Why Worship on a
Sunday?
Never Let Anybody Tell You That There Are No Valid Theological Reasons for Sunday Worship: There Most Certainly Are!
Exposing the Deceptive Tactics of Seventh Day Advocacy!
W
hy do Christians
assemble for worship on a Sunday when the Old Testament clearly
endorses observation of the seventh day (Saturday)?
Many modern Christians have almost touch with the theology of
their predecessors and therefore can easily fall prey to various
seventh day theologies and lines of attack. They are sometimes
susceptible when they are accused of ignoring the clear command
of several Old Testament statements including the Fourth
commandment,
"Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy…" (Exodus
20:8)
This command originally referred, of course, to the day we now
call Saturday, whereas a majority of Christians now assemble on a
Sunday. Many seventh day groups darkly associate Sunday worship
with receiving 'the Mark of the Beast' and believe that
Christians who attend church on a Sunday have been duped by Satan
into actually worshipping him! These groups are often
characterised by an astonishingly selective approach to early
Christian history in which they dilligently search for
"historical evidence" which suits their approach, whilst
being quite prepared to ignore other evidence which does not fit
in with their schema. They then proceed to marry this flawed
historical approach to various fanciful and mystical theories
about ''The Mark of the Beast''- the approach is usually
authoritative and dogmatic with an air of moral indignation which
tends to mask the fact that there is a singular lack of evidence
to back up their theories - No, one can go further: They
impose their theories upon the evidence rather than
allowing the evidence to speak for itself.
The fourth century Roman Emperor Constantine usually plays a
major role within their idiosyncratic approach. He is seen as the
Arch-villain who imposed Sunday worship upon the Empire and
persecuted Sabbath-keepers and his fourth century Edict which
upheld Sunday as a day of rest is gleefully pointed out as
evidence of this; In fact, typical seventh day claims about Constantine amount to a gross distortion of history which are now widely believed by seventh day people simply because they have been repeated so many times (mostly by people who have never opened a single authoritative book on 4th century history). But this reveals their highly selective
approach to history, for they never go back even further - to the
second century - in order to consult the writings of Justin
Martyr. He wrote,
"Sunday is the day upon which we all hold our communion and
assembly" (Justin Martyr, First Christian Apology)
Justin's testimony is important, for their exists a direct link
from him, through Polycarp, right back to the Apostle John.
During his life, Polycarp was personally acquainted with, first
of all, John - then later with Justin Martyr, with no evidence of
doctrinal dispute existing between them. Other very early
documents such as the non-canonical Epistle of Barnabbas
and the Didache appear to show that Christians were very
soon assembling on Sundays. The Epistle of Ignatius which
can be dated to about A.D. 107 gives the reason why The Lord's
Day was now seen as having more importance than the
sabbath:
'Be not deceived with strange doctrines, nor with old fables,
which are unprofitable. For if we still live according to the
Jewish Law, we acknowledge that we have not received grace....If,
therefore, those who were brought up in the ancient order of
things 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.' Of several other early church documents which can be
fruitfully consulted on this topic, 'Apostolic Constitutions:
Church life in the 2nd Century' says this:
'On the day of the resurrection of the Lord--that is, the
Lord's Day--assemble yourself together without fail, giving
thanks to God and praising Him for those mercies God has bestowed
upon you through Christ.'
In fact, the evidence of gathering for worship on a Sunday is
present within the New Testament itself (Acts 20:7 1 Cor 16:1-2
and Revelation 1:10, for instance).
But why, then, the change from Saturday to Sunday as preferred
days of worship?
First of all it should always be borne in mind that the original
Sabbath was given in a national scenario to a people who had no
access to God's Holy Spirit nor explicit promise of salvation at
that time. In effect, God was saying to them, 'One day in every
seven I want you all to sit down, do no work and think on the
things of God for the whole day.' In fact, circumcision and the
Sabbath became the two identifiers of God's Old Covenant
people. The Sabbath (Saturday) identifies those who, in turn,
identify themselves with the Old Covenant and wish to claim its
promises. The New Covenant, however, which commenced with the
Sacrifice and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, marked a distinct
change in approach (see Matthew 26:27-28; Luke 22:20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26; 2 Corinthians 3:6; Hebrews 8:7-13; Hebrews 10:16-18). Jesus is now our Lord and Master (Hebrews
1:1-2). Christians are no longer subject to legalistic law codes
but, rather, the Spirit of Christ is to lead those who have been spiritually regenerated (born again). The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) clearly reveals
this insufficiency of Old Covenant law as a guide for the
disciples of Christ. Christians are not required to 'sit down and
think of God' one day in seven in the old, legalistic sense
because, as Spirit-led believers, we should enjoy regular
communion with Him through the Spirit! (2 Corinthians 3:6).
Interestingly, the Sabbath command is never repeated in the New
Testament, not even once. Furthermore, Jesus is often critical of
the Jewish authorities who took a 'picky' and literal approach to
the Sabbath day. The New Testament teaches that the Sabbath is
fulfilled in Christ (Matthew 11: 28-30). The book of Hebrews
specifically shows how not only the weekly Sabbath, but the
'Promised Land' itself are vague foreshadowings of the Eternal
Rest which Christians are to enjoy in the New Heavens and New
Earth of the future. The faithful finally inherit this - but only
in and through Christ. (Carefully study Hebrews 4).
