Q&A

Q. Doesn’t Colossians 2:14-17 say the law was nailed to the cross ,and taken out of the way?

"Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come." Colossians 2:14-17.

A. Not at all. The ordinances that were taken away are explained in verse 17 as meat, drink, holydays, new moons and sabbath days, which are a shadow of things to come. Paul is here referring to the ceremonial laws and rituals that foreshadowed Christ dying on the cross, not to the Ten Commandments.

Q. Doesn’t Paul say that we are not under the law but under grace?

A. He does in Romans 6:14, 15. Paul teaches that the law is good for showing us our sin and thus our need for Christ, but that it cannot save us; for that we need the grace of God. Those who have received forgiveness and pardon for their sins are under grace; they are no longer under the death penalty demanded by the law.

Q. Is there a New Testament memorial honoring the resurrection?

A. Yes, there is. "Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead, even so we also should walk in newness of life. "Romans 6.3, 4. Baptism is a gospel ordinance commemorating the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. In baptism public testimony is given to the effect that the one baptized has been crucified with Christ, buried with Him, and is raised with Him to walk in newness of life.

Q. Does the scripture anywhere command Sunday to be kept for the Sabbath?

A. There are only eight texts in the New Testament that mention the first day of the week. (The word "Sunday" is not in the Bible.) The first five deal with the resurrection account: Matthew 28:1, Mark 16:2, 9, Luke 24:1,John 20:1.

Of the other three texts, John 20:19 tells of the disciples meeting on the first day of the week, but this is not a record of the disciples keeping Sunday in honor of the resurrection. At this time the disciples did not believe the resurrection had taken place. See Mark 16:14. They had met there for "fear of the Jews," and had the doors bolted fast. There is no indication that they counted Sunday as a holy day.

1 Corinthians 16:1, 2 does not actually refer to a public meeting but is a request by Paul that they lay by offerings for their famine stricken brethren in Judea on the first day of the week, "that there be no gatherings when I come." There is no reference here to Sunday as a holy day.

Acts 20:7-12 is a record of a meeting held in the evening of the first day of the week. They came together to "break bread" and Paul preached because he was "ready to depart on the morrow." This was not a regular meeting because Paul was to leave the next day, and the preaching was in the evening and continued until at least midnight. The breaking of bread is not a reference to a Sabbath communion service as some have suggested, for they broke bread daily. See Acts 2:46.

John speaks of the "Lord’s day" (see Revelation 1:10), but he does not tell us which day of the week this was. The rest of Scripture is plain that the seventh day Sabbath is the "Lord’s Day." See Mark 2:28; Isaiah 58:13; Exodus 20:10.

In the beginning when God founded the Sabbath He "blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it. because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made." Genesis 2:3. He asks us to "keep it holy." Exodus 20:8. God has never revoked the blessing and the sanctification (setting apart) of the Sabbath which He did in memorial of His work of creation. He has not taken another day and blessed and sanctified it in memory of the resurrection or for any other reason. He has not asked anyone to keep the first day holy as He has with the seventh. You will have to look outside the Bible to find the reason that much of the Christian world keeps Sunday in place of Saturday as the Sabbath.