Should Christians Keep the Saturday Sabbath? A Bible-First, History-Honest Case

Why Christians no longer keep the Old Covenant Sabbath—and how the Lord’s Day honors the risen Christ.

If you love Jesus, you love His Word. You also want to obey what He actually commands under the New Covenant. The weekly seventh-day Sabbath was a covenant sign given to Israel, fulfilled in Christ, and not imposed on Gentile believers. The apostolic church gathered on the first day in celebration of the resurrection, without binding consciences to a Saturday rest law.

In this article, I want to clear up the confusion and dispel the common myth that Christ’s followers are still required to observe the Old Testament Sabbath. My aim is not to attack anyone’s sincerity, but to show from Scripture and history that Jesus Himself is our true Sabbath rest, and that the early church’s first-day worship flowed naturally from the resurrection, and not from later tradition or political change.

Refuting the Common Sabbath-Keeping Pushbacks

1) Does Colossians 2:16-17 only mean “ceremonial” sabbaths?

Colossians 2:16-17 present a pretty clear case that no one is to disqualify believers for not following Old Covenant regulations, and that these were just a forerunner of Jesus Christ, who came to fulfill these things:

“Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.”

Those individuals who maintain that we should still adhere to keeping the Sabbath (or any other regulations or observances from the Law) sometimes say, “Well, that verse is only referring to special ‘ceremonial’ Sabbaths, and not the regular ‘weekly’ Sabbath!”

Let’s read Paul’s words in Colossians 2:16-17 again, as they form a decisive statement about the entire Old Testament calendar system: “Let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath.” These three time-markers—festival, new moon, and sabbaths—were not random terms. They form what scholars call a Hebraic triad that appears repeatedly throughout the Old Testament to describe Israel’s complete cycle of sacred days.

You can see this exact pattern in 1 Chronicles 23:31, 2 Chronicles 2:4, Nehemiah 10:33, Ezekiel 45:17, and elsewhere. In Hebrew idiom, the order always moves from yearly (festivals or appointed feasts), to monthly (new moons), to weekly (the Sabbath). In other words, it’s a shorthand for “the entire liturgical calendar.”

When Paul uses the same formula, he’s not narrowing the scope. He’s actually expanding it. He is deliberately echoing that familiar Old Testament expression to make a theological point: in Christ, the whole calendar of shadows has been fulfilled. Every appointed time that once pointed forward to God’s redemptive work—whether it was Passover, the new-moon offerings, or the weekly sabbath rest—finds its completion in Jesus, the true substance of rest and redemption. Paul even says so directly: “These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.”

Jewish commentators and Christian theologians alike recognize that the phrase “festival, new moon, and sabbaths” was the standard triad for annuals, monthlies, and weeklies. The annual feasts included Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles; the monthly observances were the new-moon sacrifices and trumpet blasts; and the weekly observance was the Sabbath itself. Paul lists them all, then declares that believers are no longer to be judged by their participation—or non-participation—in those observances.

To read Colossians 2:16-17 as referring only to “ceremonial sabbaths” (the feast days) misses the linguistic evidence and the context. Paul’s use of the triad shows that the weekly sabbath is included among the shadows fulfilled by Christ. The early church understood this: the sabbath pointed forward to the rest believers now have in the risen Lord (Hebrews 4:9-10), and therefore no Christian is to be condemned for not keeping the seventh day as a legal requirement.

2) Does Romans 14 talk only about “private fasting” days?

Some claim that Paul was speaking only about optional fasting days in Romans 14. Yet the context goes far beyond food restrictions. Paul’s entire point in this chapter is how believers with different backgrounds and consciences can live in unity without judging each other on non-essential matters. These include dietary preferences and the observance of special days, and these issues were dividing Jewish and Gentile Christians in the Roman church.

Paul writes, “One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord” (Romans 14:5-6). Notice that he doesn’t single out fasting at all. He uses broad, inclusive language: one day… all days. He is addressing any religious day regarded as special, including sabbaths, feast days, or memorial days inherited from Judaism, now being debated within the early mixed congregation.

If the weekly seventh-day Sabbath remained a universal moral law for all believers, Paul could never have placed its observance in the category of personal conviction. He would have rebuked anyone who treated the Sabbath lightly, just as he did with moral sins like idolatry or adultery. But instead, he teaches that the observance of days is a matter left to the individual conscience before God. The fact that Paul can speak this freely shows that such days were no longer covenantal requirements under Christ.

