# Calvin Anti-Sabbatarian?



## C. M. Sheffield

I was reading the Institutes last night when I came to Calvin's treatment of the fourth commandment. I was surprised! Calvin takes a decidedly anti-sabbatarian position. 

My question is, what exactly led to the development of the staunch sabbatarianism that we see in the puritan era when Calvin was so clearly anti-sabbatarian? 



> *WCF XXI.7*
> As it is of the law of nature, that, in general, a due proportion of time be set apart for the worship of God; so, in his Word, by a positive, moral, and perpetual commandment, binding all men in all ages, he hath particularly appointed one day in seven for a Sabbath, to be kept holy unto him: which, from the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ, was the last day of the week; and, from the resurrection of Christ, was changed into the first day of the week, which in Scripture is called the Lord's Day, and is to be continued to the end of the world as the Christian Sabbath.





> *WSC Q. 58 & 59*
> _Q: What is required in the fourth commandment? _
> A: The fourth commandment requireth the keeping holy to God such set times as he hath appointed in his word; expressly one whole day in seven, to be a holy sabbath to himself.
> 
> _Q: Which day of the seven hath God appointed to be the weekly sabbath? _
> A: From the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ, God appointed the seventh day of the week to be the weekly Sabbath;1 and the first day of the week ever since, to continue to the end of the world, which is the Christian Sabbath.





> *Institutes II.8.34*
> In this way, we get quit of the trifling of the false prophets, who in later times instilled Jewish ideas into the people, alleging that nothing was abrogated but what was ceremonial in the commandment, while the moral part remains—viz. the observance of one day in seven. But this is nothing else than to insult the Jews, by changing the day, and yet mentally attributing to it the same sanctity; thus retaining the same typical distinction of days as had place among the Jews. And of a truth, we see what profit they have made by such a doctrine. Those who cling to their constitutions go thrice as far as the Jews in the gross and carnal superstition of sabbatism; so that the rebukes which we read in Isaiah (Isa. 1:13; 58:13) apply as much to those of the present day, as to those to whom the Prophet addressed them.


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## Particular Baptist

I happen to agree with Calvin.


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## Particular Baptist

Joshua said:


> C. M. Sheffield said:
> 
> 
> 
> [W]hat exactly led to the development of the staunch sabbatarianism that we see in the puritan era[?]
> 
> 
> 
> A consistent application of Scripture pertaining to the Moral Law and its perpetuity into the New Testament administration of the Covenant of Grace.
Click to expand...


Did Calvin not apply the Moral Law consistently in this regard then?


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## C. M. Sheffield

Joshua said:


> C. M. Sheffield said:
> 
> 
> 
> [W]hat exactly led to the development of the staunch sabbatarianism that we see in the puritan era[?]
> 
> 
> 
> A consistent application of Scripture pertaining to the Moral Law and its perpetuity into the New Testament administration of the Covenant of Grace.
Click to expand...

 
Yes, but historically speaking, where does the departure from Calvin begin? We can see Calvin's influence on the Second Helvetic Confession (Cf. XXIV). Are there other reformers who take issue with Calvin on this point? Do any Puritan divines interact with him on this issue?


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## NaphtaliPress

Calvin is not anti sabbatarian. He is at least a practical sabbatarian (cf. material by Primus, Dennision, Gaffin; cf. my Calvin in the Hands of the Philistines article) and a case has recently been made that even his theory on two main sabbatarian points is more sabbatarian than not. See Stewart E. Lauer, "John Calvin, the Nascent Sabbatarian: A Reconsideration of Calvin’s View of Two Key Sabbath-Issues," _The Confessional Presbyterian _journal 3 (2007). My article I am revising slightly and running in the 2010 Confessional Presbyterian.


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## Particular Baptist

Joshua said:


> Particular Baptist said:
> 
> 
> 
> Did Calvin not apply the Moral Law consistently in this regard then?
> 
> 
> 
> This has been discussed _ad nauseum_ here and elsewhere, wherein we learn that Calvin is not as "anti-Sabbatarian" as people want to claim. For example, considering his sermons from Deuteronomy, no one would gather that he's against the practicing of keeping a day holy unto the Lord, etc. Regardless, Calvin, while a giant among pygmies, is not the final word on the Reformed faith. I would venture to say that Master Calvin was far more mindful, practically speaking, of sabbath keeping than most "Sabbatarians" are these days.
Click to expand...


Calvin was anti-Sabbatarian, but he was not anti-Lord's Day. The two days represent different things. If the sabbath was part of the moral law, then why was it changed? There is no mention, as most sabbatarians like to say, of a principle in the 4th commandment that one day in seven is to be set apart, that's not what the 4th states. It explicity says that the seventh day is the sabbath, there is no room for change.


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## C. M. Sheffield

I'm not so interested in having a conversation about the doctrine itself, but rather the history of it in the Reformation and beyond. Specifically, I'm curious to know how exactly other reformers and post-reformation divines interacted with Calvin on this point. 

P.S. I find it funny that Spencer and his Avatar (A. W. Pink) are not in agreement on this issue.


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## Andres

Here are some older threads on this subject that someone, somewhere might find helpful:
Calvin on the 4th Commandment 
Calvin's View of the Sabbath


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## Willem van Oranje

It was the growth and development of covenant theology, which led Reformed theologians in Britain and on the continent to see that the Sabbath ordinance originated at creation and not at Sinai. This is one example where theology develops and becomes more refined over time. The 17th-century Reformed view of the Sabbath (reflected in the WStds and Dutch Reformed theology) was an advancement from the 16th century view (reflected for example in Calvin and the Heidelberg Catechism.) 

Note: If you read Calvin on the 4th commandment in his Institutes you will see that he believed that Christians are still required to keep one day in seven holy unto the Lord, in obedience to the 4th commandment, and that this day ought to be the first day of the week, the "Lord's Day." He just does not call it, "Sabbath."


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## Particular Baptist

Perhaps, did it have anything to do with the differing enviroments that Calvin and the Puritans lived in?


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## C. M. Sheffield

Willem van Oranje said:


> Note: If you read Calvin on the 4th commandment in his Institutes you will see that he believed that Christians are still required to keep one day in seven holy unto the Lord, in obedience to the 4th commandment, and that this day ought to be the first day of the week, the "Lord's Day." He just does not call it, "Sabbath."



Where? I read it and did not find a statement such as that. I honestly could have missed it. Could you quote it for me.

I know he says its important to set one day aside for public worship and church order, but he never says this is "the" Christian Sabbath. To the contrary, he ridicules such ideas as popish superstition.


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## kvanlaan

> A consistent application of Scripture pertaining to the Moral Law and its perpetuity into the New Testament administration of the Covenant of Grace.



Agreed. So why didn't Calvin come to the same conclusion?


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## C. M. Sheffield

Joshua said:


> First, I suppose we'll have to ask him in glory. Second, any "anti-Sabbatarianism" on his part has more to do with semantics than substance, as has already been pointed out.



I am not in agreement with Calvin. His argument is anti-sabbatarian. The footnote in the Institutes reads, "Calvin's position is consciously anti-Sabbatarian" (Vol. 1, p. 400). It is more than semantics. The substance of his argument is as plain as the nose on your face. 

I don't have a problem acknowledging that Calvin is anti-Sabbatarian. Nor do I have a problem disagreeing with him. I'm not beholden to him in this matter any more than in the matter of Baptism. 

I'm just interested in the historical aspect of it (i.e. historical theology).


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## Willem van Oranje

C. M. Sheffield said:


> Willem van Oranje said:
> 
> 
> 
> Note: If you read Calvin on the 4th commandment in his Institutes you will see that he believed that Christians are still required to keep one day in seven holy unto the Lord, in obedience to the 4th commandment, and that this day ought to be the first day of the week, the "Lord's Day." He just does not call it, "Sabbath."
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Where? I read it and did not find a statement such as that. I honestly could have missed it. Could you quote it for me.
> 
> I know he says its important to set one day aside for public worship and church order, but he never says this is "the" Christian Sabbath. To the contrary, he ridicules such ideas as popish superstition.
Click to expand...

