1833.—Self-Devouring Reasons for Sunday-Keeping.
By Editor
How would you answer this kind of an argument? "I keep Sunday because of Christ's resurrection. The Lord commanded us to keep the Sabbath one day in seven, no one in particular. Every day is a holy day with the Lord." But here is the principal point that troubles me. They say that they believe the resurrection to be greater and of far more importance than Creation. Therefore they keep the first day of the week in honor of Christ's resurrection. Can you help me out of this? Why should we keep the day of Christ's resurrection any more than we should the day of His crucifixion or any other day? Does it not say somewhere in the Bible that His death meant more than His resurrection? H. C. P. 1. It can readily be seen that the first three positions are self-devouring; for if only a seventh part of time is required, merely one day in seven, it does not matter which day, and Sunday has no special holiness. And this is also true if every day is a holy day. To the first alone we may well inquire in the words of the Lord, "Who hath required this at your hands?" If tradition requires it, it is well to remember that tradition is one of the unsafest guides, and often, as in this case, makes void in its keeping the commandments of God. 2. God commanded not one day in seven, but "the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God." He rested on and blessed a particular day. He could not rest on no day in particular. He commanded the observance of the same day on which He rested. Gen. 2:2, 3; Ex. 20:8-10. 3. God only can make days holy. He has hallowed but one—the seventh. He reproves His people because "they have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they caused men to discern between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from My Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them." Eze. 22:26. 4. Resurrection is recreation. Only God can create; only God can recreate. It is the creative power of God which regenerates. Eph. 4:24. Over and over we are taught that it is the creative power of God which redeems and saves. See Isa. 44:24; 45:17-19; Col. 1:14-20. So God gave the Sabbath as a memorial of Creation (Ex. 20:8-11), and to His people it becomes a sign of His power to sanctify (Eze. 20:12). It was not a wonderful thing that the Father should raise His Son from the dead; but it was a marvelous thing that He should give Him to die. And we are redeemed by His blood. Eph. 1:7; Rev. 1:5; 5:9. Moreover this work of redemption will not be finished till Christ comes. Luke 21:28. If, therefore, man should set apart a day as a memorial of redemption, ought it not to be the day when Christ was crucified? But the crucifixion, the resurrection, and the ascension were all necessary. Should there not be a day for each event? God, however, has commanded none of these; and for us to add to His words is to set ourselves above Him. 5. Nowhere does it say in the Bible that Christ's death is more than His resurrection. Every act in our Lord's work was important, infinitely so, and to faithful souls will come the merit of each and all. 6. God has given us a memorial of Christ's death in the Lord's Supper, and of His resurrection in baptism. 1 Cor. 11:25-26; Rom. 6:3-6. And death to sin and the new life in Christ ought ever to be manifest in His followers in the world.