Furthermore, Paul’s focus throughout Romans 14 is on the Lordship of Christ over every aspect of life. “Whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s” (Romans 14:8). The believer’s relationship to God no longer hinges on keeping calendar laws but on belonging to Jesus. In that sense, every day now belongs to Him. This is precisely why Paul says, “Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.” He allows freedom, not legalism, because the Mosaic sabbath system had served its redemptive-historical purpose and was fulfilled in
Christ’s finished work.

So when Paul says, “The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord,” he’s granting liberty, and not imposing obligation. Christians are free to rest, worship, or fast on any day they choose, but no day (including Saturday) defines covenant faithfulness anymore. What matters is the posture of the heart toward the Lord who redeemed us, not the ticking of the calendar.

3) Did Galatians 4 rebuke only pagan calendars?

Let’s look at what Paul said in Galatians 4:9-11:

“But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more? You observe days and months and seasons and years! I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain.”

To understand this passage, we need to step back and grasp the purpose of Paul’s entire letter. The Galatian believers had been influenced by Judaizing teachers who insisted that faith in Christ alone was not enough for salvation. These false teachers urged Gentile converts to be circumcised and to observe the Old Testament laws (festivals, sabbaths, and dietary customs) as conditions for being justified before God. Paul wrote this letter as a passionate defense of the gospel of grace, warning them that to add anything to Christ’s finished work is to forfeit the very freedom He purchased for them.

Some Sabbath-keeping critics argue that Paul’s words here refer only to Gentile converts returning to their “old pagan feast days.” But that interpretation misses the point of the entire epistle. Paul isn’t just condemning a relapse into paganism, but he’s addressing the danger of returning to any system of spiritual bondage, whether pagan superstition or Mosaic legalism. In both cases, the heart error is the same: trying to secure God’s approval through religious performance rather than through faith in Christ.

The phrase “elementary principles of the world” (the koine Greek reading stoicheia tou kosmou) literally means “basic elements” or “elemental forces.” Paul uses it to describe the outward, ritualistic systems that enslave people: those manmade or outdated patterns of worship focused on external observance rather than inward renewal by the Holy Spirit. When he says, “You observe days and months and seasons and years,” he’s identifying a regression to the same old mindset of law-keeping and merit-based religion that Christ came to abolish. Paul’s rebuke, therefore, applies just as much to Jewish ritualism as to pagan festivals. The Galatians were being taught that faith in Jesus had to be supplemented by keeping the Jewish calendar and ceremonial laws.

But in doing so, they were falling back into the shadows instead of walking in the light of the gospel. These “days, months, seasons, and years” echo the Old Testament schedule of holy days, new moons, sabbaths, and annual feasts—all of which pointed forward to the Messiah who had now come. Earlier in the letter, Paul had already confronted this same error when he asked, “Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” (Galatians 3:3).

That’s the heart of his concern. They were trading the power of the Spirit for the emptiness of rule-keeping. When Paul calls this return to “weak and worthless elements,” he’s describing any attempt to relate to God through religious systems that have been rendered obsolete by the cross. In that light, his words take on an unmistakable urgency. To depend on “days and months and seasons and years“ for spiritual standing is to imply that Christ’s sacrifice was insufficient. It’s to exchange the freedom of grace for the treadmill of works. That’s why Paul cries, “I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain.” His fear wasn’t that they were choosing the wrong day of worship; it was that they were abandoning the truth that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

The lesson for us is the same today: anytime we attach spiritual worth or divine favor to the observance of specific days—whether Saturday, Sunday, or any other—we drift back into the same bondage Paul warned against. The Christian’s standing before God rests not on the calendar, but on the cross.

4) If Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath, doesn’t that re-impose it?

When Jesus declared, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27-28), He was not reaffirming the binding nature of the seventh-day law. He was claiming authority over it. The Pharisees had turned the Sabbath into a crushing burden filled with endless rules and prohibitions. They policed how far a person could walk, what constituted “work,” and even whether healing someone was permissible. Jesus deliberately confronted that distortion by showing that mercy, restoration, and doing good are at the very heart of God’s law.

