Sunday or Sabbath Worship?

Seventh-day Adventists and a few other groups are so concerned with this point that they are willing to say that anyone who worships on Sunday is worshipping the Antichrist. Are their claims legitimate? They claim there is no mandate in the New Testament to move our day of worship to Sunday, and from their arguments they seem to doubt that the early Church had any authority to change it. Let’s see what the Bible says about these subjects.

HAD GOD GROWN DISPLEASED WITH THE SABBATH?

Isaiah 1:13-15 Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. 14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them. 15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you; yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.

Here God speaks of growing weary of the Sabbath through His prophet Isaiah. In Mark 2:27 Jesus says that man was not made for the Sabbath, but that the Sabbath was made for man. Jesus seems a bit annoyed that the Sabbath was no longer a joyful day of rest but had become an imposed day of rest.

WERE THE EARLY CHRISTIANS ABANDONING THE MOSAIC LAWS?

Get out your Bible, and let’s take a look at Acts 10:9-16. Here Peter sees a vision in which all the animals of the earth are presented to him, and he is told to slaughter and eat. At first Peter refuses because of his Jewish heritage; remember – Jewish dietary Laws forbid eating shellfish, anything that crawls on the ground and anything with a cloven hoof. In his vision Peter is told three times that God has made all these things clean and what God has made clean Peter shall not call unclean. From then on, in his travels converting the Gentiles, Peter probably ate whatever food that was offered.

Did Peter change the Old Testament Law of eating only kosher foods for all of Christianity? Yes. Did he have the authority to do this? Yes.

Let’s look at another good example – circumcision. Circumcision showed that a child had been brought into the Old Testament Covenant between God and His people. Circumcision was replaced by baptism in the New Testament (see I Peter 3:21 and Colossians 2:11-12). Did the early Christians demand circumcision of their male, Gentile converts? No. Baptism brings us into the New Covenant. It makes us a part of the Body of Christ.

Did Peter and the early Christians change the necessity of circumcision for all of Christianity? Yes. Did the early Christians have the authority to do this? Yes.

Still not convinced that the early Christians were moving away from the Law of Moses? Read Hebrews 7:12: For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.

Jesus became our new High Priest, and with the priesthood being changed there is also a change in the Law. The old Law was administered through the Levite tribe, but Jesus came from the tribe of Judah – thus there is a new Law. Hebrews 7:11-17 says that Jesus is a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek (reference Genesis 14:18 with Hebrews 7:1-3). In Jesus there is a new priesthood, a new Sacrifice and a new Law.

Hebrews 7:18 For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof.

If this were the only line excusing us from the Law of Moses, I could understand there being some confusion. But when you take this passage along with Colossians 2:16-17 and the other passages that condemn works of the Law (Galatians 2:16 & 3:1-5, Romans 3:20, 27-28 and Romans 11:5-7), it looks like the early Christians were quickly learning that they were not saved by keeping the works of the Law of Moses. The New Testament writers are telling us that we are released from the works of the Law, and in Colossians it looks like that would include not being mandated to keep the Jewish Sabbath:

Colossians 2:16-17a Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: 17 Which are a shadow of things to come…

Here in Colossians, Paul is speaking of how the old things (of the Mosaic Law) have passed away in Christ. He says that we are not to judge or condemn each other for what we eat or drink (keeping kosher), observing the holy days or in keeping the old Sabbath day. The passage says we don’t concern ourselves with these things because they were but a shadow of what was to come. This passage tells us not to judge someone if he or she doesn’t keep the old Sabbath; it is no longer binding to us Christians since we have a new Sabbath – Sunday, the Lord’s Day.

IN HEBREWS, JESUS SPEAKS OF HIS OWN DAY OF REST

Hebrews 4:6-11 Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief: 7 Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To-day, after so long a time; as it is said, To-day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. 8 For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. 9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. 10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. 11 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.

The writer mentions that the people who were first reached (the Jews) would not enter in to the New Covenant because of their unbelief in Jesus. In Hebrews 4:8, the writer says that Jesus speaks of another day of rest. Verse 11 tells us to enter into that rest or we will also be an example of unbelief. Are those who keep a seventh-day Sabbath showing their unbelief in Christ Jesus?

WAS SUNDAY THE PRIMARY DAY OF WORSHIP FOR THE EARLY CHRISTIANS?

As far as worship goes, most of the early Christians were still Jewish and would go to the synagogue on Saturday to hear the Scriptures read aloud, and then they would gather on Sundays to celebrate the Lord’s Supper. Why Sunday? Because, the Lord rose from the dead on a Sunday and opened the door to eternal life for all of us. This is why Christians celebrate Easter – it is the day Jesus rose from the dead, and every Sunday should be a little Easter for us. Is Sunday worship mentioned in the Bible? Let’s take a look at the Scriptures:

Acts 20:7 And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.

