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I. The Sabbath day:
А. In creation.
B. Before the giving of the law.
C. During the age of the law:
1. Remembering God as the God of creation.
2. Remembering God as the Savior of Israel.
3. Proving that the Israelites belonged to God.
4. Signifying that rest cannot be obtained through works.
5. Being an actual rest.
6. Keeping the Sabbath strictly.
7. Being part of the ritual law.
D. The Lord Jesus and the Sabbath.
E. The apostles and the Sabbath.
F. The New Testament believers and the Sabbath.
G. During the time of the great tribulation (concerning the Jews).
H. During the millennial kingdom (concerning the people in the earthly part).
I. In the new heavens and new earth (concerning the people on the new earth).
J. The Sabbath as a type of Christ as man’s rest.
K. The Sabbath as a symbol of the rest in the kingdom of the heavens in the millennial kingdom.
II. The Lord’s Day:
А. The first day of the week:
1. Being the day of the Lord’s resurrection.
2. Being the day that the disciples met, the Lord appeared, and the Holy Spirit of life was received.
3. Being the day that the disciples met again and the Lord appeared again.
4. Being the day that the Holy Spirit of power descended.
5. Being the day that the saints meet to break bread.
6. Being the day that the saints give their offerings.
7. Being the day typified in the Old Testament.
B. This day being called the Lord’s Day.
C. How the believers should act with respect to the Lord’s Day.
Now we come to the topic of the Sabbath day and the Lord’s Day. This is a great topic in the church, and for many years the saints have contended concerning it. We will first look at the Sabbath day and then the Lord’s Day. We will examine these two days together because one replaces the other. Although these days are related to one another in the Bible, they are two different days, just as the law and grace are two different matters. We need to consider the two days together in order to see the distinction between them.
We need to look at some important portions of the Scriptures concerning the Sabbath, which can be divided into eleven categories.
1. “On the seventh day God finished His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it” (Gen. 2:2-3).
After God created all things in six days, He rested from His work on the seventh day. He also blessed and sanctified the seventh day. God rested on this day, and He blessed and sanctified this day because His work in creation was complete. Since He had obtained what He wanted, His heart was satisfied. Therefore, He rested from His work. In His rest and satisfaction He blessed this day and separated it from the other days, making it a special day, a sanctified day. Thus, He made the seventh day a day of rest, blessing, and separation.
God especially obtained rest and satisfaction on the seventh day because of the creation of man, who is at the center of His heart’s desire. God’s eternal heart’s desire and purpose are to obtain a man to express Him and to exercise His authority. With the creation of man in His image and likeness, God had such a man. Therefore, His heart was satisfied, and He could rest; consequently, He blessed this day to make it holy.
When God rested on the seventh day, He was not the only one who was resting; the man whom He created to express Him was resting as well. This day of rest was the seventh day for God, because God worked for six days and rested on the seventh day. However, it was the first day for man, because after man was created on the sixth day, he immediately entered into rest on the Sabbath day. God worked for six days and rested on the Sabbath, but man did not need to do any work because God’s work was done, and he could simply enter into God’s enjoyment. To enjoy His rest, God had to work, but man did not have to do anything. Man could simply enjoy the rest obtained through God’s work. In His rest God enjoyed the man whom He created, and man enjoyed God and all the things God created. This was a rest for God after His labor, but it was simply rest to man. Man obtained rest as the result of God’s labor. This is the significance of the rest in creation and also the implication of the Bible’s first speaking concerning the Sabbath day rest. This speaks forth God’s original will for man, which does not require man to labor before he can enjoy rest; rather, God wants man to enjoy the rest that is produced as the result of His labor. This reflects the principle of grace, which is very different from the principle of the law. The principle of the law is that man must first work before he can rest; the principle of grace is that man needs to rest before he can work. The Sabbath ordained in creation shows this principle. Man does not have to do anything, and he can enjoy God’s rest because God has accomplished everything.
When man was created, everything he needed was provided. God created and prepared everything that man needed, whether it was air, light, water, or food. Man did not need to do anything. When he was created, everything was ready for him to enjoy. This was God’s original intention for man, and it was completely according to the principle of grace.
1. “On the sixth day...Moses...said...Tomorrow is a Sabbath of complete rest, a holy Sabbath to Jehovah” (Exo. 16:22-23, see also vv. 24-30).
The Old Testament law required the children of Israel to keep the Sabbath. But before God gave the law at Mount Sinai, Moses spoke concerning the Israelites’ keeping the Sabbath rest in the wilderness. This shows that even before God gave the law, His people knew of the matter of the Sabbath rest. The patriarchs in the age before the law must have learned about the matter of the Sabbath from those who went before them and passed it on from generation to generation until the time of Moses.
When God gave the law, He ordained the Sabbath as a day for His people to keep. There were at least seven points concerning the Sabbath that God wanted His people, the Israelites, to keep during the age of the law.
1. “Remember the Sabbath day so as to sanctify it...For in six days Jehovah made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day” (Exo. 20:8, 11).
God wanted the Israelites to keep the Sabbath so that they would remember Him as the God of creation. This reason is connected to creation. Although the Israelites were fallen and under the law, God did not want them to forget the rest that He had provided for them in His creation. By requiring the Israelites to keep the Sabbath, He reminded them that He created all things to enable man to rest with Him.
1. “You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and that Jehovah your God brought you out from there...; hence, Jehovah your God commanded you to hold the Sabbath day” (Deut. 5:15).
