Does it really matter to God when we rest or worship? What does the Bible actually say? Let’s look at all the Bible verses that the churches use to justify keeping Sunday rather than resting on Saturday. You need to know the truth about Sunday and not some biased interpretation by some ancient monk.
Does the Bible actually say we should rest on Sunday?
Many theologians claim that the time of rest was changed to Sunday worship because Jesus was actually resurrected on Sunday. Where is their Biblical authority to actually make this Sunday claim? Just because Jesus rose on Sunday, would not in any way authorize a change in God's great spiritual law for the Sabbath rest. Most Christians believe Jesus died on Good Friday. Jesus' death freed Christians from the penalty of death in Hell and gave them eternal life. Why not keep Friday as a holy time of worship and rest to celebrate your salvation? Taking communion, or the Lord's Supper, is a central part of Christian worship. Most Christians celebrate the Lord's supper on Holy Thursday, or Maundy Thursday. Why not keep Thursday as a holy time of rest to celebrate the Lord's Supper? As important as all of these events are, none of them actually authorize a change in the fourth commandment to rest on the Sabbath. Just because something important happened at a certain time does not really justify a change in God's law.
One argument that is often used is that the Sabbath was really only for the Jews so Christians don't actually have to keep it, resting and worshiping on Sunday instead. It is often called the Jewish Sabbath in many Christian circles implying that it is not actually for Christians. What does the Bible really say about this argument? First of all, this special time of rest was in place long before the Jews even existed as is shown in Genesis 2:2-3. It has been here since God created it at creation.
"And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made." (Genesis 2:2-3)
In the New Testament Jesus did not say that the Sabbath was made just for the Jews and Sunday was for Christians. He didn't say the Gentiles had to toil and work all week without the blessing of a time of rest. Jesus did say the Sabbath, not Sunday, is a blessing made for man.
Mark 2:27; "And he said unto them, The Sabbath was made for man......"
Is Sunday really the Lord's Day as they say in most Christian churches?
A strong argument is regularly made that Sunday is the real time of rest for Christians because it is the Lord's Day. There is no verse anywhere in the Bible that actually connects Sunday with this expression The Lord's Day. Some interpret Revelation 1:10 to support Sunday worship. This is simply an assumption without any Scriptural support. Without interpretation the Bible simply says John was in the spirit on the Lord's Day. That's it! The Bible says literally nothing about this being Sunday.
(Rev 1:10) "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet."
This verse does not even refer to any specific time of the week. This is really a prophecy of future, end-time events. The Lord’s Day is synonymous with the Day of the Lord in Bible prophecy. It in no way indicates a specific time of the week, or mentions worship or rest as many churches say. Sunday is never actually called The Lord's Day anywhere in Scripture. Revelation 1:10 is really just a prophetic time reference and nothing more based on what the Bible actually says.
There is only one Lord's Day based upon Jesus' own words. What did He say about it? Jesus said the Sabbath, (not Sunday), is the day He is Lord of.
(Mark 2:28) "Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath."
It looks pretty clear based on what the Bible actually says. The Sabbath is the Lord’s Day when we should really rest from our labors, not Sunday.
But what about what the Bible says in John 20?
"the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst and said to them, 'Peace be with you.'" (John 20:19)
Some people will point to this verse in the Bible and interpret this as a Sunday worship service when in fact the Bible really says nothing about church or worship here at all. That is an interpretation based upon an assumption, not fact.
It could NOT be a Christian Sunday Worship Service. The disciples could NOT have actually been celebrating Jesus' resurrection. The Bible plainly says they did not even really believe Christ was risen until they saw Him!
"Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen." (Mark 16:14)
Here we find Jesus reproving His disciples for their failure to really believe that He had risen. There is, therefore, actually no possible chance that they had gathered on this occasion to commemorate the resurrection with a Sunday Worship Service. It's impossible! How could they have been celebrating the resurrection when they really didn't even believe it had occurred? What the Bible plainly says in context, without any biased interpretation, is actually very clear. They were NOT having a Sunday Worship Service. They were REALLY scared! They were really hiding behind locked doors on Sunday out of FEAR. You should never assume what isn't actually written in the Bible.
