To answer this question, we must gain an understanding of the Christian’s relationship to the Law of Moses. Are we bound to keep all 613 commandments? Are we to offer sacrifices and perform temple ceremonies? We must take a brief journey through scripture to find out these answers. The best place to start is with the institution of the Decalogue (ie. Ten Commandments). God commanded the Jews,

“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.” (Ex 20:8-11)

Notice Jehovah’s reference to creation. Because He rested on the seventh day of creation, the Law commanded rest on the seventh day of the week. This basis for the Sabbath extends to the very nature of God, and thus puts great significance on its sanctity; so great that the punishment rendered for violating the Sabbath was death (Ex 31:15). Jehovah later reveals the primary purpose of the Sabbath, declaring, “It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever” (Ex 31:17). So we see that the Sabbath was established as a covenantal sign, as was circumcision. Others will know of the Jews’ separation unto God by their observance of the Sabbath.

Now that we have established the significance and meaning of the Sabbath, let’s focus on Christ’s relationship with the Sabbath. An important thing to notice is that the Law was a shadow pointing to Christ. Christ is our “lamb without blemish” (1 Pet 1:19), the “temple” (Jn 2:19), our “Passover” (1 Cor 5:7), our “offering and a sacrifice to God” (Eph 5:2), and our “High Priest” (Heb 2:17). The temple and the sacrificial system of the Law were “shadow[s] of heavenly things” (Heb 8:5). Jesus said, “I am not come to destroy [the Law], but to fulfil” (Mt 5:17). Jesus Christ fulfilled every shadow and type in the Law. It all pointed to His redemptive work on Calvary. Christ’s sacrifice made way for a “new covenant”. “By using the words, ‘a new Covenant,’ He has made the first one obsolete; but whatever is decaying and showing signs of old age is not far from disappearing altogether” (Heb 8:13, Weymouth). So the ceremonial requirements of the Mosaic Law have disappeared because Christ made one offering to God that was enough for every sin (Heb 10:14). Let’s now consider the believer’s relationship with the Law, as revealed in the New Testament by the apostles.

Many of the early Christians were gentiles who were confused about the Mosaic Law. They rightly asked, “What part of the Law is now necessary for us as new gentile converts?” Much of this confusion was due to early Jewish Christians still performing many ceremonial duties and pushing their observance onto others. The apostles prayerfully met in Jerusalem to get the Spirit’s guidance in the matter. The Holy Spirit revealed the following:

Acts 15:19 Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God: 20 But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood … 24 Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment … 28 For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things;

Notice that within the newly established guidelines there is no mention of the Sabbath. In fact, Paul later writes the following chastisements to those who impose Sabbaths and holydays on other Christians:

Col 2:16 Let no one, therefore, be judging, you,––in eating and in drinking, or in respect of feast, or new moon, or sabbath, 17 Which are a shadow of the things to come … 20 If ye have died, together with Christ, from the first principles of the world, why, as though alive in the world, are ye submitting to decrees, 21 Do not handle, nor taste, nor touch (Rotherham)

Gal 4:9 But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? 10 Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. 11 I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.

Paul was vehemently against required Sabbath day observance. He taught that it was a “shadow of things to come”. He continually pointed believers to their freedom in Christ from the curse of the Law through faith in Christ (Gal 3:13-14). The Christian life is about faith. The righteous live by faith, not by stringent regulations. However, Paul did uphold the Decalogue. He told the Romans:

Rom 13:8 Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. 9 For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 10 Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

We can see from this passage that the moral portion of the Law is still upheld in the New Testament. That brings up an important question: Is the Sabbath part of the ceremonial Law or the ongoing moral Law? First we must notice that Paul claims the basis for obedience to the moral is the love of Christ that abides in us. Love fulfills the moral law. Love does not lie, steal, kill, or covet. Most importantly, love does good and not evil, even if that good requires profaning a Sabbath day. Jesus healed on the Sabbath and allowed his hungered disciples to winnow grain on the Sabbath (Luke 6:1-10), proving that “mercy” is more important than sacrifice.

The difficulty at hand is Paul’s omission of the Sabbath in the above passage (Rom 13), even though he mentions five of the Ten Commandments. In Ephesians, he also upholds the commandment to honor our mother and father, the “first commandment with promise” (Eph 6:2). In addition, we already saw in Acts 15:20 that we are to refrain from any form of idolatry. The only commandment from the Decalogue that really remains in question is the Sabbath. Why would nine of the Ten Commandments be moral and still binding, while one is ceremonial and non-binding? Due to its inclusion in the Decalogue and its relationship to God’s nature, it must still play some role in the life of the Christian even, though its required observance on specific days has been nullified. What is this role? The writer of Hebrews gives us the answer:

Heb 4:3 for we do enter into the rest—we who did believe, … 4 for He spake in a certain place concerning the seventh day thus: ‘And God did rest in the seventh day from all His works;’ 5 and in this place again, ‘If they shall enter into My rest—;’ 6 since then, it remaineth for certain to enter into it, and those who did first hear good news entered not in because of unbelief— 7 again He doth limit a certain day, ‘To-day,’ (in David saying, after so long a time,) as it hath been said, ‘To-day, if His voice ye may hear, ye may not harden your hearts,’ 8 for if Joshua had given them rest, He would not concerning another day have spoken after these things; 9 there doth remain, then, a sabbatic rest to the people of God, 10 for he who did enter into his rest, he also rested from his works, as God from His own. (Young’s Literal Translation)

So we now see the “shadow of things to come” – the life of faith. Faith is a cessation from work. “For we do enter into the rest – we who did believe”, but the unbelievers “entered not in because of unbelief”. The life of faith puts an end to striving to be righteous by the works of the Mosaic Law. The life of faith rests in the finished work of Christ, the work of redemption. The believer rests in this wonderful Sabbath.

Now that we have established that the Sabbath is fulfilled by our faith in Christ, we must ask the question: Is there a unique day to be set aside for Christian worship? The answer is “yes”. The Sabbath was replaced by Christian worship on the first day of the week – Sunday. From the below verses, you’ll find that it included the preaching of the Word, the giving of offerings, and the breaking of bread (perhaps referring to communion according to 1 Corinthians 10:16 and Acts 2:46):

Acts 20:7 And upon the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul discoursed with them, intending to depart on the morrow; and prolonged his speech until midnight.

1Cor 16:2 Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.

In conclusion, the general idea of the Sabbath should still be honored on Sunday. We should reflect on our rest in Christ, which was obtained through faith. We should not forsake “the assembling of ourselves together” with other believers (Heb 10:25). We should also get some rest for our bodies. Remember, “The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath” (Mk 2:27). God set up the Sabbath to also rejuvenate man. It’s proven that many maladies have their roots in insufficient rest. God wants us to take care of ourselves and not overwork. It is perfectly noble to honor all such ideas on Sunday, but not to get entangled in bondage and legalism.