The Christian Sabbath - Saturday or Sunday?

The issue of when and how true believers and followers of Jesus Christ are supposed to relate to Sabbath keeping is one of critical importance. If, as the advocates of seventh day Sabbath keeping maintain, the keeping of the seventh day Sabbath is one which is of utmost importance to God, how can we ignore it?nbsp;  Let’s dig deep to explore what the Bible really teaches with regard to seventh day Sabbath keeping. We had better approach the subject with holy fear and the attitude of a judge and not a lawyer because we do not want to miss the mark with regards to obedience to God.  If God indeed requires that those committed to the Lordship of Jesus Christ are obligated to keep that day in a specific way, we must be sure to do it.

The issue is able to be resolved. Rest assured that God will not remain silent on these issues which are critical to our walking in obedience to Him. Let us thoughtfully and prayerfully consider both sides of the issue.

There are Biblical truths which support seventh day Sabbath keeping.

• The nation Israel was commanded to keep the seventh day as a Sabbath unto the Lord. Exodus 20:8-11 makes quite a case for keeping the Sabbath. It is one of the Ten Commandments. The bible definitely does not teach that now, because we are now under grace, mankind is released from the keeping of the Ten Commandments .( i.e., that we are now free to murder, steal, and commit adultery). Why should we be freed from the requirement to observe the forth one?
•  Their Sabbath relates to our day Saturday and begins at sundown on Friday evening and continues until sundown of Saturday.
•  They were commanded to do no work on the Sabbath. In fact, it was a sin punishable by death. (Exodus 31:14-16) There is no doubt as to the seriousness of breaking the Sabbath in the eyes of God.
•  This concept of keeping the Sabbath is clearly evident throughout the Old Testament Scriptures. (Isaiah 56:2, 56:6,58:13, Jer. 17:22, 17:27)
•  Exodus 31:16 calls the keeping of the Sabbath a perpetual covenant.
•  The Jewish required the keeping of Sabbath years as well as a year of Jubilee every fiftieth year. (Leviticus 25:1-22. Exodus 23:1-19, Leviticus 23:1-44, Deuteronomy 16:1-22)
•  The nation Israel suffered the Babylonian captivity because they failed to observe the Sabbath years. (Daniel 9:2, Jeremiah 25:11 and II Chronicles 36:21)

There are some valid historical aspects to the discussion.

•  In the fourth century, when Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire, he introduced many damnable practices into the Church. The forced conversion of the priests and prophets of false religions brought many pagan practices into the church. The introduction of Christmas, Easter and mandated Sunday worship are all distortions of the Biblical norm.
•  The modern Church has almost totally neglected the Hebraic nature of its roots.
•  The modern church has tended to neglect the important teaching contained in what we refer to today as the Old Testament.
•  The church today contains much anti-Semitic thought and behavior. 

Given the absolute validity of the above statements, let’s continue our investigation.  

Let’s examine the logic of those who would encourage or require believers to worship on the Jewish Sabbath. They would maintain that:

• The Sabbath is a perpetual statute which is commanded to be observed forever.
• Therefore, in order to be obedient to the commands of God, all believers must observe Sabbath. 
• Since Sabbath was without question the seventh day, we should all worship God on Saturday, whatever the cost.
• The failure to do so is an act of disobedience.
• Some would maintain that seventh day worship is the mark of the true church, with some going so far as to even maintain, that worship on a day other than the Jewish Sabbath is the mark of the beast.

 Consider the following:

• The revelation contained in the life and teaching of Jesus and the apostles appear to introduce today’s reader to a new administration of God’s dealing with the human family.
• Jesus, by His actions and His teaching was in opposition to much of the Jewish religious mindset that prevailed in His day.
• Jesus was Jewish and faithfully obeyed the Law of God, which included Sabbath keeping.
• He healed the sick on the Sabbath and encountered opposition from the religious leaders.
• He allowed His disciples to pick corn on the Sabbath. (Matthew 12:1-12) This does appear to be contrary to the command to “do not do any work on the Sabbath.” (Exodus 20:10) This command of God would be seen in the historic context of the experience of gathering manna in the wilderness. It might justifiably have been hard to draw the distinction between gleaning corn and gathering manna.
• He declared the Son of Man to be “Lord of the Sabbath”. (Matthew 12:8)
• Jesus declared that “the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:27). This seems to support the view of a God who has instituted the Sabbath more for the benefit of man, rather than as a religious observance intended to somehow prove our allegiance to Him.
• The words of the apostles relieved true believers and followers of Jesus Christ from certain elements of the Jewish faith that was absolutely essential to the revelation of the Law given to the nation Israel. For instance, prior to the formation of the one new man, the Church, circumcision was a non- negotiable part of a life lived in obedience to the commands of Jehovah. Gentile believers were relieved of this requirement in Acts chapter 15. This chapter is a key to the proper understanding of the progressive nature of Biblical revelation.   Also note the revelation on the subject given in the following scriptures.

Romans 14:5 (KJV) ⁵ One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.

Galatians 4:9-10 (KJV) ⁹ But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? ¹⁰ Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.

Colossians 2:16-17 (KJV) ¹⁶ Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: ¹⁷ Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.

Hebrews 4:10-11 (KJV) ¹⁰ For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. ¹¹ Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.

Those who want to emphasize the methodology of the old covenant with regard to the Sabbath must deal with these scriptures, which appear to propose a difference in our requirements under the new covenant. These scriptures do not negate the Sabbath, but support the claim that Sabbath celebration takes on a new form under the new covenant. These support the idea that Christ presents to the new covenant believer a rest, of which the Sabbath under the old was only a shadow, or foretype. 

Let’s look at the concept of perpetual statutes of the Bible.                      

Exodus 12:17 (KJV) ¹⁷ And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance forever.

Exodus 27:21 (KJV) ²¹ In the tabernacle of the congregation without the vail, which is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall order it from evening to morning before the LORD: it shall be a statute for ever unto their generations on the behalf of the children of Israel.

Exodus 29:9 (KJV) ⁹ And thou shalt gird them with girdles, Aaron and his sons, and put the bonnets on them: and the priest's office shall be theirs for a perpetual statute: and thou shalt consecrate Aaron and his sons.

Exodus 29:28 (KJV) ²⁸ And it shall be Aaron's and his sons' by a statute for ever from the children of Israel: for it is an heave offering: and it shall be an heave offering from the children of Israel of the sacrifice of their peace offerings, even their heave offering unto the LORD.

Exodus 29:42 (KJV) ⁴² This shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD: where I will meet you, to speak there unto thee.

Exodus 30:9-10 (KJV) ⁹ Ye shall offer no strange incense thereon, nor burnt sacrifice, nor meat offering; neither shall ye pour drink offering thereon. ¹⁰ And Aaron shall make an atonement upon the horns of it once in a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonements: once in the year shall he make atonement upon it throughout your generations: it is most holy unto the LORD.

Exodus 30:21 (KJV) ²¹ So they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they die not: and it shall be a statute for ever to them, even to him and to his seed throughout their generations.

Leviticus 23:21 (KJV) ²¹  And ye shall proclaim on the selfsame day, that it may be an holy convocation unto you: ye shall do no servile work therein: it shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.

Leviticus 23:41 (KJV) ⁴¹ And ye shall keep it a feast unto the LORD seven days in the year. It shall be a statute forever in your generations: ye shall celebrate it in the seventh month.

Numbers 10:8 (KJV) ⁸ And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow with the trumpets; and they shall be to you for an ordinance for ever throughout your generations.

Numbers 18:19 (KJV) ¹⁹ All the heave offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer unto the LORD, have I given thee, and thy sons and thy daughters with thee, by a statute for ever: it is a covenant of salt for ever before the LORD unto thee and to thy seed with thee.

Numbers 19:10 (KJV) ¹⁰ And he that gathereth the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even: and it shall be unto the children of Israel, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among them, for a statute forever.

Numbers 19:21 (KJV) ²¹ And it shall be a perpetual statute unto them, that he that sprinkleth the water of separation shall wash his clothes; and he that toucheth the water of separation shall be unclean until even.

