does even more than this.  The moral standards contained in God’s law guide the Christian who has already received justification through faith in Jesus.  Obedience does not precede faith, but follows it.

“What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?” (Romans 6:15-16 ESV)

The Christian interacts with the law in a fundamentally different way than the non-Christian.  For the nonbeliever, the law can only arouse sin and rebellion.  As it is written, “The strength of sin is the law.” (1 Corinthians 15:56 KJV) But the believer sees the law fundamentally differently, having died to its condemnation so he can live for Christ.  He desires to be conformed to God’s will (sanctified) as a result of being secure in Christ and through no power of his own, but by the power of the Holy Spirit.

“For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.” (Galatians 2:19-21 ESV)

“And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption.” (1 Corinthians 1:30 ESV)

“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6 ESV)

We receive the desire to obey God’s will out of gratitude, not out of fear, a feeling of obligation, or even “trying to do the right thing.” The law is holy, just and good, and one who is saved by grace should not attempt to minimize God’s law, but rather uphold and rejoice in it, even though this will always be done imperfectly.

“Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.” (Romans 3:31 ESV)

“For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.” (Romans 7:22-23 ESV)

The relationship of the Christian to the law is magnificently summarized in Romans 8.  Answering the rhetorical question “Is a Christian who falls short of God’s law condemned?” the apostle Paul, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit says:

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” (Romans 8:1-4 ESV)

As John MacArthur writes in his commentary on this passage, “Nothing is dearer to God’s heart than the moral and spiritual excellence of those He has created in His own image–and nothing is dearer to them.  He does not want them to have only imputed righteousness but practical righteousness as well.  And that is also what they want.  It is practical righteousness about which Paul speaks here, just as he does in the opening words of his letter to the church at Ephesus: ‘[God] chose us in [Christ] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him’ (Ephesians 1:4).

It is God’s great desire that believers live out the perfect righteousness He reckons to them when they are saved–that they live like His children and no longer like the children of the world and of Satan...the purpose of the gospel is not to make men happy but to make them holy.  As the Beatitudes make clear, genuine happiness comes to those who belong to Christ and are obedient to His will.”

Those who disagree with the ongoing purpose of God’s law in the Christian life will contend that the stance outlined here is just another form of veiled legalism.  It may be argued that because keeping the law cannot merit salvation, acknowledging and living by its moral precepts is pointless.

But as MacArthur rightly concludes, “The Christian’s obligations to God are not another form of legalism.  The person who is genuinely saved has a new and divine nature that is, by definition, attuned to God’s will.  When he lives by his new nature in the power of the Spirit, his desire is God’s desire, and no compulsion is involved.  But because the believer is still clothed in the old self, he sometimes resists God’s will.  It is only when he goes against God’s will and against his own new nature that the divine commands and standards seem burdensome.  On the other hand, the faithful child of God who is obedient from the heart can always say with the psalmist, ‘O how I love Thy law!’ (Psalm 119:97)”

Greg wrote:

“But as MacArthur rightly concludes, “The Christian’s obligations to God are not another form of legalism. The person who is genuinely saved has a new and divine nature that is, by definition, attuned to God’s will. When he lives by his new nature in the power of the Spirit, his desire is God’s desire, and no compulsion is involved. But because the believer is still clothed in the old self, he sometimes resists God’s will. It is only when he goes against God’s will and against his own new nature that the divine commands and standards seem burdensome. On the other hand, the faithful child of God who is obedient from the heart can always say with the psalmist, ‘O how I love Thy law!’ (Psalm 119:97)”
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Thanks Greg for another excellent article. Even as recently as one year ago, I might not have agreed with your points even though I have been out of my legalistic upbringing in Adventism some 24 years now. It is only natural for many of us as former SDAs to have an aversion to anything about the law, because of the way it was used in historic Adventism.