God wanted the Israelites to keep the Sabbath so that they would remember Him as their Savior. This purpose is connected to man’s enjoyment of rest in God’s creation. As the Creator who creates all things well, God still desires that man would enjoy Him as rest, so He became the God of salvation to the Israelites. Requiring the Israelites to keep the Sabbath, therefore, demonstrated and testified that He is the God of salvation and rest. Just as God’s creation is for man’s rest, God’s salvation is also for man’s rest. God ordained rest for man in His creation, and He also ordained rest for man in His salvation. Therefore, He wanted those whom He saved to keep the Sabbath to demonstrate this fact.
1. “It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever”; “That they might know that I am Jehovah who sanctifies them” (Exo. 31:17; Ezek. 20:12, see also v. 20).
God wanted the Israelites to keep the Sabbath because the Sabbath was a proof that they belonged to Him. God chose the Israelites from among all the nations as His special chosen ones. The people of the ancient world, no doubt, had special days, but they did not keep God’s Sabbath; this proves that they did not belong to God. Only the Israelites belonged to God, so God told them to keep His Sabbath as proof that they belonged to Him. During the age of the law, the Sabbath was a sign that the Israelites were separated from the rest of the people in the world and signified that they had been separated from the world to be sanctified to God.
2. “You shall keep My Sabbaths; I am Jehovah your God” (Lev. 19:3).
God wanted the children of Israel to keep His Sabbaths to prove that He was their God; He wanted them to testify with the Sabbath that they took the God of the Sabbath as their God.
1. “Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath” (Exo. 20:9-10).
God wanted the Israelites to keep the Sabbath to signify that man cannot obtain rest through works. In the original rest of creation, man did not need to work before he rested on the Sabbath. Man’s fall damaged the Sabbath rest ordained by God. Although God desired to save man back to Himself after the fall, man tried to please God through his own works, not realizing that he was powerless to do so. God gave the law to man to show him that he was powerless and could do nothing in himself to please God. Therefore, under the law God required man to labor for six days and to rest on the seventh day as a sign that man’s efforts to obtain rest are according to the principle of works. This principle is completely different from the principle of grace. According to the principle of grace, as seen in the original Sabbath rest of creation, man obtained rest without working. Man was able to rest and then work; man enjoyed a day of rest and then labored for six days. But according to the principle of works, as signified by the Sabbath under the law, man could not obtain rest without working. Man was required to work before resting; man had to work for six days before resting on the seventh day. But even when man works, he cannot obtain rest. This is seen in the fact that the Israelites were constantly breaking the Sabbath (Num. 15:32-35; Ezek. 20:13; Neh. 13:15-18), proving that God’s Sabbath rest cannot be obtained by man’s own works under the law.
1. “Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall cease from work so that your ox and your donkey may have rest, and the son of your female servant and the sojourner may be refreshed” (Exo. 23:12 see also Deut. 5:14).
God wanted the Israelites to keep the Sabbath so that they would have an actual day of rest once every seven days. On the seventh day all the Israelites, both free men and slaves, and even their beasts needed a rest. This is a good ordinance for the health of both men and beasts; it is beneficial and necessary. As those who are under the new covenant, we do not need to keep the Sabbath as a matter of law, but it is still good to keep the principle of resting one day out of seven. From the point of view of our physical health, this principle that God ordained is beneficial and necessary.
God wanted the Israelites to keep the Sabbath in a strict way. All who were in the land, including men, women, children, servants, animals, and even sojourners, had to rest completely on the Sabbath and not do any work (Exo. 20:10). They even had to rest during plowing and harvest times (34:21). On the Sabbath they could not even light a fire to cook their food (35:3). Larger tasks like collecting firewood, pressing wine, carrying burdens, moving things, and buying and selling products also were not permitted (Num. 15:32-36; Jer. 17:21-22; Neh. 13:15-22; 10:31). Later, the Israelites thought that even walking long distances, carrying things, picking ears of grain, and healing illnesses were not allowed on the Sabbath (Acts 1:12; John 5:10; Matt. 12:1-2; Luke 13:14). They had to sanctify, respect, and honor this day; they could not tend to their own matters, carelessly follow their own will, or speak idle words (Isa. 58:13). If any of them worked on this day, he was to be put to death (Exo. 31:14-15). Whoever did not keep the Sabbath in a strict manner was a sinner who offended God. Under the law, God wanted the Israelites to strictly keep the Sabbath in order to signify that man was absolutely incapable of obtaining God’s full rest through his own works. Just as man could not keep the law in order to be justified, he could not keep the Sabbath in order to obtain rest.
1. “The appointed feasts of Jehovah, which you shall proclaim as holy convocations...Six days work shall be done, but on the seventh day there is a Sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation” (Lev. 23:2-3 see also Col. 2:16).
The law that God gave to the children of Israel in the Old Testament consisted of moral laws and ritual laws. The moral aspects of the law were contained in statutes concerning how to act, how to deal with God, and how to treat others. The ritual aspects of the law were contained in ordinances concerning how to worship, how to offer sacrifices, and how to keep the feasts. The Ten Commandments consisted of nine moral laws and one ritual law. Only one commandment, the fourth commandment concerning keeping the Sabbath, was a ritual commandment (Exo. 20:3-17). Leviticus 23 shows that the Sabbath in the Old Testament was a feast to God, just as the Feast of the Passover, the Feast of Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles were feasts to God. Since the Sabbath was a feast, it was a matter of ritual. Thus, the law concerning the Sabbath was part of the ritual law. All the items of ritual law are types of New Testament realities; they were all shadows of things to come in Christ (Col. 2:16-17). Thus, when the reality came in the New Testament times, all the Old Testament shadows, the ritual laws, passed away. Although believers in the New Testament age are no longer under the law, having been discharged from the law (Rom. 6:14; 7:4, 6), the moral statutes of the Old Testament law remain as matters to be fulfilled in spirit, even though the letter of the law has passed away. However, the statutes of the ritual law have passed away in both letter and spirit. If we were to say that any aspect of the spirit of the ritual laws still remained, the most we could say is that the reality of all these types have been fulfilled in Christ.
