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Sabbath-keeping was never made a requirement
for the New Covenant church.
From the book of Acts we know that the
early Jewish Christians began to meet daily for
worship and to celebrate the Lord’s Supper
(Acts 2:46-47), but they also continued to
worship with their fellow Jews in the
synagogues, and at the temple for a short
time until they were thrown out.
“Scripture never mentions any
Sabbath (Saturday) gatherings by believers
for fellowship or worship. However, there
are clear passages that mention the first
day of the week, Sunday. For instance, Acts 20:7
states that “on the first day of the
week we came together to break bread.” Paul
also urges the Corinthian believers, “On the
first day of every week, each one of you
should set aside a sum of money in keeping
with his income” (1 Cor. 16:2). Since Paul
designates this offering as “service” in
2 Corinthians 9:12, this collection may have
been linked with the Sunday worship service
of the Christian assembly. Historically,
Sunday, not Saturday, was the normal meeting
day for Christians in the church, and its
practice dates back to the first century.
Christian’s worship on Sundays in
celebration of the resurrection of Jesus
Christ. It is very important to remember,
though, Sunday worship is not commanded in
the Bible, and Sunday has not replaced
Saturday and become the Christian Sabbath.
While the New Testament describes Christians
gathering and worshiping on Sundays, it
nowhere states that Sunday has replaced
Saturday as the Sabbath. The key point in
all of this is that we are not to limit our
worship to any particular day of the week.
We are to rest in the Lord every day. We are
to worship the Lord every day.”
[1]
Acts 15 and the importance of the
Jerusalem Council - A.D. 49/50.
Under the terms of the Old Covenant, a
Gentile could live and work in Israel
without becoming a Jew, but if they wanted
to keep the Passover or the other Jewish
feasts, they had to be circumcised and keep
all of the laws of the covenant just like a
native-born Jew had to do (Exod. 12:43-49;
Lev. 22:10; Jer. 12:16). Because of that,
some of the Jewish Christians believed that
the Gentile converts should be required to
keep the laws from the Old Covenant. But
when the Jerusalem Council convened in Acts 15,
the Holy Spirit declared that Christians
are not obligated to keep any of the laws of
the Mosaic Covenant under the New Covenant.
The Mosaic Covenant and the covenant
sign of circumcision were discussed and
deemed unnecessary (Acts 15:1-5; 15:28-29).
The Apostle Peter said that forcing the
Gentiles to keep the Mosaic Covenant would
be like placing a yoke of bondage around
their necks (Acts 15:10-11; cf. Gal. 5:1).
If Sabbath-keeping was still required for
Christians then it would have been mentioned
in the discussion because it would have been
an unfamiliar practice for many of the new
Gentile converts. Sabbath keeping was not
discussed because it was not made a
requirement for Christians living under the
New Covenant.
The Apostle
Paul told us not to judge anyone regarding
the Sabbath issue.
Colossians 2:16-17 says, “Therefore do not
let anyone judge you by what you eat or
drink, or with regard to a religious
festival, a New Moon celebration or a
Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the
things that were to come; the reality,
however, is found in Christ.” (NIV)
In Colossians 2:16-17, false teachers were
evidently insisting on abstinence from
certain foods and observance of certain
days. Paul said that those things were only
shadows of what was to come and that they
have been made obsolete by the coming of
Christ (Heb. 8:7-13; 10:1). We are told not
to judge anyone over those issues. The
phrase “a festival or a new moon or a
Sabbath day” refers to the annual, monthly,
and weekly holy days of the Jewish calendar
(1 Chron. 23:31; 2 Chron. 2:4; 8:13; 31:3;
Ne. 10:33; Isa. 1:13-14; Ezek. 45:17; 46:1-11;
Hosea 2:11). The weekly seventh day
Sabbath is clearly meant because Paul had
already mentioned the ceremonial festivals
and new moons and would have no reason to
repeat himself.
Sabbatarians argue
that since Paul calls the Sabbath “a shadow
of the things that were to come” in
Colossians 2:16, he could not be referring
to the seventh day Sabbath of the Decalogue.
Shadows are not solid or permanent, they
only exist because some real object has cast
the shadow. The Old Covenant ceremonies were
merely shadows pointing forward to Christ,
Jesus is the substance. Now that He has
come, the Old Covenant ceremonies have no
further use (Col. 2:16-17; Heb. 8:5; 10:1).
The New Covenant is clear, Christians are
not under any of the laws of the Mosaic
Covenant (cf. Acts 15:1-20; Rom. 6:14-15; 7:1-6;
2 Cor. 3:4-18; Gal. 3:15-4:7).
The Old Covenant had a system of
“days, months, seasons and years” that
pointed forward to the work of the Messiah
that came to an end when Christ died for us
on the cross.