Numbers 25:13 (KJV) ¹³ And he shall have it, and his seed after him, even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood; because he was zealous for his God, and made an atonement for the children of Israel.

Must we demand new covenant believers to keep all the requirements that are spoken of as perpetual or forever covenants between God and His people? If that is the case, then bring out the ashes of the red heifer, the trumpet, the water of washing, etc. If you maintain that some of these other perpetual or forever covenants are non-essential, how do you pick and choose?nbsp;It should definitely be clear that the fact that the New Covenant Believer is not required (or even encouraged) to do religious activities in a specific manner just because they are said to represent a perpetual or forever covenant. There is definitively a difference between the requirements of religious observance under the old and new covenants. The perpetual statues are in relation to the covenant made with Israel, and are not directly applicable to the Church.

Let’s examine together an alternative way to look at this issue. Please consider the possibility that the celebration of the Lord’s Day of the new creation has replaced the keeping of the Sabbath under the Law. 

• The Lord’s Day far exceeds the Sabbath in it privileges and blessings. 
• The Lord Jesus rose on the first day of the week. (Mt.28:1)
• He first met with His disciples on the first day.. (John 20:19)
• The first disciples came together on the first day to break bread and Paul preached till midnight.(Acts 20:6-70)
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•  The Corinthian Church was instructed to put aside and save on the first day of the week as the Lord had prospered them.(I Cor. 16:2)
• The Lord appeared to John on the Isle of Patmos on that day (Rev. 1:10)
• In addition to the New Testament records you have the writings of the early Church leaders.
•  Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch (30-107 AD) wrote, “Let us therefore no longer keep the Sabbath after the Jewish manner, and rejoice in days of idleness………..but let every one of you keep the Sabbath after a spiritual manner, rejoicing in meditation on the law, not in relaxation of body, admiring the workmanships of God, and not eating things prepared the day before, nor using lukewarm drinks, and walking within a prescribed space……..let every friend of Christ keep the Lord’s Day as a festival, the resurrection day, the queen and chief of all the days of the week.” (Excerpted from Letter to the Magnesians, quoted in the ten volume work on the writings of the early church Fathers).
•  The epistle of Barnabas says “Wherefore, also, we keep the eighth day with joyfulness, the day also on which Jesus rose again from the dead.”
• The early history of the Church seems to support a celebration of the Lord’s Day rather than a continuation of the Jewish Sabbath. While it is true that Constantine, in 321 AD made the Christian Sabbath Sunday, it is also quite possible, if not probable, that this had already been the case of believers for almost 300 years. 
• Some contend that Sunday worship constitutes worship of the sun. That contention  is not a new one. It is mentioned by the Church father Tertullian, in the late second century. He makes the obvious point that worship of God on Sunday is no more necessarily the worship of the sun than worship on Saturday is the worship of Saturn.
• God has chosen to set apart one seventh of time, as shown in the Sabbath, the Sabbath year, and year of Jubilee (after seven sevens). This same division in time (one day out of seven) is still the norm under the new dispensation of grace, but the day has changed from the seventh of seven, to the first of seven.
• The seventh day Sabbath was a sign intended for the nation Israel, as was circumcision.
• The eighth day represents a day of grace. The eighth day was the day of circumcision.
• The commands of the New Testament with regard to our freedom, privileges and responsibilities before God on the day of worship are significantly different from those under the Old. 
• The Christian experience is marked by beginning from a place of rest. Under the administration of Law, the person worked to be acceptable to God. Under the current dispensation of grace as presented in the New Testament, the believer begins from a position of rest and all work flows forth from that position. Rather than working for six days in order to rest on the seventh, we rest on the first in order to work over the next six. The principle of the new creation differs from the principle of the old one and the worship on the Lord’s Day uniquely belongs to the new.
• So not only has the day changed, the principles surrounding that day has also changed.
• The New Covenant believer is instructed to go and tell on the day of rest, rather than cease from all labor. While the Jew was primarily confined to the proximity of his tent, the Christian is commanded to go and worship and to witness to men’s souls. A Christian man may be fatigued on the evening of the Lord’s Day. How can he remain inactive while souls perish around him?
• The Sabbath will again be the rule of faith and practice in the coming millennial age. It will supersede the Lord’s Day and be reinstated.
• The seventh day is primarily related to Israel and the earth. It was a test of Israel’s spiritual condition. It was what Israel was called to do for God. It was a time of bodily rest.  
• The first day is primarily related to the Church and the new creation. It is the proof of the eternal acceptance of the Church. It declares what God has done for us. It is to be a time of spiritual rest. It is supposed to mark our every day, not just one day out of a week.
• Romans 7:6 tells us that “we were released from the Law, having died to that which we were bound, so that we may serve….”
• The mistaken joining together of two separate concepts creates a situation where the Sabbath is robbed of its Jewish distinctiveness and robs the Church of the heavenly nature of its existence as the new creation.
• It is true that we have erred in making the Lord’s Day a day of recreation, trivial pursuits, and commercial enterprises, but that does not mean that the concept of the Lord’s Day is not valid.
• There are privileges connected with the celebration of the Lord’s Day.

