Seventh-Day Adventism has many errors but the fundamental one which keeps it separate from mainstream Christianity is boldly declared in its name.  It does not observe the Christian Sabbath on the first day of the week, when Jesus rose from the dead, but it continues to observe the seventh-day sabbath.

There are other groups who follow the seventh-day sabbath, and there are other Christians who have abandoned Sabbath observance altogether, asserting that only nine of the Ten Commandments have carried over into the Christian Church.

Therefore it should be helpful to notice the biblical basis for the Christian church changing its Sabbath observance from the Creation Sabbath on the seventh day to the Christian Sabbath on the first day of the week.

The Christian Sabbath is observed by the Christian church on the first day of the week because of Jesus’ own example.

1. Jesus, as the Lord of the Sabbath Day Mat 12:8, changed the day when His disciples gather to worship God. He did this with His example. 1. He rose from the dead on the 1st day of the week Mat 28:1, Mk 16:2,9, Lk 24:1, Jn 20:1 and He appeared to the disciples on the 1st day of the week Jn 20:19. Doubting Thomas was not there and did not believe the testimony of the others. When Jesus appeared to them all again, with Thomas present, He chose the first day of the next week, after eight days Jn 20:26 – thereby emphasizing this weekly day when He rose from the dead.
2. the apostolic church followed this example from Jesus and met on the 1st day of the week. We read about this for example at Act 20:7.
3. the churches collected their money on the 1st day of the week 1Cor 16:2, which co-incided with their weekly meeting on this day.
4. this weekly meeting day began to be called the Lord’s Day Rev 1:10 because it commemorated the day that Jesus rose from the dead. Just like Jn 20:26, Jesus chose this day to meet with the apostle John on the Isle of Patmos Rev 1:1,10,13. It was a deliberate and significant choice, and John noted it.
5. this terminology became so common during the apostolic age that the Greek language changed the name of the first day of its week from hemera heliou, “the day of the Sun” to Κυριακή, ‘Kuriake, the Lord’s Day’. The Greek-speaking world to the present day calls the first day of the week – “The Lord’s Day”. This shows how influential was Jesus’ resurrection.
6. Sabbath means ‘Rest’. The Creation Sabbath on the seventh day of the week commemorated God’s Rest from the work of Creation Gen 2:2-3. It is not a Jewish Sabbath because there were no Jews at the time. The Jews were commanded through Moses to “remember” the Sabbath Day Ex 20:8, which was already in existence and observed in the wilderness before they reached Mount Sinai Ex 16:23-29.
7. the Bible speaks of Jewish sabbaths, which were Jewish ceremonial sabbaths Ex 12:16 associated with the ceremonial law given to Moses, called “holy convocations”, which were celebrated on the 1st and 7th day Lev 23:7-8, at the feast of tabernacles on the 8th day Lev 23:36, and on the Day of Atonement on the 10th day of the seventh month, which might be any day of the week Lev 23:27. The Jewish sabbaths were part of the ceremonial law given to Moses at Mount Sinai, which was fulfilled by Christ and abolished Col 2:16, Gal 3:24-25.
8. the Lord’s Day is distinguished from the 7th-day Creation Sabbath and the Jewish ceremonial sabbaths by calling it the Christian Sabbath, to emphasize 1. that it commemorates Christ’s resting from the work of Redemption, 2. that it commemorates and proclaims His resurrection and 3. the Ten Commandments continue in the Christian Church.
9. Jesus is “Lord of the Sabbath day” Mat 12:8, Mk 2:28 and by changing the day for its observance He shows His authority over the Sabbath day. He has not lost one of His titles – the Sabbath has not disappeared. He is still Lord of the Sabbath day and “the sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath” Mk 2:27 – it is a gift from God for our use and benefit, not a rule or yoke to keep us in bondage Gal 5:1, Gal 3:24-25. It belongs to God as His Sabbath. He has not lost it nor abolished it. The Word of God owned it at Creation Jn 1:3, Jesus still owns it, and it prefigures the eternal Sabbath Heb 4:9 in heaven.
10. The eighth day was significant in the Old Testament.  For example, male children were circumcised on the eighth day.  Its relevance as the first day of the next week only became apparent when Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week and when He visited His disciples eight days later. Similarly, the day of Pentecost is the 50th day, the day after seven weeks of seven days, the first day of the eighth week.
11. The fulfilment of all the Jewish ceremonial sabbaths were pulled together by the Lord of the Sabbath, along with the Creation Sabbath, and celebrated as the Christian Sabbath on the Lord’s Day.

Seventh-Day Adventists (SDAs) fail to pay attention to the Lord’s Day and they ignore Jesus’ example to the early church to commemorate His resurrection by worshipping God on the Lord’s Day Rev 1:10, on the first day of the week Act 20:7 and 1Cor 16:2. Paul had to deal with various attempts to return to the ceremonial law Gal 4:9-10, Col 2:16.

SDAs have many other errors. Their understanding of the Gospel can be neonomian. They are one of the largest cults to arise in 19th-century America and the wealth of Americans has enabled them, like the Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons, to spread to other countries and to have a significant presence in third-world countries.

More recently, America has spawned New Covenant Theology, which abolishes the Sabbath altogether.

However, even to the present day the Greek language demonstrates that the Lord’s Day is the first day of the week.

The wide variety of erroneous teaching reminds us of the importance of personal study of the Bible.

Studying the New Testament

Many people will not read the Old Testament nor will they read the whole New Testament on a regular basis.  However, even reading the New Testament is not enough, but people need to study it. It is easy for false Christianity to mislead those who will not study the Bible. There are a large number of groups claiming to be Christian but who do not teach Christ’s Word as we read it in the New Testament. Jesus warns us that He will deny any knowledge of them Mat 7:22-23.

God bless you in your Bible study.