The question of how the biblical seventh-day Sabbath became associated, in much of Christianity, with the first day of the week is both historical and spiritual. Scripture itself testifies that God blessed, sanctified, and commanded the seventh day—“the sabbath of the Lord thy God” (Exodus 20:10). Nowhere in the Word of God is there a divine command changing the day of rest and worship to Sunday. The shift took place gradually, not through apostolic mandate, but through human tradition, cultural pressures, and later ecclesiastical authority.

This chapter traces that change: not in Scripture, but in history.

The New Testament repeatedly shows that the apostles continued to observe the seventh-day Sabbath after the resurrection of Christ.

• The women “rested the sabbath day according to the commandment” (Luke 23:56).
   
• Paul, long after conversion, “as his manner was,” went into the synagogue on the Sabbath (Acts 17:2) and preached on many Sabbaths (Acts 13:14, 42, 44; Acts 18:4).
   
• Gentile believers heard the gospel weekly on the Sabbath (Acts 13:42–44).
   

Nowhere does Scripture say that Christ or the apostles moved the day of worship to Sunday. Instead, the New Testament affirms that God’s commandments—and therefore His Sabbath—remained in place (Matthew 5:17–19; Romans 3:31; 1 John 5:3).

There are eight New Testament references to “the first day of the week,” yet not one of them declares the day holy, commands worship upon it, or calls it a Sabbath.

• The resurrection occurred early on the first day—but Scripture never identifies this as a change of the Sabbath.
   
• Paul’s meeting in Troas (Acts 20:7) took place at night, because biblical days begin at sunset; it was a farewell gathering, not a new weekly worship institution.
   
• The collection set aside on the first day (1 Corinthians 16:2) was private, at home, not an assembly or holy convocation.
   

Thus the New Testament provides no command to shift the Sabbath from the seventh day to the first, nor does it record any disciple doing so.

In the early centuries, Christians lived within a dominant pagan Roman culture. The first day of the week was widely revered as the day of the Sun—dies solis. Many believers, wishing to distinguish themselves from Judaism during times of persecution, gradually began gathering socially on the first day in honor of Christ’s resurrection.

This shift was not based on divine authority, but on social convenience and cultural assimilation.

After the destruction of Jerusalem (A.D. 70) and especially after the Bar Kokhba revolt (A.D. 135), Roman authorities associated Sabbath-keeping with Jewish identity. Heavy taxes and political punishment toward Jews created pressure on Christians to separate their practices from Judaism.

Many began favoring Sunday gatherings—not as a replacement of the Sabbath, but as an additional meeting day.

Over time, tradition overshadowed commandment.

The first civil law enforcing Sunday observance came not from Scripture, nor from the apostles, but from the Roman emperor Constantine, who wrote:

“On the venerable day of the Sun let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest.”
 

This was a political decree, not a divine command. It called Sunday “the day of the Sun,” not “the Lord’s Day.” It was rooted in Roman sun worship, not biblical Sabbath theology.

This law marks the first major governmental step in elevating Sunday above the seventh day.

Around A.D. 363–364, the Council of Laodicea issued a canon declaring:

“Christians shall not Judaize and be idle on Saturday, but shall work on that day;
but the Lord’s day they shall especially honor.”
 

For the first time, a church council forbade resting on the biblical Sabbath and commanded rest on Sunday.

This was not an appeal to Scripture—but to ecclesiastical authority.

Thus, by the mid-fourth century:

• God’s Sabbath (the seventh day) was discouraged, even punished.
   
• Man’s replacement (the first day) was enforced.
   

Yet the Word of God remained unchanged.

Nowhere in the Bible does God sanctify Sunday. The only day God blessed, hallowed, and commanded His people to keep holy is the seventh day.

Jesus declared:

“Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law.”
— Matthew 5:18 (KJV)
 

Heaven and earth still stand.

The Ten Commandments remain.

The Sabbath command remains.

The change from Sabbath to Sunday is therefore not rooted in Scripture, but in:

1. Cultural pressures
    
2. Anti-Jewish sentiment
    
3. Roman political influence
    
4. Later ecclesiastical legislation
    

It is a human tradition, not a divine command.

From Genesis to Revelation, the seventh-day Sabbath is the memorial of creation, the sign of sanctification, and the covenant seal of God’s people.

Human beings may alter their customs; nations may legislate religious observance; churches may issue decrees. But God declares:

“I am the Lord, I change not.”
— Malachi 3:6 (KJV)
 

And again:

“My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.”
— Psalm 89:34 (KJV)
 

The Sabbath that God blessed at creation (Genesis 2:2–3), wrote with His own finger (Exodus 31:18), and affirmed through the prophets and Jesus Himself, remains unchanged.

You may search all the pages of Scripture from Genesis to Revelation and find many teachings about the Sabbath—but not one verse stating that God changed His holy day to Sunday.

The shift came through the hand of man, not the mouth of the Lord.

In every age, God calls His people back to His commandments, back to His covenant, back to His Sabbath rest. For at the end of time, the saints are described as:

“They that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.”
— Revelation 14:12 (KJV)
 

The Sabbath stands today just as it stood at creation—unchanged, unaltered, and eternally blessed.

BACK TO HOMEPAGE