Exodus 20:8-11 – Are we not violating the Sabbath commandment by worshiping on the first day of the week (Sunday) rather than the seventh day of the week (Saturday)?
QUESTION
The Sabbath commandment states that the seventh day of the week (Saturday) is the Sabbath of the LORD. In it we should not do any work (Exodus 20:8-11).
However, in the New Testament, the Christian church began to worship and rest on the first day of the week (Sunday).
Are we not violating the Sabbath commandment by worshiping on the first day of the week (Sunday) rather than the seventh day of the week (Saturday)?
ANSWER
1. The Sabbath commandment is based on God resting on the seventh day after six days of work and God blessing the seventh day and making it holy (Exodus 20:11).
The Sabbath day was instituted as a day of rest and worship. We are to follow God’s example in His pattern of work and rest.
However, as Jesus said the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.
Sabbath was not made to enslave people but to benefit them.
The spirit of Sabbath observance is continued in the New Testament observance of rest and worship on the first day of the week.
2. The Sabbath was a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.
The Sabbath observance was associated with redemption (Deuteronomy 5:15).
The Sabbath was a shadow of the redemption which would be provided in Christ. It symbolized the rest from our works and an entrance into the rest of God provided by His finished work on the cross of Calvary for us.
3. Although the moral principles in the Old Testament commandments are reaffirmed in the New Testament, the commandment to set Saturday apart as a day of rest and worship is the only commandment not repeated.
New Testament believers are not under the Old Testament law (Romans 6:14; Galatians 3:23-25)
By His resurrection on the first day of the week (Matthew 28:1-7), the early church was given the pattern of Sunday worship. This they did regularly (Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2).
BIBLE REFERENCES
Exodus 20:8-11
8 “ Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
Mark 2:27-28
27 And He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. 28 Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.”
Colossians 2:16-17
16 So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, 17 which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.
Deuteronomy 5:15
15 And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.
Romans 6:14
For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.
Galatians 3:23-25
23 But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. 24 Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.
Matthew 28:1-7
1 Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. 2 And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it. 3 His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. 4 And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men.
5 But the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. 7 And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you.”
Acts 20:7
7 Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight.
1 Corinthians 16:2
2 On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come.
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