Hi apologize for this delayed response!
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Originally Posted by Scott1  I'm not sure which Confession you subscribe to by being part of Puritan Board but the London Baptist Confession and Westminster Confession are identical on this point. That means that they are taken to be a faithful summary of the doctrine contained in Scripture.
If you disagree with your Confession, you need to be specific about which statement or proposition you disagree with. |
It was not my intention with my post to call into the question the WCF or LBC’s position on the Sabbath day. I was asking what is the definition of a work of necessity or mercy, which the confessions themselves specifically allow.
I do not think the scripture proofs from either the WCF or the Catechisms really settle the issue. They do speak of not trading and doing business, but I was not arguing that a Christian should ordinarily decide to go to work or attend to his business on the Sabbath day.
What I was asking was if a man was required by an employer to work on a Sunday due to special circumstances, why wouldn’t that count as a work of necessity under the Sabbath law? Williamson’s commentary states that a man working so as to avoid losing his employment position or risking a demotion is not a work of necessity. But under this criteria, surely going hungry for a while, or waiting one day to be healed of a withered hand do not qualify as works of necessity either. But that is not how Jesus Christ operated. The commentary gives an example of a doctor operating of a man who would otherwise die as an example of something that does qualify as a work of necessity. By this criteria, should not Jesus have waited a day before healing the man with a withered hand, since this man was not going to die if he was not healed there and then on the Sabbath?
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Eating was never prohibited on the Sabbath, and Jesus clarified that necessary food preparation is not a violation of the Sabbath.
Jesus was able to do miracles on the Sabbath because He is Lord of the Sabbath and he was clarifying that we can do works of mercy and not violate the Sabbath.
Neither of these situations were against God's Law, even in the Old Testament, they were the teachings of men (Pharisees) who made up their own regulations.
Neither of these situations have anything to do with ordinarily earning ones's living at a sales job.
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Again, I was not saying that a Christian ought to take a job, or organize his business such that it ‘ordinarily’ requires him to work on the Sabbath. However if special circumstances, including the whim of his master, require him to work on the Sabbath, such a situation does seem to me to fall within the criteria of a work of necessity, as set out in the gospels.
Regarding the disciples picking corn, I do not think I implied that the Pharisees were suggesting that eating was a violation of the Sabbath. From my understanding, it was the act of picking the grains that they objected to. Again, remember that God had a man stoned for picking up sticks on the Sabbath, yet here Jesus allowed his disciples to pick corn to eat simply because they were hungry.
Is the bible position such that it is ok to ‘work’ to avoid a few hours of hunger, but it is not ok to work to preserve one’s source of livelihood?
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You may also find the Westminster Larger Catechism helpful on summarizing the doctrine on this point, questions 115 to 121 and the attending Scripture proofs. These flush out working on the Sabbath and the exceptions for necessity and mercy well.
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