When Christ healed on the Sabbath, He was not breaking it. He was fulfilling its intended purpose. His claim to be “Lord of the Sabbath” means He is the divine authority who gives the Sabbath its true meaning, not a mere law-keeper under it. Notice how Matthew arranges the narrative: just before these Sabbath encounters, Jesus issues His invitation—“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28-30)—immediately followed by two Sabbath scenes (Matthew 12:1-14). That placement is not accidental. The Holy Spirit inspired Matthew to show that Jesus Himself is the ultimate source of the rest that the Sabbath symbolized.

In the Old Testament, the Sabbath was a day of physical rest, pointing forward to a greater spiritual rest; in the New Covenant, that rest is found in a Person, not a day. True Sabbath rest is no longer about ceasing from labor once a week, but about ceasing from our efforts to earn righteousness and resting in the finished work of Christ. The writer of Hebrews confirms this when he says, “There remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his” (Hebrews 4:9-11).

This is not a command to resume the old Sabbath. It is an invitation to enter the spiritual rest that the Sabbath foreshadowed. Believers enter that rest when they trust Christ alone for salvation. Every day we live in Him, we are keeping the true Sabbath—not by observing a calendar regulation, but by abiding in the Redeemer who has already finished the work. The weekly Sabbath was a shadow; Jesus is the substance. To return to the shadow when the substance has come would be to miss the entire point of God’s
redemptive plan.

5) Did the early church actually meet on the first day?

Yes. The rhythm of Christian worship shifted naturally from the seventh day to the first day in direct response to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This was not a later invention. It began within the apostolic era itself. Inside the New Testament, you already see that pattern forming. The believers at Troas gathered “on the first day of the week” to hear Paul preach and to break bread in fellowship (Acts 20:7-8).

Likewise, Paul instructed the Corinthian church to set aside their offerings “on the first day of every week”, implying that the church already met regularly on that day (1 Corinthians 16:2). Both passages show that the first day—Sunday—had become the normal gathering day for Christian worship, teaching, communion, and giving. This was the day the tomb was found empty, and the day the risen Christ first appeared to His disciples (John 20:19). John in the Book of Revelation also mentioned that he was “in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day,” meaning he received his revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ on a Sunday (Revelation 1:10).

Early Christian writings confirm that this first-day pattern was universal among believers within a single generation after the apostles. The earliest of these documents, the Didache (Greek for “Teaching”), dates from the late first or very early second century—roughly a few decades after the New Testament books. It functioned as a short manual of Christian practice and doctrine for new believers. In Didache 14, it instructs plainly: “On the Lord’s Day, gather yourselves together and break bread, and give thanks, after confessing your transgressions.”

That simple line reveals two vital truths. First, the term “the Lord’s Day” (Greek: Kyriakē hēmera) was already in widespread use among Christians by the end of the first century. Second, it shows that believers associated their weekly worship and the Lord’s Supper not with the Sabbath, but with Sunday—the day of the Lord’s resurrection.

Ignatius of Antioch, a disciple of the apostle John who was martyred around A.D. 110, also bears witness to this practice. Writing to the Magnesians, he urged believers to live as those who “no longer observe the sabbath, but live in the observance of the Lord’s Day, on which also our life has sprung up again by Him and by His death.” (Magnesians 9). Ignatius, a student of the Apostle John, and barely a decade after John’s Revelation (which itself mentions “the Lord’s Day” in Revelation 1:10, as mentioned earlier), testifies that Christians already saw Sunday as the distinctive day of worship, marking the dawning of a new creation in Christ.

Just a few decades later, Justin Martyr (writing around A.D. 155) gave the first detailed description of a Sunday worship service in his First Apology, Chapter 67: “On the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read. … Then we all rise together and pray, and bread and wine and water are brought, and the president in like manner offers prayers and thanksgivings.” Justin explains why this specific day was chosen: because it was both the first day of creation and the day Jesus Christ rose from the dead. This gives theological continuity—Sunday celebrates both the creation and the new creation.

Even non-Christian sources confirm this consistent practice. Around A.D. 110, the Roman governor Pliny the Younger wrote to Emperor Trajan describing Christians who met “on a fixed day before dawn” to sing hymns to Christ “as to a god,” and later gathered again to share a common meal (Letters 10.96). Although he didn’t specify the day, the phrase “fixed day” aligns with what the church fathers referred to as “the Lord’s Day.” Pliny’s account is especially compelling because it comes from a hostile pagan observer—proof that this was a universally recognized custom among Christians by the early second century.