As MacArthur says, if we are truly born again and have become new creations in Christ, we undergo a heart transplant, and the desires of the heart and soul will be to follow Christ, and obey his moral precepts. I can truly say along with David in Psalm 119, ‘Oh, how I love your law’

The real hang-up has to do with the application of the law of God to New Covenant believers. And this is where the issue of the Sabbath plays into it. Because an SDA will come up to us and say,’if you love God’s law, then why don’t you keep Sabbath?’ Well, my Presbyterian church has transferred Saturday to Sunday as the Sabbath, which is not the answer either. MacArthur, himself is not a Sabbatarian in any way, and he wrote the forward to Dale Ratzlaff’s book which I highly recommend “Sabbath in Christ”.

The answer I believe lies in scripture alone, and not in Ellen White or the Westminster Confession (I have issues with my own PCA church, as there is no perfect church). As Greg said, the moral law of God is really found in the whole Bible, with the Decalogue being a basic outline of the moral laws of God. But it is so instructive that the fourth commandment is the one that takes up the most space or numbers of words, as this commandment was also singled out in Exodus 31 as being specifically the sign of the Covenant for Israel. Leviticus 23 specifically says that the seventh-day Sabbath was a ceremonial Sabbath, just as all the other feast days, as the Sabbath is mentioned first, and then the rest of the feasts after that.

In the New Testament, we are actually called to a higher standard of holiness than in the OT. All of our time belongs to Him, and all of our financial resources belong to Christ. But when you see clear references to the Sabbath being only a shadow, (Colossians 2:16,17), then, since this is the last place in the Bible that the word Sabbath (sabbaton) is used, then it becomes clear that this confirms Leviticus 23 and Exodus 31, as clearly meaning the 24 hour day as being only temporary, and connected to the old sacrificial system.

A very serious problem of historical Adventism is when it elevates one specific commandment, the Sabbath, and lifts it to the highest level of importance, and even says that this is the final test that determines who are true Christians vs. false Christians, then this clearly crosses the line into the condemnation of Paul that was very severe, (for example read Galatians 5, and read what Paul tells the Judaizers to do to themselves), because if Sabbath keeping or Circumcision has any merit with regard to salvation, then Christ died in vain. Christ is our true Sabbath rest (sabbatismos) Hebrews 4 in whom we rest 24/7 all the time.

However, at the opposite end of the spectrum are some who say that the Decalogue has no relevance at all to Christians, and some of these folks go so far to say, that, unless a person gives up their keeping of a Sabbath day, which many Christians whether it be Sat. or Sun regard as special time to God, then these folks are not wholly trusting in Christ for their salvation. I wonder what Chuck Missler or Michael Card (both non-SDAs who keep the seventh-day Sabbath) would say to these kinds of statements. However, I understand this view from a former SDA perspective, since keeping the Sabbath WAS tied into our salvation. So, it was indeed freeing to understand that we are no longer in bondage over the keeping of a day. But to be consistent, Romans 14:5,6, must be applied in this regard, that it is entirely optional, as to whether one regards keeping a day to the Lord. And, Romans 14 forbids us from sinning in two ways: 1.) Criticizing and looking down on another Christian who keeps a day holy to the Lord, or 2.) Imposes Sabbathkeeping on other Christians and even calls them Babylon and having the mark of the beast, if they worship on Sunday, or don’t keep a day at all.

The law is a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. The two greatest commandments according to Jesus are 1.) Love the Lord thy God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and 2.) love your neighbor as yourself. These summarize the entire moral law of God, and the fact that none of us are able to completely obey these commands should drive us to our knees, and always drive us back to the cross of Christ. That is why the Reformed and Lutheran traditions believe in always preaching law and gospel together. It is the weight of the law that drives us to Christ, and Christians need to be ever mindful of the demands of the Law, so that we can be continually trusting in Christ and His righteousness, and can trust in the victory Christ won for us at Calvary. The law actually drives us to despair, so we won’t trust our own righteousness, but wholly lean on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Stan

[quote author="Stan"]The law actually drives us to despair, so we won’t trust our own righteousness, but wholly lean on the Lord Jesus Christ.

