*(Antinomianism is a term used to describe the view of some professed Christians who believe that being saved by grace means that grace has saved them from anything to do with God’s law.)
We are not saved from God's law; we are saved from sin which is the transgression of God's law. If God's law was done away with, then there would be no sin to save us from and Christ died in vain.
The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation. Romans 1.16. The power of God is known by the things that are made. Verse 20. The Sabbath is for the purpose of directing our thoughts to the things that God has made, so that through them we may know His power to save; for redemption is creation.
It is not how men have regarded the Sabbath, but who gave it, that determines its sacredness.
The cross of Christ brings those who accept it into the condition in which man was at the close of the sixth day of creation, when God saw everything that He had made, “and behold it was very good.” Therefore, since the Sabbath is the mark or seal of a perfect new creation, it is the seal of the Gospel, the sign of the cross, the pledge of the complete redemption of all things.
The difficulties connected with this commandment, like those with any part of the Bible, are wholly in the minds of men, and not in the commandment itself. Perverted minds pervert the word. Whoever comes to the study of the Bible, wholly free from prejudice or selfish motives, will never find any difficulty in it;
So it is that the Gospel has to do with eternal things, but eternal things in the present time. The trouble with people is that they regard eternity as only future, whereas eternity is past, present, and future. It has been, is, and is to be. Especially is it now, for God “inhabits eternity” (Isaiah 57.15), and His name is “I AM”. Eternity with Him is always present. Likewise He desires us to live the life eternal, but always in the present. He, who truly believes in Christ, passes from death unto life, from the temporal to the eternal, from the unreal to the real.
The beloved disciple had been banished to the isle of Patmos and while there he had wonderful visions, and this is how he begins the account of them. “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice.” Revelation 1.10
From this we know that there was a certain day known at that time as the Lord’s day, and that John, as a faithful follower of Christ, observed it. We also know that if the Lord had a special day for His own then, He must have it still. Let us see if we can find out what day it is. The only place where we can surely find it is the Bible.
God is calling the minds of men back to the beginning. He is calling for a return to the Sabbath of the Lord, which a church, spoiled through philosophy and vain deceit, thought to do away with and replace by a day of its own appointment. The true Sabbath takes us back to the beginning, and when we get to the beginning, we find there the ending of God’s work, and the Sabbath, which means rest, given to man as a reminder that God’s works were finished, that there remains a rest for the people of God.
The Scriptures contain no suggestion of a penalty for laboring on Sunday, because they contain no suggestion that it should be kept. Therefore it is no more a sin to work or play on Sunday than on Monday or Tuesday. Dr. Dale admits this in these words found on page 112: —
There is no reason to believe that the apostles required their converts to keep the first day of the week as a day of rest.
Of course there is not, since there is no hint of such a thing in the New Testament. Yet the Apostle Paul said, “I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you,” and, “I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.” Acts 20.20, 27
The Scriptures allows no place for a secret coming of the Lord, to take from this earth a few of His people, leaving the earth and the remainder of the inhabitants just as they were before. Manhandling Scripture to make it say that it does, is to deny the plain teaching of the Bible entirley.
But, further, you have nothing to do with the question of worth. He made the purchase with His eyes open, and He knew the exact value of that which He bought. He is not at all disappointed when you come to Him and He finds that you are worthless. You have not to worry over the question of worth; if He, with His perfect knowledge of the case, was satisfied to make the bargain, you should be the last one to complain.
The cross of Christ is also the power of God. “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 1.18. Therefore since the Sabbath and the cross of Christ both show forth the same power of God, it is evident that not only are they parallel, but that they are most intimately connected.