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." Similarly, Romans 14:5 states, "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." These
Scriptures make it clear that, for the Christian, Sabbath-keeping is a
matter of spiritual freedom, not a command from God. Sabbath-keeping
is an issue on which God's Word instructs us not to judge each other.
Sabbath-keeping is a matter about which each Christian needs to be
fully convinced in his/her own mind.
In the early chapters of the book of Acts, the first Christians were
predominantly Jews. When Gentiles began to receive the gift of
salvation through Jesus Christ, the Jewish Christians had a dilemma.
What aspects of the Mosaic Law and Jewish tradition should Gentile
Christians be instructed to obey? The apostles met and discussed the
issue in the Jerusalem council (Acts 15). The decision was, "It is my
judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the
Gentiles who are turning to God. Instead we should write to them,
telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual
immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood" (Acts
15:19-20). Sabbath-keeping was not one of the commands the apostles
felt was necessary to force on Gentile believers. It is inconceivable
that the apostles would neglect to include Sabbath-keeping if it was
God's command for Christians to observe the Sabbath day.
A common error in the Sabbath-keeping debate is the concept that the
Sabbath was the day of worship. Groups such as the Seventh Day
Adventists hold that God requires the church service to be held on
Saturday, the Sabbath day. That is not what the Sabbath command was.
The Sabbath command was to do no work on the Sabbath day (Exodus
20:8-11). Nowhere in Scripture is the Sabbath day commanded to be the
day of worship. Yes, Jews in Old Testament, New Testament, and modern
times use Saturday as the day of worship, but that is not the essence
of the Sabbath command. In the book of Acts, whenever a meeting is
said to be on the Sabbath, it is a meeting of Jews and/or Gentile
converts to Judaism, not Christians.
When did the early Christians meet? Acts 2:46-47 gives us the answer,
"Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They
broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere
hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the
Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." If there
was a day that Christians met regularly, it was the first day of the
week (our Sunday), not the Sabbath day (our Saturday) (Acts 20:7; 1
Corinthians 16:2). In honor of Christ's resurrection on Sunday, the
early Christians observed Sunday not as the "Christian Sabbath" but as
a day to especially worship Jesus Christ.
Is there anything wrong with worshipping on Saturday, the Jewish
Sabbath? Absolutely not! We should worship God every day, not just on
Saturday or Sunday! Many churches today have both Saturday and Sunday
services. There is freedom in Christ (Romans 8:21; 2 Corinthians 3:17;
Galatians 5:1). Should a Christian practice Sabbath-keeping, that is,
not working on Saturdays? If a Christian feels led to do so,
absolutely, yes (Romans 14:5). However, those who choose to practice
Sabbath-keeping should not judge those who do not keep the Sabbath
(Colossians 2:16). Further, those who do not keep the Sabbath should
avoid being a stumbling block (1 Corinthians 8:9) to those who do keep
the Sabbath. Galatians 5:13-15 sums up the whole issue: "You, my
brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to
indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. The
entire law is summed up in a single command: 'Love your neighbor as
yourself.' If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out
or you will be destroyed by each other."
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