… that they who rule unjustly and incompetently have been raised up by him to punish the wickedness of the people; that all equally have been endowed with that holy majesty with which he has invested lawful power.
I shall proceed no farther until I have added some sure testimonies of this thing. Yet, we need not labor to prove that a wicked king is the Lord’s wrath upon the earth [Job 34:30, Vg.; Hos. 13:11; Isa. 3:4; 10:5; Deut. 28:29], for I believe no man will contradict me; and thus nothing more would be said of a king than of a robber who seizes your possessions, of an adulterer who pollutes your marriage bed, or of a murderer who seeks to kill you. For Scripture reckons all such calamities among God’s curses.
Calvin, J. (2011). Institutes of the Christian Religion & 2 (J. T. McNeill, Ed.; F. L. Battles, Trans.; Vol. 1, pp. 1512–1513). Westminster John Knox Press.
WCF 11:2 Faith, thus receiving and resting on Christ and His righteousness, is the alone instrument of justification (Joh_1:12; Rom_3:28; Rom_5:1); yet is it not alone in the person justified, but is ever accompanied with all other saving graces, and is no dead faith, but worketh by love (Gal_5:6; Jam_2:17, Jam_2:22, Jam_2:26).
WCF 16:2. These good works, done in obedience to God’s commandments, are the fruits and evidences of a true and living faith. By them believers show their thankfulness , strengthen their assurance , build up their fellow believers , adorn the profession of the gospel , shut the mouths of the adversaries, and glorify God. They are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, so that, bearing fruit unto holiness, they may attain the outcome, which is eternal life.
But there is no doubt that by the Lord Christ’s coming the ceremonial part of this commandment was abolished. For he himself is the truth, with whose presence all figures vanish; he is the body, at whose appearance the shadows are left behind. He is, I say, the true fulfillment of the Sabbath. “We were buried with him by baptism, we were engrafted into participation in his death, that sharing in his resurrection we may walk in newness of life.” [Rom. 6:4–5 p.]
For this reason the apostle elsewhere writes that the Sabbath [Col. 2:16] was “a shadow of what is to come; but the body belongs to Christ” [Col. 2:17], that is, the very substance of truth, which Paul well explained in that passage. This is not confined within a single day but extends through the whole course of our life, until, completely dead to ourselves, we are filled with the life of God. Christians ought therefore to shun completely the superstitious observance of days.
Calvin, J. (2011). Institutes of the Christian Religion & 2 (J. T. McNeill, Ed.; F. L. Battles, Trans.; Vol. 1, p. 397). Westminster John Knox Press.
32. How far does the Fourth Commandment go beyond external regulation?
The two latter reasons for the Sabbath ought not to be relegated to the ancient shadows, but are equally applicable to every age. Although the Sabbath has been abrogated, there is still occasion for us: to assemble on stated days for the hearing of the Word, the breaking of the mystical bread, and for public prayers [cf. Acts 2:42]; (2) to give surcease from labor to servants and workmen.There is no doubt that in enjoining the Sabbath the Lord was concerned with both.
There is ample evidence for the first, if only in the usage of the Jews. Moses in Deuteronomy pointed out the second reason, in these words: “That your manservant and your maidservant may rest as well as you, remember that you also were a servant … in Egypt” [ch. 5:14–15, ]. Also, in Exodus: “That your ox and your ass may have rest; and the son of your bondmaid … may be refreshed” [ch. 23:12]. Who can deny that these two things apply as much to us as to the Jews? Meetings of the church are enjoined upon us by God’s Word; and from our everyday experience we well know how we need them. But how can such meetings be held unless they have been established and have their stated days? According to the apostle’s statement, “all things should be done decently and in order” among us [1 Cor. 14:40].
It is so impossible to maintain decency and order—otherwise than by this arrangement and regulation—that immediate confusion and ruin threaten the church if it be dissolved. But if we are subject to the same necessity as that to alleviate which the Lord established the Sabbath for the Jews, let no one allege that this has nothing to do with us. For our most provident and merciful Father willed to see to our needs not less than those of the Jews.
Why do we not assemble daily, you ask, so as to remove all distinction of days? If only this had been given us! Spiritual wisdom truly deserved to have some portion of time set apart for it each day. But if the weakness of many made it impossible for daily meetings to be held, and the rule of love does not allow more to be required of them, why should we not obey the order we see laid upon us by God’s will?
