Expert: Rev. Robert Woods - 9/24/2009

Question
Why do Baptist worship in Sunday's instead of Saturday's

Answer
Blessings and thank you for your question.

We believe that the change in day for the Sabbath to Sunday was Divinely Authorized.  When Jesus declared that “the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath,” He wanted them to understand that He had the power to change the day on which the holy rest should be observed and the way it which it should be observed.  Scriptures clearly indicate that the Sabbath was celebrated on different days.  
1.   Originally, as seen in Genesis 2:3, the Sabbath was to be observed after the six days of work by God.  Here, in the institution of the Sabbath, it is distinctly declared to be a day of Holy rest after 6 days of labor, and it was to be a memorial of creation.  
2.   The next mention of the Sabbath is in connection with the giving of the manna (Ex 16:14-31).  Here the manna is stated to have fallen for 6 days, that is from the 16th to the 21st day of the second month; and that the day following, or the twenty-second, was the first 7th day Sabbath celebrated in the Wilderness of Sin.  “See for the Lord has given you the Sabbath, so He has given you on the 6th day the bread of life for 2 days.  So the people rested on the 7th day.”  The Sabbath as a holy rest was re-established at this time.  There is controversy over what day was actually observed.  If the 22 day was a Sabbath day, then the 15th should have been also, but it was not because they marched that day.  Dr. W. H. Rogers holds that “the only change of the Sabbath by God’s authority is for the Jews between the giving of the manna and the resurrection of Christ.  The first day of the week, but always the 7th after 6 working days was the day of the holy rest from Adam to Moses.  The Sabbath was separated from idolatry by changing it from Sunday to Saturday among the chosen people ‘throughout their generations,’ 1500 years (Ex 31:13-14; Ezek. 20:12).  At Christ’s resurrection expired by statue limitation this peculiarity of exceptional change, leaving the divine rule for all mankind, requiring 1st day Sabbath keeping, as had been the case for the 1st 2500 years of human history.”  
3.   The Christian Sabbath or “Lord’s Day” has been tradition since apostolic times.  It came early to be known as the “Lord’s Day” to distinguish it from the Jewish Sabbath.  That this change was divinely authorized is show (1) by the example of Jesus, (2) by the authority of the apostles, (3) by the practices of the early church, and (4) by the testimony of the early apostolic fathers.
a. Jesus placed approval upon the 1st day of the week, by meeting with His disciples on this day.  The resurrection took place on the morning of the 1st day of the week.  The four accounts of the gospels agree that the Savior arose early “the first day of the week.”  His first meeting with the body of His disciples was on the evening of the resurrection day (John 20:19); and the second on the evening of the 8th day, which would of course, be the following first day of the next week.  There were 3 more “first days” before the ascension, but it is not said whether Jesus met with His disciples on any or all of them.  However, there were 3 more appearances: to the 500, to James, and to the apostles (1 Cor.15:1-4).
b.  The Apostles authorized the change, doubtless due to the unrecorded instructions of Jesus during the 40 days (Acts 1:2).  Twenty five years later St. Paul worshiped, shared communion, and preached at Troas on Sunday (1 Cor 16:1-2).  This clearly indicates that the apostle sanctioned the 1st day as the Christian Sabbath.  
c. The practices of the early churches are further proof of worship on Sunday.  This is shown by the passages just cited, and also by St. John’s reference to the Sabbath as the “Lord’s day” (Rev 1:10).  Since he uses the phrase without any reference to the first day, it is evidence that when the Apocalypse was written, the 1st day was generally know as the “Lord’s Day” in contradiction to the Jewish 7th day.  
d, Since some of the early apostolic fathers were associated with the apostles, their writings from the historical standpoint, furnish conclusive evidence as to the current thought of that time.  For example, Ignatius, Polycarp, Irenaeus, Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria, Theodoret, Eusebius, Origen, the Didache or Teaches of the Twelve all mention the Sabbath observance being on the Lord’s Day.


Here is what the Early Church Fathers said about the Sabbath, state of the dead, eating of meats, and keeping the Jewish Law of Moses!