Sabbatarians
say that Colossians 2:16 isn’t talking about
the weekly Sabbath, but their claim is
false. The New Testament uses the same
annual, monthly, and weekly, sequence to
show the weekly Sabbath was part of the Old
Covenant ceremonial system of worship and
not binding on Christians who live under the
terms of the New Covenant (see Lev. 23;
Col. 2:16-17; and Gal. 4:10-11).
The
Apostle Paul wrote over one third of the New
Testament and never told his Gentile
converts to keep the Mosaic Law, or the
Sabbath. Paul gave his churches instruction
on everything they needed to know to live
the Christian life but never told them to
keep the weekly, seventh day Sabbath from
the Old Covenant and none of the other
apostles did either.
Christ has
replaced all of the Old Covenant shadows. He
is the reality that those symbols pointed
forward to. Thank God we no longer need the
symbols, Jesus Christ is the substance.
Jesus came to live His life in us, and
through us, and to give us His eternal rest
(Matt. 11:28-30; Heb. 4:1-11; Rom. 8:1-11).
False teachers in the Church
were insisting that Christians have to keep
the Holy days from the Mosaic Covenant.
Paul said in Galatians 4:10-11,
“You observe days and months and seasons and
years! I am afraid I may have labored over
you in vain.”
Paul had to rebuke the
Galatians for thinking God expected them to
observe special days as holy, including the
seventh day Sabbath (Gal. 4:10-11). The
rituals, ceremonies, and festivals of the
Jewish religious calendar which God had
given in the Old Covenant were never
required for the church. Paul warned the
Galatians, just like he did the Colossians
and the Romans against legalistically
observing them as if they were required by
God in the New Covenant (Col. 2:16-17;
Rom. 14:1-6).
Observing special
days for God is a matter of personal choice:
Romans 14:5-6 says, “One person esteems
one day as better than another, while
another esteems all days alike. Each one
should be fully convinced in his own mind.
The one who observes the day, observes it in
honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in
honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to
God, while the one who abstains, abstains in
honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.”
Paul told the Christians in Rome who
held certain days higher, or with greater
esteem than another day not to condemn those
who do not believe the same way (Sabbath
days, feast days, and fasting days were all
in view). We have no right to place
restrictions on other believers that do not
apply to the Christian life. There are two
commands we are to pursue where our Savior
gets all the glory, loving God and loving
our neighbor. When we do those two things we
fulfill the law of Christ (Rom. 14:5-23;
Gal. 6:2; 1 Cor. 9:19-23).
The early church held meetings, broke bread,
and took offerings together on the first day
of the week.
Acts 20:7 says,
“On the first day of the week, when we were
gathered together to break bread, Paul
talked with them, intending to depart on the
next day, and he prolonged his speech until
midnight.”
This is the clearest
passage in the New Testament stating that
Sunday was the early church’s regular
gathering day. The church met on the first
day of the week to break bread, which was
the common meal associated with the
communion service (1 Cor. 11:20-22). The
Lord’s Supper had been commanded by Jesus in
Luke 22:14-23 and it was observed regularly
by His Church (Acts 2:42; Acts 20:7;
1 Cor. 10:16).
The church probably met at
night because the first day of the week was
a normal work day and most people had to
work during the day. Paul knew he was
leaving them (most likely) for the last time
so he prolonged his message until midnight.
Luke, the author of the book of Acts most
likely used the Roman method of numbering
days, which counts from midnight to
midnight, rather than the Jewish method of
counting days from sundown to sundown.
Sabbatarians will often say this was a
Saturday night gathering and not a regular
church meeting at all. Can you imagine if
Acts 20:7 said, “On the Sabbath, when we
were gathered together to break bread, Paul
talked with them, intending to depart on the
next day, and he prolonged his speech until
midnight” what they would be saying about
the meeting? They would say it was obviously
a Sabbath meeting that lasted long into the
night.
The writings of the
Early Church Fathers confirm that the church
met on the first day of the week after the
close of the New Testament period, contrary
to the claims of many seventh day
Sabbatarians who say that Sunday worship was
not instituted until the fourth century.
1 Corinthians 16:1-4 says, “Now
concerning the collection for the saints: as
I directed the churches of Galatia, so you
also are to do. On the first day of every
week, each of you is to put something aside
and store it up, as he may prosper, so that
there will be no collecting when I come. And
when I arrive, I will send those whom you
accredit by letter to carry your gift to
Jerusalem. If it seems advisable that I
should go also, they will accompany me.”
