Apr 25
27
Baptist Catechism 66 & 67
Q. 66. What is forbidden in the fourth commandment?
A. The fourth commandment forbids the omission or careless performance of the duties required, and the profaning the day by idleness, or doing that which is in itself sinful, or by unnecessary thoughts, words, or works, about worldly employments or recreations. (Ezekiel 22:26; 23:38; Jer. 17:21; Neh. 13:15,17; Acts 20:7)
Q. 67. What are the reasons annexed to the fourth commandment?
A. The reasons annexed to the fourth commandment are, God’s allowing us six days of the week for our own lawful employments, His challenging a special propriety in a seventh, His own example and His blessing the Sabbath day. (Exodus 34:21; 31:16,17; Gen. 2:2,3)
Scripture Reading: Acts 20:7-12
“On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and he prolonged his speech until midnight. There were many lamps in the upper room where we were gathered. And a young man named Eutychus, sitting at the window, sank into a deep sleep as Paul talked still longer. And being overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead. But Paul went down and bent over him, and taking him in his arms, said, ‘Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him.’ And when Paul had gone up and had broken bread and eaten, he conversed with them a long while, until daybreak, and so departed. And they took the youth away alive, and were not a little comforted.” (Acts 20:7–12, ESV)
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Please excuse any typos and misspellings within this manuscript. It has been published online for the benefit of the saints of Emmaus Reformed Baptist Church but without the benefit of proofreading.
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Introduction
As we consider the moral law of God as summarized in the Ten Commandments, there are two errors that must be avoided. The first error is legalism. The second error is antinomianism. Both of these errors are very serious and must be avoided.
What is legalism? Well, it takes different forms.
One, it is the false belief that sinful men and women can be made right with God through obedience to the law of God. The Scriptures are clear that this is impossible for the simple reason that all mere men are lawbreakers. Apart from Christ, we stand guilty before God. No amount of lawkeeping will fix that problem. We need a Redeemer. His name is Jesus Christ. He kept God’s law in our place. He died in our place, too, so that we might be forgiven and reconciled to the God the Father.
There is a second form of legalism that must also be avoid, and it is the elevation of human traditions and opinions to the level of law, along with the imposition of those traditions and opinions on others. If I choose to fast every Thursday and to make that a law for myself—if I do it, not to earn God’s favor, but from the heart and out of gratitude for all that God has done for me in Christ Jesus—that is not legalism. But if I begin to preach and to bind the consciences of others, saying, you must fast every Thursday, or you must not eat meat during this time of the year, or you must observe these holidays, etc, that is legalism, for the word of God has not commanded such things. We must not treat human traditions or opinions as if they are the law of God.
A third form of legalism is really a subcategory of the second, and that is the false teaching that believers under the New Covenant are obliged to obey the civil and ceremonial laws that were given to Isarel under the Old Covenant. Granted, these laws are biblical in the sense that they are found in the Bible, but they are not binding on us now because we do not live under the Old Covenant of which they were a part. We live under the New Covenant, not the Old. Yes, the Hebrews living under the Old Covenant were obligated to circumcise their male children, offer sacrifices at the temple, and to observe many holy days and Sabbaths, throughout the year. They were not legalists when they keep these laws (provided that they weren’t trying to earn eternal life through the keeping of them instead of through faith in the promised Redeemer). No, they were right to obey these laws, for these laws were not the product of man, but were given by God to them. But if anyone comes to you today and says, you are obligated to keep the civil and ceremonial laws given to Israel—to be circumcised, to abstain from certain foods, or to observe Old Covenant festivals, new moons, and Sabbaths (see Colossians 2:16)—that person is a legalist. Though it is true that all of these laws were from God, it is also true that they are not for us, for we live under the New Covenant and not the Old. We have Christ as our High Priest, and not Aaron. The Scriptures are clear, “when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well” (Hebrews 7:12, ESV). New Covenant saints are not bound to observe Old Covenant laws.
Beware of legalism in all of its forms, brothers and sisters.
