One of the deepest conflicts among modern day Christians exists over the day of worship. Seventh-Day believers who worship on the Sabbath have condemned their First-Day brethren becausethey don't "Keep the Sabbath." First-Day believers who worship on Sunday have condemned Sabbath-keepers for being legalistic idolaters who worship the day, instead of the Lord of the day. Sibling rivalry among the seed of Abraham is nothing new. In John 4:23-24 the Bible records a meeting between Jesus and a Samaritan woman. Their conversation reveals a similar conflict between the Samaritans and the Jews over the place of worship. The Jews worshiped in Jerusalem and the Samaritans worshiped in the mountains. However, Jesus brought insight and resolution regarding the issue of worship when He made this declaration: "Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers that the Father seeks. God is spirit and His worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth." In other words, both sides had fallen short of what the Father seeks.
The words Jesus spoke to the woman at the well 2,000 years ago are still Yea and Amen! The present conflict between Seventh-Day and First-Day believers can only be resolved as we look to Jesus who is Lord of all.
What is the Seventh Day Alternative: Alternative to What?
For the Seventh-Day worshiper, it is an alternative to the superficial, legalistic, hypocritical attempt to follow the letter of the law by legislating behavior according to manmade traditions. For the First-Day worshiper, it is an alternative to the total disregard for a day the Lord has blessed and called Holy. To all, it is a move towards a spiritual, meaningful, fulfilling, rightful view of the Sabbath.
The Origin of the Seventh Day
The first mention of the seventh day is in Genesis 2. God blessed the seventh day and He called it holy. He blessed man and the seventh day because only man and the seventh day were created with eternal properties. However, only the seventh day was declared holy. Man could not be declared holy in the book of Genesis. God knew that we would fall into sin. It would take the shed blood of our Lord and Savior to make us a holy nation. In all of God.s majestic creation, the seventh day was the only thing that He blessed and declared holy. And there is no scriptural evidence to support a claim that God has ever reversed His seventh-day blessing or declared it unholy.
The Seventh-Day is for All
Both sides of this issue quote scriptures to support their claims. However, Psalm 119:160 (NAS) states "The sum of Your word is truth, and every one of Your righteous ordinances is everlasting." We must be willing to take a balanced, comprehensive journey through scripture, rightly dividing the word, in order to know the truth.
Before Abram became Abraham, before the Law of Moses was given on Mount Sinai, God consecrated the seventh day at the completion of His creative work. In Exodus 20:8 God spoke these words "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy." This is the only commandment that begins with the word "Remember." God was reminding the people of His decree recorded in Genesis 2 which preceded the law and the creation of the Hebrew nation. He would not have expected them to remember something that they had never known. It's quite possible that 400 years under Pharaoh had dulled their memory. But the claim that the Seventh-Day observance is just for Jews who are under the law is not biblically sound. In Isaiah 66:23 the word declares "...From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come and bow down before Me,... says the LORD." This does not refer to Old Testament events. This proclamation is for the new millennium - the age to come. And it is not just for the Jew. It is for all mankind. According to scripture, all mankind shall come to worship Him from one Sabbath to the next! In Matthew 24:20, Jesus talks about the End of the Age and the persecution that will arise prior to His return. He tells us to pray that our flight not be on the Sabbath. If He did not intend for us to continue keeping the Sabbath, why would He say such a thing? It is evident that the Sabbath is still of great importance to our God.
The Sabbath was never transferred to Sunday by God or the Bible
The following quotations are from First-Day theologians, past and present, Catholic and Protestant who all attest to the fact that the Seventh Day is still the Sabbath of both the Old and New Testaments. They all agree that the consecration of Sunday as a replacement for the Sabbath has no basis in Holy Scripture.
