Is Sunday the "Christian Sabbath"?
Yesterday the pastor of the church I currently attend preached on Matthew 12:9-14. Somehow, instead of making the passage about Jesus, he made it mostly about how Christians should keep what he called the “Sabbath principle”, and not work on Sundays.
Notably, he didn’t cite any biblical evidence for this position. He said there was “evidence” dating back to the early church (which he didn’t specify), and quoted Charles Spurgeon and A.W. Pink. But he didn’t, and can’t, cite the New Testament, because the New Testament doesn’t teach this idea at all.
Did the early church meet on the first day of the week, a.k.a. Sunday? Yes, they did, based on the fact that Jesus rose from the dead on a Sunday. Is there any evidence in Scripture that they viewed it as the equivalent of the Jewish Sabbath, or any command to observe it as such? No, there is not.
Such a command would go against the entire thrust of the New Testament that Jesus supersedes the law. Laying another law on people that requires external conformity to a non-moral command goes against all of the New Testament emphasis that Jesus frees us from the law.
Many years ago a theologian friend made the point to me that the command to keep the Sabbath is the only one of the 10 Commandments that is not repeated in the New Testament.
If it were a principle that Christians were supposed to obey, you’d expect there would be clear teaching on it. But there isn’t.
Instead, there’s evidence that the Sabbath was part of the law which was set aside by Jesus, fulfilled and abrogated by his work on the cross, and no longer an obligation for Christians. It was meant to point us to a spiritual rest, the rest for our souls we find in Christ from striving to please God by keeping the law, and our ultimate, eternal rest.
Colossians 2
Colossians 2:8-17 makes this clear. It’s a bit of a long passage, but worth citing in its entirety:
See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.
Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.
It couldn’t be any clearer.
Colossians insists on the sufficiency of Jesus. He is all that we need. The “record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands” is the law. Jesus has “set it aside, nailing it to the cross.” We no longer carry the guilt and condemnation that the law gives us for being unable keep its righteous demands. Jesus met those demands for all who trust in him. We are also no longer subject to the external rituals of the law, which Paul says are a “shadow” of the things to come. Christ is the substance, the reality of those things. And he himself tells us:
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. (Matthew 11:28-30)
The Sabbath was a shadow. Christ is the reality. Don’t be deceived by “philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world” which tells you otherwise, even if it comes from the pulpit of a Christian church. Don’t settle for the shadow. Seek the reality, Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 3-4
Hebrews talks about a “Sabbath rest” for Christians, but makes it clear that it is a spiritual rest that those who believe in Christ enter into as we cease from striving to please God by our own works and rest in Christ’s finished work instead; as well as our eternal rest in heaven. It’s too long to discuss or quote in its entirety in a blog post, but I recommend reading it for yourself:
Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it....For we who have believed enter that rest….So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. (Hebrews 4:1, 3, 9-10).
False guilt
Don’t allow false guilt to misinform your conscience. The pastor said during his sermon that he was raised very strictly that Sunday was the Lord’s Day, and you didn’t work. In his early 20s he had a job at a store which was having a major sale which required all employees to be present. The problem was, the sale occurred on a Sunday. He had told the manager he wouldn’t work Sundays, but made an exception for the sale. He claimed he felt guilty all the way to work, during his shift, and for a long time afterward. He believes it was the Holy Spirit convicting him.
It wasn’t. It was a misinformed conscience.
I grew up in an extremely legalistic “Christian” household, where we were also taught to keep Sunday as the “Sabbath”. I vividly remember as a teenager wanting to bake an apple pie on a Sunday, and struggling intensely with guilt over whether or not this was acceptable. That was not the Holy Spirit; it was a conscience bound to a false and legalistic teaching that had nothing to do with Jesus.
Galatians 5:1 admonishes us:
For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
The previous chapter makes it clear that the old covenant, the law, is that “yoke of slavery”.
Qualifications
Now, some qualifications.
Is it possible to make work more important than Jesus, such that you prioritize work rather than gathering with other believers on Sunday? Yes, of course it is. This is what Jesus would call “serving money rather than God” (Matthew 6:24).
Should we avoid commitments on Sunday that would keep us from gathering with other believers and worshipping God, as much as possible?
Yes, of course.
We should obey God first, and trust him to provide for us. Even if we have to give up a shift, we do so knowing that God will not allow us to go without if we “seek first his kingdom” (Matthew 6:33).
Should we agonize with guilt if we occasionally have to take a shift on Sundays and miss church? Absolutely not. Hopefully in that situation, there are homegroups or other gatherings during the week we can take part in.
My theologian friend who made the point about the Sabbath command not being repeated in the New Testament also made the point that many early Christians were slaves, thus would not have had the option of not working on Sundays. But it appears that early Christians gathered together much more frequently and for longer periods of time than we now do, so they likely would have been able to join meetings at other times, perhaps even on Sundays before or after work.
Is there still a principle that we need physical rest, and that it’s good to take one day a week off from normal commitments? Yes, of course. It’s not a command, but it is part of stewarding the bodies and minds God has given us well. Does that day have to be Sunday? No.
Is it acceptable for a Christian to set aside Sunday as a day totally dedicated to worshipping the Lord and not doing any other activities? Of course it is. The Apostle Paul tells us:
One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. (Romans 14:5-6)
If Sunday was really meant to be the “Christian Sabbath”, this would have been the perfect place for Paul to interject, “Well, except for Sunday, that’s the one day nobody has the option to not observe!” Instead, he goes on to say:
Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. (Romans 14:13)
Each believer has liberty to decide to observe a day for the Lord (note it doesn’t say it has to be Sunday), or not. No believer has the right to judge another believer for whether or how he does or doesn’t observe a day. No believer has the right to lay a burden on another to observe a certain day; this is to deny the work of Christ and the liberty that the Holy Spirit has given us. Not even a pastor speaking from a pulpit.
For more thoughts on this topic, see “Is Sunday the Christian Sabbath? Part 2”