What then is antinomianism? Well, it is the false teaching that says, there is no law for the Christian. The prefix “anti” means “against”, and “nomos” means “law”. So then, antinomians teach, in one way or another, that there is no law for the Christian. As with legalism, antinomianism comes in different flavors. Some may teach that there is no objective law for the Christian, period. I suspect that most would say that there is a law, but it is the law of the Spirit, or the law of Christ. They then suppose that the law of the Spirit or of Christ is different in substance from the law written on stone at Sinai. Both views are erroneous, and they leave the Christian without an objective moral standard. If I were to guess, I would say antinomianism is a bigger problem in the church today (at least in our region) than legalism is. It must be avoided.
If you wish to read a very helpful summary of what we believe concerning God’s law, I would encourage you to read chapter 19 of our confession of faith, The Second London Baptist Conefssion. In brief, we confess that God’s moral law was given first, not to Israel, but to Adam, having been written on his heart. The moral law of God is for all people living in all times and places, therefore. Furthermore, we confess that the same moral law written on Adam’s heart is contained within the Ten Commandments which were written on stone and given to Isarel through Moses at Sinai. In those days, many other civil and ceremonial laws were added to the Ten Commandments and given peculiarly to Isarel. The moral law, as contained within the Ten Commandments, is for all people living in all places and times. But the civil and ceremonial laws found in the Old Testament were binding on Old Covenant Isarel only.
I mention chapter 19 of our confession, because it helps guard against the errors of legalism and antinomianism. On the one hand, it protects us from leagalism when it states in paragraph 6 that “true believers [are] not under the law as a covenant of works, to be thereby justified or condemned…” It also protects us from leagalism when it clearly teaches that the civil and ceremonial laws given to Old Covenant Israel have been fulfilled and taken away. On the other hand, our confession protects against antinomianism when it says in paragraph 5 that “The moral law doth for ever bind all, as well justified persons as others, to the obedience thereof, and that not only in regard of the matter contained in it, but also in respect of the authority of God the Creator, who gave it; neither doth Christ in the Gospel any way dissolve, but much strengthen this obligation.” In paragraph 6, we confess that the moral law is it is “of great use to [believers] as well as to others”, and then a list of uses follows. I especially appreciate paragraph 7, which says, “Neither are the aforementioned uses of the law contrary to the grace of the Gospel, but do sweetly comply with it, the Spirit of Christ subduing and enabling the will of man to do that freely and cheerfully which the will of God, revealed in the law, requireth to be done.”
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Baptist Catechism 66 & 67
You may be wondering what all of this has to do with Baptist Catechism questions 66 and 67. Well, I believe I have said enough about what the fourth commandment requires and forbids in the previous two sermons. Here I wanted to take a moment to counter the criticism that we will certainly face, even from other Christians living in our time and place, as we strive, by the grace of God and in the power of the Spirit, to honor the Lord’s Day Sabbath and to keep it holy. What will some charge us with? Answer: legalism.
But is it legalistic to say that the Christian ought to obey God’s moral law? Is it legalistic to say that the Christian ought to worship God alone in the way he has prescribed, honoring one day in seven as holy unto him until the end of the world? Certainly not.
Some who are anti-Sabbatiarians will say, well, the practice of Sabbath keeping belonged to the ceremonial laws of Old Covenant Israel and has been done away with. You are guilty of legalism for teaching that the Sabbath Day is to be kept under the New Covenant. This is not true. As has been said in previous sermons, that Sabbath command was not given first to Israel through Moses, but to Adam. And when the Sabbath command was given to Isarel through Moses, it was given a special place at the heart of the Ten Commandments, wherein God’s universal and unchanging moral law is summarized. Will the anti-Sabitarians charge us with legalism when we say that God alone is to be worshiped, not with images, and with reverence for his name? Will they charge us with legalism when we say, You shall honor your father and mother, do not murder, commit adultery, steal, bear false witness, or covet? Are we guilty of legalism when we teach that Christians are to keep these laws, not to earn God’s favor, but from a heart renewed and empowered by the Holy Spirit out of gratitude for all that God has done for us in Christ? OI doubt it! Why then do so many professing Christians in our day charge us with legalism when we teach that the fourth of these ten Commandments is to be kept, too? I’m afraid that the antinomian error has had a devastating effect on the modern church.
