SATURDAY OR SUNDAY? Which
is the day of Worship?
The aim of this article is to help
anyone understand what the Bible teaches on this subject. Everything written is
based on what the Scriptures teach. Reading all the Bible references which have
been quoted will be the best way to get a clear understanding of what the
article is teaching. So let your Bible be on your side as you read.
Some people worship on a Sunday while
others worship on a Saturday. There is a lot of debate across the globe as
which day God has given for worship. Those who worship on a Saturday say, “God
has not given a direct command anywhere in the Bible that we should stop
worshipping on the seventh day and start worshipping on Sunday.” They go on to
say that God blessed the seventh day which is a Saturday and sanctified (made
it holy) it and that the observance of the Sabbath is even among the Ten
Commandments. None of the commandments have changed so why would anyone change
the seventh day Sabbath to the first day when you cannot change the other
commandments? On the other hand those
who worship on a Sunday say the early Church worshipped on the first day of the
week which is a Sunday. They do it in honor of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus
rose from the dead on the first day of the week and his disciples began to meet
on the first day of the week in his honour (John 20:1,8; Acts 2:7; 1 Corinth
16:2) (Read the verses). This day, became known as the Lord’s Day (Rev 1:10)
Read the verse. “That’s the reason we worship on a Sunday,” so goes the
argument. So who is right? When should we worship?
Where then does the problem come in?
How do we deal with the issue of Saturday and Sunday?
The finest way to answer this
question is to ask ourselves "What does the word Sabbath mean?" When
you carefully examine the Scriptures, Sabbath does not mean Sunday or Saturday
or Seventh day. In Leviticus 23:26-32 (Read it), God calls the Day of
Atonement, which took place on the tenth day of the Seventh month, a Sabbath
day. If the word Sabbath means “seventh day” then why would God call the Day of
Atonement, which happened on the tenth day, a Sabbath? This is proof that Sabbath
does not mean seventh day. Why would God
call it a Sabbath if the day was the tenth day of the month and not the seventh
day? God made days. He never gave the days names to say that the first day will
be called Sunday or the Seventh day will called Saturday. I am yet to see in
the Bible where it says “Saturday the seventh day of the week or Monday the
second day of the week.” These are human decisions made to help with the
managing of time. What you see instead from the Bible is that as God was
creating the earth there was the first day, second day, third day, fourth day,
fifth day, Sixth day and Seventh day. There is nothing like Monday, Tuesday and
Wednesday.
The other thing is that when God
created the universe, he rested on the seventh day and made it holy. Our
question then is, what does the Bible mean when it says, “God rested?” Does it
mean God got tired? I don’t think so. If
God got tired then he would cease to be God. Our God does not grow weary (Isa
40:28). Read the verse. The word rest means God was satisfied with his
creation. I remember some time during my bachelorhood; I was so hungry that I
stopped working. I decided to cook myself a meal. I took my time. I boiled the chicken and dip
fried it. I cut up the vegetables in their rightful size, cooked them, then
prepared the soup and it was not long before the meal was set. I ate and had my
fill and afterwards sat back and said to myself, “That was really good.” At
that time, I “rested” from the cooking. I was not tired but was appreciating
the goodness of the food. I was pleased with what I cooked. That is what God did. When the Bible says God rested it means he
was satisfied or pleased with his creation. God was enjoying what he created.
No wonder the word rest comes after the Bible says that all that God created
was very good. If we say that God was tired then we are insulting him. We are
saying he is not all powerful. We are saying he is like human beings who get
tired. So Sabbath does not mean seventh
day or Saturday. It means a day of rest. It means a day when we can enjoy God
in a restful way, a day when we adore him as the only one through whom we can
find true satisfaction. This day must be different from all other days. This
day must be a day that will be similar to the way God looked at his creation
and was fully satisfied. In the same way, when we gather on that day for
worship, we should do so as an expression of our satisfaction in God. So the issue is not about Sunday or Saturday.
It is about finding and expressing our spiritual satisfaction in God (finding
our rest in God). Christians are commanded to meet regularly for fellowship
(Heb 10:24-25, Acts 20:7) Read. That’s why there needs to be a day set aside
when people are not working so that everyone can meet for fellowship. So apart
from enjoying God in a restful way Christians must meet in order to fellowship (enjoy
each others company), break bread and pray together.
After all that has been said, our
question then is “Where can we find spiritual rest?” Remember we said that we
must enjoy God in a restful way. So how do we do that without focusing on
Saturday or Sunday? Is there anything that God has revealed in his word which
can bring us spiritual satisfaction? I believe there is someone who gives us
spiritual rest. Jesus does that. He is the one who said, "Come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give
you rest. Take my yoke and learn from me... I will give you rest for your souls,"
Matt 11:28-29 (Read it). So it should
not be about Sunday or Saturday but about honoring the Lord Jesus Christ who
shed his blood for our sins. We honor him by submitting to his Lordship. We
repent of our sins and he in turn gives us a new life. When we honor the Son, we honor the Father
also. So, if you enjoy God in a restful way on a Saturday then go ahead. If it’s
on a Sunday then go ahead. However, we need to be sure that we have found
spiritual rest in Christ because God will not ask you whether you worshipped on
a Saturday or a Sunday. That is not what will get you into heaven. Nonetheless,
be assured that he will ask you what you did with the blood which his Son shed
for you on cross. Paul says in Romans that, “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, since he gives thanks to God…”
Romans 14:5-6.
After all that we have talked about
we must remember that the apostles did not gather for worship on the Seventh
day. If you read through the Scriptures, you will never find the apostles
giving commands for people to worship on the Sabbath or Seventh Day. Read
through Matthew to Revelation you won't find it. In fact what you see is Jesus
together with the apostles condemning observance of the Sabbath because it
burdened people instead of drawing them closer to God. The apostles talk more
about worshiping on the first day of the week than observing the Sabbath.
Let me state also that worship is not
reserved for a day. We must worship God every day. When we read our Bible in
the morning or evening and pray to God we are worshiping. When we present our
bodies as living sacrifices as Paul says, we worship God in a reasonable way. Amen.
