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What is the biblical foundation for the shift from Saturday (7th day) to Sunday (1st day) worship?

Summary

This discussion revolves around the theological foundation and transition of Sabbath observance from Saturday to Sunday in Christian worship. Pastor Mike Kirkpatrick and Pastor Jim Butler elaborate on the concept, linking Sunday worship to Christ’s resurrection and the inauguration of a new creation. They explore the Fourth Commandment’s moral and positive aspects, emphasizing a theological continuity across covenants: while the moral law (worship and rest one day in seven) remains binding, the specific day (from Saturday to Sunday) reflects covenantal changes. The speakers also highlight the Sabbath’s role as a source of spiritual rest, delight, and a reflection of the ultimate rest in Christ. They argue that Sunday worship is biblically grounded, meant to be a joy rather than a burden, and aligned with God’s design for human rest and worship.

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Transcript

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

worship, sabbath, god, fourth commandment, lord, creation, new covenant, hebrews, theology, moral law, day, rest, consummation, positive, law, meant, called, distort, recognize, resurrection

SPEAKERS

Pastor Jim Butler, Wim Kerkhoff, Pastor Mike Kirkpatrick

Wim Kerkhoff  00:07

Okay, why the shift from Saturday to Sunday for worship?

Pastor Mike Kirkpatrick  00:15

Why did it shift? It’s to commemorate the resurrection of our Lord. He arose on the first day, and he inaugurated the new creation on the first day, which the old creation does point ahead to. So, it’s interesting, a lot of people who kind of balk at the idea that the fourth commandment applies for the first day, they’ll say there’s no command in the New Testament. But what’s interesting is, there was no command, actually, until explicit command, until Exodus as well. But there was still, it is a creation ordinance that the Sabbath, you know, God, you know, sanctified the Sabbath day and made it holy. We work six days, and then we rest on the seventh. But that all points ahead to a consummation. It points ahead to something greater. It points ahead to a completion. And that comes in Christ, Jesus, who rests first and then who worked first, sorry, so that we might rest, and so people also don’t forget that there are Eighth Day Sabbaths in the Old Testament. You know, Pentecost is an eighth day Sabbath. Jubilees is an eighth day Sabbath that are all pointing ahead to something far greater. So as well, even in the Old Testament, when Sinai is mentioned, the fourth commandment looks back to creation and in Exodus 20, and it also recognizes redemption in Deuteronomy 5. So, all those, all that theology plays an important role when it comes to the New Covenant and how the fourth commandment applies for us in the New Covenant, not to mention Isaiah 56 and Isaiah 58 that speak about that, especially Isaiah 56 with the eunuch. You know, it looks ahead to the eunuchs who would come into Acts 8, which also talks about the Sabbath there as well. So, it is a blessed time of rest and a blessed day that still looks ahead to a far greater consummation. One thing people seem to try to get, get us with, is that, but Jesus is our rest, and I believe Jesus is my rest, and there is a greater rest that is coming. But I do think Hebrews 4:9 does very clearly say there still remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. And what’s interesting is the word that is used for rest throughout Chapter 4 is pretty much the same until you get to verse nine and it changes to a Sabbath Keeping rest. And then also the writer, I think Dr Barcelos points this out, in his “Getting the garden right”, but Hebrews 4, and he probably refers to someone else, Beal probably, when it comes to chapter 10, connecting it with creation, sorry, Hebrews 4:10, “For he who has entered his rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from his”. So, it changes to a singular name there, referring, I think, to Christ, not us. It’s not us. Christ has worked and entered his rest, just as God did from his so there is a new creational creation connection there, looking at Christ, who has rest, who’s worked for us, that we might rest in Him. But even as we still work in this lower world, we start with rest, as we still anticipate that final consummation. So, there is a theology, and I do think there is, there is some biblical warrant in the New Testament. Another thing as well is Jesus does say that the man was not made for the Sabbath, but the Sabbath was made for man. And he could have referred to Israel there, but he does target it back to creation as well. So, with the fact it’s a creation ordinance, and we’re of the new creation, with the eighth day Sabbaths, with Hebrews 4, with Jesus consummation, with the fact that, you know the new the early church. They met on the first day. They met on the Lord’s Day. All those things highlight why. Namely, it’s to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the inauguration of new creation.