Some who are anti-Sabbatiarians will respond, saying, but the command to keep the Sabbath day holy is not restated in the New Testament, therefore we are not bound to keep it.
First of all, this is simply not true. But let us assume for a moment that it was true. What if the fourth commandment were not restated in the New Testament? Would this mean that we are not bound to keep it? I think not. The question I would ask in reply is this: Who invented this rule that for something to be believed or obeyed by the New Covenant people of God, it must be restated in the New Testament? This is a false assumption. In fact, the New Testament is not written as a fresh start. It is written as a continuation and fulfillment of the Old. If something is to be done away with, you will need to demonstrate that it has been fulfilled or advanced somehow under the New Covenant. And as I said in the previous sermon, the thing of which the Sabbath is a sign, namely eternal rest in the presence of God, is not here yet in full. Christ has entered his rest. We rest in him in part. We will rest eternally when he returns to make all things new. Until then, the practice of Sabbath keeping remains for the people of God. This idea that something must be said in the New Testament for it to be believed or obeyed is not true.
But as I have said, this claim that the Sabbath is not taught in the New Testament is not true. Christ kept the Old Covenant Sabbath. He also stripped away all of the legalistic gunk that the religious leaders had piled on it so as to demonstrate what true Sabbath-keeping looked like. And after his resurrection, he met with his disciples on the first day of the week to break bread. The early church did the same, as recorded in Acts. And the writer of Hebrews clearly states that “there remains a [Sabbath-keeping] for the people of God…” (Hebrews 4:9).
Friends, assembling for Christian worship on the first day of the week is not merely the tradition of man. It is the law of God properly understood. It is the Christian, New Covenant, Lord’s Day Sabbath. I hope you understand, if it is only the tradition of man, then there is nothing at all binding us to worship on Sunday. In fact, nothing is binding us to weekly worship either.
Some who are anti-Sabbatiarians will respond, saying, then why has the day changed? Answer: The everabiding and unchanging moral principle is that a proportion of time is to be set apart for the worship of God. The pattern or rhythm God established at creation was one day in seven. This is the moral principle that remains. The particular itself is symbolic or ceremonial. In previous sermons, I described how the seventh day Sabbath fit with the terms of the Covenant of Works that God made with Adam in the garden (work will lead to rest). Also, the seventh day Sabbath was a reminder of the original creation, which has been ruined by sin. But the first day Sabbath fits with the terms of Covenant of Grace instituted by Christ (rest in Christ leads to work). Also, the first day Sabbath is a reminder of the original creation and of the new creation which Christ earned through his life, death, and ressurection. The new creation was inaugurated when Christ rose. It will be consummated at his return. Then the weekly Sabbath will be fulfilled and swallowed up byu eternal rest in the presence of God.
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Conclusion
The fourth commandment remains, brothers and sisters. The day has changed. But the moral obligation to devote a proportion of time to the public and private worship of God remains. The pattern established at creation was one and seven. While this world remains, that weekly pattern will remain. From Adam to the resurrection of Christ, the holy day for rest and worship was Saturday. From the resurrection of Christ to the end of the world, the day is Sunday. And this is why you need to know that “the fourth commandment forbids the omission or careless performance of the duties required, and the profaning the day by idleness, or doing that which is in itself sinful, or by unnecessary thoughts, words, or works, about worldly employments or recreations.”
I’ll conclude by asking you, have you kept this law perfectly? No, we have violated this law in thought, word, and deed. Thanks be to God for the forgiveness that is in Christ Jesus, and for the gift of the Spirit, who has regenerated us and freed us from bondage to sin so that we, by God’s grace, might obey God’s law willingly and from the heart, for our good and his glory.
