How does a Christian keep the 4th commandment?

Question

Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. (Exodus 20:9-11 ESV)

A few caveats:

1. I'm not interested in the Seventh Day Adventist position.
2. I'm coming from a biblical, Protestant perspective.

Answer 1

Using the Westminster Confession of Faith to present a Reformed position, Chapter XXI, paragraph VIII states:

This Sabbath is to be kept holy unto the Lord when men, after a due preparing of their hearts, and ordering of their common affairs beforehand, do not only observe an holy rest all the day from their own works, words, and thoughts about their worldly employments and recreations; but also are taken up the whole time in the public and private exercises of his worship, and in the duties of necessity and mercy.

This presents the Sabbath's purpose of getting people out of their self-satisfaction and self-importance ("own works, words, and thoughts") and directed toward God ("worship") while being godly in not neglecting needs of self or others ("necessity and mercy"--"duties of necessity" can be somewhat vague but I believe would include certain work of doctors, police, etc.).

(By the way, in paragraph VII, the writers of the WCF present the belief that Sunday is the post-resurrection/Christian Sabbath day.)

Even in cultures with 5-day work weeks (which at least some Reformed persons believe would also violate the 4th commandment, if two rest days are used), there are "slave-driver" employers and workaholics for which the imposition of a ceasing would be a mercy even from an atheistic perspective.

(By the way, the Exodus version draws on the creation relation--all mankind, all time (at least for some interpreters)--and presents it as a blessing; the Deuteronomy version relates it to salvation from slavery and as a covenant command as well as emphasizing likeness to the slave--reminiscent, to me, of Col. 4:1 "Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven"(NIV).)

The Sabbath has several purposes, including: to reinforce trusting that God will provide (cf. Manna gathering in Ex. 16:19-30), to provide/enforce freedom from work (i.e., work is not to be the master), to provide/enforce rest, to have a dedicated regular (habitual) time to remember who God is and what God has done, to develop a future-oriented mindset (Sabbath requires preparation and is a guaranteed future time, perhaps hinting at anticipation of (and preparation for) the time of the new heaven and new earth with a sense of certainty, the fullness of rest is as certain as one day following another).

Even for Christians who reject Sabbath observance as a moral law (I think St. Augustine was one such, so this certainly appears to be a "disputable matter"), the principles of not abusing employees, of regularly remembering that God is God (Creator and Master), of depending on God, and of resting--these principles would still apply. In addition, such Christians might adopt the pattern of Sabbath (with its related purposes such as those mentioned above) as a practical aid toward sanctification much like a dedicated time of Bible study.

Given that entire books have been written on this subject, a StackExchange answer is not likely to be especially comprehensive.

Answer 2

Non-TL;DR

The simple answer is that born again Christians, whether Jewish or Gentile, are under no obligation to observe such a commandment under the New Covenant.

TL;DR

The pronoun "you" in your passage refers directly to those whom YHVH "brought...out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage" (Exo. 20:2). YHVH was speaking to the Israelites in Exo. 20.

Elsewhere, we read that the Sabbath was a sign between the children of Israel and YHVH for ever (Exo. 31:17). You may then reason that, if the Sabbath was a sign for ever, then Jews, whether they be Christians or not, should still keep the Sabbath.

It is important to note that the Israelites agreed to obey those commandments by swearing an oath in a bilateral covenant (cp. Deut. 27:26). The covenant was between YHVH and the Israelites. A covenant no longer applies when one of the parties in the bilateral covenant has died, as so aptly illustrated by the apostle Paul when he describes the marriage covenant (Rom. 7:1-4).

In Romans 7:1-4, once the husband died, the wife was free to re-marry without being considered an adulteress. However, if the wife re-married while the husband was still living, the wife was considered an adulteress. As long as both parties were living, the covenant remained effective. If one party of the bilateral covenant died, the covenant was void.

Since a believing Israelite dies with Christ (the "old man is crucified with" Christ; cp. Rom. 6:6), he is born again, and he is no longer a party to the Old Covenant. Can the Law, the Old Covenant, apply to a dead person? No, it cannot, for a bilateral covenant is voided upon the death of one of the parties.

The new man is a party to the New Covenant (rather than the Old Covenant) which does not impose observance of the Sabbath upon the party, but rather, forgiveness of sins (Jer. 31:31-34).

Indeed, born again Christians, as servants of Christ, must obey the commandments of their master, but keeping the Sabbath is no such commandment, as our rest is in Christ (Heb. 4:9-11).

Answer 3

Dunno about other Christians, but the NT Church met EVERYDAY:

Acts 2:46 NET Every day they continued to gather together by common consent in the temple courts, breaking bread from house to house, sharing their food with glad and humble hearts,

That comports well with Jesus's teachings, that surpassed the righteousness of the Pharisees, who had the Eternal Law watered down because of hardness of heart :

Don't commit adultery, replaced by don't even look at a woman with lust.

Don't murder, replaced by don't even hate.

Christ raised the bar.