Christian Sabbath
A view held among orthodox Christians
The confessional teaching that the fourth commandment still binds Christians, so the Lord's Day is to be kept holy as a whole day of rest and worship.
Also called: Sabbatarian, Sabbatarianism, Sabbatarians
What it means
The Christian Sabbath view holds that the Sabbath is a creation ordinance and part of the moral law, not merely a ceremony for Israel. From the creation to the resurrection it was the seventh day; since Christ rose it has been the first day of the week, the Lord's Day, which is to be kept as the Christian Sabbath until the end of the world.
In practice this means setting the whole day apart. Sabbatarians rest from ordinary work and recreation, except for works of necessity and mercy, and give the day to public and private worship. This is not meant to be a burden but a delight, a weekly foretaste of the rest that remains for God's people.
This is the teaching of the Westminster Confession and the 1689 London Baptist Confession, and of the Puritans and Scottish Presbyterians. Many other faithful Christians hold that the Lord's Day is a day of worship without being a Sabbath in this sense, and the site records which a church teaches.
In Scripture
God rested on the seventh day and blessed and sanctified it at creation.
The fourth commandment calls God's people to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.
Those who call the Sabbath a delight and honor it rather than their own pleasure find joy in the Lord.
The Sabbath was made for man, and the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.
A Sabbath rest remains for the people of God.
John was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day.
Where it comes up
Confessions: WCF 21.7-8; LBCF 1689 22.7-8
On this site: Lord's Day
Related terms
Lord's DayA view held among orthodox Christians
Sunday, the first day of the week, when Christians gather to worship the risen Christ; on this page, the view that it is a day of worship but not a Christian Sabbath.
Ten CommandmentsTerm
The ten words God spoke from Sinai and wrote on stone, which the Reformation confessions take as a summary of his moral law.
Regulative principleA view held among orthodox Christians
The principle that the public worship of God should include only what He has commanded or appointed in Scripture, whether by explicit command, example, or good and necessary inference.