Caller: My question refers to Romans 14:5, and I was wondering if that refers to the Sabbath?
Pastor Doug: Let me read this: One man esteems one day above another another man esteems every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. Also reading verse 6: He that regards the day regards it unto the Lord He that regards not the day, to the Lord he does not regard it. He that eats to the Lord, he eats and gives God thanks, he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not and gives God thanks. Paul is speaking, addressing Romans who are converting to Christianity.
What of the Jewish laws are still intact? The Jews had a number of ceremonial holy days that came on a yearly basis and it was not required for converts to Christianity, the new converts, to be circumcised or practice the ceremonial aspects of the Jewish law because they were shadows that pointed to Jesus. But that’s completely separate from the ten commandments, and the Sabbath was a weekly commitment. So Paul, I think, is very clearly addressing the ceremonial laws and holidays. A modern comparison for this would be there are Christians who want to remember the birth of Christ during Christmas there are some who say ‘I don’t believe that’s when He was born, so I’m not going to have anything to do with it there are some pagan trappings’.
I think everyone needs to be persuaded in their own mind. You can’t imagine God telling Moses that someone should be stoned for breaking the Sabbath in one part of the Bible , and then you go to another part of the Bible and He says “Well, if you want to keep it, go ahead, if you don’t, that’s up to you”. That would be pretty inconsistent. He’s not talking about the Sabbath command here, he’s talking about the Jewish holy days.