But it is important to understand that Christians now understood
themselves to be part of a New Creation, in comparison to the
earth's original creation. ( 2 Corinthians 5 : 16-19) This
exciting New Testament teaching is often strangely lacking from
modern preaching. God created the world on the First Day
but an estrangement occurred, of course, when Adam and Eve fell
into sin. In due course, however, God sent Jesus - the Second
Adam - and, as Paul says, Christians are really part of God's New
Creation. In Genesis 1, on the First Day of creation week,
God separated the light from the darkness. In his Gospel, John
uses that concept, going back to creation (in his first chapter)
and saying, "The true light which illuminates all men was coming
into the world" (John 1:9).
This, of course, clearly refers to Christ and lends itself to the
conception that those who accept Christ become part of a new
First Day - this is why a few started referring to Sunday
as 'the eighth day' - the idea is that it is a new
First Day of Creation; furthermore, Christ rose from the dead
on the First Day of the week. (Of course, some 'seventh day
people' have performed major contortions here by saying, 'Yes,
but that only proves that He was already risen then' but,
wait a moment, if the Bible wanted to tell us that He actually
rose on the Sabbath why did it not clearly do so? What the
text certainly appears to say is that he rose, or was 'arisen' on
the First Day of the week!) Pentecost too occurred upon the first
Day of the week (Pentecost, with new meaning, is the continuation
of the old 'Feast of Weeks' and it is interesting that the Jews
were commanded to observe very precise regulations in order to
ensure that this day always fell on the First Day of the
week - Sunday. Leviticus 23: 15-16).
Moreover, if we return to Christ's Resurrection day, we can find
several other points worthy of note;
First of all it is surely interesting that Christ entered his own
rest from His earthly labours on a Sunday - not a
Sabbath.
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Does Hebrews 4:9 Support
Sabbath-Keeping?
Herbert W. Armstrong claimed that Hebrews 4:9
supports the keeping of the Sabbath day by Christians, but is
this really so? The problem he faced was that not a single word
in the theological New Testament epistles could be employed as a
command for Christian Sabbath observance, so maybe there was some
sense of desparation at his use of this verse,
'There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of
God'
In his consideration of this verse Armstrong claimed that it is
interesting that the writer, in considering the subject of 'rest'
(Hebrews 3:11-4:11), suddenly, in verse 9, switches from the use
of the Greek word 'katapausen' (rest) to the use of
'sabbatismos.' Armstrong claimed that 'sabbatismos' was a
reference to the weekly sabbath day and, therefore, Christians
should still be keeping the sabbath day. However, neither Mr
Armstrong nor the writers he used were really conversant with New
Testament Greek. Truthfully, this assertion is just plain
wrong!
In fact the Greek word which refers to the sabbath is 'sabbaton'
(word 4521 in Strongs). 'Sabbatismos' however is not a
grammatical variation. The closest meaning is a 'sabbatism,' 'a
rest' or 'the repose of Christianity.' Why does the writer of
Hebrews suddenly switch to this world? Simply because while
earlier writing of the 'rest' which Christians must enter into
through Christ, with earlier references already made to both the
sabbath and the promised land as types of this true rest (verses
4,8,10) now the writer becomes more specific with a play on the
word 'sabbath.' He uses the concept of a 'sabbatism.' He is
stating that an eternal 'sabbatism' awaits Christians in Heaven
and in the Eternal State.
Interestingly, the expression, 'the seventh day' (Gk:
'hemeron hebdomen') already occurs in this section (4:4),
here is a reference to the literal seventh day and if the writer
of Hebrews is suggesting that all must continue to assemble for
worship on that specific day it seems highly likely that he would
have made this clear by using this same expression again. But, on
the contrary, the writer spiritualizes the meaning of the
sabbath, introducing the concept of an eternal sabbatism. We find
our true rest in Christ alone (Matthew 11:28-30). So Hebrews 4:9,
far from being a plea for Christians to assemble on the seventh
day, goes beyond any such approach and refers to the final
Eternal State of rest in Christ which all Christians should
aspire to.
Robin A. Brace. 1994.
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Secondly, we find
in the account what can justly be referred to as the first Sunday
evening worship service! (John 20: 19-22). And as if to underline
the desirability of seeking after the Lord on this day, the
disciples can again be found assembling on this day one week
later (John 20:26). (The Old King James says here; "after eight
days…" and this is true to the original Greek, but
misleading since it appears that the inclusive method of counting
is being used here; One Sunday to another being eight days.
Almost every modern translation says here, "One week
later") Again, Jesus appears as if to bless this assembly.
Quite obviously, Jesus did not appear in order to rebuke His
disciples for 'keeping' the wrong day!!
While Paul can certainly be found going into synagogues on the
Sabbath in order to maintain his practise of approaching Jews
first upon entering any town for the first time, he - quite
obviously - chose to preach on a Sunday - see Acts 20:7.
