10 Commandments and the Sabbath

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Tyrese

Puritan Board Sophomore
Recently I was reading Romans 13:9 which says, "For the commandments, "You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet," and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Jesus said in Luke 10:27, "And he answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself." I already believe that New Covenant Christians should keep the Sabbath but these verses clearly teach that the commandments (all 10) are still binding. Any further thoughts on these versus?
 
8 If you really fulfil the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself”, you are doing well. 9 But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. 11 For he who said, “Do not commit adultery”, also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. 13 For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. (James 2:8-13, ESV)

James, the Lord's brother, was another who taught under inspiration that all 10 Commandments apply to us in the New Testament, if we needed further confirmation of this.
 
Why wouldn't they be binding?

Some Chistians promote the idea that the 10 commandments have been done away with. Paul says in Romans 3:31, "Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law."
 
Another example is when Paul appeals to the fifth commandment as binding on Christians:

Ephesians 6:1-4,
"Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.
Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;)
That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.
And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord."
 
One of the key things I realized only recently, is the word REMEMBER in the sabbath command (Exodus 20, repeated Deuteronomy 5), REMEMBER back what God did at creation.

Truly, there is a timeless aspect to the sabbath, it's not limited to covenant or man's time period, it's a pattern God laid down right from the beginning.

One other point, the Christian sabbath does look a little different than the Old Testament sabbath. In one sense, Christ fulfilled ceremonial aspects of the sabbath by His death, burial and resurrection. Hence, we, as Christians don't observe the ceremonial law aspects that WERE binding to the Old Testament believer (sacrifices and ceremonies) and civil law Israel aspects such as living a sabbath's day's journey from the synagogue, etc.

But the substance remains the same,
glorious ceasing so we might prioritize worship of God.
The creation and redemption.
And our command to cease from the ordinary pattern of the rest of the week to delight in the God who does them.
 
In addition, the essence of the 4th is revealed, just like the others, in creation. Human reason alone dictates that if God is going to be worshipped corporately on a regular basis, it is necessary that a day be set aside for such by the corporate body on a regular basis. Therefore, just as nature reveals that it is wrong to steal, lie, and murder, it also reveals that it is wrong not to set aside a time for corporate worship.
 
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