Sabbatarianism among the Reformed

[stenerson]

I mentioned earlier that I grew up in the SDA Church (cult). They are best known for their legalism by way of strict 7th day sabbatarianism, adherence to much of the Mosaic food code and adding many other requirements not in Moses's law.
In regard to Sabbatarianism I admit some frustration in trying to pin down the NT take on the 4th commandment. It seems to me that the Puritans, Presbyterians and other Reformed folk and their creeds take the same view that I grew up with among the SDA.
They simply exchange the 7th day Sabbath for the Lord's day, making the Lord's day a "Christian Sabbath."
I guess the reason I find it frustrating is that they use the same texts, reasoning and logic to defend their Sabbatarianism that the SDA use. "It's a creation mandate" "It's in the Decalogue" etc. Except the SDA can in turn argue that there is no scriptural mandate for a change of day in scripture, and that the Protestants are simply following a relic of Papal shenanigans.
My view is more in line with John Calvin. He claimed that the Sabbath rest foreshadowed the rest we now have in Christ, and saw the regarding of any day as inherently "holy" as superstitious now that Christ has fulfilled it's shadows.
I also understand that it was a sign and seal of the 1st covenant, a covenant which we are no longer under.
I heard a sermon by Philip Johnson on the topic which mirrored my understanding of it.
Link: http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=112214959168

 

[JM]

The way I see it...we should keep a day set aside for worship. That so happens to be the day the local church sets aside for worship - Sunday - so I set Sunday aside for reading scripture, prayer, etc. Call it a Sabbath if you like but I call it the Lord's Day.

This old Calvinistic Baptist, not a Reformed Baptist, put it this way...

Yours in the Lord,

jm

 

[stenerson]

There's definitely something wrong with anyone claiming to be a Christian that willfully and casually neglects the gathering together with others to hear the Gospel preached and take part in the ordinances. That much is clear in the NT.
But is the Lord's Day a Christian/New Testament Sabbath? Are we displeasing and disobeying God by watching the Football game Sunday afternoon/evening?
Are we sinning if we mow our lawn, pick up sticks or go fishing Sunday afternoon? I don't believe we are. i actually believe it's a sin to bind the consciences of Christians with such restrictions.

 

[JM]

There's definitely something wrong with anyone claiming to be a Christian that willfully and casually neglects the gathering together with others to hear the Gospel preached and take part in the ordinances. That much is clear in the NT.
But is the Lord's Day a Christian/New Testament Sabbath? Are we displeasing and disobeying God by watching the Football game Sunday afternoon/evening?
Are we sinning if we mow our lawn, pick up sticks or go fishing Sunday afternoon? I don't believe we are. i actually believe it's a sin to bind the consciences of Christians with such restrictions.

Why not do all of that on another day? PVR the game.

 

[stenerson]

Why not do all of that on another day? PVR the game.

I'm not talking about skipping church to go fishing. To neglect the gathering together is definitely sin. But I take it you are implying that the entire day is a Sabbath and that Christians are obligated to treat it as such?
But regarding your question "Why not do all of that on another day?" That's another way of saying "It is a Christian, New Testament Sabbath and a person is sinning if they don't treat it as such."
Here's another preacher that shares my take on this. Don Fortner (who has high regard for old Calvinistic Baptist preacher Rolfe Barnard, but differs from him here):

 

[JM]

Fortner denies the third use of the Law, believing that if you acknowledge the eternal moral nature of it, it somehow places a Christian back under it as a covenant of works by which he must be saved. That is not the case. One can recognize God's moral Law and not be under it because Christ took the punishment for Law breaking. We are now free of it as a means of justification being lyrics freely justified by His Grace. The Law that placed Christ on the Cross for our Law breaking is still moral.

 

[gord44]

PVR the game.

There is 12-14 of them on. You must have a sweet PVR!

 

[twin1954]

Christ is our Sabbath and for anyone to keep the Sabbath they must either see in Christ their rest, which is what Sabbath means, or do so exactly according to the Law. Not even the Jews did so and I must wonder why we think that we can.

 

[JM]

R. C. Sproul

"There are two major positions within the Reformed tradition on this question. To make matters simple, we will refer to them as the Continental view of the Sabbath and the Puritan view of the Sabbath. Both views acknowledge that the Sabbath is still in effect. Both views agree that the Sabbath is a time for corporate worship. Both agree that the Sabbath is a day of rest when believers are to abstain from unnecessary commerce. But two areas are in dispute between the two schools and the most important of these is the question of recreation. Is recreation a legitimate form of rest-taking, or is recreation something that mars a sacred observation of the Sabbath day?

