Now we must see how the apostles dealt with the Sabbath.
1. “They went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day” (Acts 13:14, see also vv. 42, 44).
When the apostles went out to preach the gospel, the Jews who were scattered throughout the Gentile lands met on the Sabbath in synagogues to hear readings and teachings from the Old Testament Scriptures. Therefore, whenever the apostles arrived in a city, they used this opportunity to preach the gospel to the Jews. They also went to the synagogues because they had to preach God’s gospel to His chosen people, the Jews. Therefore, the early apostles entered synagogues on the Sabbath day to use the Sabbath as an opportunity to preach the gospel to the Jews, not to keep the Sabbath.
2. “On the Sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there would be a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together” (Acts 16:13).
In this instance the apostles did not enter a synagogue but went to a place of prayer by the river on the Sabbath. They went to a place of prayer because they wanted to seize the opportunity to speak to the people who were gathered to seek God. This shows that they went to places where people were gathered. Therefore, when they went to the synagogues, it was not to keep the Sabbath but to speak to the people gathered there.
3. “According to his custom Paul went in to them, and on three Sabbaths he reasoned with them from the Scriptures” (Acts 17:2).
Paul went into a synagogue on three consecutive Sabbaths and reasoned with the people there “according to his custom.” His custom was not to keep the Sabbath but to go to a place where he could preach to the Jews who were gathered. This verse does not speak of the apostle keeping the Sabbath according to Jewish custom but of his own custom of going into a synagogue on the Sabbath to preach to the Jews. The Sabbath was the best day to preach to the Jews, especially to preach to them from the Bible, because on they assembled in synagogues to hear people expound the Scriptures on the Sabbath.
4. “Reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath” (Acts 18:4).
Paul reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath. Based on the portions we have already seen, we know that he did not do this for the purpose of keeping the Sabbath but for the purpose of taking the opportunity to preach the gospel to the people assembled there. Thus, according to the Bible, the apostles did not keep the Sabbath, even though they went into the synagogues to preach on the Sabbath; they simply used this opportunity to work. The Bible never shows that the apostles kept the Sabbath.
We also need to see how New Testament believers should act with respect to the Sabbath.
1. “Wiping out the handwriting in ordinances, which was against us, which was contrary to us; and He has taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross... Let no one therefore judge you in eating and in drinking or in respect of a feast or of a new moon or of the Sabbath, which are a shadow of the things to come, but the body is of Christ” (Col. 2:14, 16-17).
This word clearly shows that God wiped out and nailed the Old Testament ordinances (including the ordinances related to the Sabbath) to the cross. Therefore, New Testament believers do not have to keep any Old Testament ordinances concerning eating, drinking, feasts, or the Sabbath and are not to be judged concerning these things. Such things as eating, drinking, feasts, and the Sabbath were a shadow of things to come, but the body is of Christ. Now that the body, Christ, has come, we no longer need a shadow. This is similar to a brother sending a photograph before his arrival to identify himself, but as soon as he arrives, the photograph is no longer needed. Since Christ has come, New Testament believers no longer need the Old Testament shadows, such as the Sabbath.
2. “You observe days and months and seasons and years; I fear for you” (Gal. 4:10-11).
To observe matters like days (including the Sabbath day) and feasts is to keep the Old Testament ordinances, which only typify New Testament matters concerning Christ. Now that Christ has come and fulfilled all these matters that were typified, New Testament believers would be leaving the grace of the new covenant—Christ—if they went back to observing Old Testament ordinances (including the Sabbath). If they were to do this, they would be brought to nought, separated from Christ, and would fall from grace (5:4). This is truly terrible.
3. “One judges one day above another; another judges every day alike. Let each be fully persuaded in his own mind. He who regards that day, regards it to the Lord” (Rom. 14:5-6).
According to the context, these verses are the apostle’s exhortation to those who were disputing about keeping days; he said that they should not dispute about any day, because in the New Testament God does not care about the matter of keeping days (including the Sabbath). The phrase another judges every day alike (including the Sabbath day) shows that the apostle did not teach those in the New Testament age to keep the Sabbath day or to attach importance to it. The apostle did nothing to correct the view that the Sabbath was like any other day; on the contrary, he said that everyone should be persuaded in his own mind. This proves that the apostle did not teach New Testament believers to keep the Sabbath, nor did he consider the Sabbath to be a special day that was different from other days. Thus, according to the apostle’s teaching believers should not dispute concerning the keeping of days (including the Sabbath day), and believers do not need to keep the Sabbath.
Luke 23:56 says that the women who followed the Lord kept the Sabbath; they did this for three reasons: (1) they were Jews, (2) they were not clear that the New Testament had replaced the Old Testament, and (3) the Lord had not yet risen, so the first day of the week had not yet been manifested.
According to the teachings of the New Testament, believers do not need to—and should not—keep the Sabbath. Seventh-day Adventists do not practice according to the Bible when they say that New Testament believers should keep the Sabbath. Although Seventh-day Adventists teach that New Testament believers should keep the Sabbath, they are not as strict in their keeping of the Sabbath as required by the Old Testament. Even if they wanted to be as strict, they would be unable to keep all the ordinances. Thus, their teaching that believers must keep the Sabbath day is not reasonable, and it is not according to the teaching of the Bible.