 
Calvin was speaking of the abolition of the Saturday [Hebrew=Shabbat] observance. As to the abiding validity that the 4th commandment has for Christians,

Calvin:



> there can be no doubt, that, on the advent of our Lord Jesus Christ, the ceremonial part of the commandment was abolished.



Note that not the 4th commmandment, but merely the ceremonial part of it was abolished, according to Calvin.



> there is still room among us, first, to assemble on stated days for the hearing of the Word, the breaking of the mystical bread, and public prayer; and, secondly, to give our servants and labourers relaxation from labour. *It cannot be doubted that the Lord provided for both in the commandment of the Sabbath.*
> 
> Who can deny that both are *equally applicable to us as to the Jews*? Religious meetings are enjoined us by the word of God; their necessity, experience itself sufficiently demonstrates. But unless these meetings are stated, and have fixed days allotted to them, how can they be held? We must, as the apostle expresses it, do all things decently and in orders (1 Cor. 14:40). So impossible, however, would it be to preserve decency and order without this politic arrangements that the dissolution of it would instantly lead to the disturbance and ruin of the Church. But if the reason for which the Lord appointed a sabbath to the Jews is *equally applicable to us*, *no man can assert that it is a matter with which we have nothing to do.* *Our most provident and indulgent Parent has been pleased to provide for our wants not less than for the wants of the Jews.* Why, it may be asked, do we not hold daily meetings, and thus avoid the distinction of days? Would that we were privileged to do so! Spiritual wisdom undoubtedly deserves to have some portion of every day devoted to it. But if, owing to the weakness of many, daily meetings cannot be held, and charity will not allow us to exact more of them, why should we not adopt *the rule which the will of God has obviously imposed upon us?*



From Calvin's discussion of the fourth commandment in the Institutes


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## Zenas

Hay doods:



> I'm just interested in the historical aspect of it (i.e. historical theology).



Go start your own Sabbatarianism thread.


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## Marrow Man

In a sense, there was an historical reason for the develop of the doctrine. James' _Book of Sports_ mandated recreation on Sundays, and this was probably a direct jab against the Puritans, whom he despised. If memory serves, mandatory church attendance had been established many years before under the Elizabethan settlement, but I would have to doublecheck. But suffice it to say, if one's doctrine of the Sabbath encompasses devoting the whole day to the Lord, and the king is mandating that his subjects exercise on the one day they have off so that they won't become "lazy," you can bet a Confessional document is going to address that, if for no other reason than the clarify the issue. Or, you could have an additional reason (as I believe Chris' excellent article points out) that the historical myth of "Calvin bowling on the Sabbath" may have been circulating as well.

I would suspect that Calvin did not have to deal with the same set of problems in Geneva. He seemed to be concerned with the moral principles behind the 4th commandment (such as employers releasing employees from work on the day).

Some works have already been suggested. Richard Gaffin's _Calvin and the Sabbath_ is probably one of the best on the subject. As a side note, our church is beginning a study on the doctrine of the Christian Sabbath this very evening, and I would recommend the book I will be using to prepare the study: Keith Weber's The Lord of the Sabbath, published by Day One. You can obtain a copy for a mere $5 at Cumberland Valley.


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## Ne Oublie

Zenas said:


> Hay doods:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I'm just interested in the historical aspect of it (i.e. historical theology).
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Go start your own Sabbatarianism thread.
Click to expand...

 
Is not what Riley put forth qualifying? The statement in the OP starts off by saying that Calvin is anti-sabbatarian. What Riley has put forth is historical and is clarifying that there may be a wrong premise in the first place to the original statement.


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## lynnie

You might like reading Gaffin's "Calvin and the Sabbath." I found it to be the most helpful thing I ever read on the subject.

Calvin and the Sabbath: The Controversy of Applying the Fourth Commandment :: Historical Theology :: Church History :: Monergism Books :: Reformed Books - Discount Prices - Free Shipping


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## JM

It seems John Gill followed Calvin on this one, he believed the Lord's Day was a day set aside to worship God and not the Sabbath. Interesting.


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## JML

JM said:


> It seems John Gill followed Calvin on this one, he believed the Lord's Day a day set aside to worship God and not the Sabbath. Interesting.


 
Do you have a quote on this?


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## JM

I've read his works over the years but hear is a quick summary: John Gill: Sabbath Observance and The Sabbath was Not a 'Creation Ordinance'


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## Marrow Man

JM said:


> I've read his works over the years but hear a quick summary: John Gill: Sabbath Observance and The Sabbath was Not a 'Creation Ordinance'



Interesting. Then did Gill even believe in any creation ordinances? I.e., does he make any similar statements or considerations concerning labor and/or marriage?


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## JM

Marrow Man said:


> JM said:
> 
> 
> 
> I've read his works over the years but hear a quick summary: John Gill: Sabbath Observance and The Sabbath was Not a 'Creation Ordinance'
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Interesting. Then did Gill even believe in any creation ordinances? I.e., does he make any similar statements or considerations concerning labor and/or marriage?
Click to expand...

 

Off the top of my head I would say, no.