Here is another verse in the Bible that has long been really misunderstood because of interpretation and assumptions about when it occurred and why.
Acts 20:7-12; "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"
Does the Bible say anything here about this being a weekly Sunday Worship Service? No! They were really just enjoying a meal with one another. Without adding any interpretation to this verse, it simply says Paul delivered a message to them during a meal on the first day of the week and then continued speaking until midnight.
Breaking bread is really just a common expression that actually just refers to eating a meal together. Just because Jesus broke a piece of bread as a symbol of His Body at Passover does not mean that every time a piece of bread is broken by a group of Christians during a meal that they are celebrating the Lord's Supper. The majority of the times that Christians break bread they are simply eating a meal together, not partaking of the Lord's Supper or communion. This is exactly what really happened here. They were really just breaking bread together. That's what the verse says! You must again make assumptions and use interpretation to make this verse say something that the Bible doesn't actually say.
Even more importantly, this was not a Sunday Worship Service. It wasn't even a morning meeting. It really occurred on a Saturday evening and went until midnight. The biblical reckoning of daily time is from sunset to sunset, beginning in Genesis at creation. The first day of the week mentioned here really began on Saturday evening at sunset as God actually counts time. The modern calendar is based upon a twenty-four-hour clock that begins at midnight, in the middle of a dark night. Men have decided that days begin and end at midnight. What does the Bible really say? God established when they begin at creation. See for yourself what God repeatedly says in Genesis chapter 1 verses 5 through 31.
Gen 1:5, "And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day."
Through.......
Gen 1:31, "Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
The Bible actually says God begins days in "the evening". God begins and ends them at the setting of the sun which ends one and a new one begins. The beginning of each 24 hour of time at sunset had been the standard practice for thousands of years and is still practiced by Jews today. They have never lost track of God's time for all these thousands of years!
Lev. 23:32...." from evening to evening, you shall celebrate your sabbath."
The Bible says Saturday evening at sunset is actually the beginning of our modern calendar day of Sunday, as God counts time. Think about that for a moment. The beginning of "the first day" is actually on our Saturday evening at sunset. If this meal was on Sunday evening the Bible would say "Now on the second day of the week". It does not say that! Paul actually departed on his long journey the following morning, the daylight part of our Sunday.
Now you can clearly see that the disciples had gathered together for dinner on a Saturday evening, and Paul spoke with them for a few hours during and after a meal. In the first century the traditional Sunday morning worship service to celebrate the resurrection usually began just after sunrise, right before most men went off to work in their fields and farms. (It was a regular workday for them. Not a time of rest.) It's ludicrous to say this was a regular Christian morning worship service that began about 6:00 AM and then dragged on for 18 hours, until midnight. So they were really meeting on the Sabbath, not the Lord's Day
How about what the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 16? This verse is assumed to say a collection was taken up during a Sunday Worship Service. Is that what it actually says or is this another biased assumption and church misinterpretation?
"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." (1 Corinthians 16:2)
Without any interpretation the Bible says they were to lay something aside on the first day of the week, storing up their contributions to give to Paul when he arrived. That's it! It doesn't say anything more. There is no mention of resting from their labors here. It doesn't say anything about gathering for a weekly worship service to do this collection. This was not even a collection of money. It says it was food to assist the poor in Jerusalem.
But wait a minute. When does the Bible say this was this to occur? The expression here is translated from two Greek words, "Mia “which is defined as one, and sabbaton which is defined as Sabbath, appearing here and 58 other places in the Bible. On "one Sabbath day" the disciples were to lay some food aside to give to Paul for the saints who were starving in Jerusalem. This isn't even a Sunday in the first place. This is an assumption based upon a biased mistranslation from the God inspired Greek. It was really the Sabbath. Each individual was asked to lay some food aside so it would be ready when Paul and the men arrived to receive it and carry it to Jerusalem. This is what the Bible actually says.
Now you know the truth plainly from the Bible about actually resting on the Sabbath. What you do with this knowledge is really between you and God! You can ignore it and continue believing and doing what God does not want, OR you can repent and change and do what God says. The choice is yours for all eternity!
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