Why Christians do not need to keep the Sabbath
1. Sabbath keeping in the Old Testament
The first mention of the Sabbath in the Bible appears at the close of the creation week, where it states that God blessed the seventh day, because all His labor was completed and He rested on that day, Gen. 2:3. No mention was made of a command to keep the Sabbath in all the book of Genesis and half of Exodus, nor any record of Sabbath keeping by Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob, or anyone else, until the nation of Israel is born. Even Noah when he built the ark, and then later left the ark along with his family was not commanded to keep the Sabbath. Though silence about a given practice is not conclusive evidence that it did not exist, yet it is significant. One would think that somewhere during those years and Bible chapters there would be some mention of Sabbath-keeping, if this were the will of God for that time. The first Biblical mention of Sabbath-keeping is in Exodus 16:25-30 when God withholds the manna on the Sabbath so there is a rest day for the people of Israel. He states: “See, the Lord has given YOU the Sabbath...” (Emphasis mine) The word “Sabbath” means rest. The new nation of Israel was given for the first time the Sabbath day of rest. This is embodied in the fourth commandment of the Decalogue, Ex. 20:8-11, and repeated many times afterwards. Ex. 31:14-19 is significant in that God states that He gave the Sabbath TO THE SONS OF ISRAEL as a sign between Him and them forever. “Then the Lord said to Moses: Say to the Israelites, You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the Lord who makes you holy.”
God gave the Sabbath to the Israelites as a sign for them, and for them only. They were His chosen people, and the Sabbath-keeping set them apart from the other nations.But how were they to keep the Sabbath? Ex. 31:14 forbids any work at all on the Sabbath. Ex. 35:3 adds that no fire was to be kindled. In fact when one Israelite gathered wood on the Sabbath, he was stoned to death, Numbers 15:32-36. Death was the penalty for any work done. Food was to be prepared the day before. They were not to carry any load that day, Jeremiah 17:21-22.“This is what the Lord says: Be careful not to carry a load on the Sabbath day or bring it through the gates of Jerusalem. Do not bring a load out of your houses or do any work on the Sabbath, but keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your forefathers.”The Israelites were to gather together for a solemn assembly on the Sabbath day, Lev. 23:3. No matter where they lived, they were to abstain from work on the Sabbath day. Obviously this could not be observed when they were in Egypt in slavery to Pharoah, nor by those who were in Babylon during the 70 years captivity.No problem in Egypt as the command to keep the Sabbath had not yet been given to them. But Babylon presented a problem. Daniel serving in the king’s court would not have been allowed to observe the Sabbath, but perhaps others living in separate communities were able to do so. It seems evident that Sabbath keeping was a command to a special nation, chosen by God, to be kept within the confines of their territory. No keeping of the Sabbath is ever recorded outside of the boundary of Israel.
2. Sabbath keeping in the New Testament
Did Jesus and the disciples keep the Sabbath? The coming of Christ provided the great transition between the law of Moses and the grace of Christ. Christ was born under the law, Gal. 4:4-5. He completely fulfilled the law, Matt. 5:17. Once something is fulfilled, it is finished. Christ was the only one who could do this. John 1:17 tells us the law came through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. In the Sermon on the Mount Christ gave a stricter interpretation to several of the ten commandments, saying that hatred breaks the commandment to not murder, and lusting after a woman breaks the commandment to not commit adultery. He said nothing about Sabbath-keeping. Matthew 5:17-20 is to be taken in the light of the fact that Christ came under the law in order to fulfill it. He fulfilled the whole law as summed up in the ten commandments. His sacrifice at Calvary fulfilled the temple sacrificial system. All the religious festivals were fulfilled by Him also. He condemned anyone who broke or taught others to break any of the many commandments in the law until all was fulfilled, which He alone could do and did do, so all of the law has now been fulfilled. As for the apostles, they went into the synagogue on the Sabbath to witness to the Jews, because it was meeting day, and being Jews themselves, they would be able to give them the Gospel there. It was necessary that the Jews be given the Gospel first, Romans 1:16 and Acts 13:46. Meetings, holy convocations, were to be held on the Sabbath by the Jews. But Sabbath-keeping included far more than that. It specifically required total rest. In speaking about the flight from Jerusalem when the Antichrist sets up the abomination of desolation in the temple and begins severe persecution of the Jews during the Great Tribulation, Christ tells the Jewish people to pray that their flight will not be on the Sabbath, Matthew 24:20. Such a flight would, of course, end their rest. It appears that the disciples did travel on the Sabbath at times, certainly by ship as Paul‘s maritime trips extended over many more than 7 days. And no Sabbath observance by any disciple is ever recorded. The book of Acts, the history of the church, has no record of any Sabbath observance by Christians. In fact in Acts 15 the council of elders and apostles advised the Gentile Christians to not eat food polluted by idols, to refrain from sexual immorality, from strangled animals, and from blood. If keeping the Sabbath was obligatory for them as it had been for the Jews, this was the time they should have been told about it, since it was not their practice. This advice from the council came as a result of a group of Judaizers who wanted them to be circumcised and keep the law of Moses, vs. 5. Clearly neither circumcision nor keeping the law was incumbent of the Gentile Christians.
