I. Are We Still Required to Fast in the New Testament?
The duties required in the 2nd Commandment are…religious fasting. (WLC #108)
“And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites…” (Matt. 6:16-18)
And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. (Matt. 4:2)
While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting…Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off. (Acts 13:2-3)
And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed. (Acts 14:23)
II. What Kind of Fasting Are We to Engage In?
Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. (1 Cor. 7:5)
Irish Articles (1615) Article 49: When almighty God smiteth us with affliction, or some great calamity hangeth over us, or any other weighty cause so requireth, it is our duty to humble ourselves in fasting, to bewail our sins with a sorrowful heart, and to addict ourselves to earnest prayer, that it might please God to turn his wrath from us, or supply us with such graces as we greatly stand in need of. Article 50: Fasting is a withholding of meat, drink, and all natural food, with other outward delights, from the body, for the determined time of fasting.
III. When Should We Fast?
The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.” Matthew 9:15
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Rev. David Reese served as the pastor of the Springs Reformed Church from 2002-2014. He is a graduate (Master of Divinity) of the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Pittsburgh, PA.
