A well known Pastor writes the following heading for a section in his bible study booklet on the book of Exodus, “The Ten Commandments are still valid for Christians today.” After highlighting that “it is only through faith in Christ that anyone can find peace with God” he then adds, “Nevertheless, the Ten Commandments (with the exception of the Sabbath) still present principles of godliness that God expects of His people today” (withholding the authors name to protect the guilty!). So which is it? Ten or the Nine?

This kind of (unintentional) double-speak frustrates many who desire to understand God’s Law. After all, if the fourth commandment is no longer valid for humanity then let us change our vocabulary and begin to speak of the ‘Nine Commandments.’ Incidentally, if we did then we would need to remember fewer words since the fourth commandment is by far the longest of all of them.  (Does this fact indicate something of its value? And if so, then should we not think seriously about so easily dismissing it?)

We must ask, is there any biblical reason for the new covenant church subtracting the fourth commandment from the Ten? No.       

Many would argue that there is much utilitarian value in the Sabbath law and therefore we should continue to teach it as a practical way to schedule our week (as the aforementioned pastor does). But such pragmatism seems less than honest. After all, if the Sabbath law has fallen away then what right does the Church have to call for adherence to it? To teach believers that they should practice a law that is invalid is simply a form of legalism; by the way, this is the charge usually levelled at those who see the fourth commandment as valid for today.

My point in raising this issue is to highlight the muddle-headedness that plagues the modern Church when it comes to the law of God. Though largely the Church sees the law of God (rightly so) as God’s gift to us for our moral freedom and enjoyment of life as God intended, yet at the same time most of these same individuals view the Sabbath law as a burden. This is silly, if not absurd.

The fourth commandment is as much a revelation of the character of God as are the preceding three. This commandment reminds us that God is Creator of all and the One who orders all that He has ordained.  It reveals to us that God has a plan for His Creation. Further it reveals to us that He is to be the supreme focus of our daily life; therefore He has given to us one day for our spiritual (and physical) benefit.

This commandment also reveals to us that God is gracious. Yes, He has sovereignly chosen to give us six days to ‘do as we please’ (remember Augustine’s advice, ‘Love God and do as you please!’) and then He only asks for one day to devote in a special way to do His pleasure (Isaiah 58:13, 14).

We should sincerely thank God that this gift did not become redundant in our coming to experience God’s Sabbath rest in Christ. God loved His Old Covenant people and He loves His new covenant people no less. One proof of this is that His gracious gift of the Ten Commandments was not reduced in number when they were transferred to us!

I suspect that the reason that so many in our day are uncomfortable with the fourth commandment is not only a misunderstanding of those passages which seem to nullify this law (see my sermons for an explanation of these) but also for at least two other reasons.

The first is what I call a ‘pharisaic perversion.’ Many approach the fourth commandment with the false premise that the Pharisaic joyless and burdensome observance of this law represents God’s intended practice of the commandment.  But we should not read back into God’s beautiful Law the perversions of sinners.

As has been noted in our studies, there were very little specific biblical restraints put upon old covenant observance of the Sabbath. We have later Pharisaic self-righteous tradition to thank for that! The Lord Jesus seemingly went out of His way to break these man-created laws in order to uphold and fulfil God’s original Law.  He placed His blessing upon the Sabbath when he reminded the Jews of His day that ‘the Sabbath was made for man’ rather than ‘man being made for the Sabbath’ (Mark 2:27).  Even chronologically this was true.  It would seem as if the Lord’s design was to give a birthday present to man by the presentation of the seventh day as a gift to those who were ‘born’ on the sixth day! (See Genesis 1:26-2:1-3). Forget the Pharisees and join Sunday’s celebration!

The second reason that many are uncomfortable with the fourth commandment being the obligation of the new covenant believer is what I call the ‘pleasure perversion.’ That is, many mistakenly assume that to devote a whole day to the Lord, a devotion which calls us to cease from pursuing our own pleasure in order to pursue God’s pleasures, is less than pleasurable. But that is only because we have very weak desires when it comes to that which is the real pleasure of life. And yet as we lay aside the pursuit of our own pleasures (including the pursuit of our treasures) we find that God’s pleasures become our true treasure! As we have been increasingly coming to appreciate, the Sabbath commandment (which for the Church is to be enjoyed on the Lord’s Day) is a gift of inestimable value.

This matter of having a ‘perverse’ sense of what constitutes true pleasure is highlighted by C.S. Lewis when he wrote, “Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink, sex and ambition, when infinite joy is offered us; like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

When it comes to the Sabbath commandment, as observed on the Lord’s Day, we are far too content with the mud pies of entertainment, business, sport and the like to appreciate God’s gift of this holiday by the sea of His glory.   

Yet, as we grow to appreciate this ‘Sabbath gift’ we will increasingly make the most of it. When we are convinced that this gift is the legitimate (not ‘legalistic’) birth-right of the New Covenant Church then we will embrace it as the means of grace that our Lord intends it to be. In the words of Joseph Pipa, we need to see this gift of the Lord’s Day (new covenant expression of the old covenant Sabbath) as God ‘freeing us from pursuing lesser pleasures that we might pursue greater and nobler things.’

Let us thank the Lord for the Ten Commandments; nine is just not enough!