Christian Living
There are Christians who insist that Saturday is the correct day to set aside for worship and rest, but quite frankly, I have had enough of those who take this view. Sometimes that is all I hear some people talk about. There is no biblical support for insisting that everyone else should do it as a religious requirement. I know some who even make it a requirement for salvation. I am going to present ten reasons, mostly from scripture, why it is not biblical to make this a mandate. Much of what is presented does not appear in the unbalanced arguments that those who insist upon Saturday like to make.
l. Saturday worship is part of the law, and we live under grace. Just because one does not keep Saturday worship does not mean that we are "free" to not keep the other nine, which is an argument presented in a publication I read by proponents of Saturday worship.
2. Once a person becomes a Christian under grace, the law of God is in our hearts. This means a person does not have to follow some law to be saved, or in other words, we do not have to have a law to tell us what to do. Because of a regenerated nature through the Holy Spirit living within, there is a desire to do what is right, holy, and just, and it should be accompanied with a love for God and being obedient to his ways. The law becomes unnecessary. I know there are those who use the Ten Commandments as their foundation for belief and practice. As I progress further into this discussion I will show that their is much variance with the day of rest and worship, not because the Ten Commandments don't matter (they are written in our hearts), but because we do not live under their control. See Jeremiah 31:33, Romans 2:15, and Hebrews 10:16.
3. Guess what, there are two versions of the Ten Commandments, the one in Exodus 20, and another lesser known version in Deuteronomy 5. The difference lies in what is said about observing the Sabbath. One says to do it to rest from creation; the other says to observe it in remembrance of the children of Israel being delivered from Egypt. This shows that there is some deviance from the original Ten Commandments. It would be totally irrelevant for any Christian today to observe it out of remembrance from deliverance from the bondage of the Egyptians. No one can keep the Sabbath as it was originally intended, anyway, which leads to the next point.
4. No one can keep a true Sabbath because there were 39 prohibitions, most of which were passed down orally from Moses. This teaching is revealed in the book, THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, written by David Hazony, who happens to be Jewish.
5. Now I will begin to show the variance that Scripture presents as to the day of the week. Leviticus 23 is a key chapter when it comes to showing fluctuation in observing a day of rest and worship. This chapter connects it to the Feast Of Unleavened Bread. It also associates it with the Day of Atonement beginning on the tenth day of the seventh month. As one reads through the entire chapter it becomes evident that not only is the Sabbath observed on both Saturday and Sunday (the first day of the week), but it can also be any other day of the week according to how the feasts fall on the calendar. Pay particular attention as you read through the chapter to verse 3, 6-8, 27-28, 32, 34-36, and 39.
6. The disciples and early Jewish Christians in the first century right after the resurrection changed the day from Saturday to Sunday, out of awe of this incredible event. They walked away from centuries of tradition, beliefs, and practices to follow the teachings and personage of Jesus as opposed to their law. This is all documented in the book, EVIDENCE OF THE RESURRECTION, by Josh and Sean McDowell (pages 228-232), and in a book by Turek and Geisler called I DON'T HAVE ENOUGH FAITH TO BE AN ATHEIST.
7. Several New Testament passages support this. All of these verses mention the "the first day of the week."
* John 20:19-26 (The disciples met together).
* Acts 2:1 (Pentecost).
* Acts 2:14 (Peter's sermon).
* Acts 2:41 (Disciples breaking bread together).
* I Corinthians 16:2 (Collections being made).
8. In Hebrews 3-4 the Sabbath is associated with a spiritual state of obedience, not a particular day.
9. Salvation is based upon a gift of God, not on ANY kind of work.(Eph. 2:8-9)
If there is anything we have to do for our salvation then why did Jesus die?
10. The entire Christian faith is built upon the resurrection which was on the first day of the week. (I Corinthians 15) A Seventh Day Adventist publication says that because "the Bible never tells us to remember his resurrection" we do not need to honor Sunday. Well, as Christians we should not have to be reminded because, just like the death of Jesus, his resurrection is the whole basis of our faith. One final question, and this is huge: If one's salvation is based on anything besides the grace of God, apart from works, then why did Jesus die?
So, you see, if you want to worship on Saturday, go right ahead, but there is too much support to the contrary for you to tell me that I must do it too.
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