Sunday rejecting groups either ignore such New Testament verses
or produce some woefully inadequate explanations for them.
Some though will still say, 'Yes, but the Bible clearly
upholds the seventh day throughout the Old Testament, can those
verses simply be ignored?' The answer is, absolutely not -
but we have to understand that the Old Testament should now only
be considered in the greater light of the New Testament since
therein lies the greater revelation! Revelation is progressive.
But, sadly, this is precisely where many go astray! They attempt
an Ebionite approach of trying to "keep" and live
within the two major Bible Covenants - but it simply cannot be
done, and this shows a lamentable understanding of the doctrine
of Grace. The Old Testament is eternally valid for teaching, we
don't attempt to get rid of it like the heretic Marcion (some
Adventists have claimed that Luther tried to get rid of it, which
he did not). But it represents a Covenant which - for those in
Christ - is now obsolete, as it plainly says in Hebrews 8:
13:
"In that He says, ' a new covenant', he has made the first
obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready
to vanish away".
The 70AD destruction of Jerusalem did indeed cause it to finally
'vanish away'!
Christians are not to attempt to put 'new wine into old
wineskins'! What we must hold on to from the Sabbath command
amounts to 3 points;
a. That - as Christians - we do need to continue to meet
regularly for worship (Hebrews 10:25)
b. That we should never lose sight of the glorious principle that
we now find true rest, repose and joy in Christ alone (Matthew 11: 28-12:8), whom we
can worship at any time, but should take into account New
Testament precedent.
And finally,
c. Knowing that as we continue to cleave to Christ, we will
eventually enter the ultimate 'rest' from all of our labours, in
the New Heavens and the New Earth - Eternal Life in unspeakable
joy in the very company of God (Hebrews 3:18-4:11).
The truth is, Holy Spirit - led Christianity is not about keeping
days! - we can be sure about this (if we otherwise doubted) from
comments which the Apostle Paul makes. In fact, he seems to give
the impression that believers who are too concerned about keeping
days are immature,
"Let no one pass judgement on you in questions of food and
drink or with regard to a new moon or Sabbath, these things are
only a shadow of what is to come. But the real substance belongs
to Christ" (Colossians 2: 16-17)
In Galatians 4, Paul takes a legalistic element at Galatia to
task about their immature desire to keep, "…days, and
months, and times, and years" He tells them, "I am afraid
of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain" (verse
11)
He goes on to give his famous allegory about Hagar and Sarah.
Hagar, says Paul, typified the Old Covenant while Sarah typified
the New. He concludes the chapter by saying,
"What says the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son :
for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of
the freewoman. So then, brethren, we are not children of the
bondwoman, but of the free" (verses 30-31)
This really should be crystal clear to all. We are no longer to
be legalistic about these things! These two verses also clearly
show us the error of trying to live within two covenants.
Will be accept the straightforward teaching that the Old Covenant
(or, the 'bondwoman') has to be cast out in order for us to serve
Christ?
So we find within the New Testament no specific command to
assemble for worship on any particular day nor should we expect
to find such an instruction since there is a certain freedom in
Christ, His blood having released us from Old Covenant
penalties/prohibitions. Nevertheless, we do find a strong
precedent for assembling for worship on what soon became known as
'The Lord's Day' - Sunday : the day of the resurrection, the day
of the disciples meeting and seeking after Christ - with the
risen Christ's revealing of Himself to them, the day of
Pentecost, the day on which Paul can be found preaching to other
Christians (rather than to Jews), the day on which Paul requested
the Corinthians to make a collection for Christians affected by
the famine in Judea (1 Corinthians 16: 1-3), the day on which
John wrote that he found himself, 'In the Spirit' (Rev
1:10) and the day of which Justin Martyr wrote, 'We all hold
our communion and assembly'.
Seventh day adherents might just ponder that they resolutely hold
to the day which was a main mark of the Old Covenant,
identifying God's Old Covenant people who placed their trust in
the sufficiency of that particular covenant to save them. The
Christian, on the other hand, prefers to be associated with the
Day of the Lord which identifies them as followers of Jesus
Christ whom they look to as Saviour, Lord and Master - and who is
fully sufficient for salvation.
Despite all of the above, if Christians prefer to assemble on the
seventh day (Saturday) they do no wrong, but the danger is in the
legalism and judgmentalism of other Christians (to say nothing of
the distortions of church history) which so often seems to
accompany seventh-day observance.
Robin A. Brace
1998
Also see:
Was the Mosaic Sabbath Eternal and Unchangeable?
Does
'The Mark of the Beast' Have Anything At All To Do With the Day
On Which One Worships God?
How
First Day Sabbatarianism Entered the Church
(The 'church fathers' were well aware that the Lord's Day was not the sabbath - which they considered to be fulfilled in Christ - but, much later certain Lord's Day legalists attempted to make that day a 'Christian Sabbath.' These men were mostly sincere, but legalistic in approach and their movement was theologically flawed; both Luther and Calvin separated themselves from this theological error, yet - in time - it gathered momentum).
Recovering From Armstrongism
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