Pastor Jim Butler  04:10

And I would add, in terms of law, we hold what’s called the threefold division of the law. So, you’ve got the moral law of God revealed in the Ten Commandments. You have what’s called ceremonial law in the Old Testament, regulated worship, tabernacle, priesthood, Temple, those sorts of things. And then judicial law, where judicial law basically governed the body politic for life in the land. So, the fourth commandment is moral law. You need to remember the Sabbath day. There is ceremonial or better, positive aspects of it as well. So positive law is something that God commands based on the covenant, based on a particular circumstance, based on something going on. It’s not moral law. It’s not a reflection of his moral perfection, but it rather is, you know, don’t eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. That’s a positive law. So, the fourth commandment has the moral aspect, one day out of seven you worship God. But there’s the positive aspect, which means whatever covenant you’re in dictates what day that will be on. So the moral principle meet for worship of the living and true God. The positive element is Saturday, Sabbath, keeping in the Old Covenant. Sunday, Sabbath, keeping in the new covenant. And again, I would, I would echo that Hebrews 4:10 I think, really does corroborate in the theology there in Hebrews 4, the parallel between the Father in creation and the Son in new creation, the Son ceasing resting from his works on the day of His resurrection. And then the various passages, they were in Troas for a week, and they met the first day of the week according to Acts 20, verse seven, Paul tells them to set apart money on the first day of the week. 1 Corinthians 16, and then John is in the spirit on the Lord’s Day in Revelation 1. And that use, “Lord’s day”, there’s only one other place in the New Testament where that convention is used. It’s the Lord’s Supper. So it’s kuriake. It’s where we get the word Kirk. It’s something possessed by or owned specifically by the Lord. So the Lord owns every supper you’ll ever eat, but there is something that is specific about the Lord’s Supper. God owns every day that you have, but there’s something specific about the Lord’s day, it is owned by him, possessed by him, specifically. So, I don’t think there’s a lack of evidence in the New Testament that the church worshiped on the first day, and I don’t think there’s a lack of evidence that it was rooted in the fourth commandment, and that in perpetuity, or that perpetual observance of a day in worship of God. So moral law, meet worship, glorify God. Positive law, Saturday Sabbath keeping in the old, Sunday, Lord’s day, keeping in the new.

Pastor Mike Kirkpatrick  07:10

And just to highlight the moral nature of the fourth commandment, as pastor Butler said, there’s a difference between moral and positive, and moral transcends, transcends covenant. And so, we would recognize that the moral law is written, written on the heart of man. And so, you do actually see this reflected even in pagans who recognize there’s still a time to worship. They don’t know which time, they’re obviously worshiping the wrong god. But you know, when we consider the first four commandments, the first commandment deals with who we worship. The second, how we worship. third, our demeanor and approach in worship. But the fourth does deal with the time of worship as well. And pretty much any pagan under the earth recognizes there’s a time to worship, and thankfully, you know we, ours, is regulated by the regular principle of worship and the New Covenant, as we commemorate what Christ has done on the first day.

Wim Kerkhoff

So working six [days], resting one, is still binding, even to people in either the Old or the New Covenant?

Pastor Jim Butler  08:09

I think so. Yeah, and I think that’s where our confession starts, in terms of religious worship and the Sabbath day, the light of nature, that means general revelation. God’s, you know, showing himself through the created order shows that there is a God who has Lordship and sovereignty over all. Is just good and does good unto all, and is therefore to be feared, loved, praised, called upon, trusted in and served with all the heart and all the soul and with all the might. Then it obviously says, but the acceptable way of worshiping the true God is instituted by himself. So, it acknowledges that through general revelation, man knows God is, but because he’s a sinner, he’s going to twist that and distort that and do what he wants to do versus doing what God says to do. But the light of nature, I think, gets a lot – it gets shortchanged, I think, and then in terms of the Sabbath day, paragraph seven, as it is the law of nature that, in general, a proportion of time, by God’s appointment, be set apart for the worship of God, so by his word and a positive moral and perpetual commandment binding all men in all ages, he has particularly appointed one day and seven for a Sabbath to be kept holy unto Him. And then it speaks from the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Jesus, last day of the week, from the resurrection of Christ until he comes again in glory, the Lord’s Day, or Christian Sabbath. So the light of nature is a very sort of kind of a helpful ace in the hole for us. You know the previous question about talking to homosexuals about their sin? At some level, they know we’re right, and that sounds probably bad or mean or vicious or unkind, but you know, what do sinners do? They try to suppress truth in unrighteousness. But they can’t escape the law of God written, you know, on their heart, distorted and messed up as it may be, because of their own sin and their own suppression of things, it’s nevertheless there. So we kind of have somebody on our side in their heart, and I think if we’re wise and loving, we can show them that.

Pastor Mike Kirkpatrick  10:25

Can I just say one more thing about the Lord’s Day? A lot of people who kind of balk at the fourth commandment don’t realize that it is such a delight. We’re not trying to make it a drudgery, that God doesn’t make it a drudgery. We make it a drudgery. But, you know, I think it’s Psalm 92 does say, the Sabbath is meant to be a delight, and it’s a blessing to go to the house of the Lord. And he is, he knows we’re not disembodied spirits. He understands we need rest. And, and the highest rest is worshiping Him. And, and that’s the highest privilege as well, is to worship Him. And so, you know, a lot of people work hard six days a week, five days a week, and in this time, certainly six days, with other things as well. But if we don’t have time to read theology, there is time on the Lord’s day to read theology, there’s time to pray, there’s time to come and worship. It is meant to be a great delight for the people of God and if you understand it in that way, hopefully it changes your perspective on it, because the Bible does teach it and tell us that it is delight and meant to be for our good, yeah, amen. Amen.