Ask the Pastor 125

Why do we go to church on Sunday instead of Saturday?

Last week we looked at the subject of the Sabbath day as it was instituted in creation and in the law of Moses. That day was also a day of worship under the law, but as believers, we are no longer under the law but under grace. But is that the only reason why we would worship on Sunday rather than Saturday? Saturday is the seventh day of the week and Sunday is the first day of the week. It has been said that the Jews gave us Saturday off and the Christians gave us Sunday off which gives us the weekend. If we examine the Scriptures more closely, we will find some interesting facts about the first day of the week, beginning with the law. In Leviticus 23 we find that there are two feasts that are held on the first day of the week. The first of these is the feast of firstfruits which speaks to the resurrection of our Lord (see I Corinthians 15:20); the second is the feast of the 50th day, which in the Greek is Pentecost and it was on Pentecost when the Church began as the Holy Spirit descended (see Acts 2:1 ff). In keeping with this set pattern, the Church immediately began to meet on the first day of the week (see Acts 20:7; I Cor. 16:2). There is a simple question to be asked here, what is the most appropriate for the Church, to worship on the day in which our Lord was in the tomb or on the day in which He rose victorious over death and the grave (see Luke 24:1)? The answer is obvious, we worship on the day of victory and our Lord’s resurrection.

Have questions about the Bible? Send them to Dr. Greg Koehn at gak4850@gmail.com and read the answer here in this article.