Question: Didn’t the apostle Paul and his associates observe the Sabbath many times? As these are recorded in the New Testament, shouldn’t we observe the Sabbath too?
Answer: There are several passages in the New Testament that tell of the apostle Paul and his preaching partners going to Sabbath meetings (Acts 27:1-4). The question is, why were they going to the meetings?
A little background is necessary here. The apostle Paul had been a devout Jew and persecutor of the church of Christ until he saw Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus. From that time forward, he went about preaching Jesus Christ as the Son of God. Acts 13-28 record the work of Paul preaching Christ throughout the world.
Notice first of all that Paul was looking for people that were interested in the true God. Therefore, naturally he went into the Jewish synagogue on the Sabbath where people gathered to worship God.
There was another reason. It was the custom in those days that if a stranger, who was a Jew, appeared in synagogue worship, after the reading of the Law and the prophets (Old Testament), the ruler of the synagogue would ask the strangers if they had any word of exhortation. Of course, Paul always had Gospel exhortations for those present. He would always preach about Jesus Christ and His will, the New Testament.
If you will study the context of Acts 13 through the rest of the Book of Acts, you will find that Paul and his company were persecuted and driven from town after town because of the jealousy of these Jews. Why? Because Paul taught them the old law (Old Testament) was finished, and they should follow the New Testament of Jesus Christ. This included the change in the day of worship. This is obvious from Acts 26:6-7, which reads, “and we sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread, and came unto them to Troas in five days; where we tarried seven days. 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.”
Notice, Paul and those accompanying him tarried at Troas seven days, and no mention is made of anything happening on the Sabbath. However, on Sunday—the first day of the week—Christians gathered to observe the Lord’s Supper and hear a sermon from Paul. That is typical, today, of our worship services on the first day of the week. Let us close with a passage from 1 Corinthians 9:20, where we find, “And to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, not being myself under the law, that I might gain them that are under the Law.”
