There is no command in the New Testament to hold meetings on any certain day. If Sunday works easiest, then do so. I see no correction of anyone in the Book of Acts to not worship certain days but only on sabbath, nor do I see commands to only worship on Sunday. Either way, it’s not there in a commandment form, despite the fourth commandment, which I have shown is not an issue, seeing as we keep the sabbath day by learning to rest in Christ’s work.
1 Corinthians 16:2 Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.
Sabbatarians explain that Paul did not want to have to collect money when he arrived, and rightly so. But the fact is that they gathered to collect money on that first day of the week, regardless. It does not mention that it was, therefore, the day that they always gathered. It is also true that Paul did not direct them to worship Sun-days. But that’s just the point! They did worship on Sundays, but not as a form of obedience to a commandment.
It is also insisted that nothing says that they had to leave their homes to do this. But that does not indicate they did not leave their homes. If people were told to gather money for Paul on the first day of the week, then it would be redundant and silly, to be honest, if it was to be done at home. What would make a difference between gathering funds on the third day of the week, if it was done at home? The only sense that there is in telling people to gather money on the first day was because they would meet together away from their homes in a com-mon house owned by one of them, or wherever. The location was not the issue.
There is no indication that it was not a time of worship for them. However, if Paul told them that they were to gather the first day of the week, it sounds like a regular thing, though not always every single week. It sounded like a thing to do temporarily for every first day of the week. The first day of the week was set aside, but only for so many weeks so far as gathering money was concerned. Since he said, “that there be no gatherings when I come,” then it would mean that it could not be every week of every year. If Paul was there, and they did this gathering every single week of the year, there would be gatherings when he came, which he distinctly said he did not want that to be the case.
At any rate, that does not mean that they did not gather for worship every first day. Why would he tell them to do this the first day of the week if they were gathering on sabbaths weekly, anyway? Why not collect the money on sabbath, if they regularly gathered there every week? It appears to say that they gathered the first day regularly, and in a certain period of time that Paul referred to was when they would gather money specifically to help the other churches. That would inform us that they were not gathering on sabbaths.
Why designate the first day of a certain period of time, if they weren’t already gathering that day? If they gathered on the sabbath for worship, why else would Paul tell them to gather again to raise money the very next day for a certain period of first days of the week gatherings, when it could have been done on the sabbath during regular times of worship?
Threaded Mode
