The Fourth Commandment

I'm kind of surprised (partially at myself) that this topic has not come up yet in the past months. :)
So what do you think? Is it applicable to New Covenant Christians? If it is, should we rest on Saturday or Sunday? There are a surprising number of different views on this subject, and I'd like to hear yours. You'll hear mine after a while too - and it might not be exactly what you'd expect. :)

I think that Sunday is the day that we should rest on…I do not think that some work/play is fine on it. But personally for myself I try to do as little work on it and try to just rest and worship the Lord.

I Had thought about starting a topic about this but hadn't. Nice to see it on here. I believe that the whole bible still applies and therefore the sabbath is still Saturday and we should do no work or shopping or causing other people to work. I am interested to see what other people think about this.

But we are told that we are no longer under the law….and that was the law. Also about working on the Sabbath, Christ did work on the Sabbath and He also said how the Sabbath was made for man…not man for the sabbath.

I believe that the Sabbath of the New Covenant is on the first day of the week, Sunday, because Christ rose from the dead on that day and because the believers in the early church worshiped on that day. Though, I have to be completely honest… I don't know a whole lot on this subject, and I probably won't be able to get deeply involved in any theological debates here. Basically the only reason that I worship on Sunday, other than those I've just mentioned, is because most of the Christians from the past and the present that I respect did/do the same. One day I will look more deeply into this, and I expect to be proven right, but we will see. :)

What about doing work/play on the Sabbath/Sunday?

I think that Sunday is the day that we should rest on...I do not think that some work/play is fine on it. But personally for myself I try to do as little work on it and try to just rest and worship the Lord.

Ditto :)

Well, you HAVE to do some work on the Sabbath/Sunday…

True. But is it wrong to do something like making your food (They were not allowed to do that in the OT), going shopping, etc….

Work that is absolutely necessary is allowed on the Sabbath, because (as you said), "the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." But any unnecessary work is most certainly forbidden. In addition, acts of mercy are allowed on the Sabbath, as seen by Jesus' healing of a man's hand on a Sabbath. As for playing on the Sabbath, I believe that this is acceptable as well, as long as it is all done in recognition of the holy nature of the Sabbath.

I don't think we should shop, because that is causing other people to work, as well as using up our money that we have worked for. On the other end of the spectrum, though, we can't avoid paying for electricity and things like that very well. I believe we should just avoid work as much as possible.

What about doing things that you enjoy, like writing music or reading science (or, when we were younger, digging pits to hide in)?

Okay
I think that it is fine to do things you enjoy doing…if it is done for the right reason and does not take away from us worshiping and glorifying God.

I agree. :-)

Same here. :)

Things like making your food, minor clean up (like straightening the living room and doing dishes) are necessary things. But I don't think that you should plan to do your deep cleaning on a Sunday. :) Sunday is to be a day of rest, but I don't think that means laying around all day. :D :P Remember Jesus's disciples picked corn ate it on Sunday…they were "preparing their food" so to say.

Going shopping…I think it depends…We have run to the store on Sundays, if we need something pretty important like milk or butter, etc.

Just my thoughts…

EDIT: On playing…that depends as well. I find playing to be relaxing, most of the time :) I don't find it wrong to play a board game or a good game of tag on a Sunday. :)

I agree. :-)

Who says we are no longer under the law? Is it in the bible?

Yes… in various places…

Sat. Is the seventh day of the week. Ex. 20:10 says that the seventh day is a sabbath to the lord.

Where?

Yes it is. And sometimes it is referred to as the first covenant.

I think we are supposed to not work, but rather to spend time focusing on God's word and relaxing. After all the work we do during the week, we need a day off. We try to prepare our cooked meals ahead and otherwise just have sandwiches and simply things like that so we don't have to work much.

Where does the bible Say we are no longer under the law?

Galatians 3:23-26 is one example
"Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.

"For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace."–Romans 6:14

"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."–1 Corinthians 1:20

"Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed."–Galatians 3:23

"But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law."–Galatians 5:18

In Matthew 5, it says that Jesus did not come to do away with the law, but fulfill it.

"But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter." -Romans 7:6

I do believe that the entire Bible is the inspired Word of God, and should be obeyed. Although, we are free from the OT law, because of what Jesus did for us on Cavalry. So things like sacrificing animals and such, we don't have to do because we have been made free through Jesus Christ!

And He did fulfill it. The law was put in place until Christ would come. Christ came and fulfilled the law and all the prophecies about Him and that was the beginning of the New Covenant. The whole law points to Christ and Christ came and so fulfilled the law.

^^ Ditto ^^

Most of the people I know who have debated on this subject believe that in Christ's fulfilling of the Law, He did away with the sacrificial and ceremonial laws of the Old Covenant, but the moral law (the Ten Commandments) apply to all ages. The sacrificial and ceremonial laws were for the Jewish people only, at that time in history, to show that they were different from all other peoples. The moral law, however, has been in place since the beginning and will be in place to the end.

1 Corinthians 1:20 does not say that.

But he did not do away with it, so it still applies.

facepalm Sorry, I meant 1 Corinthians 9:20.

So you're saying that all the sacrifices and ceremonial laws still apply? Because we are told that if we accept one part of the law we are obligated to keep the whole law.

@Nicolas: Yeah…I think you got the wrong reference there…..

Do you then think that we should obey every law of the Old Covenant? In that case, you should still be making animal sacrifices to atone for your sins, and you must never eat the meat of any "unclean" animal!

We cannot offer sacrifices because there is no temple. I do no ink wshouleat any meat if an unclean animal. Anyway, I am a vegetarian. :-)

But you're saying that if there was a temple we should offer sacrifices?

In verse 21, it says that he is still under God's law.

If there were priests who had gone through the correct steps of being ordained or whatever, then yes.

God's law…not the OT Law.

Then what about all the verses that tell us that we do not need to sacrifice animals anymore for our sins because Christ did it once for all???

Isaac, that is a very dangerous thing to believe. You are saying that we should offer sacrifices to atone for sins… when the ultimate atoning sacrifice for sins has already been made! The whole purpose of the OT ceremonial, civil, and sacrificial laws was to point to Christ–when He came, He fulfilled the law, and did away with those laws! If you think that we should still make sacrifices, you are in essence denying the atoning power of the cross of Christ!

^^ Ditto ^^

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What he said!

Keep reading in Romans 6. In verse 15 it says: "What then? Shall we sin because we ar e not under the law but under grace? By no means.

Which shows us that we are not under the law. But just because we are not under the law does not mean that we should sin.

I do not believe that those sacrifices were more important than Christ. Nor do I believe that the law is vital for our salvation.

But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
-Hebrews 9:11-15.

Then why do we need to do those sacrifices (If we could)? The only reason they were there were for the atoning of the Israelites (in a manner of speaking) and to point to Christ.

The sacrifices of the Old Covenant were not only less important than Christ, they were absolutely meaningless without Him. They were types and shadows of His sacrifice, and only types and shadows. After the ultimate sacrifice was made, animal sacrifice was no longer necessary; and I believe it would probably even be a sin to practice them, because in doing so one is showing a lack of trust in the efficacy of the sacrifice of Christ.