WHY NOT SUNDAY??? – A Response to Flynn G. Ginino’s “WHY SUNDAY??” Let me begin by saying that the seventh day Sabbath is not Jewish; it is void of racial and geographical limitations. The Sabbath, as engraved in the Ten Commandments, is a universal moral imperative. Is this an indication that anti-Semitism has not died with the fall of the Nazi? It’s still persistent, albeit in a Christian garb, Ii guess. Anyway, let me comment on a statement you made in the opening lines of your post. This is what you said, “We dont worship pagan gods because a day or a month was named after a pagan deity!” This is quite true and I agree with you. But you seem to forget that the pagan god Sol Invictus has a prescribed day of worship (Sunday, the first day of the week), just as the one true God Jehovah has prescribed the Sabbath (the seventh day) for His followers. You must note that just as obedience to one’s command reflects devotion to the same, the observance of either one of these two days bespeaks commitment to the one and rebellion against the other. You cannot have it both ways. God blessed the seventh day (Gen. 2:3), commanded its observance (Ex. 20:8-11) and worshiped on that day (Luke 4:16). He said the seventh day Sabbath was made for man and attaches His authority to it. Mark 2:27-28. He did no such thing on any other day save the Sabbath! Remember, it is the meaning, not of the name, but of the power behind the days that is the issue. Satan claims the first day; God consecrated the seventh. Which will you choose? Better still, who will you choose? Again, you cannot have it both ways. Let us turn now to the content of your post. WHY DO NEW TESTAMENT CHRISTIANS WORSHIP ON SUNDAY? To answer this question, you cited John 20:1, 19 and 26 and concluded that this is the set pattern of worship set by Jesus Himself. I’m afraid such a conclusion is quite hasty. One question begs immediate address is whether the disciples gathered there for worship or not? A careful reading of the context (which you pleaded with us to do so and apparently you ignored!) and the text per se reveal that the gathering happened on the first day, but not for worship. John 20:19 reads, “Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.” The text is quite clear that the disciples did not meet together for worship, but for fear. The disciples were dead scared after what had happened that Jesus had to pronounce the blessing of peace upon them. Had they been in a jolly good mood, Jesus’ words wouldn’t have made sense. The same happened eight days later (26). Jesus again said “Peace to you!” Why? Because some of them were still confused and in doubt (effects of the weekend trauma I bet). For you to say Jesus instituted Sunday observance based on this to texts is ridiculous! Let me remind you that there is not one command in the New Testament that prescribes Sunday worship. Neither are there any texts that say in explicit tone the seventh day Sabbath has been done away with. [Now before you rush to Col. 2:16, let me tell you that the ‘sabbath’ here, as is consistent with the thematic and grammatical contexts, refers to the ceremonial Sabbaths spoken of in Lev. 23. See the close symmetrical parallels in the construction of Ezek. 45:17 and Col. 2:16 for confirmation. You might also want to look at Lev. 23:37-38 and Hose 2:11. Read also the immediate context which has verses 13 and 17 as brackets. I know you’re a good exegete and you’ll never go wrong there.] You tried to explain what is meant by the phrase “God rested on the seventh day” which is commendable. He rested not because He was weary, but because He had completed His wonderful work of creation. However, you missed some important things in Gen. 2:2-3. The text presents ending His work and resting on the seventh day as two distinct activities. “And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.” When God rested on the seventh day, He did not let the day pass without putting a special mark on it; He did not let the day go empty, He blessed and sanctified it. I believe you know well what sanctify mean – to set apart. He set that day apart so man could devote that whole day to Him. This is quite obvious in Ex. 20:8-11 where He commanded man to observe it because He rested on the seventh day. By the way, the Sabbath was not instituted under Moses as you claim. It was instituted at Creation. Under Moses, the Sabbath was given as a reminder of Creation. The Sabbath was before there was Moses, or Abraham or any other Jew. You said the law was strictly of the dispensation of the law. Are you saying the dispensation we are in now is strictly void of law? Do you mean to say that Christianity is a lawless religion? Is morality an OT requisite, but not an NT reality? Such questions demand your treatment, for they arise naturally from the statements you made – a statement bespeaking the heresy of liberty from sin being a license to sin. Now did you just say disciples meet on the second Lord’s Day in Rev. 1:10? In case you forgot, there