No One is Saved by the Day
The commandments associated with the Sabbath had to do with rest. Corporate Sabbath-Day observance became customary after the law was given. The fact that Jesus, Paul and the believers who walked with them observed the custom of Seventh-Day worship makes it a good example to follow. However, this does not give anyone the right to condemn another believer because they worship on Sunday. As a matter of fact, Colossians 2:16 says that we should not to let anyone judge us regarding a Sabbath Day. This scripture does not say that the Sabbath is no longer blessed and holy; it simply says that we are not to be judged because of it! Romans 3:20-22 states that "Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law, rather through the law we become conscious of sin. But now a righteousness from God, apart from the law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe." Salvation is by faith in Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross. To suggest that salvation is obtained by the observance of a day is to deny the sufficiency of the atoning blood of Christ and its ability to save to the utmost. To uphold Sabbath-keeping as an evidence of salvation is to diminish the work of the cross and render the death of Jesus Christ, unnecessary. The carnal striving to obtain or to prove righteousness through .Keeping the Sabbath. has resulted in a list of do.s and don.ts that are followed to appease men but have no power to bring about a change of heart. And so the day that God created to be a restful delight has become a burden. The fact is that none of us could possibly keep a Sabbath according to the letter of the law. We would fail the minute we switched on the lights in our home. There.s something much deeper that God is calling us to. It is spiritual and not carnal. John 8:36 declares that He whom the Son sets free is free indeed. The Lord of the Sabbath said that the Sabbath was created for man and not man for the Sabbath (Mark 2:27). The veil in the temple was ripped when Jesus died for our sins. Religious leaders have no right to interfere with the divine intimacy that every believer is afforded by grace. Those who are led by the spirit are His and have no need of manmade lists. As we draw near to God, He will show us how to keep the Sabbath holy. Observing the Sabbath is more a state of mind and a heart condition than a code of behavior. That which causes the believer to honor, draw near to, magnify, rest in, meditate on, or delight in the Lord should be acceptable on the Sabbath. The Seventh-Day Alternative seeks relationship with God borne of love, not fear. And this love embraces all believers who call on the name of Jesus. The Seventh-Day Alternative allows the believer to lay down the cares of a performance-driven week and enter into a place of divine fellowship where God can minister rest and restoration. This is the kind of worshiper that the Father seeks. The Bible states that one day we will all worship Him from one Sabbath day to the next. The mission for The Church of the Lord's Gospel is to walk in the truth that we've been graced to receive, share this truth in love, and condemn no one for that which the Lord has not yet revealed to them.
The words Jesus spoke to the woman at the well 2,000 years ago are still Yea and Amen! The present conflict between Seventh-Day and First-Day believers can only be resolved as we look to Jesus who is Lord of all.
What is the Seventh Day Alternative: Alternative to What?
For the Seventh-Day worshiper, it is an alternative to the superficial, legalistic, hypocritical attempt to follow the letter of the law by legislating behavior according to manmade traditions. For the First-Day worshiper, it is an alternative to the total disregard for a day the Lord has blessed and called Holy. To all, it is a move towards a spiritual, meaningful, fulfilling, rightful view of the Sabbath.
The Origin of the Seventh Day
The first mention of the seventh day is in Genesis 2. God blessed the seventh day and He called it holy. He blessed man and the seventh day because only man and the seventh day were created with eternal properties. However, only the seventh day was declared holy. Man could not be declared holy in the book of Genesis. God knew that we would fall into sin. It would take the shed blood of our Lord and Savior to make us a holy nation. In all of God.s majestic creation, the seventh day was the only thing that He blessed and declared holy. And there is no scriptural evidence to support a claim that God has ever reversed His seventh-day blessing or declared it unholy.
The Seventh-Day is for All
Both sides of this issue quote scriptures to support their claims. However, Psalm 119:160 (NAS) states "The sum of Your word is truth, and every one of Your righteous ordinances is everlasting." We must be willing to take a balanced, comprehensive journey through scripture, rightly dividing the word, in order to know the truth.
Before Abram became Abraham, before the Law of Moses was given on Mount Sinai, God consecrated the seventh day at the completion of His creative work. In Exodus 20:8 God spoke these words "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy." This is the only commandment that begins with the word "Remember." God was reminding the people of His decree recorded in Genesis 2 which preceded the law and the creation of the Hebrew nation. He would not have expected them to remember something that they had never known. It's quite possible that 400 years under Pharaoh had dulled their memory. But the claim that the Seventh-Day observance is just for Jews who are under the law is not biblically sound. In Isaiah 66:23 the word declares "...From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come and bow down before Me,... says the LORD." This does not refer to Old Testament events. This proclamation is for the new millennium - the age to come. And it is not just for the Jew. It is for all mankind. According to scripture, all mankind shall come to worship Him from one Sabbath to the next! In Matthew 24:20, Jesus talks about the End of the Age and the persecution that will arise prior to His return. He tells us to pray that our flight not be on the Sabbath. If He did not intend for us to continue keeping the Sabbath, why would He say such a thing? It is evident that the Sabbath is still of great importance to our God.