I hope you’ll indulge me a little as I quote from John Wesley. I’ve discovered a site of his sermons and since SDAism relies on his strand of thought I thought they would be good reading material.

Here is what Wesley said about Justification by Faith; your statement reminded me of his.

[quote author="John Wesley"]It does not become poor, guilty, sinful worms, who receive whatsoever blessings they enjoy, (from the least drop of water that cools our tongue, to the immense riches of glory in eternity,) of grace, of mere favour, and not of debt, to ask of God the reasons of his conduct. It is not meet for us to call Him in question “who giveth account to none of his ways;” to demand, “Why didst thou make faith the condition, the only condition, of justification?…

One reason, however, we may humbly conceive, of God’s fixing this condition of justification, “If thou believest in the Lord Jesus Christ, thou shalt be saved,” was to “hide pride from man.” Pride had already destroyed the very angels of God, had cast down “a third part of the stars of heaven.” It was likewise in great measure owing to this, when the tempter said, “Ye shall be as gods,” that Adam fell from his own steadfastness, and brought sin and death into the world. It was therefore an instance of wisdom worthy of God, to appoint such a condition of reconciliation for him and all his posterity as might effectually humble, might abase them to the dust. And such is faith. It is peculiarly fitted for this end…

http://new.gbgm-umc.org/umhistory/wesley/sermons/5/

Thanks Glenn for the Wesley quote.

He is absolutely right about the pride issue. If our salvation has anything to do with us, then pride clearly comes into the picture.

Even though I disagree with Wesley on his Arminian view of salvation, I still like reading much of what he has to say, so thanks for sharing this.

Stan

Glenn, thanks for posting Wesley’s description of justification to “hide pride from man”.  Pride is really at the center of man’s problem and the root of sin.  Sin is not limited to “transgression of the law” but more deeply, “Did God really say...?”, as Eve was tempted in the garden by the serpent.  When God is thus questioned as to his fairness or clarity, man sets himself up to be the judge of what is right and reasonable, usurping God’s authority in the ultimate act of pride.

Glenn, you’re more than welcome to share any more gems you find from Wesley.  As a matter of fact, I’ve been thinking about a blog post on Wesley and hopefully will have time to finish it soon.

Stan, thanks for clarifying the issue of the Sabbath and the law.  Surely there are many Adventists whose legalistic keeping of the Sabbath is no different than that of the Pharisees, but we can’t make gross generalizations about everyone’s need to abandon the Sabbath as a result.  We know that even after meeting Jesus on the Damascus Road, Paul continued to observe various Jewish traditions such as ritual purifications (Acts 21:26), taking vows (Acts 18:18), observing feasts (Acts 20:6), teaching in the synagogue on Sabbath (Acts 17:2), etc.  But we also know that he did these things, not because he believed they were salvific, but because he could do so confidently in the finished work of Jesus.  There is tremendous Christian freedom to observe or not observe days when approached from this perspective.  It is sad to see both former and current Adventists go to battle over something that Paul explicitly said not to judge each other about (Romans 14, Colossians 2:16-17).

A couple of key passages from Romans 14 say it better than I can:

“The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.” (Romans 14:6 ESV)

“Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother” (Romans 14:13 ESV).

If only we could live as if these words were true....

