Shouldn’t the Sabbath be on Saturday?
Q: My husband & I have been studying the sabbath. When scripture is illuminated concerning the sabbath and compared to our traditions of church history on the sabbath, truth is lost! The scriptures that the christian church has used for acknowledging the Sunday sabbath do NOT hold up in the word of God! Please share your thoughts on this. We are desiring to know the truth. Thank you!A: My study of the Scriptures and early church documents indicates that in regard to the Sabbath some definite change has taken place from the Old Testament. The conclusion that I have come to is that in the New Testament church there were as many attitudes to the observance of the Sabbath as there were to the keeping of the Mosaic Law. These appear to have included the following four approaches:
Jewish and Gentile Christians, like those in the Pauline churches who followed the teaching of the apostle and considered themselves free from the Sabbath commandment — e.g. Colossians 2:16.
Jewish Christians like those from Jerusalem whom Paul encountered in Galatia who regarded the observance of the whole law, including the Sabbath, as necessary to salvation — Galatians 4:8-11.
Jewish Christians like the Jerusalem apostles who continued to keep the Sabbath as part of the way they fulfilled their role as the true Israel, but did not insist on Gentile converts observing the seventh day — e.g. Acts 15.
Gentile Christians who for various reasons decided to adopt Jewish Sabbath observance.
The second group is clearly wrong. Sabbath observance where it is seen as part of keeping the law as necessary to salvation, arouses strong reactions from Paul. Paul compares their adoption of Jewish Sabbaths and festivals to a return to bondage to “elemental spirits” (Colossians 2:16-17,20; Galatians 4:3,9). We are NOT saved by our observance of the Sabbath or by keeping any of the laws of the Old Testament (Galatians 3:10-11). Worshipping or not worshipping on Saturday is NOT a salvation issue (although some groups continue to act as if it is). You can argue that it is an obedience issue, but it is NOT a salvation issue.
The conflict between the other three groups (Groups #1, 3, 4) is evident in Paul’s letter to the Romans. How does the apostle recommend handling the differences? Romans 14:5-6 isolates the observance of “days” as one of the issues between the strong and the weak Christians in Rome. The “weak” need to stop condemning the “strong” and the “strong” need to stop despising the “weak,” and both need to welcome each other (Romans 14:1; 15:7). They need to recognize that he who observes the day and also he who does not are both intending to honor the Lord (14:6).
As you continue to study this issue . . .
You will want to look at the practice of Christians holding worship activities on the “Lord’s day”: Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2; Revelation 1:10. And the pattern of our Lord’s appearances on Sunday: John 20:19,26. And the day of Pentecost happening on a Sunday: Acts 2:1. Something seems to be going on here. Jews always gathered for worship on Friday evening and Saturday morning (they reckoned their day from sundown to sundown, as I’m sure you know). Yet here we have worship activities regularly taking place on the first day of the week. In terms of a weekly gathering, some change is obviously taking place.
You will want to examine Hebrews 4:9-11 that seems to imply a fulfillment of the Old Testament Sabbath in a Sabbath-rest for New Covenant people.
You will also want to look at early church documents. Here are just a few examples:
- Barnabas 15:9 talks about Christians celebrating on the “eighth day” rather than the seventh day.
- Justin Martyr’s First Apology (A.D. 152): “We hold our common assembly on the day of the sun, because it is the first day, on which God put to flight darkness and chaos and made the world, and on the same day Jesus Christ our Savior rose from the dead; for on the day before that of Saturn they crucified him; and on the day after Saturn’s day, the day of the sun, he appeared to his Apostles and disciples and taught them these things, which we have also handed on to you for your consideration.”
- “We have nothing to do with sabbaths or the other Jewish festivals, much less with those of the heathen. We have our own solemnities, the Lord’s day, for instance, and Pentecost.” Tertullian (A.D. 220)
There is also a theme that runs through the book of Hebrews 3:7-4:13 and also found in early Christian documents about the Sabbath rest being fulfilled in Jesus and the new covenant. Irenaeus (about A.D. 190) says “he will not be commanded to leave idle one day of rest, who is constantly keeping the sabbath, that is, giving homage to God in the temple of God, which is man’s body, and at all times doing the works of justice.” It appears to be Irenaeus’ view that New Covenant people (Christians) don’t merely keep one day for the Lord, but keep the sabbath continuously by loving and worshipping our Lord on all days and at all times.
For more on early Christian practice see What Early Christians Wrote about Worship on Saturday and Sunday.
The best book I know of on this subject is From the Sabbath to Lord’s Day, D. A. Carson, editor, Zondervan, 1982. There are a few Greek terms, but if you don’t read Greek, just skip over the Greek terms in some of the essays. You will still find it very helpful in your study.
Joy to you in Jesus,
Dennis Rupert
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You may also wish to look at:
Jesus and the Sabbath
How to Apply the Old Testament to Today
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