were no other disciples on Patmos except for John. The Lord’s Day in this passage does not refer to the first day – that was a later traditional input. The meaning of Lord’s Day here must be derived from Scripture itself and not from other secondary sources. Students of the book of Revelation are well aware that it is replete with OT allusions. John constantly used phrases, imageries, symbolisms from the OT to point the NT readers back to themes and ideas in the OT text and tradition. It is possible then for John to highlight such a connection on the outset of the book. Among others, the phrase “Lord’s Day” might be just one. One look at the OT and the day that God claims as His is the seventh day Sabbath. Ex. 20:8-11 comes to mind quickly. In Isa. 58:23 God calls the Sabbath “My holy day” and “the holy day of the LORD.” Even in the NT, Jesus says He is the Lord of the Sabbath! Mat. 12:8. So putting all this together, it makes perfect biblical sense, the seventh day is the Sabbath and it is the Lord’s day. We have not appealed to history, uninspired writers or tradition. We’ve remained true to the Protestant tradition of Sola Scriptura and this is what we get. You said if you were a Jew you’d keep the Sabbath. But since you’re a “New Testament” Christian, you would not keep the Law but only believe in Him. Are you saying faith in Jesus Christ nullifies the obligation of obedience to God’s law? Did Jesus institute Sunday observance to commemorate His resurrection? The Bible makes it clear that Baptism represents Christ’s death and resurrection and through this ritual, we commemorate it. Are you reading a different Bible? Anyway, what is a New Testament Christian? If by NT Christian you mean Christians in the NT church, let me remind you that the NT Christians were made up of both Jews and Gentiles. You cited Acts 20:7 to say that it was the practice of the church to worship on the first day. Can one instance qualify as the “practice” of the church? The phrase “the first day of the week” literally reads “one sabbath” (from the Greek ‘mia sabbaton’). The original text rules out the phrase “the first day of the week.” Look it up in your Greek text! But without resorting to the original language, we can deduce that the meeting was a special ad hoc meeting due to the fact that Paul would depart the next day. Most likely the meeting carried on from the Sabbath service into the Saturday night which according to Jewish reckoning would be the first day and Sunday morning on which Paul left. In either case, the text does not support your point that this is an example of the normal practice of the church to worship on Sunday. The offerings in 1 Cor. 16:1-2 were to be collected at home for “each one” were “lay something aside” on the first day, so that there would be no need for collection again when Paul arrives. This is normal working day, so collections for charity were called. It does not speak of them worshiping and collecting offerings in the church. Another classic example of reading into the text what is not there. Please, read carefully Galatians 4 which speaks of the ceremonial law and the old covenant under which circumcision was necessary. Read also Romans 7:12 which says, “Therefore the law s holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.” In the synagogues, Paul preached to both converted Jews and Gentiles. Gentiles even invited Him to preach the word of God on the Sabbath. Acts 13:42, 44. But never once, he preached against the Sabbath. I challenge you to provide a text which says explicitly that the first day of the week is the new Sabbath. Show me also where it says the seventh day Sabbath, a memorial of Creation, is a type of the salvific ministry of Jesus Christ. What part in Christ’s life, death and resurrection is foreshadowed by the seventh day Sabbath? (NOTE: There is a difference between the seventh day moral Sabbath, and the ceremonial Sabbaths spoken of in Leviticus 23.) You read the account of the NT church through and you’ll never find an instance where the seventh day Sabbath was an issue with the Disciple or the church. Had this been the case, the Sabbath would have entered the Scripture in one of the meetings of the church council. Moreover, had the Sabbath been transferred to or replaced by Sunday, Paul would have made it explicitly clear in one of his writings. We find no such things because the church understood the seventh day Sabbath is a moral imperative along with the rest of the Ten Commandments, and that obedience is still obligatory in the dispensation of grace. Grace does not replace obedience even though obedience does not save. Jesus saves but He calls us to repentance. And repentance, in essence, is the turning away from a lawless life to a life lived in freedom to obey God. Obedience is not a burden, disobedience is. THANK GOD I AM SAVED BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST ALONE! AND I MUST OBEY HIM BECAUSE I LOVE HIM (JOHN 14:15)!! AMEN!!!
Posted on: Sun, 07 Sep 2014 10:55:27 +0000