Keep in mind that these are the earliest of the church Fathers. They pre existed the origin of the Roman Catholic Church which took place between 300 to 400 AD, and pre existed the creation of the Pope which took place several hundred years later!

The historical fact is, that the first Christian converts were Jews. These Jewish believers in Christ, continued to keep the Saturday Sabbath as their tradition and law commanded. As Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, led Gentiles to Christ, they would gather to worship the following day, Sunday. The reason was simple. Gentiles were forbidden by the Jewish Law to enter Jewish Synagogues and defile the Jewish Holy Place of worship! Paul had a tremendous struggle with the Jewish Converts called "Judaizers" who would follow him from city to city, telling the Gentile converts that they could not be saved unless they kept the Jewish laws, which included Sabbath Keeping. Paul would have to return, or write letters like the one he wrote to the Galatians, and convince these Gentile converts that they were saved by faith in Jesus Christ, not by keeping the Jewish Law! So the early Christian church worshipped on both days, from the very onset of the Christian faith! The Jewish Converts on Saturday, the Gentile converts on Sunday! As the Jewish converts passed away, and the Gentile church continued to thrive, it would only be reasonable to note that the observance of Sunday took precedence!

1.     The Encyclopedia Britannica under "Sabbath" and "Sunday" says.  "In the early Christian Church Jewish Christians continued to keep the sabbath, like other points of the law ...  On the other hand, Paul from the first days of Gentile Christianity, laid it down definitely that the Jewish sabbath was not binding on Christians.  Controversy with Judaizers led in process of time to direct condemnation of those who still kept the Jewish day ...  In 321 A.D. Constantine made the Christian sabbath, Sunday, the rest day for the Roman Empire, but it was observed by Christians for nearly 300 years before it became law by Constantine."

2.     The New International Encyclopedia on "Sunday" says, "For some time after the foundation of the Christian Church the converts from Judaism still observed the Jewish sabbath to a greater or lesser extent, at first, it would seem, concurrently with the celebration of the first day; but before the end of the apostolic period, Sunday, known as the Lord's Day, had thoroughly established itself as the special day to be sanctified (set apart) by rest from secular labor and by public worship. The hallowing of Sunday appears incontestably as a definite law in the Church by the beginning of the fourth century; and the Emperor Constantine confirmed the custom by a law of the state."

THE EPISTLE OF IGNATIUS TO THE MAGESIANS (A.D. 30-107.)
Ignatius was the second Bishop of the church of Antioch and a personal disciple of one or more of the apostles! He was already born when Jesus was crucified, and was a major part of the origins of the newborn Christian church! He was NOT a Roman Catholic!

pg 126 (Chapter 9)     The Sabboth and the Lord's Day, the 8th day

"no longer observing the Sabbath, but living in the observance of the Lord's Day, on which also our life has sprung up again by Him...
let us therefore no longer keep the Sabbath after the Jewish manner, and rejoice in days of idleness; for “he that does not work, let him not eat.” For say the [holy] oracles, “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat thy bread.” But let every one of you keep the Sabbath after a spiritual manner, rejoicing in meditation on the law, not in relaxation of the body, admiring the workmanship of God, and not eating things prepared the day before, nor using lukewarm drinks, and walking within a prescribed space, nor finding delight in dancing and plaudits which have no sense in them. And after the observance of the Sabbath, let every friend of Christ keep the Lord's Day as a festival, the resurrection-day, the queen and chief of all the days [of the week]. Looking forward to this, the prophet declared, “To the end, for the eighth day,” on which our life both sprang up again, and the victory over death was obtained in Christ,"

THE EPISTLE OF BARNABAS (AD  100)
Barnabas was the companion of Paul the Apostle!
pg 271 (Chapter 15)       Eighth Day Worship

"Ye perceive how He speaks: Your present Sabbaths are not acceptable to Me, but that is which I have made, [namely this,] when, giving rest to all things, I shall make a beginning of the eighth day, that is, a beginning of another world. Wherefore, also, we keep the eighth day with joyfullness, the day also on which Jesus rose again from the dead. And when He had manifested Himself, He ascended into the heavens."