In the preceding sections we saw how the Israelites kept the Sabbath in the age of the law. We also need to see how the Lord Jesus acted with respect to the Sabbath. In examining this matter, we must be clear about the Lord Jesus’ status when He was on the earth. In His humanity the Lord Jesus was a perfect Israelite when He was on the earth, so He kept God’s laws and ordinances in the Old Testament. In His divinity He was the Lord of the Sabbath with authority over the Sabbath. As the Author of the new covenant, He had to terminate the things in the old covenant in order to establish the new covenant. Therefore, to see how the Lord Jesus acted with respect to the Sabbath, we must remember His different statuses in order to have an accurate understanding.
1. “According to His custom He entered on the Sabbath day into the synagogue and stood up to read” (Luke 4:16).
When the Lord was on the earth, He kept the proper ordinances for the Jews because He was a Jew. At that time the Jews had a custom of assembling every Sabbath day in synagogues. In the synagogues there would be reading and teaching from the Old Testament Scriptures. This excellent custom became the Lord Jesus’ custom when He was a man among them. Although the Lord Jesus went into synagogues on the Sabbath according to His custom, He did not do things in accordance with custom; instead, He seized the opportunity when Jews were assembled together in the synagogue to preach the gospel to them based on Old Testament Scriptures. Thus, He entered synagogues to carry out His work of preaching the gospel, not to keep the Sabbath.
2. “He taught them on the Sabbath” (Luke 4:31).
The Lord wanted to preach God’s word to the Jews. The best day for Him to do this was on the Sabbath, and the best place to do this was in Jewish synagogues since most of the Jews gathered in synagogues on the Sabbath. Therefore, the Lord frequently taught them on the Sabbath. In so doing, He was not keeping the Sabbath, even though it was the Sabbath day; rather, He was taking the opportunity to preach the gospel and teach the people.
3. “It is lawful to do well on the Sabbath” (Matt. 12:12).
The Lord entered into a synagogue on the Sabbath day and met a man with a withered hand. Some tested Him and asked Him if it was lawful to heal on the Sabbath. They wanted to accuse Him because they thought it was not lawful to heal on the Sabbath (Luke 13:14). The Lord answered them that it was lawful to do well on the Sabbath; then He healed that sick man. What the Lord said and did in this instance was somewhat different from what the law said about keeping the Sabbath. According to the law, no work could be done on that day, but the Lord said that it was lawful to do well on the Sabbath. This shows that He was beginning to make a change concerning the Sabbath, changing it from what it had been under the Old Testament.
4. “The Sabbath came into being for man” (Mark 2:27).
During the age of the law, the Sabbath was very restrictive to man. For example, those who did not prepare food the day before the Sabbath would go hungry on the Sabbath day. Those who had sick and dying relatives could not visit them on the Sabbath if they lived more than a Sabbath day’s journey away (about three-fourths of a mile). Those who were walking in a grainfield on the Sabbath could not break off some ears of grain to eat; instead, they would have to remain hungry amid a harvest of wheat. Those who became ill could not go to see a doctor. God originally wanted man to keep the Sabbath so that he could rest and be refreshed (Exo. 23:12; Deut. 5:14), but these ordinances seemed to sacrifice this rest for the sake of honoring the Sabbath. It seemed as if man had been made for the Sabbath, not the Sabbath for man. However, when the Lord was on the earth, He defined the Sabbath by saying that the Sabbath came into being for man, not man for the Sabbath. When the Lord gave this definition, He overturned the concepts of all those under the law and began to help them understand the first purpose of the Sabbath, which was that God did things for man, not that man did things for God. The Sabbath means that God is for man. Man should enjoy what God has done rather than doing something for God. This is the principle of grace, not the principle of the law. Thus, the Lord’s word concerning the Sabbath brought them back to the original meaning of the Sabbath. He was bringing them out of the principle of law, which was added alongside (Rom. 5:20), and back to the principle of grace, which was in the beginning. Since the Lord was turning the age from law to grace, He dealt with people according to grace rather than according to law.
5. “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath” (Matt. 12:8).
As the Lord was passing through the grainfields on a Sabbath day, His disciples plucked ears of grain and ate them. As a result, some Pharisees condemned them for breaking the Sabbath. The Lord refuted the Pharisees by reminding them that David ate the bread of the Presence in the temple on the Sabbath, and then He implied that He was greater than David and greater than the temple and that God desires mercy, not sacrifice. He said these things because He wanted them to know that He is God. This is the reason that He also said He was the Lord of the Sabbath. Although He is the Son of Man, He is also the Lord of the Sabbath. Although He is a man, He is also God. He is the God who is greater than the temple, the God who desires mercy and not sacrifice, and the Lord who originally established the Sabbath. He can establish the Sabbath, and He can change the Sabbath. He has the authority to establish and the authority to make changes. Since He is the Lord of the Sabbath, the Sabbath should be kept according to His ordination. The Lord revealed that since He is the Lord of the Sabbath, who had established the Sabbath in the beginning, He had the authority to change the Sabbath. He wanted man to realize that the strict restrictions of the law related to keeping the Sabbath would keep man from arriving at God’s rest by his own efforts. Now the Lord wanted people to realize that His changes to the Sabbath were to reinstate the principle of grace, the principle of man resting without doing any work. He wanted to be merciful to man and did not want man to sacrifice to Him; He wanted to be gracious to man and did not want man to work for Him or even give Him anything. This was His original intention. During the age of the law, God wanted man to try to keep the Sabbath by working for His rest, because man did not know God’s grace or realize his own impotence in attaining God’s rest by his own strength. After man had failed and suffered from his efforts to keep the Sabbath, and also after man had gained a sufficient understanding of his own impotence, God wanted to return to His original intention and be merciful and gracious to man so that man could obtain His rest without working by his own efforts.