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## Scott1

> _Institutes of the Christian Religion_
> John Calvin
> 
> II. 8.
> 
> Fourth Commandment.
> 
> REMEMBER THE SABBATH DAY TO KEEP IT HOLY. SIX DAYS SHALT THOU LABOUR AND DO ALL THY WORK: BUT THE SEVENTH DAY IS THE SABBATH OF THE LORD THY GOD. IN IT THOU SHALT NOT DO ANY WORK, &C.
> 
> 28. The purport of the commandment is, that being dead to our own affections and works, we meditate on the kingdom of God, and in order to such meditation, have recourse to the means which he has appointed. But as this commandment stands in peculiar circumstances apart from the others, the mode of exposition must be somewhat different. Early Christian writers are wont to call it typical, as containing the external observance of a day which was abolished with the other types on the advent of Christ. This is indeed true; but it leaves the half of the matter untouched. Wherefore, we must look deeper for our exposition, and attend to three cases in which it appears to me that the observance of this commandment consists. First, under the rest of the seventh days the divine Lawgiver meant to furnish the people of Israel with a type of the spiritual rest by which believers were to cease from their own works, and allow God to work in them. Secondly he meant that there should be a stated day on which they should assemble to hear the Law, and perform religious rites, or which, at least, they should specially employ in meditating on his works, and be thereby trained to piety. Thirdly, he meant that servants, and those who lived under the authority of others, should be indulged with a day of rest, and thus have some intermission from labour.
> 
> 29. We are taught in many passages208208 Num. 13:22; Ezek. 20:12; 22:8; 23:38; Jer. 27:21, 22, 27; Isiah 55:2; Neh. 9:14. that this adumbration of spiritual rest held a primary place in the Sabbath. Indeed, there is no commandment the observance of which the Almighty more strictly enforces. When he would intimate by the Prophets that religion was entirely subverted, he complains that his sabbaths were polluted, violated, not kept, not hallowed; as if, after it was neglected, there remained nothing in which he could be honoured. The observance of it he eulogises in the highest terms, and hence, among other divine privileges, the faithful set an extraordinary value on the revelation of the Sabbath. In Nehemiah, the Levites, in the public assembly, 340thus speak: “Thou madest known unto them thy holy sabbath, and commandedst them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses thy servant.” You see the singular honour which it holds among all the precepts of the Law. All this tends to celebrate the dignity of the mystery, which is most admirably expressed by Moses and Ezekiel. Thus in Exodus: “Verily my sabbaths shall ye keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that does sanctify you. Ye shall keep my sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever does any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord: whosoever does any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever,” (Exodus 31:13–17). Ezekiel is still more full, but the sum of what he says amounts to this: that the sabbath is a sign by which Israel might know that God is their sanctifier. If our sanctification consists in the mortification of our own will, the analogy between the external sign and the thing signified is most appropriate. We must rest entirely, in order that God may work in us; we must resign our own will, yield up our heart, and abandon all the lusts of the flesh. In short, we must desist from all the acts of our own mind, that God working in us, we may rest in him, as the Apostle also teaches (Heb. 3:13; 4:3, 9).
> 
> 30. This complete cessation was represented to the Jews by the observance of one day in seven, which, that it might be more religiously attended to, the Lord recommended by his own example. For it is no small incitement to the zeal of man to know that he is engaged in imitating his Creator. Should any one expect some secret meaning in the number seven, this being in Scripture the number for perfection, it may have been selected, not without cause, to denote perpetuity. In accordance with this, Moses concludes his description of the succession of day and night on the same day on which he relates that the Lord rested from his works. Another probable reason for the number may be, that the Lord intended that the Sabbath never should be completed before the arrival of the last day. We here begin our blessed rest in him, and daily make new progress in it; but because we must still wage an incessant warfare with the flesh, it shall not be consummated until the fulfilment of the prophecy of Isaiah: “From one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord,” (Isaiah 66:23); in other words, when God shall be “all in all,” (I Cor. 15:28). It may seem, therefore, that by the seventh day the Lord delineated to his people the future perfection of his sabbath 341on the last day, that by continual meditation on the sabbath, they might throughout their whole lives aspire to this perfection.
> 
> 31. Should these remarks on the number seem to any somewhat far-fetched, I have no objection to their taking it more simply: that the Lord appointed a certain day on which his people might be trained, under the tutelage of the Law, to meditate constantly on the spiritual rest, and fixed upon the seventh, either because he foresaw it would be sufficient, or in order that his own example might operate as a stronger stimulus; or, at least to remind men that the Sabbath was appointed for no other purpose than to render them conformable to their Creator. It is of little consequence which of these be adopted, provided we lose not sight of the principal thing delineated—viz. the mystery of perpetual resting from our works. To the contemplation of this, the Jews were every now and then called by the prophets, lest they should think a carnal cessation from labour sufficient. Beside the passages already quoted, there is the following: “If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord,” (Isaiah 58:13, 14). Still there can be no doubt, that, on the advent of our Lord Jesus Christ, the ceremonial part of the commandment was abolished. He is the truth, at whose presence all the emblems vanish; the body, at the sight of which the shadows disappear. He, I say, is the true completion of the sabbath: “We are buried with him by baptism unto death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we should walk in newness of life,” (Rom. 6:4). Hence, as the Apostle elsewhere says, “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holiday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days; which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ,” (Col. 2:16, 17); meaning by body the whole essence of the truth, as is well explained in that passage. This is not contented with one day, but requires the whole course of our lives, until being completely dead to ourselves, we are filled with the life of God. Christians, therefore, should have nothing to do with a superstitious observance of days.
> 
> 32. The two other cases ought not to be classed with ancient shadows, but are adapted to every age. The sabbath being abrogated, there is still room among us, first, to assemble on stated days for the hearing of the Word, the breaking of the mystical bread, and public prayer; and, secondly, to give our servants and labourers relaxation from labour. It cannot be doubted that the Lord provided for both in the commandment of the Sabbath. The former is abundantly evinced by the mere practice of the Jews. The latter Moses has expressed in Deuteronomy in the following terms: “The seventh day 342is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant;—that thy man-servant and thy maid-servant may rest as well as thou,” (Deut. 5:14). Likewise in Exodus, “That thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed,” (Exod. 23:12). Who can deny that both are equally applicable to us as to the Jews? Religious meetings are enjoined us by the word of God; their necessity, experience itself sufficiently demonstrates. But unless these meetings are stated, and have fixed days allotted to them, how can they be held? We must, as the apostle expresses it, do all things decently and in orders (1 Cor. 14:40). So impossible, however, would it be to preserve decency and order without this politic arrangements that the dissolution of it would instantly lead to the disturbance and ruin of the Church. But if the reason for which the Lord appointed a sabbath to the Jews is equally applicable to us, no man can assert that it is a matter with which we have nothing to do. Our most provident and indulgent Parent has been pleased to provide for our wants not less than for the wants of the Jews. Why, it may be asked, do we not hold daily meetings, and thus avoid the distinction of days? Would that we were privileged to do so! Spiritual wisdom undoubtedly deserves to have some portion of every day devoted to it. But if, owing to the weakness of many, daily meetings cannot be held, and charity will not allow us to exact more of them, why should we not adopt the rule which the will of God has obviously imposed upon us?
> 
> 33. I am obliged to dwell a little longer on this because some restless spirits are now making an outcry about the observance of the Lord’s day. They complain that Christian people are trained in Judaism, because some observance of days is retained. My reply is, That those days are observed by us without Judaism, because in this matter we differ widely from the Jews. We do not celebrate it with most minute formality, as a ceremony by which we imagine that a spiritual mystery is typified, but we adopt it as a necessary remedy for preserving order in the Church. Paul informs us that Christians are not to be judged in respect of its observance, because it is a shadow of something to come (Col. 2:16); and, accordingly, he expresses a fear lest his labour among the Galatians should prove in vain, because they still observed days (Gal. 4:10, 11). And he tells the Romans that it is superstitious to make one day differ from another (Rom. 14:5). But who, except those restless men, does not see what the observance is to which the Apostle refers? Those persons had no regard to that politic and ecclesiastical arrangement,209209 N“Finem istum politicum et ecclesiasticum ordinem.”P—French, “la police et ordre en l’Eglise;” policy and order in the Church. but by retaining the days as types of spiritual things, they in so far obscured 343the glory of Christ, and the light of the Gospel. They did not desist from manual labour on the ground of its interfering with sacred study and meditation, but as a kind of religious observance; because they dreamed that by their cessation from labour, they were cultivating the mysteries which had of old been committed to them. It was, I say, against this preposterous observance of days that the Apostle inveighs, and not against that legitimate selection which is subservient to the peace of Christian society. For in the churches established by him, this was the use for which the Sabbath was retained. He tells the Corinthians to set the first day apart for collecting contributions for the relief of their brethren at Jerusalem (1 Cor. 16:2). If superstition is dreaded, there was more danger in keeping the Jewish sabbath than the Lord’s day as Christians now do. It being expedient to overthrow superstition, the Jewish holy day was abolished; and as a thing necessary to retain decency, orders and peace, in the Church, another day was appointed for that purpose.
> 
> 34. It was not, however, without a reason that the early Christians substituted what we call the Lord’s day for the Sabbath. The resurrection of our Lord being the end and accomplishment of that true rest which the ancient sabbath typified, this day, by which types were abolished serves to warn Christians against adhering to a shadowy ceremony. I do not cling so to the number seven as to bring the Church under bondage to it, nor do I condemn churches for holding their meetings on other solemn days, provided they guard against superstition. This they will do if they employ those days merely for the observance of discipline and regular order. The whole may be thus summed up: As the truth was delivered typically to the Jews, so it is imparted to us without figure; first, that during our whole lives we may aim at a constant rest from our own works, in order that the Lord may work in us by his Spirit; secondly that every individual, as he has opportunity, may diligently exercise himself in private, in pious meditation on the works of God, and, at the same time, that all may observe the legitimate order appointed by the Church, for the hearing of the word, the administration of the sacraments, and public prayer: And, thirdly, that we may avoid oppressing those who are subject to us. In this way, we get quit of the trifling of the false prophets, who in later times instilled Jewish ideas into the people, alleging that nothing was abrogated but what was ceremonial in the commandment,210210 As to this liberty, See Socrates, Hist. Trip. Lib. 9 c. 38. (this they term in their language the taxation of the seventh day), while the moral part remains—viz. the observance of one day in seven.211211 French, “ne discernans entre le Dimanche et le Sabbath autrement, sinon que le septiéme jour estoit abrogé qu’on gardoit pour lors, mais qu’il on faloit, neantmoins garder un;”—making no other distinction between the Sunday and the Sabbath, save that the seventh day, which was kept till then, was abrogated, but that it was nevertheless necessary to keep some one day. But this is nothing else than to 344insult the Jews, by changing the day, and yet mentally attributing to it the same sanctity; thus retaining the same typical distinction of days as had place among the Jews. And of a truth, we see what profit they have made by such a doctrine. Those who cling to their constitutions go thrice as far as the Jews in the gross and carnal superstition of sabbatism; so that the rebukes which we read in Isaiah (Isa. 1:13; 58:13) apply as much to those of the present day,212212 French, “leur conviendroyent mieux;”—whould be more applicable to them. as to those to whom the Prophet addressed them. We must be careful, however, to observe the general doctrine—viz. in order that religion may neither be lost nor languish among us, we must diligently attend on our religious assemblies, and duly avail ourselves of those external aids which tend to promote the worship of God.



