Today most Christians think that the day of worship is Sunday and they go to church on Sunday. However, is the Day of the Lord or the Day of God Sunday?
Let us think of the origin of the worship day. In Genesis Chapter 1, we can see the creation work of God from the first day to the sixth day. And on the seventh day God finished his work of creation and took a rest.
Genesis 2:1 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.
Later in the Law of Moses, this seventh day was designated as the day of rest to commemorate the creation work of God.
Exodus 20:8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
This is the Sabbath Day or the day of rest recorded in the bible. God command that we have to keep the Sabbath day holy to commemorate the creation work of God. In this sense, the Sabbath day was given as the commemoration day for the creation work of God the Creator. By keeping the Sabbath Day holy, we can worship the true Creator God who created heavens and earth. For this reason, the true owner or the Lord of the Sabbath Day is God the Creator.
For this reason, in the Old Testament God the Father Jehovah says that He is the Lord of the Sabbath by calling the Sabbath Day as His because He was God the Creator.
Exodus 31:13 “Say to the Israelites, ‘You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the Lord, who makes you holy.
Ezekiel 20:11 I gave them my decrees and made known to them my laws, by which the person who obeys them will live. 12 Also I gave them my Sabbaths as a sign between us, so they would know that I the Lord made them holy.
In the Old Testament, God the Father Jehovah says that the Sabbath is the Day of God or the Lord. And he calls the day as “My Sabbath”, and the Sabbath Day was Lord’s Day. Then how about in the time of the New Testament?
Jesus also states that the Sabbath Day is his day just like Jehovah did in the past because Jesus is God the Creator who appeared as man in the flesh. (John 1:14)
Matthew 12:8 For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.
Luke 6:5 Then Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.
Since Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath, the Day of the Lord is the Sabbath Day, not Sunday. Nowhere in the bible can we find even a verse which testifies that Lord’s Day is the Sunday. Lord’s Day was, is, and will always be the Sabbath day, that is, Saturday. Therefore, the day of worship is the Saturday, which is the true Sabbath Day.
Even Catholic Church which started the Sunday worship first clearly states that the Sunday worship is not biblical at all.
“A rule of faith, or a competent guide to heaven, must be able to instruct in all the truths necessary for salvation. Now the Scriptures alone do not contain all the truths which a Christian is bound to believe, nor do they explicitly enjoin all the duties which he is obliged to practice. Not to mention other examples, is not every Christian obliged to sanctify Sunday, and to abstain on that day from unnecessary servile work? Is not the Observance of this law among the most prominent of our sacred duties? 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….. We must, therefore, conclude that the Scriptures alone cannot be a sufficient guide and rule of faith, because they cannot, at any time, be within the reach of every inquirer; because they are not of themselves clear and intelligible even in matters of the highest importance. And because they do not contain all the truths necessary for salvation.”
—Cardinal Gibbons, Faith of Our Fathers, p. 111.
The Catholic Church is actually denying the authority of the words of God by saying, “the Scripture alone cannot be a sufficient guide and rule of our faith.” And this teaching definitely contradicts with the teachings of Jesus and apostles.
Revelation 22:18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. 19 And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll.
And Paul says:
Galatians 1:6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! 9 As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!
Christ teaches us that we should not change the words of God in the bible. We will be under curse if we do. And Paul says that there is no other gospel except for the one recorded in the bible.
What the Catholic Church is doing is disobeying the teachings of Jesus who clearly stated that Lord’s Day is the Sabbath, that is, Saturday. It is adding a different gospel of Sunday worship, and at the same time taking away a true gospel of the Sabbath worship. Then what would be the results of this practice? And if we follow the teachings of the Catholic Church, how much will we be cursed for the action? We have not to be deceived by the cunning words of the Catholic teaching.
They are attempting to undermine the authority of God and the bible in order to raise their own authority for the matter of faith. However, nothing can replace the authority of God and the bible because God is the only one who can give the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. And God teaches us to keep the Passover for the forgiveness of sins and eternal life (Matthew 26:26, John 6:53), not a piece of paper called “indulgence” written by the Catholic Church.
What we have to obey to the end is the teachings of Christ and the examples shown by the apostles as it is written in the bible.
Matthew 28:18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Jesus taught us that we have to obey “everything he had commanded to us” and we should not add any more other teachings on this. When we do, we are committing the sins of adding and taking away.