2nd Apology of Justin Martyr (Letter to a Jew named Trypho) [A.D. 110-165.]
pg 382     meat law directed to rebellious Israel     (Chapter 20)
“Moreover, you were commanded to abstain from certain kinds of food, in order that you might keep God before your eyes while you ate and drank, seeing that you were prone and very ready to depart from His knowledge, as Moses also affirms: `The people ate and drank, and rose up to play.' And again: `Jacob ate, and was satisfied, and waxed fat; and he who was beloved kicked: he waxed fat, he grew thick, he was enlarged, and he forsook God who had made him.' For it was told you by Moses in the book of Genesis, that God granted to Noah, being a just man, to eat of every animal, but not of flesh with the blood, which is dead.” And as he was ready to say, “as the green herbs,” I anticipated him: “Why do you not receive this statement, `as the green herbs,' in the sense in which it was given by God, to wit, that just as God has granted the herbs for sustenance to man, even so has He given the animals for the diet of flesh? But, you say, a distinction was laid down thereafter to Noah, because we do not eat certain herbs. As you interpret it, the thing is incredible. And first I shall not occupy myself with this, though able to say and to hold that every vegetable is food, and fit to be eaten. But although we discriminate between green herbs, not eating all, we refrain from eating some, not because they are common or unclean, but because they are bitter, or deadly, or thorny. But we lay hands on and take of all herbs which are sweet, very nourishing and good, whether they are marine or land plants. Thus also God by the mouth of Moses commanded you to abstain from unclean and improper and violent animals: when, moreover, though you  were eating manna in the desert, and were seeing all those wondrous acts wrought for you by God, you made and worshipped the golden calf."

pg 373     Law Abrogated  (Chapter 11)     Justin Martyr writing to a Jew

"But we do not trust through Moses or through the law; for then we would do the same as ourselves. But now  - (for I have read that there shall be a final law, and a covenant, the chiefest of all, which it is now incumbent on all men to observe, as many as are seeking after the inheritance of God. For the law promulgated on Horeb is now old, and belongs to yourselves alone; but this is for all universally. Now, law placed against law has abrogated that which is before it, and a covenant which comes after in like manner has put an end to the previous one; and an eternal and final law - namely, Christ - has been given to us, and the covenant is trustworthy, after which there shall be no law, no commandment, no ordinance."

pg 374     Perpetual (continuous, everyday) Sabboth   (Chapter 12)

"The Lawgiver is present, yet you do not see Him; to the poor the Gospel is preached, the blind see, yet you do not understand. You have now need of a second circumcision, though you glory greatly in the flesh. The new law requires you to keep perpetual sabbath, and you, because you are idle for one day, suppose you are pious, not discerning why this has been commanded you: and if you eat unleavened bread, you say the will of God has been fulfilled. The Lord our God does not take pleasure in such observances: if there is any perjured person or a thief among you, let him cease to be so; if any adulterer, let him repent; then he has kept the sweet and true sabbaths of God. If any one has impure hands, let him wash and be pure."

pg 390     Salvation for Jews ONLY through Christ  -  No Sabboth keeping to inherit Kingdom of God      (Chapter 26)

And I replied, “I do not say so; but those who have persecuted and do persecute Christ, if they do not repent, shall not inherit anything on the holy mountain. But the Gentiles, who have believed on Him, and have repented of the sins which they have committed, they shall receive the inheritance along with the patriarchs and the prophets, and the just men who are descended from Jacob, even although they neither keep the Sabbath, nor are circumcised, nor observe the feasts. Assuredly they shall receive the holy inheritance of God."

pg 399     The New Law - The law to be AFTER Moses,  NOT the law BY Moses     (Chapter 34)
"For where it is said, `The law of the Lord is perfect,' you do not understand it of the law which was to be after Moses, but of the law which was given by Moses, although God declared that He would establish a new law and a new covenant."