Read the whole passage, in context, and you will see Mr. Calvin is defining a practical sabbath observance.

Notice three points he begins with regarding the fourth command:

1) "spiritual rest, in which believers ought to lay aside their own works to allow God to work in them" 

2) "a stated day" for God's people to "assemble to hear" the Word of God

3) God giving "a day of rest to servants"



Remember, that even the greatest theologian is not infallible.

Also that Mr. Beza and others who followed built upon and refined the excellent biblical theology of all of Scripture that the great theologian began.

As covenant theology was particularized more after Mr. Calvin, the substance of the fourth commandment, as in the early church began to be understood better, as contrast with the civil law and ceremonial law that went along with it in the Old Testament.

Much of what Mr. Calvin is detailing does not quite get to that, but others after him would, and make it more explicit.

Hence, the London Baptist Confession and Westminster Confessions- identical in summarizing the doctrine of Scripture on this point.

---------- Post added at 04:35 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:10 PM ----------





For additional context of how Mr. Calvin viewed sabbath/Lord's Day at the time of this writing, consider his catechism, which defines a practical sabbath, at minimum:



> CATECHISM OF THE CHURCH OF GENEVA,
> BEING A FORM OF INSTRUCTION FOR CHILDREN
> 
> ....
> 
> M. Let us come to the fourth commandment.
> 
> S. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: But the seventh is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.
> 
> M. Does he order us to labor on six days, that we may rest on the seventh?
> 
> S. Not absolutely; but allowing man six days for labor, he excepts the seventh, that it may be devoted to rest.
> 
> M. Does he interdict us from all kind of labor?
> 
> S. This commandment has a separate and peculiar reason. As the observance of rest is part of the old ceremonies, it was abolished by the advent of Christ.
> 
> M. Do you mean that this commandment properly refers to the Jews, and was therefore merely temporary
> 
> S. I do, in as far as it is ceremonial.
> 
> M. What then? Is there any thing under it beyond ceremony?
> 
> S. It was given for three reasons.
> 
> M. State them to me.
> 
> S. To figure spiritual rest; for the preservation of ecclesiastical polity; and for the relief of slaves.
> 
> M. What do you mean by spiritual rest
> 
> S. When we keep holiday from our own works, that God may perform his own works in us.
> 
> M. What, moreover, is the method of thus keeping holiday?
> 
> S. By crucifying our flesh, — that is, renouncing our own inclination, that we may be governed by the Spirit of God.
> 
> M. Is it sufficient to do so on the seventh day?
> 
> S. Nay, continually. After we have once begun, we must continue during the whole course of life.
> 
> M. Why, then, is a certain day appointed to figure it?
> 
> S. There is no necessity that the reality should agree with the figure in every respect, provided it be suitable in so far as is required for the purpose of figuring.
> 
> M. But why is the seventh day prescribed rather than any other day?
> 
> S. In Scripture the number seven implies perfection. It is, therefore, apt for denoting perpetuity. It, at the same time, indicates that this spiritualrest is only begun in this life, and will not be perfect until we depart from this world.
> 
> M. But what is meant when the Lord exhorts us to rest by his own example?
> 
> S. Having finished the creation of the world in six days: he dedicated the seventh to the contemplation of his works. The more strongly to stimulate us to this, he set before us his own example. For nothing is more desirable than to be formed after his image.
> 
> M. But ought meditation on the works of God to be continual, or is it sufficient that one day out of seven be devoted to it?
> 
> S. It becomes us to be daily exercised in it, but because of our weakness, one day is specially appointed. And this is the polity which I mentioned.
> 
> M. What order, then, is to be observed on that day?
> 
> S. That the people meet to hear the doctrine of Christ, to engage in public prayer, and make profession of their faith.
> 
> M. Now explain what you meant by saying that the Lord intended by this commandment to provide also for the relief of slaves.
> 
> S. That some relaxation might be given to those under the power of others. Nay, this, too, tends to maintain a common polity. For when one day is devoted to rest, every one accustoms himself to labor during the other days.
> 
> M. Let us now see how far this command has reference to us.
> 
> S. In regard to the ceremony, I hold that it was abolished, as the reality existed in Christ. (Colossians 2:17.)
> 
> M. How?
> 
> S. Because, by virtue of his death, our old man is crucified, and we are raised up to newness of life. (Romans 6:6.)
> 
> M. What of the commandment then remains for us?
> 
> S. Not to neglect the holy ordinances which contribute to the spiritual polity of the Church; especially to frequent sacred assemblies, to hear the word of God, to celebrate the sacraments, and engage in the regular prayers, as enjoined.
> 
> M. But does the figure give us nothing more?
> 
> S. Yes, indeed. We must give heed to the thing meant by it; namely, that being engrafted into the body of Christ, and made his members, we cease from our own works, and so resign ourselves to the government of God.
> ....


.


----------



## Peairtach

Calvin wasn't anti-Sabbatarian but didn't put the Sabbath on as clear a footing as he could have because he failed to emphasise the teaching of Scripture that the Sabbath was established at Creation and didn't begin as a Jewish type.

See Richard Gaffin's "Calvin and the Sabbath" (CFP-Mentor).

*Quote from Jason*


> a day set aside to worship God



But a _whole_ day - as opposed to 2 or 3 hours - set aside to worship God is a Sabbath.

The Old Covenant Sabbath is referred to as "the Lord's Day" in the Old Testament.

*Quote from Spencer*


> Calvin was anti-Sabbatarian, but he was not anti-Lord's Day. The two days represent different things. If the sabbath was part of the moral law, then why was it changed?



See my posts on this subject. The Lord's Day and Sabbath aren't two different things, it's just that the Day was changed because a New Creation and Redemption are being celebrated on the appropriate Day. 

God entered into His Rest from the work of the Old Creation on the Seventh Day while Christ entered into His Rest from the work of the New Creation on the First Day. Nothing could be more appropriate than a change of day.


----------



## JM

Richard, I wasn't posting contra the confessional standard of the forum, just posting Gill's thoughts on the subject. I do agree with John Gill and the rest of the non-Puritan influenced Christian world on this issue but will not break rules in support of this position.


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## PuritanCovenanter

I thought I would repost this in relation to understanding the abrogation of the old and the continuation in the new. 

http://www.puritanboard.com/blogs/puritancovenanter/some-reformed-baptists-sabbath-concerning-colossians-hebrews-444/



