Exo 20:9 | KingComments | STEP | God forbids man to do any work on the seventh day. He connects it to His rest, after He created the heavens and the earth in the six preceding days ( ). By keeping this day, man can show par excellence that he knows his place in creation and wants to take it in relation to God. God wants His people to share in His rest and to do so consciously. Therefore, this commandment begins with “remember”. Sunday did not replace the sabbath. The New Testament gives us no indication of this. The sabbath belongs to the law and the old creation. The sabbath does not apply to the Christian, for a Christian is “not under law but under grace” ( ). Nor does he belong to the old creation, for in Christ he is “a new creation” ( ; ). However, the first day of the week is pre-eminently the day on which the New Testament believer remembers the redemption from the power of sin. The Lord Jesus instituted His Supper for this, which we may celebrate on the first day of the week. He said: “Do this in remembrance of Me” ( ). In doing so, He asks us to think of Him and of the work He has accomplished for our salvation.

‏ Exodus 20:9

The Fourth Commandment

God forbids man to do any work on the seventh day. He connects it to His rest, after He created the heavens and the earth in the six preceding days (Gen 2:2-3). By keeping this day, man can show par excellence that he knows his place in creation and wants to take it in relation to God. God wants His people to share in His rest and to do so consciously. Therefore, this commandment begins with “remember”.

Sunday did not replace the sabbath. The New Testament gives us no indication of this. The sabbath belongs to the law and the old creation. The sabbath does not apply to the Christian, for a Christian is “not under law but under grace” (Rom 6:14). Nor does he belong to the old creation, for in Christ he is “a new creation” (2Cor 5:17; Gal 6:15).

However, the first day of the week is pre-eminently the day on which the New Testament believer remembers the redemption from the power of sin. The Lord Jesus instituted His Supper for this, which we may celebrate on the first day of the week. He said: “Do this in remembrance of Me” (1Cor 11:24-25). In doing so, He asks us to think of Him and of the work He has accomplished for our salvation.