Pg  598             The Body and Soul are NOT the same  (CHAPTER 10)

"The resurrection is a resurrection of the flesh which died. For the spirit dies not; the soul is in the body, and without a soul it cannot live. The body, when the soul forsakes it, is not. For the body is the house of the soul; and the soul the house of the spirit. These three, in all those who cherish a sincere hope and unquestioning faith in God, will be saved."

Irenaus (book 3) (120-202 AD)
Irenaus was Bishop of the church in Lyons, France!
pg 926     The Law terminated with John.     (Chapter 4)
2. "Since, then, the law originated with Moses, it terminated with John as a necessary consequence. Christ had come to fulfill it: wherefore “the law and the prophets were” with them “until John.” And therefore Jerusalem, taking its commencement from David, and fulfilling its own times, must have an end of legislation when the new covenant was revealed"

pg 956     Sabbaths were given as a “sign.”  Righteous Abraham did NOT observe Sabbaths (Chapter 16)  (Irenaus refers to Ezekiel 20:12)
"This same does Ezekiel the prophet say with regard to the Sabbaths: “Also I gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord, that sanctify them.” And in Exodus, God says to Moses: “And ye shall observe My Sabbaths; for it shall be a sign between Me and you for your generations.” These things, then, were given for a sign; And that man was not justified by these things, but that they were given as a sign to the people, this fact shows, - that  Abraham himself, without circumcision and without observance of Sabbaths, “believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness; and he was called the friend of God.”

Pg  817      Rich man (named Dives) and Lazarus have memory of this world, was a true story, not a parable of Luke 16 (Irenaus Chapter 34)

1. "The Lord has taught with very great fullness, that souls not only continue to exist, not by passing from body to body, but that they preserve the same form [in their separate state] as the body had to which they were adapted, and that they remember the deeds which they did in this state of existence, and from which they have now ceased, - in that narrative which is recorded respecting the rich man and that Lazarus who found repose in the bosom of Abraham. In this account He states that Dives knew Lazarus after death, and Abraham in like manner, and that each one of these persons continued in his own proper position, and that [Dives] requested Lazarus to be sent to relieve him - [Lazarus], on whom he did not [formerly] bestow even the crumbs [which fell] from his table. [He tells us] also of the answer given by Abraham, who was acquainted not only with what respected himself, but Dives also, and who enjoined those who did not wish to come into that place of torment to believe Moses and the prophets, and to receive the preaching of Him who was to rise again from the dead. By these things, then, it is plainly declared that souls continue to exist that they do not pass from body to body, that they possess the form of a man, so that they may be recognized, and retain the memory of things in this world;" ( Irenaus 120-202 AD)

Eusebius Pamphilus, Bishop of Ceserea around 300 AD
An early church historian, Eusebius Pamphilus, Bishop of Ceserea around 300 AD, writes that Jesus raised those who were dead and took them to heaven with him!

"...How he humbled himself, and died, and lowered his divinity; what things, also he suffered from the Jews; how he was crucified, and descended into hell, (Hades) and burst the bars which had never yet been broken, and rose again, and also raised with himself the dead that had slept for ages. And how he descended alone, but ascended with a great multitude to his Father."

(Eusebius Pamphilus Ecclesiastical History, Book I, Chapter XIII )
The above statement gives truth to the scripture written below as God brings the souls of the dead saints, which are now in heaven, with him when He returns:

1 Thes. 4:14
   For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.



SABBATARIANS have long challenged, "Find one verse in the Bible that shows the day of worship has been changed from Sabbath to Sunday."


Well, that statement is part of building a straw man. It is not the issue. The New Testament makes that a moot point because it says it doesn't matter what day you worship on.

Read Romans 14:5: "One man regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Let each man be fully convinced in his own mind."

   Galatians 4:9-11 "But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again? You observe days and months and seasons and years. I fear for you, that perhaps I have labored over you in vain."

   Colossians 2:16-17 "Therefore let no one act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day--things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ."

The 7 post-resurrection appearances of Christ show that Jesus purposefully chose the first day of the week to meet with His disciples to encourage and exhort them. The evidence shows that five of these appearances occurred on a Sunday, the first day of the week. We do no have a record of what the actual day on which the other appearances (John 21 and Acts 1:6-10) occurred to His disciples. What we can say with accuracy is this, after Jesus' resurrection whenever He met with His disciples and the day is identified, it is NOT the Sabbath, it is the first day of the week!

