God rested on the seventh day after creating the world. In addition to giving Israel the 10 commandments, God also told them to rest on the seventh day. The explanation for this is found in Exodus 20:11, where it is stated that God took a day off from creating on the seventh day. The second set of the Ten Commandments is found in Deuteronomy 5. God gives us the Sabbath in order to remember that He brought Israel out of Egypt (Deuteronomy 5:15).
Sabbath law in the New Testament
Thus, the seventh day is the Sabbath that God established in the Old Testament. Friday dusk marked the beginning of it, and Saturday dusk marked its conclusion. The Jewish people continue to observe that Sabbath.
How does the New Testament scenario stand? According to Romans 6:14, we are not subject to the law but rather to grace in the New Testament. Christians are no longer bound by the ceremonial law. The New Testament demonstrates that Christians are exempt from the Sabbath requirement in a number of ways:
- The New Testament reiterates the other nine commandments, but not the Sabbath commandment.
- Paul never required the gentile churches he founded to observe the Sabbath in his letters to them. That would have been required if Paul had believed that they had to observe a Sabbath rest because the Sabbath was not a part of their culture.
- Unlike Jewish synagogues, the churches described in the New Testament convened on Sundays rather than the Sabbath.
- Paul makes it clear that Jesus is the source of reality and that the Sabbath is only a shadow of things to come. He grants us the blissful slumber. Paul therefore prohibits us from making assumptions about other people based solely on whether or not they keep the Sabbath (Colossians 2:16-17).
The Lord’s day
On the Sabbath, the Jews convened. Sundays became the day that Christians began gathering (Acts 20:7, 1 Corinthians 16:2). They took that action because, according to John 20:19–26, “Jesus rose from the dead on a Sunday” and showed Himself to them at least on the first and second Sundays following His resurrection. Sunday was dubbed “the Lord’s day” almost immediately (Revelation 1:10).
Thus, it is evident that Friday and Saturday are not necessary days for Christians to observe the Sabbath. It’s also evident that the church held its largest gatherings on Sundays from the start, following Jesus’ example. This does not imply that Sunday became the new Sabbath day. Rather than the law, grace is what governs us.
Jesus’ fulfillment
It is wonderful news that we do not need to laboriously observe the Old Testament Sabbath laws since Jesus fulfills the Sabbath. However, it would be foolish of us to take it to mean that we may now work every single day. We can learn a lot from the fact that the Lord rested on the seventh day of creation. We are blessed by the Lord with the ability to rest. Since Jesus is the fulfillment of the Sabbath law, we should likely take more time to relax than we did in the Old Testament and spend more time in prayer than we did in the Old Testament.
While working on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday does not necessarily mean that we are sinning, attending church, spending time with Christian friends, and dedicating Sunday to God through prayer, Bible reading, and reading Christian literature are all wonderful ways to honor Jesus’ fulfillment of the Sabbath law.