The Sabbath was never transferred to Sunday by God or the Bible
The following quotations are from First-Day theologians, past and present, Catholic and Protestant who all attest to the fact that the Seventh Day is still the Sabbath of both the Old and New Testaments. They all agree that the consecration of Sunday as a replacement for the Sabbath has no basis in Holy Scripture.
ROMAN CATHOLIC CONFESSIONS
James Cardinal Gibbons, The Faith of our Fathers, 88th ed., pp. 89.
Stephen Keenan, A Doctrinal Catechism 3rd ed., p. 174.
John Laux, A Course in Religion for Catholic High Schools and Academies (1936), vol. 1, P. 51.
Daniel Ferres, ed., Manual of Christian Doctrine (1916), p.67.
Baptist
Dr. Edward T. Hiscox, a paper read before a New York ministers' conference, Nov. 13, 1893, reported in New York Examiner, Nov.16, 1893.
Disciples of Christ
Alexander Campbell, The Christian Baptist, Feb. 2, 1824,vol. 1. no. 7, p. 164.
Lutheran
The Sunday Problem, a study book of the United Lutheran Church (1923), p. 36.
Augsburg Confession of Faith art. 28; written by Melanchthon, approved by Martin Luther, 1530; as published in The Book of Concord of the Evangelical Lutheran Church Henry Jacobs, ed. (1 91 1), p. 63.
One story often used by First-Day worshipers to support Sunday as a replacement for the Seventh-Day Sabbath is found in Acts 20:7. The event described was actually a Saturday evening fellowship where Paul talked well into the night. In biblical times, midnight did not mark the passing of one day to the next. It was the setting of the sun that marked a new day. Therefore, when the evening of the first day of the week is indicated in scripture, it is translated to what we would call Saturday night. This was not a Sunday church service; it was a Saturday evening pot-luck which featured a rather long-winded preacher!James Cardinal Gibbons, The Faith of our Fathers, 88th ed., pp. 89.
"But you may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and you will not find a single line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday. The Scriptures enforce the religious observance of Saturday, a day which we never sanctify."
Stephen Keenan, A Doctrinal Catechism 3rd ed., p. 174.
"Question: Have you any other way of proving that the Church has power to institute festivals of precept? "Answer: Had she not such power, she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her-she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday, the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday, the seventh day, a change for which there is no Scriptural authority."
John Laux, A Course in Religion for Catholic High Schools and Academies (1936), vol. 1, P. 51.
"Some theologians have held that God likewise directly determined the Sunday as the day of worship in the New Law, that He Himself has explicitly substituted the Sunday for the Sabbath. But this theory is now entirely abandoned. It is now commonly held that God simply gave His Church the power to set aside whatever day or days she would deem suitable as Holy Days. The Church chose Sunday, the first day of the week, and in the course of time added other days as holy days."
Daniel Ferres, ed., Manual of Christian Doctrine (1916), p.67.
"Question: How prove you that the Church hath power to command feasts and holy days?
"Answer: By the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow of, and therefore they fondly contradict themselves, by keeping Sunday strictly, and breaking most other feasts commanded by the same Church.'
PROTESTANT CONFESSIONS"Answer: By the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow of, and therefore they fondly contradict themselves, by keeping Sunday strictly, and breaking most other feasts commanded by the same Church.'
Baptist
Dr. Edward T. Hiscox, a paper read before a New York ministers' conference, Nov. 13, 1893, reported in New York Examiner, Nov.16, 1893.
"There was and is a commandment to keep holy the Sabbath day, but that Sabbath day was not Sunday. It will be said, however, and with some show of triumph, that the Sabbath was transferred from the seventh to the first day of the week .... Where can the record of such a transaction be found? Not in the New Testament absolutely not."
"To me it seems unaccountable that Jesus, during three years' intercourse with His disciples, often conversing with them upon the Sabbath question . . . never alluded to any transference of the day; also, that during forty days of His resurrection life, no such thing was intimated."
"Of course, I quite well know that Sunday did come into use in early Christian history . . . . But what a pity it comes branded with the mark of paganism, and christened with the name of the sun god, adopted and sanctioned by the papal apostasy, and bequeathed as a sacred legacy to Protestantism!"