The phrase in 1 Corinthians 16:2 that
says, “that there will be no collecting when
I come” shows that Christians were told not
to save up their offerings at home each
week, but to put it into a common treasury
every Sunday. The NIV Study Bible says this,
“On the first day of every week, each one of
you should set aside. Every Sunday believers
were to bring what they had set aside for
the Lord’s work—an amount proportionate to
their income. Since it was to be brought on
the first day of the week it was probably
collected at the worship service rather than
at home. Justin Martyr indicates in his
Apology, 1.67-68, that in his time (c. A.D.
150) offerings were brought to the church on
Sundays.” [2]
The book of
Acts says that it was Paul’s custom to go to
the synagogues to meet with Jews on the
Sabbath.
Paul said
repeatedly that it was his mission to seek
out the Jews first (Acts 13:46; 14:1; 18:4; 19:8;
Rom. 1:16; 9:1-5; 10:1-3), and after
contacting them would then turn his
attention to the Gentiles. If there was no
Jewish community where he was, he might
still find some God-fearers and proselytes
to preach the gospel to (Acts 16:13).
There is no evidence that Paul observed
the Sabbath in obedience to the Forth
Commandment after his conversion. The
passages used to prove he did are all
referring to assemblies of unconverted Jews
(Acts 13:14, 42, 44; 15:20, 21; 16:13; 17:1-3; 18).
Paul always sought out the Jews
first (Acts 13:5; 14:1; 17:2; 18:4; 19:8),
but once they rejected the gospel his
obligation to them was complete and he
turned his attention to the Gentiles
exclusively (Acts 13:46; 18:6; 28:25-28).
None of these passages refer to Christians
gathering together for worship like Acts 20:7
and 1 Corinthians 16:1-2 do.
Paul attended Jewish synagogues for the sole
purpose of sharing the gospel of Jesus
Christ with the Jews. The Jews needed to
understand that Christ was the messiah who
fulfilled the Old Covenant law. Their
assemblies offered Paul an opportunity to
teach, but none of these passages say he
thought he was required to keep the Old
Covenant Sabbath. Paul taught that the Old
Covenant law, including the Sabbath, was not
binding on Christians who live under the New
Covenant.
The New Covenant
has done away with all of the Old Covenant
ceremonies, Feasts and Holy days.
The Mosaic Covenant had served as a
dividing wall that was meant to separate
Israel from the unbelieving Gentiles (Eph. 2:11-15;
John 7:35; Acts 14:1, 5; 18:4;
Rom. 3:9; 3:29; 9:24; 1 Cor. 1:22-24; etc.).
Ephesians 2:13-18 says, “But now in
Christ Jesus you who once were far away have
been brought near through the blood of
Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has
made the two one and has destroyed the
barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by
abolishing in his flesh the law with its
commandments and regulations. His purpose
was to create in himself one new man out of
the two, thus making peace, and in this one
body to reconcile both of them to God
through the cross, by which he put to death
their hostility. He came and preached peace
to you who were far away and peace to those
who were near. For through him we both have
access to the Father by one Spirit.” (NIV)
Christ brought unity between the
Jews and Gentiles by doing away with the
wall of partition.
God gave
Israel the Mosaic Covenant to separate them
from the rest of the world (Eph. 2:12; John 4:22;
Rom. 9:4-5). The Gentiles were
separated from the commonwealth of Israel
and they were strangers to the covenants of
promise. To be separated from Israel was to
be separated from Christ, because “salvation
is from the Jews” (John 4:22; Rom. 9:4-5).
Paul used the strong transitional phrase
in Ephesians 2:13 that said, “But now in
Christ Jesus” to point the Gentiles to their
new relationship in Christ. The Gentiles
were no longer in their alienated state.
They could know Christ personally, take part
in God’s covenant blessings and have
complete fellowship with God (1 Jn. 1:3;
John 17:21-23; 2 Pet. 1:3-4).
Christ
abolished the dividing wall by fulfilling it
and removing the law’s condemnation for all
those who believe (Matt. 5:17; Rom. 8:1;
Heb. 9:11-14; 10:1-10). When we are in
Christ, we become a new person, part of a
new human race made in the image of Christ,
the second Adam (1 Cor. 15:45, 49;
Eph. 4:24).
Christ has taken away our
bondage to the Law and given us freedom in
place of our slavery (John 8:32, 36;
Acts 15:10; Rom. 8:15; Gal. 2:4; 3:25; 5:1).
Those who have become Christians live under
an entirely different covenant law than
Israel did, they live under the “law of
Christ” (John 13:34; Gal. 6:2; 1 Cor. 9:19-23;
James 2:8-12; cf. Rom. 14:5-12).
References:
1.
Why do Christians worship on Sunday? (GotQuestions)
2. see: The NIV Study Bible: 1 Corinthians 16:2.
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