6. “Jesus answered them, My Father is working until now, and I also am working” (John 5:17).
The Jews persecuted the Lord for healing a man on the Sabbath who had been sick for thirty-eight years. He then said to them, “My Father is working until now, and I also am working.” His word exposed their thoughts that their work for God — hence, God’s work — was done. His words seemed to say to them, “You think that you can rest, but actually you cannot, because My Father is working until now, and I also am working. A person can rest only when the work is done (Heb. 4:10), but My Father is working until now, and I am also working. This is not a time for rest because My Father and I are still working.” The implication of the Lord’s word is very deep and broad.
After creation God ordained a rest. In this rest God enjoyed man, and man enjoyed God; God and man, man and God were harmoniously at rest, and their hearts were both happy and peaceful. However, this rest was damaged by man’s sin. Once man sinned, a cool breeze began to blow in the garden of Eden (Gen. 3:8), which blew away the warm atmosphere between God and man; therefore, the harmonious rest that God and man enjoyed was destroyed. From that time, man was required to toil all the days of his life (v. 17), live by the sweat of his face (v. 19), and groan and travail (Rom. 8:22). After the fall there was groaning but no rest. When man fell, God immediately began to work to redeem and save man. This work of redemption and salvation could be accomplished only through the Son, and so at the time that the Lord spoke these words in John 5, His work, and that of the Father, was not done. Thus, the Father was still working, and as the Son, He also was working to complete the work of redemption on the cross. When the Son completed His work to redeem and save man, resolving all man’s problems, He brought in rest when He rose from the dead so that in His rest man could enjoy God and be satisfied.
Thus, with respect to the Sabbath, the Lord Jesus responded to the Sabbath in three ways: (1) as an Israelite keeping the Sabbath; (2) as the Lord who had the authority to change the Sabbath; and (3) as the Author of the new covenant who accomplished redemption and brought in the true Sabbath rest.
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 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 the 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.
1. “Pray that your flight may not be...on a Sabbath, for at that time there will be great tribulation” (Matt. 24:20-21).
According to the context of these verses, this word was not spoken to the believers but to the Jews. When the Lord spoke this word, He was speaking to the Jews who had a dual status: on the one hand, they were the Lord’s disciples, and on the other hand, they were Jews. When the Lord spoke this word to them, He was speaking to them as Jews. According to verses 15 and 16, the Lord’s word refers to matters concerning the Jews during the great tribulation, that is, during the last three and a half years of this age (Dan. 7:25). A great tribulation will come upon them, and they will have to flee. But if they have to flee on the Sabbath, they will have difficulty. Therefore, the Lord told them to pray that their flight would not be on the Sabbath. The Lord’s word here refers to the Jews in the coming great tribulation and cannot be used as a proof that today’s believers must keep the Sabbath.
1. “They shall sanctify My Sabbaths”; “And the people of the land shall worship...before Jehovah on the Sabbaths” (Ezek. 44:24; 46:3, see also vv. 1, 4, 12).
The prophecies in Ezekiel from chapter 40 to the end of the book all refer to matters in the coming millennial kingdom involving the restoration of the Israelites in the Messianic kingdom. Therefore, these words show that with the restoration of the Israelites, the people on earth during the millennial kingdom will keep the Sabbath. This is not at all related to believers in the New Testament age.
1. “The new heavens / And new earth... / And from Sabbath to Sabbath / All flesh will come / To bow down before Me” (Isa. 66:22-23).
When the new heavens and new earth are brought in, the people on the new earth, who are referred to as flesh, will keep the Sabbath. In the age of the new heavens and new earth, they will still be in the flesh. They will be restored, but since they will not be regenerated, they will be people of the old creation, and they will keep the Sabbath of the old creation. They will not be like the regenerated ones in the new creation, who have transfigured bodies. The people on the earth during the millennial kingdom and the people on the earth during the new heavens and new earth will all be related to the old creation. They will be restored to their status in God’s original creation, but they will not be regenerated. Consequently, they will receive only earthly blessings and keep the earthly Sabbath. In contrast, the regenerated believers, who are members of the new man, will receive heavenly blessings that are not related to the earth, and they will not need to keep the earthly Sabbath day. Instead, they will have a different day — the Lord’s Day in resurrection.
1. “The Sabbath...a shadow of the things to come, but the body is of Christ” (Col. 2:16-17).
The Old Testament Sabbath is a shadow, but the body is of Christ. This means that the Old Testament Sabbath is a type of Christ as man’s rest. In the New Testament Christ came to be God’s rest to man. When a man receives Christ, he has rest; if a man does not receive Christ, he has no rest. If someone wants to obtain rest, he must receive Christ, because Christ is the rest that God gives to man. When we live in Christ, we have rest; apart from Christ we have no rest. Today believers must pay attention to the matter of receiving and enjoying Christ, not to the matter of keeping the Sabbath.
2. “Come to Me all who toil and are burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28).
Christ is the rest that God gives to man, so He calls people to Himself to obtain His rest. Since He is the God-given rest, whoever comes to Him and receives Him, regardless of the burden, will obtain rest. This rest is Christ Himself, and it cannot be separated from Christ’s person.
