The first pillar of the Bible’s doctrine that Christians are obligated to keep one day in seven holy to God is the fact that the Sabbath ordinance was established at creation (see Genesis 2:3). The second pillar is the fact that this obligation is one of the Ten Commandments. God commands, in Exodus 20:8-11, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work.” But who says the Ten Commandments are so special? God does! Remember that when the Lord gave these ten commands He spoke publicly with His own voice, He wrote the commandments on stone with His own finger, and He later told Moses to keep the stone tablets in the ark of the covenant. Not only are these commandments very significant, but God also regards them as a unit (see Exodus 34:28; James 2:10-11). Therefore, we should expect them all to stand or fall together. Yet both Jesus and the apostles assumed that the Ten Commandments are still valid for us today (Matthew 5:18-28; Romans 13:8-10; James 2:10-12).
Someone might object that we can easily see how it is true that the other nine commandments are a reflection of God’s own character and that our keeping them is part of our imitating Him–but is this true of the Fourth Commandment?! That is exactly the point of Exodus 20:11, in which we are told that we should keep God’s day holy, “For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day.”
Many people say that Christians who keep this commandment are the ones who have to prove that God requires it of us. But we have seen that the Bible clearly teaches that the Sabbath was established at creation and that keeping it is part of his moral law. Do you want the task of convincing the Judge of all the earth that these are not strong enough reasons for you to remember God’s day? If you have neglected this commandment, confess your sin to God, and keep His day holy for the good of your soul and the glory of His name!
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