Some may object that the keeping of the Sabbath is one of the Ten Commandments. 

This goes straight to the issue of the fact that a new covenant believer is bound to a higher standard than an Old Testament saint. They were prohibited from murder; we are prohibited from thoughts of murder. Our question is of a different nature than “Is it allowable under the Law?nbsp;We must ask ourselves of how our actions conform to the life of Christ, the teaching of the Word of God and the leading of the Holy Spirit. Would the Ten Commandments or the New Testament provide for a more excellent manner of life?nbsp;A man living by the Spirit of God will not steal, murder or commit adultery, but a man living by the Ten Commandments would fall short of the standards for a New Covenant Believer.

Sabbath breaking is not mentioned as a sin anywhere in the New Testament. There is no instruction which provides for seventh day Sabbath worship. In fact there are several clear passages which are warnings against Sabbath observance for believers who are under the New Covenant of grace.

• Romans 14:5 states that we should esteem all days alike. This suggests that to such a believer, all days are full of devotion to God.
• Galatians 4:9-10 condemns those who observe days and months and seasons and years, calling them weak and worthless elemental things. In context, it is speaking of being released from the bondage to the tutorage of the Law.
•  Colossians 2:16-17 clearly instructs the child of God to resist any and all attempts to be judged by those who would use the Sabbath Day as a standard of your spiritually. This is in the context of the new creation.
•  Hebrews 4:1-13 clearly outlines the Sabbath as being the rest in Christ that believers enter into when they cease from the labors of their own good works.

 It brings with it a gnawing sense of guilt that you should really observe it – so therefore you are just not quite measuring up. After all, this involves some weighty matters; that of pleasing God and maintaining the commanded separation from the world. If your premise is correct, you should be a heavy load of guilt and shame. Go ahead; give into the full measure of guilt, because if your allegiance to God is proven by the observing of Sabbath, and you are not doing it, you are guilty. Excuses are not acceptable. Bring out the stones and let’s commit spiritual suicide, or at least reconcile yourself to the sense of guilt because you never are measuring up to the standards of God. If seventh day Sabbath keeping is really the required norm, we are criminally negligent for not keeping it.

If you are going to keep it, then keep it religiously. Do not release yourself from the clear requirements to do no work. Do not carry a heavy burden, do not work, quit your job if it sometimes require you to work on Saturday. In this area, those who have abandoned the gospel of grace and gone back under the Law as a means of pleasing God are at least consistent. (Remember that to be sincere and consistent is of no advantage if you are consistently and sincerely wrong).

Do you see how this is an important concept that really boils down to the question of how to obtain and maintain a right standing before God?nbsp;Is it a matter of striving to please God by acts of obedience or by entering into the rest of the finished work of Christ on our behalf?nbsp;We are told to “strive to enter His rest”, not to strive for perfection in order to enter rest. The new covenant believer performs works from a position of rest, not in order to obtain a position of rest. Either the work of Christ on our behalf is finished and complete or it is not. 

