About seven years ago I taught a
class on Baptist history and polity for our Association’s CLD center (the CLD program is now called the ADVANCE program). We spent three hours one Monday late in
the semester looking at the development of our denomination’s confession, the
Baptist Faith & Message. The development of the article of the Lord’s Day
was (and is) striking to me.
* * * * * * *
New Hampshire Confession (1833)
Article XV, “Of the Christian Sabbath”
That the first day of the week is
the Lord’s-Day, or Christian Sabbath; and is to be kept sacred to religious
purposes, by abstaining from all secular labor and recreations; by the devout
observance of all the means of grace, both private and public; and by
preparation for that rest which remaineth for the people of God.
Baptist Faith & Message (1925)
Article XIV, “The Lord’s Day”
The first day of the week is the
Lord's day. It is a Christian institution for regular observance. It
commemorates the resurrection of Christ from the dead and should be employed in
exercises of worship and spiritual devotion, both public and private, and by
refraining from worldly amusements, and resting from secular employments, works
of necessity and mercy only excepted.
Ex. 20:3-6; Matt. 4:10; Matt. 28:19;
1 Tim. 4:13; Col. 3:16; John 4:21; Ex. 20:8; 1 Cor. 16:1-2; Acts 20:7; Rev. 1:1;
Matt. 12:1-13.
Baptist Faith & Message (1963)
Article VIII, “The Lord’s Day”
The first day of the week is the
Lord's Day. It is a Christian institution for regular observance. It
commemorates the resurrection of Christ from the dead and should be employed in
exercises of worship and spiritual devotion, both public and private, and by
refraining from worldly amusements, and resting from secular employments, work
of necessity and mercy only being excepted.
Ex. 20:8-11; Matt. 12:1-12; 28:1ff.;
Mark 2:27-28; 16:1-7; Luke 24:1-3,33-36; John 4:21-24; 20:1,19-28; Acts 20:7; 1
Cor. 16:1-2; Col. 2:16; 3:16; Rev. 1:10.
Baptist Faith & Message (2000)
Article VIII, “The Lord’s Day”
The first day of the week is the
Lord's Day. It is a Christian institution for regular observance. It
commemorates the resurrection of Christ from the dead and should include
exercises of worship and spiritual devotion, both public and private.
Activities on the Lord's Day should be commensurate with the Christian's
conscience under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
Exodus 20:8-11; Matthew 12:1-12;
28:1ff.; Mark 2:27-28; 16:1-7; Luke 24:1-3,33-36; John 4:21-24; 20:1,19-28;
Acts 20:7; Romans 14:5-10; I Corinthians 16:1-2; Colossians 2:16; 3:16;
Revelation 1:10.
* * * * * * *
There is a great distance between
“kept sacred to religious purposes, by abstaining from all secular labor and
recreations; by the devout observance of all the means of grace, both private
and public; and by preparation for that rest which remaineth for the people of
God” (1833) and “activities...commensurate with the Christian's conscience
under the Lordship of Jesus Christ” (2000). Is the difference due to Baptists’
deeper consideration of the liberty found in the Gospel, or conformity to a
culture obsessed with entertainment and play? I’m sure that impassioned
arguments could be made for either side.
We are Baptists. We balance
continuity and discontinuity between the Old and New Testaments.
Discontinuity: Whereas the Law of
the Old Testament was clear about sacred rest on the seventh day (Exodus
20:8-11; Deuteronomy 5:12-15), the Law of the New Testament asserts that “the
Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath,” that is, God Himself (Matthew
12:8; Mark 2:28; Luke 6:5). In honor of this, the New Testament describes the
Church gathering on the first day, not the seventh day, of the week (Acts 20:7;
1 Corinthians 16:2) because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ (Matthew 28:1;
Mark 16:2; Luke 24:1; John 20:1). We call this the “Lord’s Day” (Revelation
1:10).
Where is the continuity? The New
Testament is not free of commandment (Matthew 28:20; John 14:15; 15:10; 1
Corinthians 14:37; 1 Thessalonians 4:2). The people of God are still under the
rule of the only Lawgiver (Isaiah 33:22; James 4:12), Jesus Christ. How does
that apply to the day of our gathering as the Church? If the New Testament
represents the fullness of what was progressively revealed in the Old
Testament, how is that seen in our observance of the day of gathering? Is
Christ fully revealed as the glory of the Father by a full day dedicated to His
worship or a single hour followed by a trip to the lake?
How reliable is “the Christian’s
conscience under the Lordship of Jesus Christ,” when many Christians believe
this is a religious way of “following your heart”? Too often the “Christian’s
conscience” has nothing to do with prayerful meditation on Scripture and
everything to do with “the way that seems right to a man” (Proverbs 14:12;
16:25).
These are not easy questions, and
have been the subject of much debate for two millennia.
Consider the development of this
article on the “Christian Sabbath,” or “the Lord’s Day.” Is your “rest” a
dedication to entertainment no different from the world’s (except for maybe a
few hours at Sunday School and worship), or is it a dedication of a day
pointing to the “rest” that remains in eternity for those in union with the
Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus Christ?
