Home Topics Index Download
Transcript 321C — Why Is Sunday Our Day of Worship?
HC: Good evening. Welcome to Open Forum.
CALLER: The question is this. I have a friend in a denomination that I won't name, but they believe that once saved, always saved, as I do. And I'm sure they are Christians as well as I'm a Christian. But they asked me why we held Sunday as a holy day. And I checked the New Testament, and I really can't justify it. The only reason I could give was that Christ rose on a Sunday, and that Pentecost was on a Sunday, and the disciples met on a Sunday. Therefore I said we worshipped on Sunday in honor of Christ, His resurrection from the dead. She said that Christ Himself never once mentioned about keeping Sunday or the first day of the week as the holy day or the Sabbath day. And in fact, when He was on earth, He rested on the Sabbath, which was Saturday. And even Mary and the others who went to the tomb came on Sunday because Saturday was the Sabbath, the day of rest. And I have no answer for that really. I'll hang up, and I'd like to have you comment on that, if you would.
HC: All right. Fine. Thank you for calling.
The question raised is concerning why the church, and I speak of all kinds of congregations and denominations, worship on Sunday rather than on Saturday. Let me see if I can answer this very briefly.
First of all, the Bible does not say anywhere, "Thou shalt worship on the first day of the week." The Bible doesn't say that. But the Bible does indicate very clearly that the seventh day Sabbath of the Old Testament became a part of the ceremonial law. It was one of the feast days. Read Leviticus 23, where God outlines the various feast days, and you'll find that it is the first feast day that is mentioned.
The Sabbath of the Old Testament was a type of Christ Himself, even as the Passover service was a figure of Christ Himself. And of course when Christ went to the cross, the ceremonial laws were completed. And therefore we are not to continue to observe any of the ceremonial laws.
Now the Lord Jesus, while He lived, observed all of the ceremonial laws. He observed the Passover, He was circumcised, He worshipped on the Sabbath day all through His lifetime, because He lived on the Old Testament side of the cross. After Christ went to the cross, we find in Acts 20:7 that the Jews began to worship on the first day, the Christians rather, the New Testament Christians. And they gathered together at Troas to break bread on the first day.
Secondly, we find in I Corinthians 16:1 & 2 that God through the apostle Paul commands the church at Corinth to lay aside on the first day, so that there would be no gathering when he came. Now when we bring our offerings, we generally do it at a worship service. And here the first day is mentioned. And of course you can see why God singled out the first day. It is the day that Christ rose from the grave. It is the day that the Holy Spirit was poured out. And incidentally, it's also the day when God began His creation.
Then in Colossians 2:16 & 17 we read, "Let no man therefore judge you in meat or in drink, or in respect of an holy day or a feast day, or of the new moon or of the Sabbath [now the Sabbath ordinarily was the seventh day Sabbath], which are a shadow of things to come, but the body is of Christ." The Sabbath here is put in exactly the same place as the Old Testament laws on the foods, the Old Testament laws on the feast days, the observance of the new moon, there were certain sacrifices that had to be offered on that particular day. The Sabbath is put in the same place, because that was all part of the ceremonial law.
Now there are some who believe that they want to worship on Saturday, and that's their privilege. But I think the church historically has been altogether correct, already beginning in the days of the Apostles, in beginning to worship on the first day.