At the creation God hallowed the 7th day after 6 days of work. This is before the Old Covenant was given. Under the Old Covenant there were many rules about the observance. The Old Covenant was completed and fulfilled in Jesus Christ, so the Jewish rules about how to observe that 7th day after 6 days of work no longer apply.
"Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation." (Gen 2:1-3 NRSV)
"Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns." (Exod 20:8-10 NRSV)
God worked 6 days and rested on the 7th and hallowed it. Work 6 rest 1 and focus on God. This is repeated in Exodus 20:8-10. As far as the Old Covenant restrictions on the Hebrew sabbath, those were abolished, annulled and fulfilled in Jesus Christ. The church continued the observance of one day being special after six days of work, but honored our Lord by making the day after six days of work, the first day of the week, his resurrection day, the Lord's Day. But even then, there is NOT a command about a particular day of the week. Christians follow the early church example of honoring the 1st day of the week but it is not given as a command or a change from the sabbath law in the Old Covenant. The rules about the Old Covenant sabbath no longer apply.
"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.” (Matt 28:19-20 RSV)
NOWHERE IN THE NEW COVENANT ARE CHRISTIANS COMMANDED TO OBSERVE THE SABBATH!!
"Therefore I have reached the decision that we should not trouble those Gentiles who are turning to God, but we should write to them to abstain only from things polluted by idols and from fornication and from whatever has been strangled and from blood. For in every city, for generations past, Moses has had those who proclaim him, for he has been read aloud every sabbath in the synagogues.” (Acts 15:19-21 NRSV) THERE IS NOTHING HERE PUTTING THE SABBATH LAW AS A REQUIREMENT ON THE GENTILE CHRISTIANS
"Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a sabbath. These are only a shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ." (Col 2:16-17 RSV)
Vincent Word Studies on Col. 2:16 -
"Sabbath days [σαββατων] . The weekly festivals. Rev., correctly, day, the plural being used for the singular. See on Luk 4:31; Act 20:7. The plural is only once used in the New Testament of more than a single day (Act 17:2). The same enumeration of sacred seasons occurs 1Ch 33:31; 2Ch 2:4; 2Ch 31:3; Eze 45:17; Hos 2:11."
"So then, there remains a sabbath rest for the people of God;" (Heb 4:9 RSV)
Adam Clarke comment on Heb. 4:9 -
"There, remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.] It was not, 1. The rest of the Sabbath; it was not, 2. The rest in the promised land, for the psalmist wrote long after the days of Joshua; therefore there is another rest, a state of blessedness, for the people of God; and this is the Gospel, the blessings it procures and communicates, and the eternal glory which it prepares for, and has promised to, genuine believers.
There are two words in this chapter which we indifferently translate rest, καταπαυσις and σαββατισμος. the first signifying a cessation from labour, so that the weary body is rested and refreshed; the second meaning, not only a rest from labour, but a religious rest; sabbatismus, a rest of a sacred kind, of which both soul and body partake. This is true, whether we understand the rest as referring to Gospel blessings, or to eternal felicity, or to both."
The First London Confession of Faith, 1646, a Particular Baptist Confession, does not include teaching the Ten Commandments, but only the commandments of Christ our King! It is a New Covenant confession focused on Jesus Christ.
"Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation." (Gen 2:1-3 NRSV)
"Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns." (Exod 20:8-10 NRSV)
God worked 6 days and rested on the 7th and hallowed it. Work 6 rest 1 and focus on God. This is repeated in Exodus 20:8-10. As far as the Old Covenant restrictions on the Hebrew sabbath, those were abolished, annulled and fulfilled in Jesus Christ. The church continued the observance of one day being special after six days of work, but honored our Lord by making the day after six days of work, the first day of the week, his resurrection day, the Lord's Day. But even then, there is NOT a command about a particular day of the week. Christians follow the early church example of honoring the 1st day of the week but it is not given as a command or a change from the sabbath law in the Old Covenant. The rules about the Old Covenant sabbath no longer apply.
"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.” (Matt 28:19-20 RSV)
NOWHERE IN THE NEW COVENANT ARE CHRISTIANS COMMANDED TO OBSERVE THE SABBATH!!
"Therefore I have reached the decision that we should not trouble those Gentiles who are turning to God, but we should write to them to abstain only from things polluted by idols and from fornication and from whatever has been strangled and from blood. For in every city, for generations past, Moses has had those who proclaim him, for he has been read aloud every sabbath in the synagogues.” (Acts 15:19-21 NRSV) THERE IS NOTHING HERE PUTTING THE SABBATH LAW AS A REQUIREMENT ON THE GENTILE CHRISTIANS
"Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a sabbath. These are only a shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ." (Col 2:16-17 RSV)
Vincent Word Studies on Col. 2:16 -
"Sabbath days [σαββατων] . The weekly festivals. Rev., correctly, day, the plural being used for the singular. See on Luk 4:31; Act 20:7. The plural is only once used in the New Testament of more than a single day (Act 17:2). The same enumeration of sacred seasons occurs 1Ch 33:31; 2Ch 2:4; 2Ch 31:3; Eze 45:17; Hos 2:11."
"So then, there remains a sabbath rest for the people of God;" (Heb 4:9 RSV)
Adam Clarke comment on Heb. 4:9 -
"There, remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.] It was not, 1. The rest of the Sabbath; it was not, 2. The rest in the promised land, for the psalmist wrote long after the days of Joshua; therefore there is another rest, a state of blessedness, for the people of God; and this is the Gospel, the blessings it procures and communicates, and the eternal glory which it prepares for, and has promised to, genuine believers.
There are two words in this chapter which we indifferently translate rest, καταπαυσις and σαββατισμος. the first signifying a cessation from labour, so that the weary body is rested and refreshed; the second meaning, not only a rest from labour, but a religious rest; sabbatismus, a rest of a sacred kind, of which both soul and body partake. This is true, whether we understand the rest as referring to Gospel blessings, or to eternal felicity, or to both."
The First London Confession of Faith, 1646, a Particular Baptist Confession, does not include teaching the Ten Commandments, but only the commandments of Christ our King! It is a New Covenant confession focused on Jesus Christ.
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