Expert: Sal - 12/5/2009

Question
Sal,

I have enjoyed reading some of your responses to earlier questions and I believe that God is using you to lead people into a deeper relationship with HIM.  I will also state that I am a SDA and I really wanted to hear from a Catholic that has study as to why is Sunday observed in the Catholic church despite no scriptural basis for it?  

Answer
Dear Marcus:

I believe that the day of worship in the New Covenant is irrelevant to God. The New Testament records no command to worship on a particular day. Christians have the freedom to worship on any day that they choose. “In the same way, some think one day is more holy than another day, while others think every day is alike. You should each be fully convinced that whichever day you choose is acceptable” (Romans 14:5). That is the difference between law and grace. The Jews and law-keeping sabbatarians do not enjoy the liberty of Christ. “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage” (Galatians 5:1). While I may worship on any day I wish an SDA cannot do likewise. If he did his co-religionists would condemn him as a heretic. One SDA has told me that he was said to be receiving the mark of the beast just because he questioned the necessity of keeping the Sabbath. It is indeed a sad situation when people consider themselves Christians, but act like Old Covenant Jews still under the bondage of the Law Covenant. They cling to the same covenant that Jesus died to free them from.  “Having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross” (Colossians 2:14).

The Holy Spirit emphasizes Sunday beginning with the Resurrection. “Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn…” (Matthew 28:1). “Now when the Sabbath was passed…” (Mark 16:1). “Now on the first day of the week…” (Luke 24:1). “On the first day of the week…” (John 20:1). These verses supply the “no-brainer” answer to sabbatarians as to why we observe Sunday.  It is to honor our Lord on the day that he rose from the dead thereby defeating Satan for us. Easter Sunday was the greatest event in salvation history. It makes Sunday the rather obvious choice for the Church to gather together for worship and fellowship. There really was no other day for them to choose. Since it is important for Christians to come together for worship as well as to strengthen each other in the faith the Church had to choose a particular day to meet on.  “Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near” (Hebrews 10:24-25).

The Holy Spirit continued to emphasize Sunday by recording only Sunday as the day of Jesus’ appearances. We read of Jesus’ Resurrection Sunday evening appearance (Mark 16:9, 14; Luke 24:1, 6, 36; John 20:1, 16-17, 19). We read of Jesus appearance to the disciples on the road to Emmaus on Sunday (Luke 24:13-32; Mark 16:12). We read that Jesus appeared to Peter on Sunday (Luke 24:34). We read that Jesus appeared to the Apostles the week after his Resurrection also on a Sunday (John 20:26). We read that the Church was born on Pentecost Sunday (Acts 2:1-4; cf. Leviticus 23:15-16). So it should be obvious that the Holy Spirit was emphasizing Sunday over all other days.

Christians accepted the Holy Spirit’s prompting and very early in the history of Christianity began meeting on Sunday. It was not a change of the Sabbath, but a new day of worship for a new covenant. The Sabbath became obsolete with the covenant to which it was attached as its sign. “When He said, ‘A new covenant,’ He has made the first one obsolete…” (Hebrews 8:13). How early Sunday was chosen is open to debate. The Scriptures themselves indicate Sunday observance had its beginnings with the apostles (Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:1-2). John the apostle begins the final book of the Bible with these words, “I was in the spirit on the Lord’s day…” (Revelation 1:10). This is the only place that “Lord’s day” appears in all the Bible. So it’s meaning is disputed. However, the term was used by the infant Church and is still used today to refer to Sunday. For example, “And on the day of our Lord’s Resurrection, which is the Lord’s Day meet more diligently” (Didache 80-90 AD). “If they who were concerned in old things, arrived at a newness of hope, no longer observing the Sabbath but living according to the Lord’s Day, by which our life sprung from him…” (Ignatius of Antioch, 107 AD). “The mystery of the Lord’s Resurrection may not be celebrated on any other day than the Lord’s Day, and on this alone should we observe the breaking off of the Paschal Feast” (Ireneaus, 190 AD).

I hope that this answers your question.

God Bless You,
Sal