Israel was to cease from work as a visible recognition that she would enter the eternal Sabbath rest of God by His grace and not by works. So, too, we must cease from our weekday labors to tell our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ and the world around us that we enter the eternal rest of God, not by our works, but by the work of Jesus Christ. In this, we see that the death penalty for disobedience to the fourth commandment is still in effect, for the person who tries to enter God's rest by his own works rather than by faith in the work of Christ, will merit the wages of death, even eternal death. So obedience to the fourth commandment is far more than stopping our daily labors. We see that through Sabbath rest we celebrate the completion of Christ's work in His life, death, and resurrection. We see that the Lord's Day is a celebration of our liberation from bondage to Satan, sin, and death. We see that God does not want to rob us of our joy on the Sabbath but rather wants us to rejoice in our God-given, Christ-wrought, Spirit-applied freedom from slavery to Satan, sin, and death. . . . What is the best way to observe the Lord's Day? A simple way to answer this is to ask, Does my activity promote or hinder my celebration of the life, death, and resurrection of Christ?
J.V. Fesko, The Rule of Love (pp. 64-65)
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Fesko on the fourth commandment
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