> *1. The Old Testament prophesies the abrogation and cessation of the Sabbath under the New Covenant.
> *
> 
> The OT clearly prophesies the abrogation and cessation of ancient Israel‘s Sabbaths. It does so in Hos. 2:11, which says, ―I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her New Moons, her Sabbaths--all her appointed feasts." We will make several observations that bear this out. First, Hosea‘s prophecy is dealing with the days of the New Covenant. The phrase ―in that day" (vv. 16, 18, 21) is used prophetically of New Covenant days in Is. 22:20. Revelation 3:7 quotes Is. 22:22 and applies it to Christ. The prophecy in Is. 22:20 mentions the Lord‘s servant, who is Christ. Isaiah 22:20-22 says:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Then it shall be in that day, that I will call My servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah; I will clothe him with your robe and strengthen him with your belt; I will commit your responsibility into his hand. He shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. The key of the house of David I will lay on his shoulder; so he shall open, and no one shall shut; and he shall shut, and no one shall open.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Revelation 3:7, quoting Is. 22:22, says:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, ―These things says He who is holy, He who is true, He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> The phrase, ―in that day,
> ' refers to the days of Christ–the days of the New Covenant. Paul references Hos. 1:10 and 2:23 in Rom. 9:25, applying them to Christians. ―As He says also in Hosea: ‗I will call them My people, who were not My people, and her beloved, who was not beloved‘" (Rom. 9:25). Peter references Hos. 1:9-10 and 2:23 in 1 Pet. 2:10 and applies them to Christians as well. He says, ―who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy" (1 Pet. 2:10). Hosea is clearly speaking of New Covenant days. According to the NT usage of Hosea, he is speaking of the time in redemptive history when God will bring Gentiles into a saving relationship with Jews. Much of the NT deals with this very issue.
> 
> Second, Hos. 2:11 clearly prophesies the abrogation of Old Covenant Israel‘s Sabbaths, along with ―all her appointed feasts." Hosea uses a triad of terms (―feast days, New Moons, Sabbaths") that is used many places in the OT (1 Chron. 23:31; 2 Chron. 2:4; 31:3; Neh. 10:33; and Is. 1:13-14). Clearly, he is speaking of the abrogation of Old Covenant ceremonial laws. When the Old Covenant goes, Israel‘s feast days, New Moons, Sabbaths, and all her appointed feasts go with it.
> 
> Third, the NT confirms this understanding of Hos. 2:11. It uses this triad of terms in Col. 2:16, which says, ―So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths." In the context, Paul is combating those who were attempting to impose Old Covenant ceremonial law on New Covenant Christians. So Col. 2:16 is clear NT language that sees Hosea‘s prophecy as fulfilled. It is of interest to note that Paul uses the plural for Sabbath in Col. 2:16 (σάββατον). It is not too hard to assume that Paul had the OT triad in mind and Hosea‘s prophecy while penning these words. The NT announces the abrogation of the Old Covenant in
> many places. For instance, 2 Cor. 3:7-18; Gal. 3-4; Eph. 2:14-16; and Heb. 8-10 (cf. esp. 8:6-7, 13; 9:9-10, 15; 10:1, 15-18) are clear that the Old Covenant has been abrogated.
> 
> (Heb. 8:6-7)
> 
> 
> 
> But now He [Christ] has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant [the New Covenant], which was established on better promises. For if that first covenant [the Old Covenant] had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> (Heb. 8:13)
> 
> 
> 
> In that He says, ―A new covenant, He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> (Heb. 9:9-10)
> 
> 
> 
> It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience--concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings, and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> (Heb. 9:15)
> 
> 
> 
> And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> (Heb. 10:1)
> 
> 
> 
> For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> (Heb. 10:15-18)
> 
> 
> 
> But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before, ―This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them, then He adds, ―Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more. Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> The Old Covenant and all its ceremonies are obsolete and have vanished away (Heb. 8:13). Taking these passages and Col. 2:16 together, they clearly teach that when the Old Covenant goes, the triad of Col. 2:16 goes as well.
> 
> *2. The Old Testament prophesies the perpetuity and continuation of the Sabbath under the New Covenant.*
> 
> Just as there is evidence from the OT that the Sabbath will be abolished under the New Covenant, so there is evidence that it will continue. At first glance this appears contradictory. But on further investigation, it is not contradictory and, in fact, fits the evidence provided thus far for the creation basis of the Sabbath and its unique place in the Decalogue in its function as moral law. Two passages deserve our attention at this point, Is. 56:1-8 and Jer. 31:33. Isaiah‘s prophecy of the Sabbath under the New Covenant is explicit and Jeremiah‘s is implicit.
> 
> *
> Isaiah 56:1-8*
> 
> (Isaiah 56:1-8)
> 
> 
> 
> Thus says the LORD: ―Keep justice, and do righteousness, for My salvation is about to come, and My righteousness to be revealed. Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who lays hold on it; who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, and keeps his hand from doing any evil. Do not let the son of the foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD speak, saying, "The LORD has utterly separated me from His people; nor let the eunuch say, "Here I am, a dry tree. For thus says the LORD: "To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, and choose what pleases Me, and hold fast My covenant, even to them I will give in My house and within My walls a place and a name better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off. Also the sons of the foreigner who join themselves to the LORD, to serve Him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be His servants--everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, and holds fast My covenant--even them I will bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on My altar; for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations. The Lord GOD, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, says, ―Yet I will gather to him others besides those who are gathered to him.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Several observations will assist us in understanding how this passage prophesies explicitly the perpetuity and continuation of the Sabbath under the New Covenant. First, the section of the book of Isaiah starting at chapter 40 and ending with chapter 66 points forward to the days of Messiah and in some places to the eternal state. This section includes language pointing forward to the time primarily between the two comings of Christ, the interadvental days of the New Covenant. It is understood this way by the New Testament in several places (see Matt. 3:3; 8:16, 17; 12:15-21; and Acts 13:34).
> 
> Second, Is. 56:1-8 speaks prophetically of a day in redemptive history in which God will save Gentiles (cf., esp. vv. 7 and 8). The language of "all nations" in v. 7 reminds us of the promise given to Abraham concerning blessing all nations through his seed (see Gen. 12:3 and Gal. 3:8, 16). This Abrahamic promise is pursued by the great commission of Matt. 28:18-20. Isaiah is speaking about New Covenant days.
> 
> Third, in several New Testament texts, using the motif of fulfillment, the language of Is. 56:1-8 (and the broader context) is applied to the days between Christ‘s first and second comings (Matt. 21:12-13; Acts 8:26-40; Eph. 2:19; and 1 Tim. 3:15). Compare Matt. 21:13, “My house shall be called a house of prayer," with Is. 56:7, “For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations." This anticipates the inclusion of Gentiles in the house of God, a common NT phenomenon. Compare Acts 8:26-40 (notice a eunuch was reading from Isaiah) with Is. 56:3-5, which says:
> 
> (Is. 56:3-5)
> 
> 
> 
> Do not let the son of the foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD Speak, saying, ―The LORD has utterly separated me from His people; nor let the eunuch say, ―Here I am, a dry tree. For thus says the LORD: ―To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, and choose what pleases Me, and hold fast My covenant, even to them I will give in My house and within My walls a place and a name better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> The Old Covenant placed restrictions on eunuchs. Deuteronomy 23:1 says, ―He who is emasculated by crushing or mutilation shall not enter the assembly of the LORD. Isaiah is prophesying about a day in redemptive history when those restrictions will no longer apply.
> 
> In Eph. 2:19 the church is called the "household of God" and in 1 Tim. 3:15 it is called "the house of God."The context of 1 Tim. 3:15 includes 1 Tim. 2:1-7, where Paul outlines regulations for church prayer. Now consider Is. 56:7, which says:
> 
> (Is. 56:7)
> 
> 
> 
> Even them [i.e., the foreigners (Gentiles) of v. 6a] I will bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on My altar; for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> The NT sees Isaiah‘s prophecy as fulfilled under the New Covenant. However, the privileges, responsibilities, and the people of God foretold there (Is. 56) are transformed to fit the conditions brought in by the New Covenant. The people of God are transformed due to the New Covenant; the house of God is transformed due to the New Covenant; the burnt offerings, sacrifices, and altar are transformed due to the New Covenant; and the Sabbath is transformed due to the New Covenant (i.e., from the seventh to the first day). Isaiah, as with other OT prophets, accommodates his prophecy to the language of the Old Covenant people, but its NT fulfillment specifies exactly what his prophesy looks like when being fulfilled. Jeremiah does this with thepromise of the New Covenant. What was promised to "the house of Israel" and "the house of Judah" (Jer. 31:31), is fulfilled in the Jew-Gentile church, the New Covenant people of God, the transformed Israel of OT prophecy.
> 
> With these considerations before us, it seems not only plausible but compelling to conclude that between the two advents of Christ, when the Old Covenant law restricting eunuchs no longer restricts them, and when the nations (i.e., the Gentiles) are becoming the Lord‘s and frequenting his house, which is his Church, a Sabbath (see Is. 56:2, 4, 6) yet remains. Isaiah is speaking prophetically of Sabbath-keeping in New Covenant days. The English Puritan John Bunyan, commenting on Isaiah 56, said, "Also it follows from hence, that the sabbath that has a promise annexed to the keeping of it, is rather that which the Lord Jesus shall give to the churches of the Gentiles."7
> 
> Again, the essence of the Sabbath transcends covenantal bounds. Its roots are in creation, not in the Old Covenant alone. It transcends covenants and cultures because the ethics of creation are trans-covenantal and trans-cultural. The Sabbath is part of God‘s moral law.
Click to expand...


