The principle of Sabbath rest as a part of a biblical rhythm of work and rest can be clouded by the many Old Testament commands surrounding the day of rest. There are those like Skip McCarthy, who argue Christians are bound to the Law concerning Sabbath
27Enns, Exodus, 327.
while others like Craig L. Blomberg, who believe Sabbath was fulfilled in Christ and therefore none of the laws governing Sabbath are binding.28
The question of what Christians are bound to in reference to the Old Testament has its roots in the book of Acts. Acts 15 introduces this very issue as it arose in the ministry of Paul and Barnabus. While in Antioch of Syria, they encountered some men from Judea teaching that Gentile Christians were bound to the Mosaic Law regarding circumcision (Acts 15:1). A trip to Jerusalem to confer with the apostles and elders was necessary to settle the debate over what obligations Gentile Christians were under concerning the law.
While circumcision was the initial issue debated between the Judean men and Paul and Barnabas, the principle dealt with by the Council at Jerusalem was much broader.
The apostles and elders ultimately render a decision that frees Gentile believers from being bound to the law. The Apostles rejected the yoke of the law for Gentile believers and asserted that their hearts were purified by faith in Christ.29 This freedom still retains a solid biblical standard by which to live. The apostles and elders ask Gentile believers to abstain from “things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication” (Acts 15:28-29). Through the leadership of the Holy Spirit, Gentile believers are freed from the burden of the law and given broader boundaries by which to live.30 This decision embodies the freedom Christ taught in reference to the law. While fulfilling the Law, Jesus freed believers from the burden of the law. Thus, any application of the law must apply the freedom given by Christ (John 8:36). This would be true for
28Craig L. Blomberg, “Responses to Craig L. Blomberg,” in Perspectives on the Sabbath, 410.
29John B. Polhill, Acts, The New American Commentary, vol. 26 (Nashville:
Broadman, 1992), 326.
30F. F. Bruce, The Book of the Acts, New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 1988), 315.
the practice of Sabbath rest in the life of a Christian. In relation to Paul’s understanding of the law and its fulfillment, Schreiner says that Paul thought Sabbath rest should not be required for Gentile believers. Paul’s treatment of Sabbath would be the same as that of circumcision. The practice of Sabbath rest could be practiced by anyone who felt so compelled, but was never to be imposed on all people.31
The Foundational Underpinning of the Council at Jerusalem
In Acts 15:19, James communicates the spirit behind the decision the apostles rendered later in verses 28-29: “Therefore it is my judgment that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles.” The New International Version uses the phrase “should not make it difficult” (Acts 15:19). The intention of the apostles when it came to Gentile adherence to the law was to free people and not bind them. Freeing people from being bound to the Law had great implications for the practice of Sabbath rest in the early church. In the day of Jesus, legalism characterized the observance of Sabbath more so than resting in the Lord (Matt 12:1-8). It would have been too heavy a burden for Gentile believers to adapt to all of the oral traditions surrounding Sabbath.
Peter, James, and the other apostles and elders chose empathy when considering the application of the Old Testament law in the lives of Gentile believers.32 Polhill comments on Peter’s speech in Acts 15:10-11,
By speaking of the “yoke” of the law, he did not mean that the law was an intolerable burden that Jewish Christians should abandon. Peter was using a common Jewish metaphor for the law that had the same positive meaning Jesus had given it (Matt 11:29f). Peter did not urge Jewish Christians to abandon the law, nor did they cease to live by it. For the Jewish Christian the law would remain a mark of God’s
covenant with them, a cherished heritage. It could not save them. Only one thing could; faith, believing in the saving grace of the Lord.
31Thomas R. Schreiner, The Law and Its Fulfillment: A Pauline Theology of Law (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1993), 169.
32Polhill, Acts, 327.
The good news of the gospel is the underpinning of the Jerusalem Council. Believers are free in Christ and not bound to the mosaic law.
Sabbath Rest Is a Matter of the Heart
A very important principle of practicing Sabbath rest within a biblical rhythm of work and rest still remains today. When Sabbath rest becomes a weight for the believer to bare it loses the very essence of its intended purpose. Legalism erodes this foundational principle of Sabbath rest. Rest for the soul is a matter of the heart and cannot be specifically legislated for each person:
If the principle of Sabbath rest was designated to benefit humanity, then there will always be circumstances in which what actually benefits a given person more than cessation of work is some important activity that someone else will consider to be work.33
Biblical boundaries are needed to practice a healthy rhythm of work and rest.
Entering into Sabbath rest as a part of this rhythm is less about obeying outward regulations and more about removing distractions for the purpose focusing on God. Simon Peter learned this principle at the home of Cornelius. Circumcision was not necessary for this Gentile household to be saved:
The fact that they had received the Spirit just as Peter and the Jewish Christians had was proof that God had accepted Cornelius and his fellow Gentiles on an equal footing. He “purified their hearts” by faith. For the Jew circumcision was a mark of sanctity and purity, of belonging to God’s people and being acceptable to him. But in Cornelius God had shown Peter that true purity comes not by an external mark, but by faith.34
Polhill points out how the experience “made an indelible impression on Peter.”
When considering this issue of faith during the council of Jerusalem, his desire was for Gentile Christians to learn that “God looks on the heart, not on external matter.”35 The
33Craig L. Blomberg, “The Sabbath as Fulfilled in Christ,” in Perspectives on the Sabbath, 334.
34Polhill, Acts, 326.
35Ibid.
practice of Sabbath rest is a matter of the heart more so than adherence to outward regulations. Just as the creation account in Genesis shows a clear picture of God’s own rhythm of work and rest, and Exodus 16 creates a model by which God’s people can join God in Sabbath rest, Acts 15:28-29 establishes that Christians are free in Christ and not bound to the yoke of the law. A further study of Hebrews 4 will bring to light Sabbath rest as both a future promise and present reality available to every believer through Christ.
Hebrews 4: Sabbath Rest: A Future