Taken together, these writings form a clear and unbroken line from the apostles to the next generation of believers: the early church gathered on the first day of the week, the Lord’s Day, to celebrate Christ’s resurrection, to hear the Word, and to break bread together. This wasn’t a manmade alteration or a political move centuries later; it was the natural outflow of the gospel itself. The old creation rested on the seventh day; the new creation began on
the first.

6) “There is no verse that changes Sabbath to Sunday”

The New Testament does not “move” the Sinai Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday. It fulfills it in Christ and gives a resurrection-anchored, first-day gathering called the Lord’s Day. The Jerusalem Council imposed no Sabbath command on Gentiles (Acts 15).

Big Biblical Pieces Folks Often Miss

A) The Sabbath was the Sinai covenant sign for Israel

God says the sabbaths are “a sign between me and you throughout your generations” and “a sign forever between me and the people of Israel” (Exodus 31:13, 17). Covenant signs are tied to their covenants. Circumcision marked Abraham’s covenant. The rainbow marked Noah’s. The sabbath marked Israel under Sinai.

B) Genesis 2 blesses the seventh day, but the command is given at Sinai

God blessed the seventh day at creation, yet the first explicit command with penalties appears in the Exodus wilderness and in the Decalogue given to Israel. Deuteronomy even roots the command in Israel’s exodus from Egypt (Deuteronomy 5:12-15).

C) The New Testament relocates rest from a day to a Person

Jesus invites the weary to Himself, then immediately engages Sabbath controversies. The rest that the Sabbath pointed to is found in Christ (Matthew 11:28-12:8; Hebrews 4:9-11).

D) The “festival, new moon, sabbaths” formula matters

Paul’s wording in Colossians 2 mirrors the Old Testament calendar sweep. That’s why he says not to let anyone judge you in those things; they were shadows that pointed to Christ (Colossians 2:16-17).

E) The first-day pattern is apostolic and universal

We see first-day gathering in Acts and 1 Corinthians, and within a generation, believers across the empire speak of the Lord’s Day and describe Sunday assemblies with Scripture, preaching, Eucharist, and giving (Didache 14; Justin Martyr, First Apology 67).

F) The Jerusalem Council could have mandated the
Sabbath, but didn’t

When the apostles decided what to require of Gentiles, they did not include sabbath-keeping (Acts 15). That silence speaks volumes.

Quick Replies to Familiar Texts

• “Jesus kept the Sabbath.” Yes, because He was born under the Law to redeem those under the Law. He fulfills it and gives the true rest (Matthew 11:28-12:8).
• “Acts 20:7 was just a meal.” Luke places it on the first day, with the church gathered, many lamps, extended preaching, and breaking bread. That is a night meeting, but it’s still the first-day assembly (Acts 20:7-12).
• “Sunday worship began with Constantine.” The Didache, Ignatius, Justin, and Pliny all predate Constantine by centuries and already show the Lord’s Day pattern.

Side-by-Side: Sabbath as Sinai Sign vs. Lord’s Day as Resurrection Celebration

Sabbath as Sinai Sign	Lord’s Day as Resurrection Celebration
Explicitly called a covenant sign “between me and the people of Israel” (Exodus 31:13, 17).	Named “the Lord’s Day” in the earliest Christian writings and tied to the resurrection (Didache 14).
Command appears with Sinai legislation and is tied to the Exodus in Deuteronomy (Deuteronomy 5:12-15).	Apostolic-era first-day gatherings for Word, Table, and giving (Acts 20:7-8; 1 Corinthians 16:2).
Calendar shadow pointing forward to Christ (Colossians 2:16-17).	Weekly celebration of new creation life in the risen Lord (Justin Martyr, First Apology 67).
Boundary marker for Israel under the Law, with covenant penalties attached (Exodus 31).	No sabbath requirement was placed on Gentiles at the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15).

Conclusion

If you personally trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, and still want to observe the Saturday Sabbath in your own personal spiritual walk with Christ, then great! Romans 14:5-9 allows this freedom, with neither side condemning the other for any reason. In whatever we do, let’s give thanks and glory to the Lord.

Both Scripture and history show us that the Sabbath was a beautiful covenant gift to Israel and a sign that pointed to Christ. In Jesus, we meet the Lord of rest. The apostles did not bind Gentile consciences to a Saturday rest law. Instead, the church gathered on the first day to hear the Word, break bread, pray, give, and rejoice in the resurrection. That pattern honors Scripture, follows the earliest church, and keeps the spotlight on the risen Lord.