QUESTION: I am a Christian who goes to Church every Sunday. But recently, a friend introduced me to the concept of Sabbath, which I found equally Christian. Should I recognize Sunday or Saturday (Sabbath) as a day of worship? Edward Mugisha.
RESPONSE: Thank you for the question, Mugisha. We praise God that you have given your life to Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior as noted in your confession of being a Christian.
I assume your friend is from one of those denominations that venerate worship days, that is why he draws your attention to the day.
My experience
I was a minister in the Seventh-Day Adventist (SDA) Church for 15 years. We emphasised the worship day beyond everything else.
The SDA teach that since the Jews were ordered to have their Sabbath on the seventh day, and since, according to the Gregorian calendar, it is Saturday, worshippers should consider it a holy day for worship.
I preached the same until 2012, when I got born-again and realised several things I would like to share with you.
The seventh day
The Bible does not name the days of the week, but rather counts them. It also does not mention Saturday. It says the ‘seventh day’.
This means if the seventh day is Saturday in the Gregorian calendar, it is not necessarily the same on the other calendars.
This implies there is no universal seventh day due to the differences in calendars and time zones.
Since the seventh day, according to the Bible, is about counting and not naming, it depends on which day of the week one begins counting from.
If you count from Sunday, the seventh day is Saturday. But if you count from Monday, the seventh day is Sunday.
However, the New Testament teaches that days are a matter of growth and strength in faith.
The weak consider one day to be superior to another, while the mature and strong in faith consider all days equal (Romans 14:5).
The law
The issue of worship day is addressed in the ten laws in Exodus 20:8-11: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
“Six days you shall labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord, your God.
“In it, you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates.
For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.”
The law requires observation of the seventh day and the cessation of work. Therefore, active observation of the day is not the cessation of work.
Judaism emphasised this observance with death penalties (Numbers 15:32-36, Exodus 35:2). Judaism taught the observance of the law as means of salvation and favour from God.
Jesus and the New Testament teachers rectified this (read Mark 2:23-28, Romans 3:19-22, Galatians 2:19-21).
The Bible and Christianity do not teach that observing worship days has any eternal rewards or protects people from eternal punishments.
We are saved by righteousness by grace through faith, not by the law (Romans 3:20, Galatians 2:21, Ephesians 2:8-9).
The day one conducts their worship has nothing to do with our relationship with God, be it for salvation, blessing or even punishment.
Sabbath
Sabbath is not a day. Exodus 20:8-10 says the seventh day is when the sabbath occurs.
Giving this a relatable example, the day Uganda got her independence is not always the day we commemorate it.
Sabbath is what the Jews commemorated on the seventh day, that is why the law begins with the word ‘remember’.
Sabbath is a Hebrew word meaning ‘rest’. The Jews observed this law in commemoration of their days in Egypt when they were slaves and never rested from all their labours.
Deuteronomy 5:15: “And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore, the Lord, your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.”
On the seventh day, slaves who had never rested from their labour, rested under the new authority of Jesus Christ.
Unfortunately, Jews did not appreciate the real Sabbath, who is God Himself since He alone gives rest.
Jesus is the Sabbath to all Christians because it is Him alone who can give us rest from spiritual slavery (Matthew 11:28-30).
So, brother Mugisha, it is not the day that matters, but the event (Sabbath). I pray you experience Jesus as your perpetual Sabbath (Hebrews 4:1).
Answered by
Pr Isaiah White.
Contact: +256775 822 833
