Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.
(You shall sanctify the holy day.)
Briefly stated, this means that we should fear and love God that we may
not despise the preaching of His Word, but hold it sacred and gladly hear and
learn it.
Because
God ceased from His work of creation at the end of the sixth day, the Law of
Moses required that all work should cease at the end of six days. The Sabbath
day was set apart to be a day of rest. As a requirement to rest, this
commandment is a political law that is not absolutely binding upon Christians.
God instituted this law as an act of kindness, providing rest from toil for
both man and beast. However, it was twisted by legalism into a law that would
forbid acts of kindness and mercy. Because of such abuse, the Pharisees
condemned Christ for doing things they would do themselves – as if the
commandment was fulfilled by doing no manual work. However, that was not the intended
meaning. They failed to understand that the emphasis should not be upon work,
but upon keeping the day of rest holy.
As a political law, the external requirement to rest was only binding
upon those living in
To Christians, Sunday, like all holidays, should, first of all, be a time
of rest. It is a day that gives businessmen and workers a respite from their
daily toil, so that they might relax, enjoy their family, and be refreshed.
However, since there is little opportunity for worship on other days, our
attendance at Divine worship is a more important aspect of Sunday. It is a day
for us to come together, sing, pray, praise God, and
hear His Word. Unlike the Jews, who were restricted to observing Saturday as
their day of rest, we are not restricted to a certain day. In itself, one day
is no better than another. In fact, we should have prayer and time with God's
Word daily. However, since few would be able to attend daily worship, one day
of the week must be set apart. Because Sunday [the Lord's Day] has been the day
set aside by Christians from the time of the Apostles, we should continue
worshiping on Sunday. It would be wrong to create division and strife by
unnecessary innovation.
Therefore, what this commandment requires is that our weekly holiday be
devoted to worship, fellowship, and hearing God's Word. The special purpose of
the day should be the ministry of the Word to the young and people in general.
At the same time, the command to rest should not be interpreted so strictly
that it forbids any incidental work that cannot be avoided.
We keep the Sabbath day holy when we occupy ourselves with holy words,
works, and life. Nothing we do can make the day itself any more holy than it
was when God created it. Our behavior is what needs to be sanctified. God wants
the Holy Day to be holy to you, and it only becomes holy to you when you are
occupied with things that are holy. Sitting in a corner and refusing to do any
work will not make the day holy. Likewise, putting on our best clothes will not
make the day holy. You keep the day holy when you occupy yourself with God's
Word, and allow that Word to govern your life.
Christians ought to keep every day holy. We should daily be occupied with
God's Word, carrying it in our hearts and upon our lips. We should devote
several hours a week to the Word of God and prayer. However, we do not always
have the time. That is why one day needs to be set apart for things that are
holy. This is especially important in the training of the young. During such
training, special emphasis should be placed upon the Ten Commandments, the
Creed, and the Lord's Prayer, because they summarize the doctrine of Scripture,
and our entire life should be in accord with God's Word. Whenever we are
occupied with holy things, the day is being kept holy as the commandment
requires. There is no virtue in idleness. Idleness cannot make the day holy.
Even the heathen can be idle. Likewise those Papists who stand daily in their
churches, singing and ringing bells, are not keeping the day holy, because they
neither preach nor practice God's Word, but teach and live contrary to it.
The Word of God is our chief sanctuary. Consecrated garments and the
bones of saints cannot make anyone holy. If we had them all in a heap, they
would not be one bit of help to us. God's Word is the treasure which sanctifies
everything, and by which the saints themselves were sanctified. At whatever
hour God's Word is taught, preached, heard, read or meditated upon; the person,
day, and work are sanctified. They are not sanctified by the external work, but
because they have access to forgiveness in Christ through the Word of God. It
is that forgiveness that makes us saints. Therefore, if our life is to be
God-pleasing or holy it should be ordered according to God's Word. Where that
is done, this commandment is in force and being fulfilled.
In contrast, any observance or work that is practiced without God's Word,
and faith in Christ, is unholy before God, no matter how glorious it seems to
men! That includes the unscriptural spiritual orders followed by monks and
nuns. Those orders are contrary to the Word of God, for through them men seek
holiness in their own works.
Therefore, the force and power of this commandment does not lie in the
resting but in the sanctifying. And none of our works are holy unless we have
first been made holy through the forgiveness that is ours in Christ. But this
commandment offers a work by which we can be made holy through the Word of God.
Through that Word alone, the Holy Spirit brings us to faith and keeps us in
faith. This work of the Holy Spirit is the reason God wants us to keep His Day
holy. As we come together for worship the gospel is proclaimed and through the
preaching of the Word we are brought to faith, strengthened in faith, and kept
in faith.
Since so much depends upon God's Word that the Lord's Day cannot be kept
holy without it, God insists upon a strict observance of this commandment.
Simply being in church may not save you, but staying away from church might
damn you, for it is only as we stay close to the Word of God that we stay
strong in faith.
This commandment is not only violated by those who desecrate it with
their sinful lifestyle, but also by those who attend church only out of habit
and at the end of the year know as little of God's Word as they did at the
beginning. It is easy to see that those who couldn't care less about church
attendance or those who spend Sunday in a drunken stupor are not keeping the
day holy. It is more difficult to see that those who come to preaching and
listen to God's Word as to any other trifle while having no desire to learn,
understand, or retain what is taught are not keeping the day holy. Up to this
time people generally believed that they had properly hallowed Sunday if they
heard a mass or the Gospel read, but no one cared for or taught God's Word. Now
we have God's Word, but do not correct the abuse. We allow ourselves to be
preached to and admonished, but we listen without seriousness and care.
Do not think that church attendance is just another duty to be fulfilled.
We should not only be concerned with hearing, but also with learning and
retaining it in memory. Do not think that such learning is optional, or of no
great importance. It is God's commandment, and you will account to Him for how
you have heard, learned, and honored His Word.
We must also reprove those difficult people who find sermons tedious and
dull. Having heard a few sermons, they think they know it all and see no further
need of instruction. Such people are under a satanic delusion and do not
realize the great danger they are in. They fail to see their own sinfulness,
their wretched condition, and their need of salvation. They take everything for
granted. For that reason, they fail to understand or appreciate the forgiveness
we have in Christ. Satan wants nothing more than to turn their hearts away from
the Word of God so that they can never learn the truth.
Because you live every day in the dominion of Satan, who continually
seeks to destroy your soul, you must always keep God's Word in your ears, in
your heart, and upon your lips. Even if you really did know the Bible perfectly
and were a master of theology, you would still need the Word of God to put the
Devil to flight. Satan does not stop trying to snare your soul just because you
have a certain level of knowledge. He continually seeks to kindle wicked
thoughts and unbelief in your heart. Wicked thoughts against this commandment
are only one small part of his assault on your soul. Whenever the heart is idle
and the Word does not sound, he breaks in and does the damage before we are
aware. On the other hand, because the Word of God is so powerful, it will never
be without fruit. Whenever it is seriously contemplated, heard, and used it
will awaken new understanding, pleasure, and devotion while producing a pure
heart and pure thoughts. For the words of Scripture are not inoperative or
dead, but creative, living words. Even if we lacked any other motivation, the
fact that the Word of God puts Satan to flight should create in us a desire to
learn it and know it. Besides this commandment requires us to stay close to the
Word, and obedience to it is more pleasing to God than
any work dreamed up by those hypocrites who think that they have no need for
God's Word.
[The above is based upon, and
closely follows, Martin Luther's explanation of the Third Commandment.]