Greg

[quote author="Stan Ermshar"]The law is a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. The two greatest commandments according to Jesus are 1.) Love the Lord thy God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and 2.) love your neighbor as yourself. These summarize the entire moral law of God, and the fact that none of us are able to completely obey these commands should drive us to our knees, and always drive us back to the cross of Christ. That is why the Reformed and Lutheran traditions believe in always preaching law and gospel together. It is the weight of the law that drives us to Christ, and Christians need to be ever mindful of the demands of the Law, so that we can be continually trusting in Christ and His righteousness, and can trust in the victory Christ won for us at Calvary. The law actually drives us to despair, so we won’t trust our own righteousness, but wholly lean on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Stan,

When I read this it reminded me of a program I watched on TBN (gasp!) the other night called “The Way of the Master” with Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron (yes, the same guy who played Mike on “Growing Pains”).  I’d heard the radio program but hadn’t seen the TV version until the other night.  Anyhow, their point was that so many people out there think they’re pretty good and are hoping that will be enough to get them into heaven not even realizing their need for a Savior. During the program they showed segments of Kirk and Ray witnessing to folks in places like airports, airplanes, outside of a strip mall, etc. doing just as you said, Stan, using the law (specifically the 10 Commandments since most people are familiar with it) as a schoolmaster to show them that their sin, no matter how small it may seem, condemns them before a holy and just God but that He is also a God of love and has provided a solution in the Person of Jesus Christ. 

If you go to their website here (http://www.wayofthemaster.com) you can “Watch on-the-street witnessing” under the “Get Equipped” heading on the top toolbar.  I just finished watching the one with Kirk Cameron using this method to tell a bunch of gang bangers in Santa Monica about the good news of the gospel of Christ.  I just wish I had that kind of courage!  Pretty amazing stuff indeed and great illustration of your point, Stan.

Aaron

[quote author="Greg"]A couple of key passages from Romans 14 say it better than I can:

“The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.” (Romans 14:6 ESV)

“Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother” (Romans 14:13 ESV).

If only we could live as if these words were true....

I like these verses. There are others like them in 1 Corinthians (NIV):

8:9 Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak. 10 For if anyone with a weak conscience sees you, with all your knowledge, eating in an idol’s temple, won’t they be emboldened to eat what is sacrificed to idols? 11 So this weak brother or sister, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. 12 When you sin against them in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. 13 Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause them to fall.

and

9:19 Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. 23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.

There’s another verse in Corinthians I thought went something like “everything is permissable but not everything is beneficial...” Can’t find it now. Anyway, can’t remember if I’ve ever heard a sermon on these passages. They’d make for a useful reminder, as well as a vital “pillar” or Fundamental. 

Ah, chapter 10 of 1 Corinthians:

23) “Everything is permissible"–but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible"–but not everything is constructive. 24) Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.

Hi Aaron,

Thanks for your comments. I am glad TBN does put on some worthwhile programs. Greg is also a fan of Ray Comfort, and maybe he wants to add his take on this. I will have to find out when Comfort is on.

Stan

Guibox and Glenn, thanks for posting those texts.  Here’s another one from James in the same vein with a sobering message for people who use the law as a tool to judge others:

“Don’t speak evil against each other, dear brothers and sisters. If you criticize and judge each other, then you are criticizing and judging God’s law. But your job is to obey the law, not to judge whether it applies to you. God alone, who gave the law, is the Judge. He alone has the power to save or to destroy. So what right do you have to judge your neighbor?” (James 4:11-12 NLT)

I have certainly been guilty of “criticizing and judging God’s law” by being judgmental of others, as I’m sure all of us have.  These words from James cut through our pride, humbling us in the face of the Righteous Judge.  Only His judgments are just and when we turn the law on others, we put ourselves in God’s place as both the judge of our neighbor and the judge of the law.  Instead, the law should humble us and cause us to see much more fully our need for a Savior.

One who is saved by grace should necessarily extend that grace to others, but so often in our zeal to prove a point or win an argument, we fall short of this.

Greg

Aaron, thanks for posting that link to Ray Comfort’s site.  He is not well known as a preacher/theologian, but has a real heart for evangelism.  His approach in evangelism is to first establish that we are all sinners when seen through the lens of the law, and once we have been convicted of sin, our ears may be opened to the gospel.  This is truly a “lawful use of the law” (1 Timothy 1:8-11) in an age where references to God’s law are taboo, even among many Christians.

