“The When of Worship, Part 2” (Ready to Worship S11E13)

April 17, 2020

Ready to Worship Season 11, Episode 13 for Friday, April 17, 2020

On this season of Ready to Worship, we are investigating worship. To investigate worship, we are asking the who, what, when, where, why, and how questions. In this installment of our study, we are again asking the when question.
Having already detailed that Christians meet on the first day of every week for worship (Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:1-2), we want to spend a little more time showing that we are no longer under the Old Law or the Sabbath. As you know, there are some who contend that we are still under the Ten Commandments, one of which was to remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy (Exo. 20:8). There is no denying that the Sabbath day was once binding on men. In fact, the death penalty was prescribed for violating it (Num. 15:32-36). However, we are no longer under the Old Law, the Ten Commandments, or the Sabbath. The Old Law, the handwriting of the ordinances that was against us, has been nailed to the cross (Col. 2:14). As a result of the Old Law’s removal, no man is to judge us any longer in respect to meat, drink, holy days, or sabbaths (Col. 2:15-16). Lest someone should argue, as they sometimes do, that only the ceremonial and dietary laws were removed, and not the Sabbath day or the Ten Commandments, Paul listed the sabbaths together with the regulations regarding meat and drink. If one was removed, then so was the other. It should be noted that Paul used the plural word sabbaths because there were many sabbaths that the Jews observed. No man was to judge them, or us, by any of the sabbaths. They all have been taken out of the way. In the parallel passage in Ephesians, Paul identified the handwriting of ordinances that was against us as “the law of commandments contained in ordinances” (Eph. 2:15). Clearly, Paul was talking about the Ten Commandments. In Romans, after saying that we are dead to the Law, he identified the Law that he had in mind by quoting one of the Ten Commandments (Rom. 7:1-4, 7; cf. Exo. 20:17). Clearly, the Ten Commandments, and not just the ceremonial laws and dietary laws, were removed. Just to review what we have learned. The Old Law, the Ten Commandments, and the Sabbath have all be taken out of the way (Col. 2:14-16), abolished (Eph. 2:15), and put to death that we might be married to Christ (Rom. 7:1-4, 7).
As we get ready to worship this week, let’s do it on the day that is prescribed in the New Testament. The Sabbath has been removed. The first day of the week is the day of worship today.