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## nnatew24

To properly understand Calvin's view, you've got to read more than just his Institutes:



> “We must refrain from our own business which might hinder us from the mining of God’s works, and we must call upon His name and exercise our selves in His word. If we spend the Lord’s Day in making good cheer, and in playing and gaming, is that a good honoring of God? Nay, it is not a mockery, yea a very unhallowing of His name? Yes. But when the Shop-windows are shut in on the Lord’s Day, and men travel not as they do on other days, it is to the end [that] we should have the more leisure and liberty, to intend to the things that God commandeth… Yet notwithstanding it is so common a thing, as is pity to see (i.e. that people refuse to come to the sermon, conduct their own affairs, indulge in gluttony and withdraw into their homes away from the church on the Lord’s Day), and would God that [these] examples were more rare and further off to be found. But the world sees how all things are unhallowed, insomuch that most folk have no regard at all of the using of that Day, *which was ordained to withdraw us from all earthly cares and affairs that we might give ourselves wholly unto God.* But if the Lord’s Day be spent not only in games and pastimes fully contrary to God, so as men think they have not kept holy the Lord His Day, except God be offended divers ways; if the holy order which God ordained to bring us to Him be broken after that fashion, is it any wonder though men play the beasts all the week after?”
> 
> Sermon 34 on Deuteronomy, in The Sermons of John Calvin upon the Fifth Book of Moses Called Deuteronomy, translated by Arthur Golding, London, 1583, page 204. Also translated in John Calvin’s Sermons on the Ten Commandments, Benjamin W. Farley, 1980.



It seems clear from the statement above that Calvin was a practical Sabbatarrian. I might even go as far to say that he is in line with the confessional view on the Sabbath, though he undoubtedly uses different language and logic in getting there (refused to call it the Sabbath, etc).


----------



## Peairtach

Yes, but he didn't emphasise that the Sabbath was a type of the Heavenly Eschatalogical Kingdom from the time of Adam, indeed even before the Fall, and that it continues as a type in this sense into the New Covenant.

Then again there are Sabbatarian books that don't emphasise this, but they usually emphasise at least that the Sabbath is a creation ordinance.

Calvin believed that the Jews had to keep the Sabbath more strictly than Christians - not lighting fires, cooking food, etc - because it was a typical ordinance for them.

Thomas Shepard's Theses Sabbaticae and other works show from Scripture that the Jews didn't have to keep the Sabbath any more strictly than Christians are meant to keep it:-

ThomasShepard.org - The Writings of Thomas Shepard

Also there was a new typological emphasis and significance added to the Creation Sabbath at the time of the Exodus, which redemption under Moses was completed on a Sabbath (the Red Sea opened on Friday night and closed on Saturday morning?) and the commemoration of such was added to the significance of the Sabbath for the Jews:-

_"'Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you.
Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant, or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. You shall remember that you were a slave [fn] in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day. (Deuteronomy 5:12-15, ESV)_

The Sabbath - in addition to being a type of Heaven - for the Jews was a pointer to Canaan when they were in the wilderness, and Canaan was a type of Heaven. 

When they were in Canaan, the Sabbath - in addition to being a type of Heaven - pointed to the greater eschatalogical Rest which we enjoy in the New Covenant. 

The Sabbath remains a type of the Heavenly Eschatalogical Rest for the Christian, and this creational typology transcends any Jewish types which have reached their anti-typical fulfilment in the New Covenant era.

The anti-Sabbatarians argue that the Sabbath as a type has found its anti-type in the coming of Christ and the New Covenant. But this can only be said of the significance to the Sabbath that was added at the time of Moses.

The Sabbath established at creation as a type of the Heavenly Eschatalogical Rest - with the day appropriately changed by the Resurrection of Christ - has not been fulfilled by the antitype, because the antitype is the Heavenly Eschatalogical Rest and Kingdom, and none of us are there yet. 

The typology of the Sabbath under Moses was multi-layered, and some of it is fulfilled in Christ's First Advent and some of it is not. 

See Hebrews 3-4.


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## JM

Yes Richard, see Hebrews 3-4.


----------



## Contra_Mundum

Heb.4:9 states plainly, there *remains* a sabbath-rest-keeping for the people of God.

Not, there "remains" one, in the future, which wouldn't actually be a "remaining" at all, but one that had disappeared, until we get to heaven or heaven comes down;

but that it remains, it is a _present reality,_ and it is one that we are *urged*, cajoled, commanded and exhorted to enter into.

And not just in the future sometime either, but now, right now as it is "remains" for us so that we can have the privilege of entering into it. Weekly. A foretaste of heaven. That's what meeting with God on his appointment is all about.

It remains. With us. We have it. Use it. Its not an option.


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## PuritanCovenanter

JM said:


> Yes Richard, see Hebrews 3-4.



Just a note on Hebrews 4:9




> Also concerning the Hebrews 4:9 passage concerning a Sabbath rest...
> 
> Those guys who quote the Colossians and Hebrew verses need to know that there are legitimate discussions and commentaries that support a sabbatarian view. I read an article by Robert P. Martin in the Reformed Baptist Theological review were he spoke on these verses. I am going to leave a quote from this article here concerning the Hebrews passage and the terms used.
> 
> Reformed Baptist Theological Review
> vl. 1.2 A Sabbath Remains.. The Place of Hebrews 4:9 in the New Testament's Witness to the Lord's Day by Robert P. Martin
> (Heb 4:9) There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.
> 
> In it he notes the Word used here is σαββατισμός and not κατάπαυσις
> 
> (rest).
> G4520
> σαββατισμός
> sabbatismos
> 
> This is an obscure term evidently that is used in just a few other places outside of the scriptures but used only once in the New Testament. Robert Martin says,
> 
> 
> 
> "I think that it is of interest that "in each of these places the term [σαββατισμός] denotes the observance or celebration of the Sabbath," i.e., not "a Sabbath rest" as a state that is entered into but "a Sabbath-keeping" as a practice that is observed. This, of course, corresponds to the word's morphology, for the suffix -μός indicates an action and not just a state. see A. T. Robertson, A Grammar of the Greek New Testament in Light of Historical Research (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1934), 151.
> Reformed Baptist Theological Review Vl. 1;2 p.5
> 
> 
> 
> 
> In other words there is still a 1 in 7 day where we are still required to observe a sabbath.
> 
> Obviously the article consists of the surrounding verses but it is a good read and quotes John Owen who is one of my faves.
Click to expand...


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## sdesocio

I recently preached on the 4th Commandment from the Exodus 20 text, and Calvin's commentary on the Pentateuch seem to make a strong connection between keeping the Sabbath and Keeping Circumcision. At first we might think that so Calvin is Anti-Sabbatarian, and the answer is well not exactly. See Calvin points out that while physical circumcision has been surpassed by a spiritual Circumcision so too a Sabbath keeping has been surpassed by a Spiritual Sabbath keeping that still applies. 
For me the challenge of this issue often comes when Sabbatarianism is defined as list keeping on the Christian Sabbath rather than a delighting in our reconciliation with God.


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## Peairtach

Of course we rest in Christ by faith every day, just as Adam rested in God by faith everyday. But that didn't mean that Adam wasn't commanded to, and needed to, enjoy a special weekly rest with God, and that we aren't so commanded and don't need such a rest.

Although we're in the New Covenant period, we're not in the Heavenly Eschatalogical Kingdom to which the Sabbath always pointed, yet.

The Lord Jesus was very careful to clear the Weekly Sabbath of Pharasaical rules that had been added to it. 

We should fence-off the Christian Sabbath in the way that our Lord has shown us in His Word, not adding to it or taking away from it. Jesus didn't add to it or take away from it in His observation of it.


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## Willem van Oranje

sdesocio said:


> I recently preached on the 4th Commandment from the Exodus 20 text, and Calvin's commentary on the Pentateuch seem to make a strong connection between keeping the Sabbath and Keeping Circumcision. At first we might think that so Calvin is Anti-Sabbatarian, and the answer is well not exactly. See Calvin points out that while physical circumcision has been surpassed by a spiritual Circumcision so too a Sabbath keeping has been surpassed by a Spiritual Sabbath keeping that still applies.
> For me the challenge of this issue often comes when Sabbatarianism is defined as list keeping on the Christian Sabbath rather than a delighting in our reconciliation with God.