I can hear your protest: “Does that mean that we are free to murder, rape, steal, etc. Is the Believer freed from all the consequences of the Law?” That is in no way what I am saying or implying. I am merely addressing the  horrible consequences of living a dual life of:

•  “freedom in Christ Jesus” and simultaneously
•   living under the terrible burden of the condemnation of not measuring up

If you are “in Christ Jesus” there is no condemnation." Period, not a comma and a “but………” The Holy Spirit convicts the believer of sin, but conviction and condemnation are not the same. If you are convicted by the Holy Spirit to repent and turn from sin, then you will be given the power to accomplish it, but if you are in a never-never land between conscience and conviction, you will be severely hampered in your work for the Lord.  You will not quite feel worthy to minister, to witness, to ask boldly of your Father in heaven. It is absolutely essential that you bring your conscience in line with the Truth and the Word of God. You must resolve this unhealthy tension caused by the gnawing sense that you are walking in condemnation because you are not in full obedience to the revealed will of God. Either repent and get fully into the will of God, or bring your conscience into agreement with the Holy Spirit with regards to the requirements of God.

There appears to be ample evidence that the new covenant believer is given the privilege and blessing of worshipping on the Lord’s Day. In fact, we are called to the high standard of Christian work and service on every day of our life. We are to worship as we work, whether it be in a field or in the secular workplace. We are to worship as we engage in recreational or civic activities. In fact, any activity which would tend to hinder or hamper our life of worship must be avoided, if at all possible. The concept of giving God only one day out of seven is far beneath the responsibility of the new covenant believer. We are given over to a new Master for the entire twenty four hour day, seven days a week, fifty two weeks out of the year.

Unlike our old covenant predecessors, we are free to worship anywhere and at any time. Israel could only worship at one place, through a Priesthood, at a distance, and according to a rigid religious protocol. The Church worships wherever two or three are gathered. We are the Priesthood, with a boldness to enter the Holy Place through the shed blood of Jesus, and have much freedom in of expression in style of worship.

 We do not have to go to the temple in Jerusalem three times a year and offer sacrifices to atone for our sins. Hebrews 10:14 tells us that “by one offering He (Jesus) has perfected for all time those who are sanctified”.   Why would a New Covenant believer want to sacrifice His freedom in Christ Jesus to return to the bondage of the Law?nbsp;We are not children any longer; we have been delivered from the law as a tutor. May we decide to enter into the fullness of our inheritance which is ours in Christ Jesus.

Now, having established this fact, let us agree that the Christian church has perverted our freedom into something that is far beneath the Biblical norm. We have turned the first day into a day of recreation, unnecessary traveling, and filled it with all sorts of worldly amusements and distractions. It is with deep sorrow that we acknowledge the deep desecration that we have allowed to creep into the Church of the Living God. Do we really think that our common ground with the ungodly, the profane and careless unbeliever in our lackadaisical approach to the Godly privilege of worship honors God?nbsp;Do we think that He is pleased with us?nbsp;I think not, but His displeasure in more directly related to our abuse of opportunities to commune with Him and worship Him with other believers than it is to our failure to keep the mark of God’s covenant with the old covenant saints. Let us admit that our failure with regard to the high privileges associated with the Lord’s Day is a deep sin. Will you join with me to confess our sin and rededicate yourself to the sanctity of worship every day and especially on the Lord’s Day?

Should the Church’s standard for honoring the Lord on His Day be any less than His standard for His people under the Law?nbsp;The method of our honor is different, but the depth of our desire to honor Him must be equal or excel those old covenant saints. We must serve Him with a spirit of liberty and not a cold, religious, legalistic attitude. What would happen if the ones who are really the heavenly people of God on the earth today would begin to reach upward toward their high calling with regard to all aspects of the promised life of the New Covenant believer?nbsp;As our attitude change toward the Lord’s Day, our actions would change, and the world would see the difference. And since the mark of the New Covenant believer is supposed to be our love, our observing of His Day in a spirit of live would quickly be noticed by our unbelieving friend, family and neighbors. And we would be drastically changed –for the better. Lord, help us!