I am a Christian. Therefore, my perspective is in regards to my Christian faith. The issue of the Sabbath has been debated by well intentioned Christians seemingly since the 1st Century. I suspect it will be debated until the end time arrives.
The Sabbath is an important topic for me for it is a decision that I must be publicly comfortable with and confident in every week in terms of compliance with the expectations of my Creator God and Redeemer (e.g., Matthew 22:34-40; John 3:16; John 14:15) walking after his Holy Spirit rather than the flesh (e.g., John 16:13-16; Romans 8:1-6; 2 Cor 5:7-10).
Let me say it certainly would be nice if humans all over the world could agree on a calendar where either Saturday or Sunday is the seventh day and that seventh day is both the Lord’s Day and the Sabbath given that Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath. And it would be nice if everyone would agree that seventh day aligns with the Exodus 16 first Sabbath Day and that Exodus 16 first Sabbath day aligns with the first seventh day of Genesis 2. But reality is we do not agree. Reality is that we change the time every year between day light savings and standard time. So it is not unimaginable that humans at some point in history may have realigned or misaligned calendar days for some reason. I tend to believe that the early church should have just set Saturday (seventh day) as the primary day of rest and worship rather than transferring those two functions (rest, worship) to be primarily done on the Sunday (first day) since Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath. This transfer includes the Council of Laodicea of 364 AD where in its Canon 29 condemned rest on Saturday saying rest should be reserved for the Lord’s Day which the early church fathers defined as Sunday given that the Council of Laodicea considered Saturday to be the seventh day Sabbath.
For Canon 29 says: “Christians must not judaize by resting on the Sabbath, but must work on that day, rather honouring the Lord’s Day; and, if they can, resting then as Christians. But if any shall be found to be judaizers, let them be anathema from Christ.”
Yet, I understand some of the reasons the first day of the week was and is generally chosen as the principal day of rest and worship. These reasons include: (1) Jesus resurrection discovered on the first day of the week; (2) Jesus first appeared to all of his apostles except Thomas on the first day of the week; (4) Pentecost occurred on the first day of the week which is considered to be the formal public birth of the Christian church. Also, some believe that the Jews in Bible days used the phrase eight days to mean a week later corresponding to the same calendar day of the week as the starting point. Therefore, if one takes that view Jesus appeared to Thomas also on the first day of the week (John 20:26).
In what is generally accepted to be authentic early church writings there is a reference to Sunday rather than Saturday worship as noted on catholic.com.
The first is a letter from Barnabas which says:
“We keep the eighth day [Sunday] with joyfulness, the day also on which Jesus rose again from the dead” (Letter of Barnabas 15:6–8 [A.D. 74]).
The second is a quote from a bishop named Ignatius of Antioch:
“[T]hose who were brought up in the ancient order of things [i.e. Jews] have come to the possession of a new hope, no longer observing the Sabbath, but living in the observance of the Lord’s day, on which also our life has sprung up again by him and by his death” (Letter to the Magnesians 8 [A.D. 110]).
So then we see references from church fathers earlier than Constantine’s Edict of Milan concerning Sunday worship in AD 321 and the Council of Laodicea in 364 AD. Now this does not mean Barnabas and Ignatius were right and those down through the years who hold that rest and worship should primarily still be on the Sabbath was wrong.
However, given that Sunday is so ingrained worldwide as the day of worship assembly and rest combined with the uncertainty as to whether Saturday indeed aligns with the first Sabbath and first seventh day among other considerations, I think it is not necessary to try and get everyone to turn to Saturday as the Sabbath and Lord’s Day. If we knew for sure it would be one thing but not knowing for sure is another thing.
I find my comfort in Col 2:16 and Romans 14:5. I will trust Jesus Christ to judge me righteously and with truth not speculation. I will trust him above trusting any human on this earth. Col 2:16 says let no one judge you as to Sabbath days or holy days.
For all the Ten Commandments except for the Sabbath (4th) commandment, there is a corresponding scripture in the New Testament that commands, instructs, encourages the Christian to obey that commandment counting it as holy to obey and unholy to not obey the commandment.
However, for the Sabbath there is no scripture that says that about the Sabbath specifically. Given the absence of such a scripture I conclude that it is holy for a person to count either Saturday or Sunday as their regular day of worship and rest (Col 2:16). Moreover, the person can individually determine what measure of rest and worship whether at home or in a public assembly in which one engages. Of course, consideration of when others publicly worship so as to promote unity should be present.
The Sabbath was defined under the law of Moses in the 2nd Month after the children of Israel left Egypt. Exodus 16:23; 20:8-11; Leviticus 23:3 are key scriptures concerning the Sabbath.
The New Testament indicates Christians are free to observe the principle of the Sabbath in spirit rather than letter by honoring the resurrection of Jesus as discovered on the first day of the week in place of the Sabbath. The rationale is rooted in scriptures such as Matthew 12:1-8; Mark 2:24-28; Rom 2:27-29; 7:6; 2 Cor 3:6; Col 2:16. These scriptures deal with Jesus saying he is Lord of the Sabbath and Paul speaking of focusing on walking in the spirt rather than letter of the law and not judging one another about such things as sabbath days. At some point the early post biblical church referred to this first day of the week as the Lord’s Day and at some point Sunday since at some point Sunday was considered the first day of the week. The timing of all of this is unclear. Some say the John’s use of the phrase Lord’s Day in Revelation refers to Sunday while others say it refers to the Sabbath or seventh day.
For me Sunday is both the Christian Sabbath and Lord’s Day; by that I mean Sunday is my regular day of worship (holy convocation) and rest. I call it my Christian Sabbath rather than simply Sabbath to emphasize that the implementation/execution of the Sabbath principle differs under the New Testament from its letter (as written) under the Old Covenant. For under the New Covenant it is more about the spirit than the letter (Rom 7:6; 2 Cor 3:6). Sunday is the day I choose to regularly have my holy convocation with those with whom I assemble and the day I choose to regularly avoid “work” whether observance of the Sabbath is commanded by God or not for it is certainly good for me and society (Leviticus 23:3; Exodus 20:8-11).
Obedience to the Sabbath commandment is more about spirit (Rom 7:6; 2 Cor 3:6) than letter.
For greater details on the Sabbath Question see Part 2 of this article.
