What the Bible says
What does the Bible say about the Sabbath and the Lord’s Day?
God set apart one day in seven as a holy day of rest, from creation onward (Genesis 2:2-3; Exodus 20:8-11). Since the resurrection of Christ the weekly Sabbath is kept on the first day of the week, the Lord’s Day (Revelation 1:10), when the early church gathered to break bread and hear the word (Acts 20:7); the 1689 Confession (chapter 22) calls Christians to spend it in public and private worship and in works of necessity and mercy.
Key Bible verses about the Sabbath and the Lord’s Day
- Genesis 2:2-3
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. God blessed the seventh day, and made it holy, because he rested in it from all his work of creation which he had done.
- Exodus 20:8-11
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. You shall labor six days, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. You shall not do any work in it, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your livestock, nor your stranger who is within your gates; for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day, and made it holy.
- Deuteronomy 5:12-15
“Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you. You shall labor six days, and do all your work; but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God, in which you shall not do any work—neither you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your livestock, nor your stranger who is within your gates; that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. You shall remember that you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.
- Isaiah 58:13-14
“If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, and the holy of the LORD honorable, and honor it, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words, then you will delight yourself in the LORD, and I will make you to ride on the high places of the earth, and I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father;” for the LORD’s mouth has spoken it.
- Mark 2:27-28
He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”
- John 20:19
When therefore it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were locked where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the middle and said to them, “Peace be to you.”
- Acts 20:7
On the first day of the week, when the disciples were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day; and continued his speech until midnight.
- 1 Corinthians 16:1-2
Now concerning the collection for the saints: as I commanded the assemblies of Galatia, you do likewise. On the first day of every week, let each one of you save as he may prosper, that no collections are made when I come.
- Revelation 1:10
I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, like a trumpet
- Hebrews 4:9-10
There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For he who has entered into his rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from his.
- Hebrews 10:24-25
Let’s consider how to provoke one another to love and good works, not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom of some is, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
Scripture: World English Bible (public domain). Short quotations in the introduction are from the ESV. Read each passage in its chapter for the full context.
From the Baptist Catechism
- Q63. Which is the fourth commandment?
The fourth commandment is, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor 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 maid servant, 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.”
- Q64. What is required in the fourth commandment?
The fourth commandment requires the keeping holy to God such set times as He has appointed in His Word, expressly one whole day in seven to be a holy Sabbath to Himself.
- Q65. Which day of the seven has God appointed to be the weekly Sabbath?
From the creation of the world to the resurrection of Christ, God appointed the seventh day of the week to be the weekly Sabbath; and the first day of the week ever since, to continue to the end of the world, which is the Christian Sabbath.
- Q66. How is the Sabbath to be sanctified?
The Sabbath is to be sanctified by a holy resting all that day, even from such worldly employments and recreations as are lawful on other days, and spending the time in the public and private exercises of God’s worship, except so much as is to be taken up in the works of necessity and mercy.
- Q67. What is forbidden in the fourth commandment?
The fourth commandment forbids the omission or careless performance of the duties required, and the profaning the day by idleness, or doing that which is in itself sinful, or by unnecessary thoughts, words, or works, about worldly employments or recreations.
- Q68. What are the reasons annexed to the fourth commandment?
The reasons annexed to the fourth commandment are, God’s allowing us six days of the week for our own employments, His challenging a special propriety in the seventh, His own example and His blessing the Sabbath day.
In the 1689 Baptist Confession
The Second London Baptist Confession of 1689 is our confessional standard. See what we believe.