"To me it seems unaccountable that Jesus, during three years' intercourse with His disciples, often conversing with them upon the Sabbath question . . . never alluded to any transference of the day; also, that during forty days of His resurrection life, no such thing was intimated."
"Of course, I quite well know that Sunday did come into use in early Christian history . . . . But what a pity it comes branded with the mark of paganism, and christened with the name of the sun god, adopted and sanctioned by the papal apostasy, and bequeathed as a sacred legacy to Protestantism!"
Disciples of Christ
Alexander Campbell, The Christian Baptist, Feb. 2, 1824,vol. 1. no. 7, p. 164.
"'But,' say some, 'it was changed from the seventh to the first day.' Where? when? and by whom? No man can tell. No; it never was changed, nor could it be, unless creation was to be gone through again: for the reason assigned must be changed before the observance, or respect to the reason, can be changed! It is all old wives' fables to talk of the change of the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day. If it be changed, it was that august personage changed it who changes times and laws ex officio - I think his name is Doctor Antichrist.'"
Lutheran
The Sunday Problem, a study book of the United Lutheran Church (1923), p. 36.
"We have seen how gradually the impression of the Jewish sabbath faded from the mind of the Christian Church, and how completely the newer thought underlying the observance of the first day took possession of the church. We have seen that the Christians of the first three centuries never confused one with the other, but for a time celebrated both."
Augsburg Confession of Faith art. 28; written by Melanchthon, approved by Martin Luther, 1530; as published in The Book of Concord of the Evangelical Lutheran Church Henry Jacobs, ed. (1 91 1), p. 63.
"They [Roman Catholics] refer to the Sabbath Day, a shaving been changed into the Lord's Day, contrary to the Decalogue, as it seems. Neither is there any example whereof they make more than concerning the changing of the Sabbath Day. Great, say they, is the power of the Church, since it has dispensed with one of the Ten Commandments!"
No One is Saved by the Day
The commandments associated with the Sabbath had to do with rest. Corporate Sabbath-Day observance became customary after the law was given. The fact that Jesus, Paul and the believers who walked with them observed the custom of Seventh-Day worship makes it a good example to follow. However, this does not give anyone the right to condemn another believer because they worship on Sunday. As a matter of fact, Colossians 2:16 says that we should not to let anyone judge us regarding a Sabbath Day. This scripture does not say that the Sabbath is no longer blessed and holy; it simply says that we are not to be judged because of it! Romans 3:20-22 states that "Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law, rather through the law we become conscious of sin. But now a righteousness from God, apart from the law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe." Salvation is by faith in Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross. To suggest that salvation is obtained by the observance of a day is to deny the sufficiency of the atoning blood of Christ and its ability to save to the utmost. To uphold Sabbath-keeping as an evidence of salvation is to diminish the work of the cross and render the death of Jesus Christ, unnecessary. The carnal striving to obtain or to prove righteousness through .Keeping the Sabbath. has resulted in a list of do.s and don.ts that are followed to appease men but have no power to bring about a change of heart. And so the day that God created to be a restful delight has become a burden. The fact is that none of us could possibly keep a Sabbath according to the letter of the law. We would fail the minute we switched on the lights in our home. There.s something much deeper that God is calling us to. It is spiritual and not carnal. John 8:36 declares that He whom the Son sets free is free indeed. The Lord of the Sabbath said that the Sabbath was created for man and not man for the Sabbath (Mark 2:27). The veil in the temple was ripped when Jesus died for our sins. Religious leaders have no right to interfere with the divine intimacy that every believer is afforded by grace. Those who are led by the spirit are His and have no need of manmade lists. As we draw near to God, He will show us how to keep the Sabbath holy. Observing the Sabbath is more a state of mind and a heart condition than a code of behavior. That which causes the believer to honor, draw near to, magnify, rest in, meditate on, or delight in the Lord should be acceptable on the Sabbath. The Seventh-Day Alternative seeks relationship with God borne of love, not fear. And this love embraces all believers who call on the name of Jesus. The Seventh-Day Alternative allows the believer to lay down the cares of a performance-driven week and enter into a place of divine fellowship where God can minister rest and restoration. This is the kind of worshiper that the Father seeks. The Bible states that one day we will all worship Him from one Sabbath day to the next. The mission for The Church of the Lord's Gospel is to walk in the truth that we've been graced to receive, share this truth in love, and condemn no one for that which the Lord has not yet revealed to them.
Because I'm often in church 3-4 times a week for services and worship! 
