Objection:
We should keep all days holy in the Christian dispensation. However, if the law of the land has designated Sunday as the particular day of rest, Christians should obey the civil authorities and keep Sunday.
Answer:
This objection attempts to arrive at Sunday observance by combining two separate arguments—neither of which can be sustained from Scripture.
First, it is claimed that under the Christian dispensation all days are alike holy. Then it is argued that, if civil government has designated Sunday as a day of rest, Christians should observe Sunday in obedience to the law of the land.
But the argument contradicts itself.
If all days are equally holy, then Sunday cannot possess any greater sacredness than Monday, Tuesday, or any other day. If no particular day has been distinguished by God, why should Sunday receive special religious honor simply because the government has chosen it as a civil day of rest?
The claim that all days are holy does not establish Sunday observance. It removes the very idea of a definite weekly Sabbath.
Furthermore, the Bible does not teach that all seven days were blessed and sanctified alike. Scripture is specific:
“And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it.”— Genesis 2:3
The fourth commandment is equally definite:
“But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God.”— Exodus 20:10
God did not sanctify every day of the week. Neither did He command men to select whichever day was most convenient or recognized by civil society. He blessed and sanctified the seventh day.
No civil government, church council, or human tradition has the authority to remove the blessing from the day God sanctified or transfer that sacredness to another day.
The objection acknowledges that civil law may designate Sunday as a day of rest. In such a case, a Christian may certainly refrain from ordinary employment on Sunday where the law requires it. There is nothing inherently wrong with resting from secular labor on Sunday. A Christian may also rest on other days when circumstances require it.
But resting from labor because of a civil regulation is not the same as keeping a day holy unto the Lord.
Civil law may regulate business hours, employment practices, public commerce, or days upon which government offices are closed. It may create a legal holiday. But civil government cannot create a holy day. It cannot sanctify time. Only God can do that.
The Scriptures teach Christians to respect legitimate civil authority:
“Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers.”— Romans 13:1
Christians should be law-abiding citizens. We should obey civil laws wherever those laws do not require us to violate the commandments of God.
However, submission to civil government is not unlimited. The state has authority in civil matters, but it does not possess authority over the conscience or the worship of God.
When human requirements conflict with divine commands, the governing principle is clear:
“We ought to obey God rather than men.”— Acts 5:29
Therefore, if the law of the land requires businesses to close or labor to cease on Sunday, the Christian may comply with that civil requirement. But he cannot conclude that Sunday has therefore become the Sabbath, that it has been made holy, or that it should receive the religious observance that God commanded for the seventh day.
Otherwise, religious duty would change whenever a Christian crossed a national border.
In one country, the government might recognize Sunday. In another, Friday may be the principal day of rest. In still another, national holidays or religious festivals may be connected with beliefs contrary to Scripture.
If civil law determines which day Christians are to keep holy, then truth would change from one nation to another. The Christian’s religious practice would be governed by geography rather than revelation.
But God’s truth does not change with national boundaries, political systems, or legislative decisions.
“Thy word is truth.”— John 17:17
Civil law may determine when a citizen works, when a business opens, or when public offices close. It cannot determine what God has made holy.
There is also a deeper problem with the objection. Sunday laws have often been enacted under the influence of those who already believed that Sunday possessed religious sacredness. Yet the present argument says that all days are holy and that Sunday should be observed only if the civil government has designated it as a day of rest.
One argument says Sunday should be kept because the Sabbath was transferred to the first day of the week. The other says all days are alike, but Sunday should receive special recognition whenever the government selects it.
These arguments do not support one another. They expose the absence of a clear biblical command for Sunday observance.
The decisive question is not, What day has the government selected?
The decisive question is, What day has God sanctified?
If Scripture commands Sunday observance, let the command be produced. If no such command exists, then a civil statute cannot supply what the Word of God does not contain.
Christians should respect civil authority. If the government requires rest from secular labor on Sunday, we may comply, provided no command of God is violated. But compliance with a civil day of rest is not the same as religiously keeping Sunday holy.
The seventh-day Sabbath rests upon the express command of God:
“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.”— Exodus 20:8
Sunday observance cannot be established merely because a government may recognize Sunday as a civil day of rest. Human legislation can regulate conduct, but it cannot sanctify a day.
The faithful Christian will respect the government while reserving worship and the conscience for God alone:
“Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.”— Matthew 22:21
