The Sabbath
The Seventh Day Adventist and some others say the Sabbath is the seventh day of the week and is a day of rest and worship. Some others say that the Sabbath is changed from the seventh day of the week to the first day of the week and call Sunday the Christian Sabbath day. Which of these are correct? Actually neither one is correct.
First of all, we need to stay with the Word of God to find what He would want us to observe. The Word of God does not say that Christians are to observe the Sabbath today. Neither does it call Sunday the Christian Sabbath.
The Bible tells us that the seventh day of the week is the Sabbath day of our Lord (Exodus 20:10-12). In the Old testament we have six days of labor followed by the seventh or Sabbath day, a day of rest. The Bible never told the people of today to observe the Sabbath. The Sabbath is a part of the Mosaic law and was given to the Jews that were under the law. Some Christians believe that today we are still under the law. That is not the case as we will see as we go on. Some say, remember Sunday which is the Sabbath and keep it holy. No where in the New Testament does it give Christians a command to observe the Sabbath.
We can find all the ten commandments of the Old Testament repeated in the New Testament except the Sabbath. Jesus never taught His disciples nor anyone else to observe the Sabbath. Neither did any of the apostles teach any of the churches to keep the Sabbath. We must remember that the Sabbath is a part of the Mosaic law that was given to the people of Israel who were under the law. In Ezekiel 20:10-12 we are told that God gave the Jews the Sabbath as a sign between Him and the Jews. If Gentiles had been given the Sabbath then it could not have been a sign for the Jews. God also said in Exodus 16:23-36 that He gave the sabbaths to be a sign between Him and the Jews. The Sabbath day of rest for mankind had never been mentioned before in the Old Testament until it was given to Israel at Mount Sinai. A Sabbath was mentioned once before in Genesis 2:1-3 but that was a rest for God, not mankind.
The Seventh-day Adventists tell us that man kept the Sabbath from the days of Adam onward but this is contrary to Word of God. Some say that Jesus kept the Sabbath so all Christians should keep the Sabbath. They forget that Jesus was a Jew and was still under the dispensation of the law. He came to fulfill the law to redeem His people. The Sabbath was given to the nation of Israel to observe throughout their generations and was a perpetual covenant (Exodus 31:16).
The Seventh-day Adventists along with some other Christians would like to put us under the yoke of the law. Many teach that salvation depends on our keeping the Mosaic law. In Colossians 2:16-17 we are told it was nailed to the cross and blotted out along with the ceremonial laws. Of the ten commandments, all were repeated in the New Testament except for the Sabbath. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law (Galatians 3:13).
The apostle Paul shows us in Galatians 4:8-11 that the Galatians should not be in bondage to Old Testament Sabbath. The word “days” in this reference means Sabbaths which were part of the Old Testament law for Israel. For those who say the Sabbath was changed to Sunday it should be clear they are in error. No where does the Bible tell us that the Sabbath was changed to Sunday. The Sabbath always means Saturday the “Seventh” day.
In Acts 20:7 we see the disciples meeting on the first day of the week and from the context this would mean the disciples met regularly on the first day of the week to take the Lord's Supper. It can be seen in 1 Corinthians 16:2 that Christians are to gather together on the first day of the week. The “Lord's day” used in Revelation 1:10 also indicates the first day of the week, the day of resurrection or our Lord Jesus Christ. New Testament Christians were never given a day for rest but they used the first day of the week as a day of worship. The Word of God never says that the Lord's Day is the Sabbath or seventh day. It never speaks of any day other than the first day of the week as a day of worship.
The Sabbath day which is Saturday was only for rest and not worship. The Old Testament never uses the Sabbath as a day of worship, only a day of rest (Exodus 20:10). Between the Old and New Testament period we find that it was a custom to meet in the synagogue on the Sabbath but not by a divine command. The apostle Paul told us in Galatians that “if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.” The Sabbath in the Mosaic Law was for a day of rest and not a day of going to church nor a day of worship. The principle of one day's rest in seven for man is a good principle and Sunday was selected by civil laws as a day of rest out of the seven days of the week.
We should also notice that Christians have a certain amount of liberty (1 Corinthians 10:29-33) but this liberty is not to be used as an occasion to the flesh, (Galatians 5:13) nor a license to do wrong. Some Christians also call Sunday the Sabbath which would be putting Christians back under the Law. A Christian cannot cause them to stumble and be an offense to them because of the Christians liberty. There are many things a Christian should do because of their conscience and for the sake of all the unsaved people, who also watch Christians, and probably would not understand a Christian's liberty. Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week and for our justification, meaning that Christians are counted righteous without the deeds of the law and have peace with God. The Christian will continue to do the work the Lord Jesus asked them to for the rest of their life, to glorify the Savior they love (Hebrews 4:9-10).
Christians should not observe the Sunday as the Sabbath but we do have the command to gather together for worship (Hebrews 10:25). Christians have an example of the disciples meeting on Sunday (Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2). Then Paul, who was exiled to the Island of Patmos, worshiped on the “Lord's Day” which would be Sunday, the day of the resurrection of Jesus.