1. “So then there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God” (Heb. 4:9, see also vv. 1-8, 10-11).
The Old Testament rest is not only a type but also a symbol. It typifies Christ as man’s rest, and it symbolizes the rest in the kingdom of the heavens in the millennial kingdom. Hebrews 4:9 says that there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. The rest that remains for the people of God is the rest in the kingdom of the heavens in the millennial kingdom (see the section “Entering the Kingdom of the Heavens Being to Enter into Rest in the Coming Age,” ch. 48). During the millennial kingdom the entire kingdom of the heavens will be a rest. Everything in the kingdom of the heavens will be joyous, and those in the kingdom of the heavens will be satisfied. In the kingdom of the heavens there will be a glorious freedom that is the exact opposite of our groaning and travailing today (Rom. 8:21-23). The overcoming believers who live in the reality of the kingdom of the heavens today will enjoy this rest together with Christ.
According to the Bible, God intends that the Sabbath day would be kept by three groups of people: (1) the Old Testament Israelites, (2) people in the earthly part of the millennial kingdom, and (3) people on earth during the new heavens and new earth. Keeping the Sabbath is not required of New Testament believers. During the New Testament age today, God does not want His believers to pay attention to earthly blessings, so He does not want them to keep an earthly Sabbath. The Israelites of the Old Testament, the people in the earthly part of the coming millennial kingdom, and the people on earth during the new heavens and new earth are earthly people. The blessings they receive from God are earthly; therefore, God wants them to signify this through their keeping of the Sabbath. Keeping the Sabbath is not related to believers, His heavenly people, because it is not related to the heavenly blessings they receive from God (Eph. 1:3).
In the beginning God promised Abraham that he would have two groups of descendants. One group, as numerous as the stars in the heavens, would be heavenly; the other group, as numerous as the sand on the earth, would be earthly. The heavenly group of descendants is composed of believers who are regenerated by God; the earthly group of descendants is composed of Israelites from the past and the future. Since Abraham’s earthly descendants enjoy earthly blessings, God wants them to keep an earthly day, the Sabbath, to signify these earthly blessings. Since Abraham’s heavenly descendants enjoy heavenly blessings, God does not want us to keep an earthly day, the Sabbath, which signifies earthly blessings; rather, He wants us to keep another day, the Lord’s Day, to signify our heavenly blessings. Thus, we should not be confused about this; we should not take a day that God wants His earthly people to keep and ask His heavenly people to keep it. God deals differently with people in every age, and the ordinances that God wants people in each age to keep are also different. There are many ordinances in the Bible that God wants His earthly people to keep, but this does not mean that He wants His heavenly people to keep them as well. The Sabbath day is such an ordinance. In the Bible there are many ordinances, and we should not apply them loosely because we fail to discern the age or the people to whom they were given. If we apply them carelessly, we will commit a grave error. This is the error that the Seventh-day Adventists have made concerning the keeping of the Sabbath. They have taken a day that God wants His earthly people to keep and have given it to His heavenly people to keep as well. They require more than God requires. God wants His earthly people to keep the Sabbath from the creation into the new heavens and new earth, but He does not want His heavenly people, whom He saved from the earth, to keep the Sabbath. With the exception of His heavenly people in the age of grace, in the heavenly part of the kingdom of the heavens, and in eternity, all the people on earth in the age under the law, in the millennial kingdom, and in the new heavens and new earth, are required to keep the Sabbath. We cannot find a single verse in the Bible that requires God’s heavenly people to keep the Sabbath; on the contrary, the Bible shows that the Sabbath has passed away with respect to us.
The Lord’s Day is a day that is especially related to New Testament believers. Although the Bible does not speak of the Sabbath as having a special relationship to us, there are many portions that speak of our relationship to the Lord’s Day. We need to examine several aspects related to the Lord’s Day.
1. “He had risen early on the first day of the week” (Mark 16:9, see also vv. 1-2; Matt. 28:1; Luke 24:1; John 20:1).
The Lord’s Day in the New Testament is called the first day of the week in the Old Testament. The Sabbath in the Old Testament is the seventh day of the week. The first day of the week in the New Testament is called the Lord’s Day because it is the day of the Lord’s resurrection. The Lord rose from the dead on this day. When the Lord rose from the dead, following His death on the cross, all our problems related to sin, death, Satan, the world, and the flesh were solved. We were regenerated with God’s life (1 Pet. 1:3) and made a new creation on the day of His resurrection, which was a proof and an announcement of His satisfaction of God’s righteous requirement to God’s rebellious enemy. Therefore, this day is the Lord’s Day, and it should be a special day that has a special relationship to us in the New Testament. If the day on which God completed His creation had a special place in the Old Testament, the day on which the Lord accomplished redemption through His death and resurrection should have an even more special place in the New Testament. The seventh day signifies God’s creation. The Lord accomplished the redemption of His fallen creation on the first day of the week. Thus, the seventh day signifies God’s creation, and the first day signifies the Lord’s redemption. The rest given to man on the seventh day was merely created, natural, earthly, physical, and outward; the rest given to us on the first day is redeeming, resurrecting, heavenly, spiritual, and inward. Therefore, this day is a special day in the New Testament. The New Testament shows that the first day is not only the day of the Lord Jesus’ resurrection but also the day on which other great things occurred and the day on which several matters important to New Testament believers are practiced. We can say that God accomplished important things for the New Testament believers on this day and that New Testament believers participate in important practices on this day.
