Unity: Not To Judge Series

THE DISTINCTION OF DAYS (14.5-9)

During the first century there was a transition taking place in the church from one tradition to another. Paul’s coterie acknowledged that all days belonged to the Lord and the observance of the Sabbath day over the Lord’s Day (i.e., the first day of the week—Sunday) as a day set apart for worship was not yet universally accepted, though it is clear that the church was already disposed to worship on the Lord’s day as a commemoration of the atonement. What is important is that there is a day set apart to the Lord for worship and for rest. The Old Testament informs us of the reasons so much stress was put on a Sabbath observance. The first and most obvious is the cessation from work. God finished the work of creation in six days and He rested on the seventh. Second, the Sabbath is linked to remembrance and commemoration (Exodus 20.8). Not only were the Israelites to remember God’s handiwork in creation, but they were to commemorate their deliverance from slavery in Egypt. Third, the Sabbath is a day for the believer to rest from the routine of work; it is a time for holy reflections (Genesis 2.3; Deuteronomy 5.12; Leviticus 23.3). It was an extension of the covenant sign that the Israelites were God’s chosen people (Exodus 31.15-16; cp. Ezekiel 20.12). Fourth, the Sabbath command is embedded in the Law of God; the keeping of the Sabbath is an imperative. Fifth, the Sabbath is associated with worship (Numbers 28.9-10; Isaiah 66.22-23). Sixth, the rest that is symbolized in the Sabbath is ultimately found in God alone (Psalm 62.1, 5; Joshua 13.33). Finally, the New Testament points to Christ as the Sabbath-rest for believers: There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience (Hebrews 4.9-11).

There is clearly a shift of emphasis in the New Testament regarding the keeping of the Sabbath. Paul observed the Sabbath as an opportunity to preach in the synagogues (e.g., Acts 13.14, 42, 44; 17.2; 18.4). Outside of the gospels the only other explicit reference to the Sabbath is Colossians 2.16 where Paul 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 (cp. Romans 14.5; Galatians 4.10). That the early Christians favored the first day of the week for worship is suggested in Acts 20.7, On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people … (cp. 1 Corinthians 16.2; Revelation 1.10). “Even the combined testimony of these texts, however, does not demonstrate conclusively that Sabbath observance had been widely replaced by observance of the Lord’s Day by the end of the 1st century. What the texts do demonstrate is that a prescribed observance of the Sabbath was no longer required for righteousness in God’s eyes. They also suggest the probability that Sunday observance has it roots in the New Testament, although conclusive evidence for widespread Sunday observance is not found until the 2nd century” (ISBE, Vol. 4, p. 251). However, there are good reasons that the majority of Christians observe the first day of the week for worship and not the last.