Does Romans 14:5-6 prove that all days of worship are the same?

In this post, let us take a look at the real meaning of Romans 14:5-6 and confirm whether it abolishes God’s Sabbath Day or not.

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For most Christians, the Sabbath command is no longer effective and applicable to anyone today. They come up with various arguments just to prove their point.

Among these arguments capitalize on the misunderstanding of Romans 14:5-6, where we read:

One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks.

A lot of people read into this verse and argue that as long as you are “fully convinced in your own mind” and that you observe the day to the Lord, then you can actually choose any day of the week as your Sabbath.

Is that so? Is this understanding correct? Was Paul telling us that it is not necessary for us to keep the Sabbath on the right day, which is from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset?

Let’s discuss.

Table of Contents

What Paul believed

The writer of Romans was Paul. It was his letter to the Christians in Rome.

We must first then understand how Paul viewed the law of God.

In various places, Paul consistently showed the importance of God’s laws and that we, as followers of Christ, must also follow these laws.

We read:

“For not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified” (Romans 2:13).
“Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law” (Romans 3:31).
“Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good” (Romans 7:12).
“For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man” (Romans 7:22).
“But this I confess to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect, so I worship the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the Law and in the Prophets” (Acts 24:14).

With all these verses, it would be INCONSISTENT if Paul would suddenly tell the congregations in Rome to stop observing the Sabbath, which is a big part of the law of God.

With this understanding as a background of Paul’s teaching, let us now proceed and see what he really meant in Romans 14:5-6.

What are the days Paul was referring to?

Let’s read again Romans 14:5-6:

Does Romans 14:5-6 prove that all days of worship are the same?

Question:

Do you read the word “Sabbath” in these verses?

Obviously, no.

In fact, if you read the whole letter of Paul to the Romans, you WON’T find any mention of the Sabbath here!

So, Paul was only saying “days” and not Sabbath.

But what are these days Paul was talking about?

Remember that Rome is a pagan city. As a result, you will find the Roman church as a great mixture of gentile converts who walked formerly in the ways of pagan Rome. Add to that mixture are Jewish converts who still held on to some of the traditions of Judaism

This is true as we can read in Romans 1:13 and 2:17, where it tells us that the congregation of Rome did include both Jews and Gentiles.

At the time of Paul, eating and fasting had been a source of contention. Traditionally, the Jews commonly fast on Mondays and Thursdays.

So, what do you think would happen when some of the Christians fast on some days while others don’t? Some were hungry, while others were full? Some are suffering while others are rejoicing?

Because of human nature, self-righteousness sets in.

Some Jews who perhaps fast twice a week made themselves look more righteous than those who didn’t fast as often as they did. As a result, there are Christians who were judging each other and making a great divide among themselves.

The division was so great that Paul needed to address this issue. That’s why Paul wrote in Romans 14:1 and verse 4:

Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things… Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand.

The main emphasis of Paul here was that fasting is done voluntarily. The Scripture does not specifically command us to fast on particular days (aside from the Day of Atonement). So, we are free to choose whichever day we want to spend fasting.

This is the reason why Paul said in Romans 14:5-6 that as long as you are fully convinced in your mind and you dedicated your day of fasting to God, then you can esteem any day above another.

The issue of vegetarianism

Another source of contention in Rome was the issue of eating meat. As you can see, the Sabbath is not, in any case, related to the topic Paul was talking about here.

At that time, some Christians were afraid of unknowingly eating meat offered to idols. So, instead of eating defiled meat, they chose not to eat meat altogether.

Some Christians then condemn these vegetarians.

Paul’s solution?

“He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks” (Romans 14:6).

Paul was basically saying here that if your conscience is bothering you, then follow your conscience — don’t eat meat. But Paul was telling us that meat and food offered to idols can still be eaten because idols are nothing and they can’t do anything to defile meat.

I Corinthians 8 discusses the same issue and there, Paul was saying that we must be careful not to become a stumbling block to other Christians. So, it is better to simply choose not to eat meat if it will offend others.

The Sabbath and Romans 14:5-6

As you can see, Romans 14:5-6 addresses different issues. It had to do with fasting and eating. It is wrong for us to conclude through these verses that the Sabbath is already abolished.

For Paul, it was clear in his mind that God’s law is still binding and that includes the Sabbath. Paul, Himself, kept the Sabbath. Why would he instruct others not to?

It just doesn’t add up.

So, we only come to one irrefutable conclusion:

Romans 14:5-6 does NOT, in any way, abolish the Sabbath commandment.

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