The first day of the week is the beginning of the week, unlike the seventh day of the week, which is the end. The Lord’s Day is the beginning of the week, not the end of the week. We often have the mistaken thought that the Lord’s Day comes at the end of six days. This is the thought concerning the Sabbath in the Old Testament, but this thought is not consistent with the Lord’s Day in the New Testament. The Lord’s Day in the New Testament does not come at the end of the week; rather, the Lord’s Day comes at the beginning. The Lord’s Day does not follow Monday through Saturday; instead, Monday through Saturday follow the Lord’s Day. The Lord’s Day does not follow or belong to the preceding six days; rather, the six days that follow the Lord’s Day belong to it. Man’s thought is old, so people think the Lord’s Day follows the preceding six days. This is the reason that people on a Monday, when referring to the preceding day, say, “Last Sunday.” Actually, they should say, “This Lord’s Day.” When making announcements, the brothers often refer to the days following the Lord’s Day as occurring next week instead of saying, “This week.” This kind of thinking goes against God’s principle of redemption. God’s redemption brings man into everything that He has accomplished at the very beginning so that man can enjoy rest; then He causes man to live and work by relying on his enjoyment of what God has accomplished. If we use days to signify this, we would say that God brings us into the first day of the week and then sends us out for the other six. Spiritually speaking, every believer obtains God’s salvation first and then lives for God; he does not live for God first and then obtain God’s salvation. All believers must pass through the first day of the week before they pass through the next six days; they do not pass through six days and then arrive at the seventh day. The former is the principle of grace, and the latter is the principle of the law.
God’s Sabbath rest of creation was the first day for man, and it spoke forth God’s original intention to deal with man according to grace. After the fall God ordained under the law that man would labor for six days and rest on the seventh because man did not know God’s grace or himself. The principle of the law is that man must rely on his own works before he can obtain God’s rest. The age under law, which has passed, proved that man could not live up to this principle. Knowing this, God began to work after man’s fall and continued until the Lord said on the cross, “It is finished!” (John 19:30). He accomplished a rest that was given to man on the day of the Lord’s resurrection as a new beginning. Man can now rely on God’s accomplished redemption in order to live for the next six days, that is, for the rest of his life. The day we were saved was a “first day of the week” for us, because we entered into all that the Lord accomplished in order for us to enjoy these things. This is our portion for the remaining days of our lives. When a person is saved today, his salvation occurs on the first day of the week, the day of resurrection, and thereafter he should live in resurrection for the other “six days” of his life. The principle of grace is that we would live for six days based on what we obtained the first day; this is a living in resurrection. In this living, we first rest and then work, we first obtain and then apply what we have obtained, and we first enter in and then walk. We do not have to walk along the way before we can enter, nor do we have to work before we can rest.
1. “When therefore it was evening on that day, the first day of the week...where the disciples were...Jesus came and stood in the midst and said to them...Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:19, 22).
On the day of the Lord’s resurrection, the first day of the week, the disciples were gathered together in the evening, and the Lord came and appeared to them to breathe into them the Holy Spirit of life. On the first day of the week, the disciples were meeting after the Lord’s death and resurrection, and the Lord appeared to them. On this day the Holy Spirit of life was received. This shows that the Lord wants His disciples to meet together on the first day of the week because this day signifies His resurrection. It signifies that the old creation has passed away and that His resurrection is the beginning of the new creation. This principle tells us that when we meet, we must be in His resurrection in order to receive the Lord’s appearing and receive the Holy Spirit of life.
1. “After eight days, His disciples were again within...Jesus came...and stood in the midst” (John 20:26).
On the second first day of the week following the Lord’s resurrection, which is called the eighth day in John 20:26, the disciples were again gathered together, and the Lord again appeared to them. Thus, on the first day of the week, when the disciples were again gathered, the Lord again appeared to them. His appearing to them was a solid confirmation that He wanted them to meet on the day of His resurrection because it signifies the meaning of His redemption.
1. “As the day of Pentecost was being fulfilled, they were all together in the same place. And suddenly there was a sound out of heaven, as of a rushing violent wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting...And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:1-2, 4).
The Holy Spirit of life was received on the day of the Lord’s resurrection; the Holy Spirit of power descended on the day of Pentecost. The day of the Lord’s resurrection was the first day of the week, and the day of Pentecost was also the first day of the week. It was the eighth first day of the week following the passage of seven weeks, meaning it was the first day of the eighth week following the completion of seven weeks. Thus, the Lord’s resurrection, the receiving of the Holy Spirit of life, and the descending of the Holy Spirit of power all occurred on the first day of the week. The receiving of the Holy Spirit of life on the day of the Lord’s resurrection and the descending of the Holy Spirit of power on the day of Pentecost indicate that the first day signifies God’s work in the New Testament age. The Lord’s resurrection brought all things into a new realm, a new beginning. The receiving of the Holy Spirit of life, which enabled believers to obtain the life of Christ so that they could become members of His Body, and the descending of the Holy Spirit of power, which produced the church as the Body of Christ, were new beginnings. These new beginnings are signified by the first day of the week. Therefore, this day is a special day in the New Testament.
1. “On the first day of the week, when we gathered together to break bread” (Acts 20:7).
According to Acts 20:6, Paul and those who were with him stayed in Troas for seven days. Although they stayed in Troas for seven days, they broke bread only on the first day of the week. This is very significant. Because the first day of the week is the day on which God completed, accomplished, His full redemption, the Holy Spirit led the New Testament saints to carry out their service and worship to Him on this day. The first item of service and worship to God is the breaking of bread. The New Testament saints met to break bread to show that they were redeemed, their sins were forgiven, they were joined to Christ, they were members of His Body, and they were one Body in Christ. The best day to signify these things was the first day of the week because Christ’s resurrection, the receiving of the Holy Spirit of life for people to become the members of His Body, and the descending of the Holy Spirit of power to produce the church as the Body of Christ were all accomplished on this day. Moreover, when the New Testament believers break bread, they are in resurrection, so breaking bread on the day of the Lord’s resurrection is most in accordance with the spiritual significance of resurrection.