   1). To Mary, On the morning of the resurrection -- Matthew 28:8-10; Mark 16:9; John 20:11-18

   2). To two disciples going to Emmaus -- Luke 24:13-33; Mark 16:12-13

   3). To Simon (Peter) -- Luke 24:31-35.

   4). To the eleven disciples on the evening of Resurrection Sunday - Mark 16:14-18;

   Luke 24:36-44; John 20:19-23

   5). To the Eleven disciples "Eight days later" -- John 20:26-29

       Pentecost happened on the first day of the week! The Church was born on the first day of the week! That doesn't make Sunday the Sabbath, it just tells you that after the resurrection of Jesus, the Sabbath is not emphasized.

       When a day is mentioned in connection with the appearances of the risen Lord Jesus, it is always the first day of the week. Look at the extremely important events that occurred in the life of the first followers of Christ on the first day of the week.

       1). Jesus startled them by appearing to them on the first day (John 20:19).

       2). Jesus received worship from Thomas (John 20:27-28).

       3). Sunday evening Jesus took bread and blessed it and broke it and gave it to His disciples evidently like He had in instituting the communion meal (Luke 22:19) and their "eyes were opened and they recognized Him" (Luke 24:31).

       4). Sunday evening Jesus blessed His disciples twice saying "Peace be with you" (John 20:20; 26).

       5). That same Sunday evening Jesus "...breathed on them and said, 'receive the Holy Spirit'" John 20:22.

       6). On Sunday evening Jesus gave His disciples the ecclesiastical authority to proclaim forgiveness to those who believe in Him through the Gospel (John 20:23).

NOTE: Why did the Disciples meet on Sunday?

   1). Because it now carried a special symbolic/anti-typical significance for them

   2). Even if it didn't and was by chance, -- Jesus still chose to reveal Himself to them only on Sunday, when we know what day it is. That must also hold some kind of Divine significance.

   3). Jesus could have chosen to meet with His disciple on the Sabbath. This would have clearly set a New Covenant precedent. He did not chose to do this. The Sabbath was the sign of a fulfilled covenant (see Exodus 31:17 and Hebrews 8:13).

THE NINE "MORAL" COMMANDS OF THE 10 COMMANDMENTS ARE REITERATED in the New Testament:

   1). To worship the Lord God only (1st commandment): no less than 50 times
   2). Idolatry (2nd commandment): condemned 12 times
   3). Profanity (3rd commandment): condemned 4 times
   4). Honoring parents (5th commandment) is taught 6 times
   5). Murder (6th commandment) condemned 6 times
   6). Adultery (7th commandment) condemned 12 times
   7). Theft (8th commandment) condemned 4 times
   8). False Witness (9th commandment) condemned 4 times
   9). Covetousness (10th commandment) condemned 9 times

JESUS WAS ALSO ACCUSED OF SABBATH BREAKING. Why, if He wanted to be our "example" in Sabbath keeping didn't He make it clear that He was not breaking the Sabbath? Instead He clearly admits to it. He also admits that His disciples were breaking the Sabbath and He defends them. Read Matthew 12:1-14 carefully. Jesus is clearly saying that His disciples are like the priests who may work in the temple every Sabbath and be innocent of breaking the Sabbath. When Jesus says that He is "Lord of the Sabbath" He is declaring that He is above the Sabbath. He may do what He wishes on the Sabbath and therefore His disciples may do whatever they wish as well.
Apparently Jesus did break the Sabbath: "Therefore some of the Pharisees were saying, "This man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath."..." John 9:15. If Jesus did not want us to understand that He was breaking the Sabbath why did He not speak against these accusations. It's because Jesus had the right and the authority to break the Sabbath because He is Lord of the Sabbath. The Sabbath does not bind Him. Think about this, if it does not bind Him, are we not "in Christ"? Why would it be any more binding upon us. (read again Matthew 12:1-14 carefully).

I hope this answers your question.