Why do we worship on Sunday
instead
of Saturday?
In the Old Testament,
God stated, "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you
shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of the
Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your
daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner
who stays with you," (Exodus 20:8-10, NASB). It was the custom of
the Jews to come together on the Sabbath, which is Saturday, cease work, and
worship God. Jesus went to the synagogue on Saturday to teach (Matt. 12:9,
John 18:20) as did the apostle Paul (Acts 17:2; 18:4; ). So, if in the Old
Testament we are commanded to keep the Sabbath and in the New Testament we
see Jews, Jesus, and the apostles doing the same thing, then why do we
worship on Sunday?
First of all, of the 10 commandments listed in
Exodus 20:1-17, only 9 of them were
reinstituted by in the New Testament: (six in Matt. 19:18, murder, adultery,
stealing, false witness, honor parents, and worshiping God; Rom. 13:9, coveting. Worshiping God
properly covers the first three commandments) The one that was not
reaffirmed was the one about the Sabbath. Instead, Jesus said that
He is the Lord of the Sabbath (Matt. 12:8).
In creation God rested on the seventh day. But, since God is all
powerful, He doesn’t get tired. He doesn’t need to take a break and rest. So,
why did does it say that He rested? The reason is simple: Mark 2:27 says, "The
Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath." In other words, God
established the Sabbath as a rest for His people, not because He needed a break, but
because we are mortal and need a time of rest, of focus on God. In this, our spirits and
bodies are both renewed.
The Old Testament system of Law required keeping the Sabbath as part of
the overall moral, legal, and sacrificial system by which the Jewish people satisfied
God’s requirements for behavior, government, and forgiveness of sins. The Sabbath was
part of the Law in that sense. In order to "remain" in favor with God, you had
to also keep the Sabbath. If it was not kept, then the person was in sin and would often
be punished (Ezekiel 18:4; Rom. 6:23; Deut. 13:1-9; Num. 35:31; Lev. 20:2, etc.).
But with Jesus’ atonement, we no longer are required to keep
the Law. We are not under Law, but grace (Rom. 6:14-15). The Sabbath is fulfilled in
Jesus. He is our rest. We are not under obligation, by Law, to keep it and this goes for
the Sabbath as well. It is not a requirement that we keep the Sabbath. If it were, then we
would still be under the Law. But, we are not.
Evidence of the Change of Days can be Seen in the
NT
Within the
New Testament is ample evidence that the seventh day Sabbath is no
longer a requirement.
- Rom. 14:5-6, "One man regards one day above another, another regards every day
alike. Let each man be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 He who observes the
day, observes it for the Lord, and he who eats, does so for the Lord, for he gives thanks
to God; and he who eats not, for the Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God."
The entire section of Rom. 14:1-12 is worth careful study.
Nevertheless, the instructions here are that individuals must be convinced in their own
minds about which day they observe for the Lord. If the seventh day Sabbath were a
requirement, then the choice would not be mans’, but God’s.
- Col. 2:16-17, "Therefore let no one act as your judge in regard to food or drink
or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day— 17 things
which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ."
Notice here that time sequence mentioned. A festival is
yearly. A new moon is monthly. A Sabbath is weekly. No one is to judge in regard to this.
The Sabbath is defined as a shadow, the reality is Jesus. Jesus is our Sabbath.
-
Acts 20:7, "And on the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to
break bread, Paul began talking to them, intending to depart the next day, and he
prolonged his message until midnight."
The first day of the week is Sunday and this is the day the
people gathered. This passage can easily be seen as the church meeting on Sunday. It has
two important church functions within it: breaking bread (communion) and a message
(preaching). Additionally, Luke did not use the Jewish system of counting days: sundown to
sundown. He used the Roman system: midnight to midnight. This is a subtle point that shows
the Jewish Sabbath system was not the one utilized by Luke.
- 1 Cor. 16:1-2, "Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I directed the
churches of Galatia, so do you also. 2 On the first day of every week let each
one of you put aside and save, as he may prosper, that no collections be made when I come."
Notice here that Paul is directing the churches to meet on the
first day of each week and put money aside. It would seem that this is tithing. So, the
instructed time for the church to meet is Sunday. Is this an official worship day set up
by the church? You decide.
- Rev. 1:10-11, "I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard
behind me a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet, 11saying, "Write in a
book what you see, and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to
Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea."
The New Bible Dictionary says regarding the term, ‘The
Lord’s Day’ in Revelation 1:10: "This is the first extant occurrence in
Christian literature of heµ kyriakeµ heµmera. The adjectival construction suggests that
it was a formal designation of the church’s worship day. As such it certainly appears
early in the 2nd century (Ignatius, Epistle to the Magnesians, 1. 67).
In many churches today, the term "The Lord’s Day"
is used to designate Sunday, the same as it was in the second century.
I hope this is evidence enough to show you that the Bible does
not require that we worship on Saturday. If anything, we have the freedom (Rom. 14:1-12)
to worship on the day that we believe we should. And, we no one should judge us in regard
to the day we keep. We are free in Christ, not under law (Rom. 6:14).
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