 
Good analysis, and the type of legalism that you describe is something to be guarded against by all Christian Sabbatarians.


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## Peairtach

PuritanCovenanter said:


> JM said:
> 
> 
> 
> Yes Richard, see Hebrews 3-4.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Just a note on Hebrews 4:9
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Also concerning the Hebrews 4:9 passage concerning a Sabbath rest...
> 
> Those guys who quote the Colossians and Hebrew verses need to know that there are legitimate discussions and commentaries that support a sabbatarian view. I read an article by Robert P. Martin in the Reformed Baptist Theological review were he spoke on these verses. I am going to leave a quote from this article here concerning the Hebrews passage and the terms used.
> 
> Reformed Baptist Theological Review
> vl. 1.2 A Sabbath Remains.. The Place of Hebrews 4:9 in the New Testament's Witness to the Lord's Day by Robert P. Martin
> (Heb 4:9) There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.
> 
> In it he notes the Word used here is σαββατισμός and not κατάπαυσις
> 
> (rest).
> G4520
> σαββατισμός
> sabbatismos
> 
> This is an obscure term evidently that is used in just a few other places outside of the scriptures but used only once in the New Testament. Robert Martin says,
> 
> 
> 
> "I think that it is of interest that "in each of these places the term [σαββατισμός] denotes the observance or celebration of the Sabbath," i.e., not "a Sabbath rest" as a state that is entered into but "a Sabbath-keeping" as a practice that is observed. This, of course, corresponds to the word's morphology, for the suffix -μός indicates an action and not just a state. see A. T. Robertson, A Grammar of the Greek New Testament in Light of Historical Research (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1934), 151.
> Reformed Baptist Theological Review Vl. 1;2 p.5
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> In other words there is still a 1 in 7 day where we are still required to observe a sabbath.
> 
> Obviously the article consists of the surrounding verses but it is a good read and quotes John Owen who is one of my faves.
> 
> Click to expand...
Click to expand...


Thanks for this Randy, and thanks, Bruce. If you're ever in Scotland come to Perth, and I'll show you round.

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PuritanCovenanter said:


> I thought I would repost this in relation to understanding the abrogation of the old and the continuation in the new.
> 
> http://www.puritanboard.com/blogs/puritancovenanter/some-reformed-baptists-sabbath-concerning-colossians-hebrews-444/
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *1. The Old Testament prophesies the abrogation and cessation of the Sabbath under the New Covenant.
> *
> 
> The OT clearly prophesies the abrogation and cessation of ancient Israel‘s Sabbaths. It does so in Hos. 2:11, which says, ―I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her New Moons, her Sabbaths--all her appointed feasts." We will make several observations that bear this out. First, Hosea‘s prophecy is dealing with the days of the New Covenant. The phrase ―in that day" (vv. 16, 18, 21) is used prophetically of New Covenant days in Is. 22:20. Revelation 3:7 quotes Is. 22:22 and applies it to Christ. The prophecy in Is. 22:20 mentions the Lord‘s servant, who is Christ. Isaiah 22:20-22 says:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Then it shall be in that day, that I will call My servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah; I will clothe him with your robe and strengthen him with your belt; I will commit your responsibility into his hand. He shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. The key of the house of David I will lay on his shoulder; so he shall open, and no one shall shut; and he shall shut, and no one shall open.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Revelation 3:7, quoting Is. 22:22, says:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, ―These things says He who is holy, He who is true, He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> The phrase, ―in that day,
> ' refers to the days of Christ–the days of the New Covenant. Paul references Hos. 1:10 and 2:23 in Rom. 9:25, applying them to Christians. ―As He says also in Hosea: ‗I will call them My people, who were not My people, and her beloved, who was not beloved‘" (Rom. 9:25). Peter references Hos. 1:9-10 and 2:23 in 1 Pet. 2:10 and applies them to Christians as well. He says, ―who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy" (1 Pet. 2:10). Hosea is clearly speaking of New Covenant days. According to the NT usage of Hosea, he is speaking of the time in redemptive history when God will bring Gentiles into a saving relationship with Jews. Much of the NT deals with this very issue.
> 
> Second, Hos. 2:11 clearly prophesies the abrogation of Old Covenant Israel‘s Sabbaths, along with ―all her appointed feasts." Hosea uses a triad of terms (―feast days, New Moons, Sabbaths") that is used many places in the OT (1 Chron. 23:31; 2 Chron. 2:4; 31:3; Neh. 10:33; and Is. 1:13-14). Clearly, he is speaking of the abrogation of Old Covenant ceremonial laws. When the Old Covenant goes, Israel‘s feast days, New Moons, Sabbaths, and all her appointed feasts go with it.
> 
> Third, the NT confirms this understanding of Hos. 2:11. It uses this triad of terms in Col. 2:16, which says, ―So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths." In the context, Paul is combating those who were attempting to impose Old Covenant ceremonial law on New Covenant Christians. So Col. 2:16 is clear NT language that sees Hosea‘s prophecy as fulfilled. It is of interest to note that Paul uses the plural for Sabbath in Col. 2:16 (σάββατον). It is not too hard to assume that Paul had the OT triad in mind and Hosea‘s prophecy while penning these words. The NT announces the abrogation of the Old Covenant in
> many places. For instance, 2 Cor. 3:7-18; Gal. 3-4; Eph. 2:14-16; and Heb. 8-10 (cf. esp. 8:6-7, 13; 9:9-10, 15; 10:1, 15-18) are clear that the Old Covenant has been abrogated.
> 
> (Heb. 8:6-7)
> 
> 
> 
> But now He [Christ] has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant [the New Covenant], which was established on better promises. For if that first covenant [the Old Covenant] had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> (Heb. 8:13)
> 
> 
> 
> In that He says, ―A new covenant, He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.
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> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> (Heb. 9:9-10)
> 
> 
> 
> It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience--concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings, and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> (Heb. 9:15)
> 
> 
> 
> And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.
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> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> (Heb. 10:1)
> 
> 
> 
> For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> (Heb. 10:15-18)
> 
> 
> 
> But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before, ―This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them, then He adds, ―Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more. Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> The Old Covenant and all its ceremonies are obsolete and have vanished away (Heb. 8:13). Taking these passages and Col. 2:16 together, they clearly teach that when the Old Covenant goes, the triad of Col. 2:16 goes as well.
> 
> *2. The Old Testament prophesies the perpetuity and continuation of the Sabbath under the New Covenant.*
> 
> Just as there is evidence from the OT that the Sabbath will be abolished under the New Covenant, so there is evidence that it will continue. At first glance this appears contradictory. But on further investigation, it is not contradictory and, in fact, fits the evidence provided thus far for the creation basis of the Sabbath and its unique place in the Decalogue in its function as moral law. Two passages deserve our attention at this point, Is. 56:1-8 and Jer. 31:33. Isaiah‘s prophecy of the Sabbath under the New Covenant is explicit and Jeremiah‘s is implicit.
> 
> *
> Isaiah 56:1-8*
> 
> (Isaiah 56:1-8)
> 
> 
> 
> Thus says the LORD: ―Keep justice, and do righteousness, for My salvation is about to come, and My righteousness to be revealed. Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who lays hold on it; who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, and keeps his hand from doing any evil. Do not let the son of the foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD speak, saying, "The LORD has utterly separated me from His people; nor let the eunuch say, "Here I am, a dry tree. For thus says the LORD: "To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, and choose what pleases Me, and hold fast My covenant, even to them I will give in My house and within My walls a place and a name better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off. Also the sons of the foreigner who join themselves to the LORD, to serve Him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be His servants--everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, and holds fast My covenant--even them I will bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on My altar; for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations. The Lord GOD, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, says, ―Yet I will gather to him others besides those who are gathered to him.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Several observations will assist us in understanding how this passage prophesies explicitly the perpetuity and continuation of the Sabbath under the New Covenant. First, the section of the book of Isaiah starting at chapter 40 and ending with chapter 66 points forward to the days of Messiah and in some places to the eternal state. This section includes language pointing forward to the time primarily between the two comings of Christ, the interadvental days of the New Covenant. It is understood this way by the New Testament in several places (see Matt. 3:3; 8:16, 17; 12:15-21; and Acts 13:34).
> 
> Second, Is. 56:1-8 speaks prophetically of a day in redemptive history in which God will save Gentiles (cf., esp. vv. 7 and 8). The language of "all nations" in v. 7 reminds us of the promise given to Abraham concerning blessing all nations through his seed (see Gen. 12:3 and Gal. 3:8, 16). This Abrahamic promise is pursued by the great commission of Matt. 28:18-20. Isaiah is speaking about New Covenant days.
> 
> Third, in several New Testament texts, using the motif of fulfillment, the language of Is. 56:1-8 (and the broader context) is applied to the days between Christ‘s first and second comings (Matt. 21:12-13; Acts 8:26-40; Eph. 2:19; and 1 Tim. 3:15). Compare Matt. 21:13, “My house shall be called a house of prayer," with Is. 56:7, “For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations." This anticipates the inclusion of Gentiles in the house of God, a common NT phenomenon. Compare Acts 8:26-40 (notice a eunuch was reading from Isaiah) with Is. 56:3-5, which says:
> 
> (Is. 56:3-5)
> 
> 
> 
> Do not let the son of the foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD Speak, saying, ―The LORD has utterly separated me from His people; nor let the eunuch say, ―Here I am, a dry tree. For thus says the LORD: ―To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, and choose what pleases Me, and hold fast My covenant, even to them I will give in My house and within My walls a place and a name better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> The Old Covenant placed restrictions on eunuchs. Deuteronomy 23:1 says, ―He who is emasculated by crushing or mutilation shall not enter the assembly of the LORD. Isaiah is prophesying about a day in redemptive history when those restrictions will no longer apply.
> 
> In Eph. 2:19 the church is called the "household of God" and in 1 Tim. 3:15 it is called "the house of God."The context of 1 Tim. 3:15 includes 1 Tim. 2:1-7, where Paul outlines regulations for church prayer. Now consider Is. 56:7, which says:
> 
> (Is. 56:7)
> 
> 
> 
> Even them [i.e., the foreigners (Gentiles) of v. 6a] I will bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on My altar; for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> The NT sees Isaiah‘s prophecy as fulfilled under the New Covenant. However, the privileges, responsibilities, and the people of God foretold there (Is. 56) are transformed to fit the conditions brought in by the New Covenant. The people of God are transformed due to the New Covenant; the house of God is transformed due to the New Covenant; the burnt offerings, sacrifices, and altar are transformed due to the New Covenant; and the Sabbath is transformed due to the New Covenant (i.e., from the seventh to the first day). Isaiah, as with other OT prophets, accommodates his prophecy to the language of the Old Covenant people, but its NT fulfillment specifies exactly what his prophesy looks like when being fulfilled. Jeremiah does this with thepromise of the New Covenant. What was promised to "the house of Israel" and "the house of Judah" (Jer. 31:31), is fulfilled in the Jew-Gentile church, the New Covenant people of God, the transformed Israel of OT prophecy.
> 
> With these considerations before us, it seems not only plausible but compelling to conclude that between the two advents of Christ, when the Old Covenant law restricting eunuchs no longer restricts them, and when the nations (i.e., the Gentiles) are becoming the Lord‘s and frequenting his house, which is his Church, a Sabbath (see Is. 56:2, 4, 6) yet remains. Isaiah is speaking prophetically of Sabbath-keeping in New Covenant days. The English Puritan John Bunyan, commenting on Isaiah 56, said, "Also it follows from hence, that the sabbath that has a promise annexed to the keeping of it, is rather that which the Lord Jesus shall give to the churches of the Gentiles."7
> 
> Again, the essence of the Sabbath transcends covenantal bounds. Its roots are in creation, not in the Old Covenant alone. It transcends covenants and cultures because the ethics of creation are trans-covenantal and trans-cultural. The Sabbath is part of God‘s moral law.
> 
> Click to expand...
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Thanks for this as well. I hadn't taken note of the Hosea passage in the context of the Sabbath discussion/debate.