Here is the video Aaron linked to above, embedded in the page.  If you have 7 minutes to watch this, I’m sure you will find it worth your time.  Kirk Cameron (of “Growing Pains” fame) is shown here witnessing to a group of gangsters.  How much courage does it take to tell a gangster he is a liar and a thief?  Amazingly, Kirk does this and more, with a very humble spirit that shows he is not interested in merely preaching at these guys, but in sharing truths so precious that he is willing to risk his safety to do so.

Greg

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Wow! The boy has serious stones.

Not only did God lead him to these gentlemen and soften their hearts, but maybe they were all Michael Seaver fans too!

Speaking of Ray Comfort, here is an article that he is quite famous for called “Hell’s Best Kept Secret”. This is really good as pertaining to the use of the Law in evangelism:

http://www.livingwaters.com/helps/HellsBestKeptSecret.pdf

Stan

Here is an exposition by John Calvin on the moral law of God which is quite interesting especially with regard to the Sabbath commandment:

http://www.spurgeon.org/~phil/calvin/bk2ch08.html#twentyeig.htm

Stan

I thought it might be interesting to see what John Calvin had to say about the Sabbath commandment. I think he approaches the topic quite well:

Fourth Commandment.
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, &c.

28.

The purport of the commandment is, that being dead to our own affections and works, we meditate on the kingdom of God, and in order to such meditation, have recourse to the means which he has appointed. But as this commandment stands in peculiar circumstances apart from the others, the mode of exposition must be somewhat different. Early Christian writers are wont to call it typical, as containing the external observance of a day which was abolished with the other types on the advent of Christ. This is indeed true; but it leaves the half of the matter untouched. Wherefore, we must look deeper for our exposition, and attend to three cases in which it appears to me that the observance of this commandment consists. First, under the rest of the seventh days the divine Lawgiver meant to furnish the people of Israel with a type of the spiritual rest by which believers were to cease from their own works, and allow God to work in them. Secondly he meant that there should be a stated day on which they should assemble to hear the Law, and perform religious rites, or which, at least, they should specially employ in meditating on his works, and be thereby trained to piety. Thirdly, he meant that servants, and those who lived under the authority of others, should be indulged with a day of rest, and thus have some intermission from labour.”
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More to come

Stan

This is quite long, but here is the rest of the commentary on the fourth commandment by John Calvin.

We are taught in many passages that this adumbration of spiritual rest held a primary place in the Sabbath. Indeed, there is no commandment the observance of which the Almighty more strictly enforces. When he would intimate by the Prophets that religion was entirely subverted, he complains that his sabbaths were polluted, violated, not kept, not hallowed; as if, after it was neglected, there remained nothing in which he could be honoured. The observance of it he eulogises in the highest terms, and hence, among other divine privileges, the faithful set an extraordinary value on the revelation of the Sabbath. In Nehemiah, the Levites, in the public assembly, thus speak: “Thou madest known unto them thy holy sabbath, and commandedst them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses thy servant.” You see the singular honour which it holds among all the precepts of the Law. All this tends to celebrate the dignity of the mystery, which is most admirably expressed by Moses and Ezekiel. Thus in Exodus: “Verily my sabbaths shall ye keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that does sanctify you. Ye shall keep my sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever does any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord: whosoever does any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever,” (Exodus 31: 13-17.) Ezekiel is still more full, but the sum of what he says amounts to this: that the sabbath is a sign by which Israel might know that God is their sanctifier. If our sanctification consists in the mortification of our own will, the analogy between the external sign and the thing signified is most appropriate. We must rest entirely, in order that God may work in us; we must resign our own will, yield up our heart, and abandon all the lusts of the flesh. In short, we must desist from all the acts of our own mind, that God working in us, we may rest in him, as the Apostle also teaches, (Heb. 3: 13; 4: 3, 9.)

30.