1. “Concerning the collection for the saints, just as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also do. On the first day of the week each one of you should lay aside in store to himself whatever he may have been prospered” (1 Cor. 16:1-2).
The early saints also gave their offerings on the first day of the week. They met to break bread on this day, and they gave their offerings on this day. When God’s people worship Him, they must bring their offerings (Deut. 16:16-17). Just as the New Testament saints break bread in resurrection, they should also give their offerings in resurrection. If we give offerings in the old creation, we cannot please God; we must give our offerings in resurrection in order for them to be acceptable. Therefore, the saints made their offerings on the first day of the week because this day was also appropriate to the spiritual significance of their offerings.
1. “When you...reap its harvest, then you shall bring the sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest;...on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it” (Lev. 23:10-11).
Although God wanted the children of Israel in the Old Testament to keep the Sabbath, there were several things that God ordained for the first day of the week. Thus, there are some types in the Old Testament that are related to the first day of the week. The first of these types involves the firstfruits. According to Leviticus, the firstfruits were offered on the day after the Sabbath. In the Old Testament the Sabbath was the seventh day of the week, so the day after the Sabbath was the first day of the week. Every year when the harvest ripened and the Israelites harvested the firstfruits, they would take a sheaf of the firstfruits and have the priest offer it to God on the first day of the week. First Corinthians 15:23 says that Christ is the firstfruits in resurrection. Therefore, this offering of the firstfruits of the harvest to God was a type of Christ in resurrection. Christ’s resurrection on the first day of the week fulfilled this Old Testament type.
2. “You shall count fifty days until the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall present a new meal offering to Jehovah” (Lev. 23:16).
The second Old Testament type concerning the first day of the week involves the Feast of Pentecost. According to Leviticus, the Feast of Pentecost occurred on the day after the seventh Sabbath, which is also the first day of the eighth week. In the Old Testament the Israelites began the count of fifty days on the first day of the week when they offered up the firstfruits. On the fiftieth day they offered up a new meal offering to God. This new meal offering was made up of fine flour with leaven, and it was baked into two loaves that were offered to God as the new meal offering. These two leavened loaves in the new meal offering typify the New Testament church made up of two sections, Jews and Gentiles, both of which had sins, signified by the leaven. The church is a kind of firstfruits (James 1:18; Rom. 8:23), and the day of Pentecost is fifty days after that first day of the week on which Christ (the firstfruits of the harvest) was resurrected. On the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit descended to blend together and produce the church. When the Holy Spirit descended on the day of Pentecost, the Old Testament type of Pentecost was fulfilled exactly in the producing of the church.
3. “He who is eight days old shall be circumcised”; “Your oxen and...sheep...on the eighth day you shall give it to Me”; “On the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation...You shall do no work of labor”; “On the eighth day shall be a complete rest” (Gen. 17:12; Exo. 22:30; Lev. 23:36, 39).
The third type in the Old Testament concerning the first day of the week is the eighth day. The eighth day is another way of saying the first day of the week. The first day of the week signifies the beginning; the eighth day signifies another beginning because a week has passed, and now there is another beginning, a new beginning. Thus, it signifies resurrection. Resurrection is a new beginning in which old things have passed away.
The Old Testament speaks of many things that should be done on the eighth day: (1) circumcision, (2) offering oxen and sheep to God, (3) having a holy convocation, and (4) keeping the day holy by not doing any work. These four things were done on the eighth day; therefore, they typify matters in resurrection. Being circumcised on the eighth day typifies the elimination of the flesh of the old creation and the beginning of the new creation in resurrection (Col. 2:11-12; Gal. 6:15). Offering oxen and sheep to God on the eighth day typifies that our offerings to God must be in resurrection (1 Cor. 16:1-2); God does not want us to offer something of the old creation. Having a holy convocation on the eighth day typifies that our meeting before God must also be in resurrection and cannot be in the old creation. Keeping the eighth day holy by not doing any work typifies our enjoyment of everything the Lord has done for us in resurrection without our exerting the slightest bit of effort; everything must be done in resurrection so that we can enjoy God’s rest. Thus, on the first day of the week, which is also the eighth day, the New Testament believers meet, make offerings, and serve the Lord; these are all typified in the Old Testament and are according to the New Testament principle of the new creation in resurrection. Because the Lord’s Day, or the eighth day, in the New Testament is the day of the Lord’s resurrection, it signifies a new beginning. The Sabbath day on the seventh day in the Old Testament was a day of the old creation, signifying the natural man. If New Testament believers still keep the Sabbath of the seventh day, they are keeping a day of the old creation. This is not compatible with our status as New Testament believers or with the fact that we are redeemed and regenerated and have become a new creation. We are people of the new creation, so we cannot keep a day of the old creation; rather, we must keep the day of the new creation. This day is the eighth day, the Lord’s Day, which signifies resurrection. This is a basic principle in the Bible. The principles in the Bible are very important. It is quite precious to find the principles in the Bible. In contrast to the basic principle of resurrection, Seventh-day Adventists want New Testament believers to keep the Sabbath of the old creation; this is a grave error. Because we are people of the new creation, we should keep the day of the new creation.
