Honoring The Sabbath Is Still A Command For Christians
It is not legalism to tell Christians to obey God's Law--even the law about the Sabbath Day
The Immutability of God & His Law
"I, the LORD, do not change" (Malachi 3:6). This is what's called the doctrine of "immutability". God does not ("im-") mutate ("-mutable"). God always has been, always is, and always will be who He is (James 1:17). This is really important when we are reminded what God's Ten Commandments are. They are a revelation of who He is. God is revealing in more particular ways what it looks like to bear His image (Gen. 1:26-27).
Since God does not change, and because the Ten Commandments are revealing who God is, then the Ten Commandments don't change. The Ten Commandments, or the "moral law", does forever bind Christians (yes, even after they're saved--hence the name "Christians"). All over the New Testament we see God commanding Christians to obey His commands (Rom. 13:8-10; Gal. 5:13-15; Eph. 6:2-3; 1 Jn. 2:3-7). Believers are not under the Law as a covenant of works (Rom. 3:10-27; 6:1-23). They have been definitely delivered from the covenant of works and brought into the covenant of grace (Romans 5-6). I’ll repeat, Christians are not and never to observe God’s Law in such a way similar to the covenant of works. They are definitively, totally, and wholly united to Christ where they have died to sin and risen with Christ. This union with Christ means that there is no condemnation ever (Rom. 8:1). Now, by grace, we seek to put sin to death and live unto righteousness (Rom. 8:1-17).
They are to use the law as their perfect guide to express what it looks like to love God and love others (Deut. 6:4-9; Psalm 119). 1 Corinthians 7:19 says to Christians, "For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God."
The Sabbath Day Is Still Relevant & Binding
That brings us to a very important conclusion: The Fourth Commandment--to honor the Sabbath--is still a command for Christians today. It is not a command to earn salvation. Rather, it is a rule of life for believers. A major way to express our love for God and gratitude for our salvation is to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy all the day long (Ex. 20:8-11). And it is not merely a way we can express our love but it is still a command from God to us. But, the difference for the Christian is that this command is a command from grace rather than for earning grace.
The Sabbath is not a day we choose. It is Sunday which is the day that Christ rose from the dead (1 Cor. 16:1-2; Acts 20:7). This day is to be kept in its entirety (all 24 hours) as a day of holy rest from works, words, and thoughts about our worldly employments and recreations. It is the day we are to give wholly to public and private exercises of God's worship and in the duties of necessity and mercy (Is. 58:13-14; Luke 4:16; Matt. 12:1-13; Mark 3:1-5).
In a fascinating text in Exodus 31:13, Yahweh tells Moses to say this to the people of Israel, "Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the LORD, sanctify you." Matthew Henry (1662-1714) said, "If God by his grace incline our hearts to keep the law of the fourth commandment, it will be an evidence of a good work wrought in us by his Spirit. If we sanctify God’s day, it is a sign between him and us that he has sanctified our hearts." In other words, keeping the Sabbath is seen as a mark of the Holy Spirit stirring up Christians to seek to grow in maturity.
And why is that? If the Sabbath Day is the day where we devote everything to the Lord, and if Christians are those who love God and delight to be with God, then the Sabbath day will be a growing delight to God’s people.
The Sabbath Is A Means of Grace
The Sabbath is a means of grace that God has ordained for us to put aside all things in order to give it wholly to Him. By doing so, He significantly grows us more and more into the image of Christ. Because the entire day of Sunday is the Lord's Day, and because it is a day of worship, God's people have chosen to worship God not only in the morning but also in the evening (Ps. 1; 92:1-2; Acts 20:7). You can see evidence of this in both Old and New Testaments along with Church History.
The reason to attend Sunday Morning and Evening Worship is not to earn salvation or contribute to your salvation or keep your salvation. Rather, it is partake in God's means of grace whereby He has promised to grow us through Preaching, Praying, and the Sacraments in the corporate setting. To attend to the means of grace is not legalism—grace is in the very name.
If we love Christ, we will grow in keeping His commandments (John 14:15; 15:10). While this obedience is only imperfect in this life (Rom. 7; Gal. 5), one of the ways we know we have been saved and are growing in salvation is by slowly but surely increasing in the keeping of God's commandments (1 John 2:3-6). And one of these commandments is the Sabbath day. This is why Scripture will tell us to "not neglect to meet together" (Heb. 10:25).
Nevertheless, godly obedience is not driven by guilt but by grace. We bring our guilt to Christ, confessing our sins and pleading His mercy, apprehending His promises of grace, and living in freedom. This freedom is not only freedom from sin but also freedom for holiness (Gal. 5). And on the Sabbath day, it is chiefly a day of Christ and His gospel of grace. It is the day above all other days where we are immersed in the truth that we can rest in Christ rather than work for Him. It is the day of grace!