This complete cessation was represented to the Jews by the observance of one day in seven, which, that it might be more religiously attended to, the Lord recommended by his own example. For it is no small incitement to the zeal of man to know that he is engaged in imitating his Creator. Should any one expect some secret meaning in the number seven, this being in Scripture the number for perfection, it may have been selected, not without cause, to denote perpetuity. In accordance with this, Moses concludes his description of the succession of day and night on the same day on which he relates that the Lord rested from his works. Another probable reason for the number may be, that the Lord intended that the Sabbath never should be completed before the arrival of the last day. We here begin our blessed rest in him, and daily make new progress in it; but because we must still wage an incessant warfare with the flesh, it shall not be consummated until the fulfilment of the prophecy of Isaiah: “From one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord,” (Isaiah 66: 23;-) in other words, when God shall be “all in all,” (I Cor. 15: 28.) It may seem, therefore, that by the seventh day the Lord delineated to his people the future perfection of his sabbath on the last day, that by continual meditation on the sabbath, they might throughout their whole lives aspire to this perfection.

31.

Should these remarks on the number seem to any somewhat far-fetched, I have no objection to their taking it more simply: that the Lord appointed a certain day on which his people might be trained, under the tutelage of the Law, to meditate constantly on the spiritual rest, and fixed upon the seventh, either because he foresaw it would be sufficient, or in order that his own example might operate as a stronger stimulus; or, at least to remind men that the Sabbath was appointed for no other purpose than to render them conformable to their Creator. It is of little consequence which of these be adopted, provided we lose not sight of the principal thing delineated, viz., the mystery of perpetual resting from our works. To the contemplation of this, the Jews were every now and then called by the prophets, lest they should think a carnal cessation from labour sufficient. Beside the passages already quoted, there is the following: “If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord,” (Isaiah 58: 13, 14.) Still there can be no doubt, that, on the advent of our Lord Jesus Christ, the ceremonial part of the commandment was abolished. He is the truth, at whose presence all the emblems vanish; the body, at the sight of which the shadows disappear. He, I say, is the true completion of the sabbath: “We are buried with him by baptism unto death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we should walk in newness of life,” (Rom. 6: 4.) Hence, as the Apostle elsewhere says, “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holiday, 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;-) meaning by body the whole essence of the truth, as is well explained in that passage. This is not contented with one day, but requires the whole course of our lives, until being completely dead to ourselves, we are filled with the life of God. Christians, therefore, should have nothing to do with a superstitious observance of days.

32.

The two other cases ought not to be classed with ancient shadows, but are adapted to every age. The sabbath being abrogated, there is still room among us, first, to assemble on stated days for the hearing of the Word, the breaking of the mystical bread, and public prayer; and, secondly, to give our servants and labourers relaxation from labour. It cannot be doubted that the Lord provided for both in the commandment of the Sabbath. The former is abundantly evinced by the mere practice of the Jews. The latter Moses has expressed in Deuteronomy in the following terms: “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, nor thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant;–that thy man-servant and thy maid-servant may rest as well as thou,” (Deut. 5: 14.) Likewise in Exodus, “That thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed,” (Exod. 23: 12.) Who can deny that both are equally applicable to us as to the Jews? Religious meetings are enjoined us by the word of God; their necessity, experience itself sufficiently demonstrates. But unless these meetings are stated, and have fixed days allotted to them, how can they be held? We must, as the apostle expresses it, do all things decently and in orders (1 Cor. 14 40.) So impossible, however, would it be to preserve decency and order without this politic arrangements that the dissolution of it would instantly lead to the disturbance and ruin of the Church. But if the reason for which the Lord appointed a sabbath to the Jews is equally applicable to us, no man can assert that it is a matter with which we have nothing to do. Our most provident and indulgent Parent has been pleased to provide for our wants not less than for the wants of the Jews. Why, it may be asked, do we not hold daily meetings, and thus avoid the distinction of days? Would that we were privileged to do so! Spiritual wisdom undoubtedly deserves to have some portion of every day devoted to it. But if, owing to the weakness of many, daily meetings cannot be held, and charity will not allow us to exact more of them, why should we not adopt the rule which the will of God has obviously imposed upon us?