The Puritan view argues against the acceptability of recreation on the Sabbath day. The text most often cited to support this view is Isaiah 58:13–14 and following: “If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the Lord honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly; then you shal l take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”"

 

[stenerson]

I've tried to sift scripture to find where the Lord's Day was described as or commanded to be a New Testament Sabbath. This is one of those doctrines where people for the most part turn to creeds or tradition. On the contrary when Paul speaks of those holding to days it usually involves Christian Liberty, or spoken of in a negative tone as to those holding on the shadows.
Quoting Isaiah and the prophets as evidence for Sabbatarianism isn't new to me. Those passages were drilled into me growing up in SDA church to promote strict Sabbatarianism and also for abstaining from unclean foods. Isaiah 66 for example was one of their main go to texts.
If your going to use these texts to defend Sabbatarianism, seems to me you then better be honoring the New Moons also and abstaining from eating swines flesh. (all three commands are alluded to in the passage). You can't pick and choose.
I think this is one of those texts in which Calvin was radically insightful, too radical for even the Reformed Divines that came after crafting some of the creeds.
This is also one of the reasons I wouldn't feel comfortable binding my conscience and allegiance to every jot and tittle of any creed.

 

[JM]

Just think...rumor has it AW Pink would put his shoes on Saturday night, lace them up and all, so he didn't have to "work" Sunday by putting them on. It could be a myth like Calvin bowling on a Sunday. No source.

 

[stenerson]

Just think...rumor has it AW Pink would put his shoes on Saturday night, lace them up and all, so he didn't have to "work" Sunday by putting them on. It could be a myth like Calvin bowling on a Sunday. No source.

Yes, I agree those are probably both myths. But Calvin's view on the Sabbath is documented.

 

[hedrick]

The Reformed tradition has two different positions.

One is that Sunday is the Christian Sabbath.

The other is that under the new covenant, Jewish ceremonies are not binding, and that this means we are not bound to a specific day of rest. However God does call us to worship regularly. Thus the Lord’s day is a free celebration. The Church could choose it do it any day.

The first view seems to be the most common among the conservative Reformed groups. It’s in the Westminster standards. But the second is taken in the Second Helvetic Confession, and I agree with stenerson that it's in Calvin. I've heard both within the PCUSA. The new Catechism seems to allow either, but is probably closer to Calvin's view.

Under the first view, Sunday is often referred to as the Sabbath. Under the second view, it is not, being referred to primarily as the Lord’s Day.

 

[stenerson]

Thank you Hedrick for that info. It's good to know (regarding this issue) I'm not a stand alone cultist and have some like-minded bethren amongst the Reformed.

 

[JM]

"For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous." 1 John 5.3

 

[twin1954]

(1Jn 3:23) And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.

 

[JM]

(1Jn 3:23) And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.

Amen! Twin posted a summation of the Old Testament Law stated by Christ in the New.

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: [5] And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. Deut. 6

Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the Lord. Lev. 19

Amen.

 

[stenerson]

"For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous." 1 John 5.3

Another favorite text of the SDA.. It is quoted then followed by "you see, Jesus wants us to keep all the law, including Sabbath and dietary laws. Then they throw in "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."
Frankly I believe the Fourth Commandment is the most glorious in the Decalogue. It basically commands us to trust and rest in the Salvation God has wrought.

 

[JM]

I don't believe it's an either / or dilemma and being thrown onto the horns of such a dilemma is not helpful. We enter rest by faith - period.

1 John 3:23 is a summation of the Old Testament Law stated by Christ in the New.

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: [5] And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. Deut. 6

Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the Lord. Lev. 19

Yours in the Lord,

jm

 

[stenerson]

I don't believe it's an either / or dilemma and being thrown onto the horns of such a dilemma is not helpful. We enter rest by faith - period.
Yours in the Lord,

jm

Exactly, and that's why Hebrew 4 treats 7th day Sabbath Rest as well as the rest when Israel entered the Promised Land as shadows of the true Rest remaining for the people of God. The context being a warning against stubbornly embracing the types and shadows when they have been fulfilled in Christ.