THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

Kevin DeYoung (MDiv, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary) is the senior pastor at Christ Covenant Church in Matthews, North Carolina. He serves as a council member at the Gospel Coalition, blogs at DeYoung, Restless, and Reformed, and is assistant professor of systematic theology at Reformed Theological Seminary (Charlotte)and author of several books.

In a world of rebellion against God and His Law, people need to know what genuine love looks like. The author takes a crucial stand for Christian practice of The Ten commandments. He does so in spite of a strange claim by some Christians that Christ did away with The Ten. The first four express our love relationship with God and the last six our relationship with each other. All about love, God gave them in written form to a primitive people called the Israelites.

The Sabbath in the OT is well-documented first as a memorial of creation when God rested. Revelation uses the same words as the commandment, in connection with worship. Christ is found throughout the OT and so is the Sabbath. They are linked. The number seven (meaning a completed or finished work) also appears throughout the Bible
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The writer makes an exception concerning the fourth commandment making it the only one not binding. This shatters the stone tablets even as Moses did when he returned to Israel’s camp and found them worshipping the golden calf. Did the God of the universe who does not change ( ) change His mind about one of His commandments and not tell us? Wouldn’t this invalidate all of them?
DeYoung’s belief is no surprise. A highly successful pastor, teacher, and writer in his denomination, from childhood he rigidly kept Sunday. His education came through like-minded teachers and peers. Like many other pastors, his career depended on not questioning this doctrine. I am reminded of scientists whose careers depend on total immersion in a system denying intelligent design.

I believe in faith based on a preponderance of evidence. Scripture says God never changed His mind in giving us a sanctuary in time.

1. Sunday worshippers use the term “Lord’s Day” found in Revelation 1:10 with no evidence John meant Sunday. Christ said He is Lord of the Sabbath (Luke 6:5). John spent his entire life keeping the seventh-day and so had his Jewish audience and as such they recognized the symbols of Revelation.

2. We are not saved by keeping either day. Christ saves us, and the Sabbath represents rest in Him from our works for salvation. When the Jews rejected Christ as Savior, they rejected His salvation.—their rest. Thus the Jews did not enter His rest when they rejected Christ’s righteousness (Heb. 4). But many Jews did follow Christ and became the first church. The Day of the Lord usually indicates the Day of Judgment or the Second Advent in scripture—this is the day our salvation is realized even though we already have it.

3. Sunday represents human works. God did not accept Cain’s offering of the works of his hands. God did accept Able’s sacrifice of a Lamb (representing Christ). Even then there had to be some knowledge of God’s plan. Setting aside a day God did not ask for is like Cain’s offering of human works.

4. The apostles and Christ’s followers kept Sabbath after His resurrection. Christ rested in the grave over Sabbath. He did not go to heaven.

5. We know of no set time when pagan converts started celebrating Sunday. First it was part of their pagan tradition and second to separate themselves from Rome’s enemies. the Jews. Some kept both days for awhile. But going with the flow, they forgot the Sabbath. Sunday and Christianity became legal when Constantine “converted.” Most historians see this as a political move evidenced by his unchanged morality. The mixture of church and state corrupted Christianity. It came from the top down as the uneducated yet faithful masses became followers without access to or taught from the Bible for centuries. Solitary groups away from Rome continued the Sabbath for centuries until most of them came in contact with the traditional churches and their robed priests claiming authority.

6. Sunday worship of emperors and pagan gods has a long history based on worship of the sun as life giver. It’s part of countless pagan religions. Christmas and Easter also came from pagan holidays transferred unto Christianity, but they did not replace a commandment. As church hierarchy and its wealth increased so did dubious superstitions and traditions to control the poor and faithful Christians. But God never left them. Christianity repeated the sins of the Jewish leaders with its myriad works.

7. Ideally Christ did not come to establish a new religion but to make a new convenant with His people that would spread around the world. Salvation He said was from the Jews (Jn 4:22). Israel broke the first covenant (Heb. 8:9). But God would keep His promise to Abraham.

8. I can see how some would interpret () as weekly Sabbaths. But an alternative reading finds the term Sabbath often used for holy days that weren’t even on the seventh-day. Christ’s life and death fulfilled the Jewish holy days even though some still kept them. This is the only text in the Bible that could be used against Sabbath keeping. That is not enough evidence.

9. An example of change is circumcision. Was it binding for gentiles? This important question required a conference among Christian leaders who decided circumcision would not be necessary for new converts. The Judaizers made this a bone of contention up till then. Imagine the uprising that would have occurred if they changed their Sabbath to a new day? The Bible indicates no such controversy. All Ten remained important--If you love me, keep my commandments.

10. Will Christians ever understand Sabbath rest? I hope so because it points to Christ. His work alone is the basis for the Sabbath. If the Spirit ever convicts Christians of its real meaning then those who reject it will be rejecting Christ’s righteousness to cover their sins and denying God’s sovereignty in His commandment to worship Him on the day He gave us.