Paul’s statement in Romans 14:5-6 clearly does away with the need to keep the Sabbath. “One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.” In other words there is no difference today between the days of the week. We should serve and worship God every day, not just on a special day. But if a person is fully convinced that he should keep the Sabbath or Sunday, he should do so, so as to not go against his conscience, even though it is not otherwise necessary. In Galatians 2:10 Paul comments on his visit to James, Peter and John and states that all they asked of him was to remember the poor. Again no counsel about teaching others to keep the Sabbath.
Why do we worship on Sundays?
1. Because Christ arose on the first day of the week, Mark 16:9. There are those who twist the Scriptures to make it teach that He arose on the Sabbath, but the universal belief of serious Bible students is that Scriptures teach that He arose on the first day of the week. We have to take Scripture for what it says.
2. Because Christ appeared to many on the first day of the week: Luke 24:13-35, 36-49, John 20:19, etc. No Sabbath appearances of Christ are recorded.
3. Because the church was born on the first day of the week, the day of Pentecost, Acts 2:1-4 with Lev. 23:15-16. The word “Pentecost” is derived from fifty, and was celebrated the day after the Sabbath of the 49th day, on the first day of the week. On Sunday.
4. Because the early church gathered on Sundays. In Acts 20:7 the disciples were at Troas, having spent seven days there. On the first day of the week they were gathered to break bread. This often refers to the Communion service, but could also refer to a meal they ate together. The two were combined in an Agape love feast, see 1 Cor. 11:17-34. They had a meeting with the believers that lasted until early morning. Since they spent seven days there, they could have had this on the Sabbath instead of on Sunday. In 1 Cor, 16:1-2 Paul tells the church to set aside their offerings on the first day of the week.
For the true believer every day is a Sabbath day, not of physical rest but of spiritual rest from the works of the flesh. Here we go to Romans 14:5-6 where Paul plainly teaches that all days are the same, that he who believes that all days are sacred is just as right as the one who chooses a certain day. If at any place he should have emphasized the Sabbath, it was here. Sunday did not take the place of the Sabbath. The Sabbath was given to the Jews, not to the church. No New Testament command tells us to keep the Sabbath, or Sunday, for that matter. Sunday is simply the day we have our principal worship service because Christ arose on that day and the church was born on that day. But it is no more sacred than any other day, as all days belong to God.
God was doing something new. A new dispensation had dawned, the Jews were being set aside and the church coming into being. The Old Testament was giving way to the New. It is significant, yet seldom mentioned, that when God looked for a couple to give birth to the last of the Old Testament prophets, John the Baptist, who would prepare the way for Christ, he choose an elderly couple, sterile as was the law at giving life, about to pass from the scene, as was the law. Then to begin the new dispensation He chose a young couple just starting out in life to give birth to the one who would begin the new dispensation, the age of grace. No more need of a temple to worship in, for our bodies become the temple of God. No more sacrifices, for Christ is the one sacrifice for sin. No longer the Sabbath as all days are sacred. Yet it is significant that the first day of the week, a day of victory and new life, becomes our day for worship, though not by command.
Hebrews 4:11 is not a command to keep the Sabbath. Christ is talking about the believers’ rest in this chapter, the rest of faith. Christ said: “Come unto me all ye who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest,” Matt. 11:28. This is rest from our own works, the works of the flesh, be they good or bad, with complete trust in Christ for salvation and victory. The Sabbath rest is a figure, first of the Canaan rest when the Jews finally entered the promised land, Heb. 4:5-8, and the rest for God’s people in verses 9-11, not from physical labor but from the works of the flesh. It is surrender to God to rest from one’s own doings and cast himself on the Lord.
There is no command to the church to keep the Sabbath in the N.T., nor is there any indication that the early church in Acts kept the Sabbath. Though Christians today are not under the law of Moses, we must remember that 9 of the ten commandments are repeated in the New testament, and so to be obeyed today.
1 Serving other gods Matt. 4:10, Rev. 22:8-9
2. Idolatry 1 Cor. 10:7, 1 John 5:21
3. Taking God’s name in vain 1 Tim. 6:1, Mt. 5:33-37 with Num. 30:2 & Deut. 23:21, James 5:12
4. Keeping the Sabbath
5. Honoring your parents Eph. 6:1-3
6. Murder 1 John 3:15
7. Adultery Matt. 5:27-28, 2 Peter 2:14
8. Stealing Eph. 4:28
9. False witness Eph. 4:25
10. Coveting Heb. 13:5, 1 Tim. 6:6-10
3. Sabbath keeping during the Millennium
The Old Testament passages about the millennium indicate quite strongly that the nation of Israel will become during the millennium what God had intended it to be. The temple will be rebuilt and be the center of activity, Ezekiel chapters 40 to 48. Sacrifices will be instituted again. And the Sabbath will once again be observed, all this in the renewed nation of Israel. But no indication is made that this will be worldwide.