Scripture teaches that the Lord's Day is a set time for public worship and spiritual rest, commemorating Christ's resurrection. Reformed traditions hold that the fourth commandment establishes a perpetual moral obligation to dedicate one day in seven to the Lord, though some Lutheran and other traditions view its specific day-observance as an external matter of Christian liberty.
In the Reformed tradition, we understand the Sabbath to be rooted in a positive, moral, and perpetual commandment of God. As noted in the 1689 LBCF Ch.22 §7, the shift from the seventh day to the first day—the Lord's Day—marks the significance of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This aligns with the Westminster Confession of Faith Ch.21 §7, which emphasizes that this appointment binds all men in all ages to set apart a day for God's worship, honoring the transition from the old creation to the new.
The Lord's Day is not a burden to earn God's favor, but a gracious opportunity to feast upon the finished work of Christ. We are invited into a Sabbath rest that points beyond itself to the final rest we have in Jesus. As Hebrews reminds us, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, and in Christ, we are freed from the bondage of moralism to delight in Him. Hebrews 4:9-10 says: 'There remaineth therefore a sabbath rest for the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest hath himself also rested from his works, as God did from his.'