Thus, the Bible shows that the Lord’s resurrection, the beginning of the new creation, the receiving and descending of the Holy Spirit, the establishing of the Body of Christ, the believers’ meetings, the Lord’s appearing to them, the believers’ breaking bread, and the believers’ offerings all took place on the first day of the week, the day of the Lord’s resurrection. These are all matters of the new creation, so they must be done on the day of the new creation. Moreover, despite the fact that the day of resurrection had not yet come in the Old Testament, there are types in the Old Testament that signify that God wants His redeemed people to meet, make offerings, serve, and worship Him in resurrection on the day of the resurrection. Through these types He signifies that we should put off the old creation and do these things in the resurrected new creation. Therefore, the revelation of the New Testament and the types of the Old Testament both show that the New Testament believers should no longer keep the Sabbath. If we continue to keep the Sabbath, we are going against the principle of God’s redemption.
1. “I was in spirit on the Lord’s Day” (Rev. 1:10).
John spoke of the Lord’s Day while he was on the island of Patmos. His word shows that during the age of the apostles, the believers frequently met together on the first day of the week, the day of the Lord’s resurrection, and that they called it the Lord’s Day. It was called the Lord’s Day because it was the day of the Lord’s resurrection, and it was a day that particularly expressed the Lord and was for the Lord.
Some say that John’s use of the expression the Lord’s Day was in reference to the day of the Lord’s coming. If this were the case, then being in spirit, which John also spoke of, would only be for the day of the Lord’s coming. This does not make sense. Therefore, the Lord’s Day must refer to the first day of the week, the day of the Lord’s resurrection, the day on which the saints gathered together. John was exiled to the barren island of Patmos, and although there were no saints there who could meet with him on the Lord’s Day, he could still contact the Lord. While he was contacting the Lord, he was in spirit, and he saw heavenly visions concerning the church, the ages of the world, the kingdom, and eternity. In these visions the Lord showed him things from his time all the way to eternity. The things from his time until eternity were revealed to him on the Lord’s Day. Therefore, the Lord’s Day, the first day of the week, is a day for the Lord’s servants to see visions.
Sometimes on the Lord’s Day a store will display a sign, saying, “We are resting today because it is the Sabbath.” This is like me, Mr. Lee, wearing a sign that says, “Mr. Hwang.” The Lord’s Day is the first day of the week, and it has nothing to do with the Sabbath, the seventh day. We should not consider the Lord’s Day to be the Sabbath nor keep it like the Sabbath. We should not keep the Lord’s Day as if it were the Sabbath. This mixes up the New Testament and the Old Testament, the heavenly and the earthly, the resurrected new creation and the natural old creation. This is what the Roman Catholic Church does. This kind of mixture is condemned by the Lord; we must simply consider the Lord’s Day to be such, and we must not keep it as if it were the Sabbath. We must not mix the Lord’s Day with the Sabbath day.
1. “This is the day that Jehovah has made; / Let us exult and rejoice in it” (Psa. 118:24).
Psalm 118:22 says, “The stone which the builders rejected / Has become the head of the corner.” In Acts 4:10-11 Peter says that this verse refers to the Lord’s resurrection. Therefore, “the day that Jehovah has made” must be the day of the Lord’s resurrection. The day of the Lord’s resurrection was not an accident but was made by Jehovah. In the Old Testament types and prophecies God told us about this day (Lev. 23:10-11; Hosea 6:2). Before the Lord died, He also spoke clearly about this day (John 2:19; Matt. 16:21). Thus, God specially ordained this day, and it is a day with special significance. On this day we should exult and rejoice in it because the Lord resurrected on this day. He began the new creation on this day, and He made us the new creation on this day. Therefore, this day is a day when we should exult and rejoice in order to testify of the Lord’s resurrection. We should not be quiet and sad with no resemblance to a person in the resurrected new creation.
2. “On the first day of the week, when we gathered together to break bread, Paul conversed with them...and he extended his message” (Acts 20:7).
Although we remember the Lord’s death by breaking the bread, we do this in resurrection. Because we are in resurrection, we have the life of Christ and are His Body; this is the only reason we are able to come together as one loaf to testify that we are one Body (1 Cor. 10:17). Thus, the day most appropriate to the significance of breaking bread is the day of the Lord’s resurrection, the Lord’s Day on the first day of the week. The early believers broke bread on this day.
Acts 20:7 says that on that Lord’s Day in Troas, Paul not only broke bread with the believers in their meeting but also preached the word to them. Therefore, there should also be ministry of the Lord’s Word on the Lord’s Day; there should be preaching of the word to the believers.
3. “On the first day of the week each one of you should lay aside in store to himself whatever he may have been prospered” (1 Cor. 16:2).
Believers should also make their offerings on the Lord’s Day. The believers should meet on the Lord’s Day to break bread, worship the Lord, and make offerings to Him, because the Lord does not want His people to come empty-handed to worship Him. When His people worship and thank Him, the Lord wants them to also make an offering to Him in response to His grace (Deut. 16:16-17).
Therefore, according to what we have seen in the Bible, the Lord wants us to exult and rejoice on the Lord’s Day. Besides wanting us to meet on the Lord’s Day to break bread and to give our offerings, there is nothing else He wants us to do. He does not want us to keep the Lord’s Day as the Old Testament Israelites kept the Sabbath. Therefore, it is best if we could stop our work on the Lord’s Day to wholly focus ourselves on worshipping and serving God, but if we cannot, we do not break any law. However, we must do our best to set aside a time when we can meet, break bread, worship the Lord, and make offerings. New Testament believers do not need to keep the Old Testament Sabbath, and we do not need to keep any regulations concerning the New Testament Lord’s Day. The Bible does not even require New Testament believers to keep the Lord’s Day. We should not keep the Lord’s Day according to the dead letter of the law; instead, we should live the Lord’s Day according to grace. This is not a matter of keeping the law but of living out grace.