Which day was that? The first day. And if the Sabbath is Saturday, and Saturday is the seventh day, then the first day would be Sunday. So here in Acts 20 the Bible is telling us that the disciples of Jesus are gathering to break bread together on Sundays.

I Corinthians 16:1-2 Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye. 2 Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.

Paul is writing of his coming visit to the Corinthians and telling them to take up a collection when everyone gathers together. In Acts 20 it shows that the people gather together on the first day, and this passage also supports the long-held tradition that Christians come together on Sundays. From this passage it sounds like Paul told the churches of Galatia to take up a collection on Sunday, and now he’s telling the church in Corinth to do the same.

John 20:19 Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.

Revelation 1:10 I was in the spirit on the Lord’s Day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,

If John was given his Great Revelation on Sunday, and if Jesus appeared to His disciples on Sunday, it sounds like Sunday is being singled out as a day holier than the other six days of the week.

Just from the passages in Acts and I Corinthians it looks like Christian worship had clearly established itself on Sunday even before all the books of the New Testament had been written. So it looks like Christians have worshipped on Sunday even from the earliest times.

Did the leaders of the early Christians change the day of worship from Saturday to Sunday? Yes. Did the leaders of the early Christians have the authority to make this change? Yes.

HOW DO WE KNOW THEY HAD THE AUTHORITY TO MAKE CHANGES?

Why do I keep saying the early Christians had the authority to make these changes? Well again, I am pulling most of this from the New Testament:

Matthew 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Here Jesus changes Simon’s name to Rock and says that upon this rock He (Jesus) will build His Church and the gates of Hell will never overthrow or defeat this Church. Anyone who would claim Jesus’ Church could fail is either calling Jesus a liar or willfully choosing not to believe Him.

The Aramaic word for rock is Kepha (or Cepha), and if you translate that into Greek you get Petros or Petra, which is where we get the name Peter. Some people will claim that in Matthew 16:18, Jesus was calling Himself the rock or that Simon’s statement was the rock. But again let’s turn to the Scriptures:

John 1:40-42 One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ. 42 And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon, the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.

Here Simon is first brought to meet Jesus, and as soon as Jesus sees Simon He says that Simon will be called Cephas, which means “a stone” (or a rock). This passage points to the name change given in Matthew 16:18. Simon’s name is changed to Rock (Petros) by Jesus just like Abram’s name was changed to Abraham by God the Father back in Genesis. Why is this important? Because Jesus is about to confer some authority to Peter in the very next passage in Matthew:

Matthew 16:19 And I will give unto thee the keys to the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

Here Jesus is still speaking to Peter and telling him that he (Peter) shall be given the keys to the kingdom of Heaven, and he will have the power to bind and loose. Maybe Peter thought back to the passage in Isaiah where the head servant was given the keys to the household until the master returns. The head servant was given full authority over the household as long as the master was away. Whatever he said was binding on the other servants. Let’s look at this passage in Isaiah that speaks of keys and of opening and shutting:

Isaiah 22:21-22 And I will clothe him with thy robe, and strengthen him with thy girdle, and I will commit thy government into his hand: and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah. 22 And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.

Now look back at Matthew 16:19. Jesus gives Peter authority that was never given to any other human being; it is complete and total authority. Would Jesus let Peter do something Heaven didn’t want done? If the Lord did not want His people to worship on Sunday, why would Jesus put Peter in charge knowing that in the near future Peter and the early Christians would move the day of worship to Sunday? And if Peter wasn’t worshipping on Sunday, wouldn’t he have corrected Paul, telling him to stop worshipping on Sunday if Christians were supposed to still keep the Sabbath? The passages we covered earlier (Acts 20:7 and I Corinthians 16:1-2) show that Sunday had become the primary day of worship in early Christianity.

In the end we believe that Jesus left us a Church, and His Church was promised that the gates of Hell would never prevail against it. This Church was given the authority to make some changes, not to doctrine, but to the practices of the Church. This Church would convene in councils such as the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D. where the heresy of Arianism was condemned and the Nicene Creed was composed to formally define the doctrine of the Trinity. This Church would also come to decide which books were inspired (the council of Carthage – 397 A.D.), and those writings would become known as the New Testament. This Church primarily celebrates the Lord’s Supper every Sunday – and has done so since the earliest times. This Church is the Catholic Church.

I will leave you with one more thought: if you have been told or taught that the early church was taken over or corrupted by Roman pagans, I again refer to Matthew 16:18… I will build my Church: and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. If the Church could be taken over by pagans or eliminated from the face of the earth, then Hell has prevailed. Jesus said this could not happen. Do you really think that Jesus would lie to us? Or do you think He could fail to do something He promised?

If you are interested in learning more about what Catholics believe, or about the Catholic faith in general, please contact your local Catholic Church. Most churches have a program for adults looking into the Catholic Church, and everyone is welcome to sit in on these lessons and ask questions.

All Scripture passages are taken from the King James Version.

Home