Objections to the Sabbath Commandment

In the fourth of the Ten Commandments, God commanded us to keep the Sabbath day on the seventh day of each week, which is the day that we call Saturday (Exod. 20:8–11; Deut. 5:12–15). However, most Christians today do not keep this commandment because of their views about the Sabbath day. They might raise the following objections:

“The Ten Commandments have been abolished!”

One view is that after Jesus’ death and resurrection, the Ten Commandments have been abolished, and since the commandment to keep the Sabbath is part of the Ten Commandments, then we do not have to keep the Sabbath day today. Thankfully, this is not a very popular view among Christians because it is so easy to refute.

The Ten Commandments include other commandments such as, “Honour your father and your mother,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not commit adultery,” and “You shall not steal.” Now that Jesus has died and rose again, is it permissible to dishonour our fathers and mothers, murder, commit adultery, and steal? Of course not. Throughout the New Testament, the Ten Commandments are assumed to be valid.

Notably, the Apostle Paul wrote:

Ephesians 6:1–2 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, because this is right. ₂ Honour your father and mother, which is the first commandment in promise, so that it may be well with you, and you may be long-lived in the land.

According to Paul, it is right for children to obey their parents because of the fifth of the Ten Commandments: “Honour your father and your mother.” (Exodus 20:12) Clearly, Paul did not think that the Ten Commandments had been abolished after Jesus’ death and resurrection such that we no longer have to keep them today.

“The Sabbath commandment has been abolished!”

Many other Christians believe that the Ten Commandments are still valid and should be kept—except for the Sabbath commandment. They say that the Sabbath commandment was abolished after Jesus’ death and resurrection. Some Christians point out that the Sabbath commandment is not found anywhere in the New Testament, and so Christians do not have to keep it.

However, there is no reason to think that a commandment is not valid for Christians simply because it is not also found in the New Testament. The third of the Ten Commandments is also not found anywhere in the New Testament, “You shall not take the name of YHWH your God in vain.” (Exodus 20:7) Does this mean that this commandment is no longer valid, and we may now take the name of God in vain? Of course not! Rather, the commandment is valid even though it is not repeated in the New Testament.

“The Sabbath day has always been on Sunday!”

Still, there are other Christians who insist that the seventh day of the week has always been Sunday, and so they argue that the Sabbath day is Sunday rather than Saturday.

This is certainly understandable if one comes from a culture in which the seventh day of the week is indeed Sunday. For example, in the Chinese language, Monday is called 星期一, meaning “day one of the week”. This means that according to Chinese thought, Sunday is the seventh day of the week. However, in most other cultures and languages, Sunday is the first day of the week, and so it would be dishonest to make this argument.

Moreover, even in the Bible, it is clear that Sunday is the first day if the week. According to all four gospel accounts, the women went to Jesus’ tomb and found it empty on the first day of the week—which all Christians identify as Sunday (Matt. 28:1; Mark 16:2; Luke 24:1; John 20:1). Therefore, according to the Bible, the seventh day of the week is Saturday.

“The Sabbath day has been changed to Sunday!”

The last popular view among Christians is that the Sabbath day was changed from Saturday to Sunday following the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

However, there is no evidence that the first Christians ever thought that Sunday was the Sabbath day rather than Saturday. Indeed, nowhere in the New Testament is the first day of the week ever called “Sabbath”. Therefore, it is most reasonable that the biblical commandment to keep the Sabbath day on the seventh day of the week remains unchanged.