33.

I am obliged to dwell a little longer on this because some restless spirits are now making an outcry about the observance of the Lord’s day. They complain that Christian people are trained in Judaism, because some observance of days is retained. My reply is, That those days are observed by us without Judaism, because in this matter we differ widely from the Jews. We do not celebrate it with most minute formality, as a ceremony by which we imagine that a spiritual mystery is typified, but we adopt it as a necessary remedy for preserving order in the Church. Paul informs us that Christians are not to be judged in respect of its observance, because it is a shadow of something to come, (Col. 2: 16;-) and, accordingly, he expresses a fear lest his labour among the Galatians should prove in vain, because they still observed days (Gal. 4: 10, 11.) And he tells the Romans that it is superstitious to make one day differ from another (Rom. 14: 5.) But who, except those restless men, does not see what the observance is to which the Apostle refers? Those persons had no regard to that politic and ecclesiastical arrangement, but by retaining the days as types of spiritual things, they in so far obscured the glory of Christ, and the light of the Gospel. They did not desist from manual labour on the ground of its interfering with sacred study and meditation, but as a kind of religious observance; because they dreamed that by their cessation from labour, they were cultivating the mysteries which had of old been committed to them. It was, I say, against this preposterous observance of days that the Apostle inveighs, and not against that legitimate selection which is subservient to the peace of Christian society. For in the churches established by him, this was the use for which the Sabbath was retained. He tells the Corinthians to set the first day apart for collecting contributions for the relief of their brethren at Jerusalem, (1 Cor. 16: 2.) If superstition is dreaded, there was more danger in keeping the Jewish sabbath than the Lord’s day as Christians now do. It being expedient to overthrow superstition, the Jewish holy day was abolished; and as a thing necessary to retain decency, orders and peace, in the Church, another day was appointed for that purpose.

34.

It was not, however, without a reason that the early Christians substituted what we call the Lord’s day for the Sabbath. The resurrection of our Lord being the end and accomplishment of that true rest which the ancient sabbath typified, this day, by which types were abolished serves to warn Christians against adhering to a shadowy ceremony. I do not cling so to the number seven as to bring the Church under bondage to it, nor do I condemn churches for holding their meetings on other solemn days, provided they guard against superstition. This they will do if they employ those days merely for the observance of discipline and regular order. The whole may be thus summed up: As the truth was delivered typically to the Jews, so it is imparted to us without figure; first, that during our whole lives we may aim at a constant rest from our own works, in order that the Lord may work in us by his Spirit; secondly that every individual, as he has opportunity, may diligently exercise himself in private, in pious meditation on the works of God, and, at the same time, that all may observe the legitimate order appointed by the Church, for the hearing of the word, the administration of the sacraments, and public prayer: And, thirdly, that we may avoid oppressing those who are subject to us. In this way, we get quit of the trifling of the false prophets, who in later times instilled Jewish ideas into the people, alleging that nothing was abrogated but what was ceremonial in the commandment, (this they term in their language the taxation of the seventh day,) while the moral part remains, viz., the observance of one day in seven. But this is nothing else than to insult the Jews, by changing the day, and yet mentally attributing to it the same sanctity; thus retaining the same typical distinction of days as had place among the Jews. And of a truth, we see what profit they have made by such a doctrine. Those who cling to their constitutions go thrice as far as the Jews in the gross and carnal superstition of sabbatism; so that the rebukes which we read in Isaiah (Isa. 1: l3; 58: 13) apply as much to those of the present day, as to those to whom the Prophet addressed them. We must be careful, however, to observe the general doctrine, viz., in order that religion may neither be lost nor languish among us, we must diligently attend on our religious assemblies, and duly avail ourselves of those external aids which tend to promote the worship of God.”
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What do you think?

Stan