CHRISTIAN SABBATH: NO CHRISTIAN HOLY DAYS

(Message by Tanny Keng)

1. Christian Sabbath

a) Many folk regard Sunday as the “Christian Sabbath”. You may be surprised to learn that this is not so. However Sunday (the first day of the week) is the day on which Christians should meet for the Lord’s Supper.

2. No Christian Holy Days

a) There is no commandment given by Christ that Christians should keep the Sabbath. Nor is there any command that the first day of the week should be kept holy as a day of rest. Many people assume such commands, but cannot find them in the New Testament.

b) Certainly the first day of the week is the proper day for Christians to assemble in order to observe the Lord’s Supper and take up the weekly collection (Acts 20:7, 1 Corinthians 16:1-2). However that does not make Sunday a Sabbath rest, nor does it make the first day of the week a holy day — except that the Lord has designated it for assembling to partake of the Lord’s Supper. 

c) There is a link between the expressions "the Lord’s supper" and "the Lord’s day" (Revelation 1:10). The Greek word for "Lord’s" is κυριακος (kuriakos). This word is unique to these two expressions in scripture (1 Corinthians 11:20, Revelation 1:10). Nothing else is described as κυριακος.

d) This indicates that the Lord designates a particular day on which his supper should be observed, rather than any day we please. Only in that sense we may regard the first day as holy. 

The End ...