Let us examine the New Testament evidence concerning the Sabbath and the notion that it was done away. In Acts 13:14-15, 42-44, Paul, while in Antioch in Pisidia, went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and preached the gospel. When the Gentiles begged to hear more, they were told to return the next Sabbath, not the following day, which would have been Sunday if the day of worship had changed. Instead, Paul waited a whole week, passing up a Sunday, and almost the whole city gathered on the next Sabbath to hear the word of God. In Acts 15:1-2, 14-21, during the conference at Jerusalem, James decided that Gentile converts should abstain from certain practices, but there was no mention of abandoning the Sabbath. James noted that Moses was preached in every city, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath, implying that Gentile converts, attending on the Sabbath, already knew God's law and needed no further instruction on it. The apostles' letter did not reprove them for keeping the Sabbath. In Acts 16:12-15, Paul and Silas, while in Philippi, went on the Sabbath day to a place of prayer by the riverside, where it was customary to meet. There, they spoke to women, including Lydia, who was converted and baptized along with her household. Paul's custom was to seek a place of worship on the Sabbath, demonstrating his consistent practice. Finally, in Acts 18:1-11, Paul, in Corinth, worked during the week but reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, persuading both Jews and Greeks. Even after turning to preach solely to Gentiles, he continued this practice for a year and six months, teaching every Sabbath. Paul's custom, as recorded in numerous instances, was to keep the Sabbath, following the example of Christ, and he urged others to imitate him as he imitated Christ.

For centuries, people have sought to argue that Christians are not required to observe the Sabbath and holy days. In Colossians 2:16-17, some deduce from a misunderstanding of verse 14 that the law was done away and nailed to the cross, reasoning that Paul is instructing the Colossians not to let anyone condemn them for eating unclean meats or not observing the Sabbath or holy days. They interpret verse 17 to suggest that Paul dismisses the Sabbath and holy days as mere symbols of future events, unimportant since Christ's death. However, Paul is actually addressing the influence of pagan philosophies in Colossae, where ascetic practices were common, and many in the church had brought these ideas with them. In Colossians 2:20-23, Paul corrects this mindset, urging the Colossians not to worry about community judgments regarding their joyous celebration of the Sabbath and festivals, as Christ has conquered the world and its rulers. In verse 17, Paul clarifies that the Sabbath and holy days are shadows of future events in God's plan, with the Sabbath symbolizing the Millennium and the holy days representing steps in God's purpose. He emphasizes that the body of Christ, which is the church, should guide judgments on these matters, not the opinions of the community.

Nowhere in the Bible is the Sabbath annulled by a command or example of Jesus Christ or the apostles. If we carefully and honestly study the most controversial and difficult of Paul's statements, we will see that he never used his authority to abrogate the keeping of the Sabbath either. In the gospels, the controversy is always how, not whether, to keep the Sabbath. Jesus never says it no longer matters, and that we therefore no longer need to observe it. He very obviously kept it, or the Jews' attacks against Him would have specifically addressed why He was not. Instead, they attacked His manner of observing it. He answers this Himself when He observes that the Sabbath was made for man, not just for Jews, and that He is Lord of it. Also, He is our example, and we are to walk as He walked. If we wish to follow Him closely, then we will keep the same days He did. Far from annulling it, He magnified it, giving us the foundation for judging the value of our own Sabbath activity. He restores it to its original God-given intent and liberalizes it only in relation to the perverted, bondage-producing approach of the Pharisees. In His healing of the man with the withered hand, He gives no indication that He intended doing away with it. He merely broke their misguided perception of how to observe the Sabbath. By His example, reaction, and words, God very clearly intends us to do good on the Sabbath, and to fail to do good when the opportunity arises implies evil and killing.

Many people claim that God's Sabbath is no longer required because it is a law found in the Old Testament, that there is nothing in the New Testament about keeping the law. This claim is not accurate. All encounters recorded in the New Testament regarding the Sabbath concern how to keep it rather than whether to keep it. There was never a question of what day the Sabbath was or whether it should be kept. Jesus Christ kept the Sabbath according to His custom by entering the synagogue on the Sabbath day. Jesus Christ healed on the Sabbath. Jesus Christ stated that the Sabbath was made for man and that He is Lord of the Sabbath.

Some within the church culture influenced by Catholic and Protestant thought have sought to dismiss Old Testament instruction on the Sabbath by classifying it as merely ceremonial or external ritual alongside priests, altars, and laws of cleanliness, thereby treating it as legalism that has been done away. This inclination arises from discomfort with ritual forms and from statements made toward the end of the previous era that grouped the Sabbath with such practices as though they had been set aside. Jesus Himself, however, took the opposite stance by declaring that He came not to destroy the law or the prophets but to fulfill them, adding that not one jot or tittle would pass from the law until all is accomplished. He consistently appealed to the Old Testament as authoritative for His own conduct and example, stating that man lives by every word proceeding from the mouth of God, and His custom was to keep the Sabbath in the synagogue. The same Scriptures that record the fourth commandment also contain Isaiah's revelation of the terms on which God expects the day to be kept, terms centered on ceasing from personal business and pleasure so that the day may be devoted to His. Because the church constitutes the Israel of God—the spiritual seed of Abraham to whom the promises pertain—the patterns of relationship recorded with physical Israel, including Sabbath observance and its connection to holiness and avoidance of idolatry, apply directly and with heightened spiritual force to those now being created in Christ's image. The Sabbath therefore remains binding as part of the royal law that God in the flesh honored, and its observance continues to function as the appointed means by which God's people are refreshed, instructed, and drawn into deeper fellowship with Him.