Old Testament
One of the Ten Commandments says,
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and made it holy. (NAS, Exodus 20:8-11)
The Sabbath day that the bible speaks about is Saturday, the seventh day of the week (Genesis 2:2-3, Leviticus 23:2-3). The Jews have always considered a day to be the interval from sunset to sunset, and they have always observed the Sabbath from Friday evening until Saturday evening. Modern Jews continue the tradition of observing a holy day of rest on the Sabbath (Shabbat in Hebrew) from sunset Friday until nightfall Saturday. The Old Testament law prohibited doing any work on the Sabbath, and one could receive the death penalty for breaking this law (Numbers 15:32-36).
New Testament
Jesus observed the Sabbath (Luke 4:16) and never suggested a change to Sunday.
He did, however, reject a strict legalistic interpretation of the Old Testament commandment.
He said Sabbath observance was not a duty that mankind owed to God. Rather, God made the Sabbath as a day of rest for mankind's benefit (Mark 2:27). Jesus and His disciples did not observe the strict Jewish rules against doing any work on the Sabbath (Matthew 12:1-14, Mark 2:23-28, 3:1-6, Luke 6:1-11, 13:10-17, 14:1-6, John 5:1-18).
Why Don't Christians Observe the Biblical Sabbath?
Early Christians
The first Christians came from among the Jews. They continued to worship as Jews and continued to observe the Sabbath (Acts 13:14, 17:1-2, 18:1-4). But because Jesus arose from the dead on the first day of the week, Sunday, those early Christians called it the "Lord's Day" (Revelation 1:10), and also regularly met for their Christian worship on Sunday (Acts 20:7, 1 Corinthians 16:2).
Here is the first passage given to support this notion: “Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight" (Acts 20:7). This text is part of a running narrative describing various incidents of Paul’s homeward trip to Jerusalem at the close of his third missionary journey. The whole story requires two chapters.
Does the fact that the disciples “came together to break bread” imply a communion service on a holy day? In Acts 2:46,we read that the disciples continued "daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart." It appears that breaking bread refers to the disciples eating their meals together, something they did every day.
Notice that no holy title is used for this particular day. It is simply called "the first day of the week."
Does the fact that Paul held a meeting and preached a message on this day make it a holy day? When we read the whole story of the journey, we find that Paul preached in various places along the way as he traveled to Jerusalem. Were all these sermons timed to come on Sunday?
Look at the last half of Acts 20, which gives a summary of what was probably one of the most important sermons Paul preached on this trip—at least, it is the only one that is described in detail. An examination of the context, especially verse 15, indicates that it was probably preached midweek—certainly not on a Sunday. Therefore, shall we conclude that Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday is a holy day? Paul conducted so many services along his journey that this logic would cause us to conclude that Paul made almost every day of the week holy!
Paul’s meeting at Troas didn’t even begin on Sunday, but rather on Saturday night. We know that the meeting was held at night, for "there were many lamps in the upper room where they were gathered together" (Acts 20:8). The record also declares that Paul "continued his message until midnight" (verse 7). After ensuring that the young man Eutychus was alright, who had fallen asleep and then out the third-story window, Paul continued speaking "even till daybreak" (verse 11). So, the only reason any part of the meeting fell on Sunday was because Paul was so long-winded!
Another reason we know this meeting was held at night was because Paul was “ready to depart the next day” (verse 7). Conybeare and Howson, in their authoritative work, The Life and Epistles of the Apostle Paul, wrote: "It was the evening which succeeded the Jewish Sabbath. On the Sunday morning the vessel was about to sail" (One Volume Edition, 520). Paul took advantage of a last opportunity to speak to them, not because of a usual religious custom, but because of an unusual travel situation.
If Paul held this meeting on a Saturday night, why does the Bible call it “the first day of the week?” This is because of the well-known fact that the Bible reckons days from sunset to sunset, not from midnight to midnight, as we do today. (See Genesis 1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31; Leviticus 23:32.) For Paul and the believers, the first day of the week, as well as their meeting, had begun at sunset on the seventh day.
CONCLUSION:Observing the sabath does not in any way bring you closer to God, but being a new creature does.
Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.
29 Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also:
30 Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith.
31 Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.