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## JohnOwen007

C. M. Sheffield said:


> My question is, what exactly led to the development of the staunch sabbatarianism that we see in the puritan era when Calvin was so clearly anti-sabbatarian?


 
Yes, it's an interesting story. The Sabbath issue broke out in 1580s and 1590s England with a spate of Sabbath treatises being published (particularly under the influence of Richard Greenham and his nephew Nicholas Bownd). It was at this time when new emphases on strict Sabbatarianism arose. In particular there was the idea that failures of the English nation we due to Sabbath-breaking. This all led to the Puritan insistence on a strict Sabbatarianism. But this also produced a new anti-Sabbatarianism as a backlash amongst non-Puritans. A good history of the topic is found in John Primus, _Holy Time: Moderate Puritanism and the Sabbath_.


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## Scott1

nnatew24 said:


> To properly understand Calvin's view, you've got to read more than just his Institutes:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> “We must refrain from our own business which might hinder us from the mining of God’s works, and we must call upon His name and exercise our selves in His word. If we spend the Lord’s Day in making good cheer, and in playing and gaming, is that a good honoring of God? Nay, it is not a mockery, yea a very unhallowing of His name? Yes. But when the Shop-windows are shut in on the Lord’s Day, and men travel not as they do on other days, it is to the end [that] we should have the more leisure and liberty, to intend to the things that God commandeth… Yet notwithstanding it is so common a thing, as is pity to see (i.e. that people refuse to come to the sermon, conduct their own affairs, indulge in gluttony and withdraw into their homes away from the church on the Lord’s Day), and would God that [these] examples were more rare and further off to be found. But the world sees how all things are unhallowed, insomuch that most folk have no regard at all of the using of that Day, *which was ordained to withdraw us from all earthly cares and affairs that we might give ourselves wholly unto God.* But if the Lord’s Day be spent not only in games and pastimes fully contrary to God, so as men think they have not kept holy the Lord His Day, except God be offended divers ways; if the holy order which God ordained to bring us to Him be broken after that fashion, is it any wonder though men play the beasts all the week after?”
> 
> Sermon 34 on Deuteronomy, in The Sermons of John Calvin upon the Fifth Book of Moses Called Deuteronomy, translated by Arthur Golding, London, 1583, page 204. Also translated in John Calvin’s Sermons on the Ten Commandments, Benjamin W. Farley, 1980.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It seems clear from the statement above that Calvin was a practical Sabbatarrian. I might even go as far to say that he is in line with the confessional view on the Sabbath, though he undoubtedly uses different language and logic in getting there (refused to call it the Sabbath, etc).
Click to expand...

 
Very helpful in understanding this.

Mr. Calvin wrote several things regarding the fourth commandment/Lord's Day/sabbath at different times of his life. Like us all, our views can vary, develop, even change over time. It some of his writings, he seems almost unsure of how to distinguish the ceremonial aspects of sabbath, whereas in others, he seems more definite as to its substantive continuance, such as his sermons from Deuteronomy.

But as Nate is illustrating here, at minimum, he advocated that scripture taught at least a practical sabbath. All evidence indicates he observed the sabbath in a way very similar to that of what later became the Westminster and London Baptist summaries of the doctrine of Scripture on this point.

And, if you want to study how Mr. Calvin lead in sabbath observance, look at some of the consistory of Geneva records- it was quite central to Christian life and practice (as it ought be for every creature, believer and nonbeliever today).


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## Peairtach

True anti-Sabbatarianism, since the development of Covenant Theology, is fueled by Dispensationalism or by the influence of Dispensationalism or by plain Liberalism or its influence. The Sabbath is perceived to be in some sense Old Covenant and "not for us". The Sabbath is perceived to be part of the Old Covenant ethics that have passed away.

Even if this is not explicitly held to or stated, it is the evangelical's and even Reformed's excuse for sitting loose to the Sabbath.

Calvin was in the line of the development of Covenant Theology, which clarified the biblical basis of New Covenant Sabbatarianism.


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