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WAS PAUL INCLUDING THE 7TH DAY SABBATH IN HIS 'EVERY DAY ALIKE' COMMENT IN ROMANS 14?
Many people use Romans 14 as one of their reasons to not keep the 7th day Sabbath. They believe that Paul included the 7th day Sabbath in his "every
day is alike" comment and therefore they believe it matters not
whether you keep the 7th day holy or the 1st day holy or no day at all! But is this REALLY what Paul was saying? Let's take a look at the verses in question:
Romans 14:5-6 ...'One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth EVERY DAY ALIKE. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks.'
The question is, does the phrase "another esteemeth EVERY DAY ALIKE" include the 7th day Sabbath? Well, what should we do? Should we just assume, or use scripture to understand this? We should use scripture, so let us do that. In Exodus 16 we find an interesting account of when God told the Israelites what they could and couldn't do regarding the collecting of the manna:
Exodus 16:4 ...'Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate EVERY DAY, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no.'
Oh wait! God said the Israelites shall go out and gather the manner every day. Was God including the 7th day Sabbath in this "every day"? Let's take a look:
exodus 16:26,29 ...'Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the sabbath, in it there shall be none ... see, for that the Lord hath given you the sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.'
Do you see? Why did God say to Moses that the people shall go out and collect the manna EVERY DAY and then tell the people that there will be no manna to collect on the 7th day Sabbath and that they were not to go out on the 7th day Sabbath? Because the 7th day is NOT included in the "every day." And we can see this from the creation account:
Genesis 2:2-3 ...'And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God BLESSED THE SEVENTH DAY, AND SANCTIFIED IT: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.'
Do you see what God did with the 7th day? He 'sanctified it', which means to SET APART for holy use. This means the 7th day Sabbath is set apart from the other 6 working days and not reckoned with them, but is SET APART from them. This is why God said the Israelites were to gather the manna EVERY DAY, but not on the Sabbath day. The term 'every day' refers to the 6 common days of the week, NOT the 7th day Sabbath.
Now was the apostle Paul aware of this fact? Of course he was, because he was a "Hebrew of Hebrews" (Philippians 3:5). He knew very well that the 7th day Sabbath was a 'SET APART' day from the other 6 common working days and not counted among them. So with this in mind, let us relook at Paul's statement:
Romans 14:5-6 ...'One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth EVERY DAY ALIKE. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks.'
Paul is not talking about the 'set apart' day which is the Sabbath. He is speaking of the 6 common days of the week, upon also which fall certain days that are celebrated and kept, like the feast days of the Jews. We can tell that Paul is speaking of the feast days, because he brings food into the context also. The Jews who were converted to Christ thought they had to still strictly obey the feast days, whereas the Gentile converts rightly regarded 'every day' of the common 6 days alike. The same can be said of Colossians 2. Here Paul also mentions food and drink and new moons and 'sabbaths.' He is not including the weekly Sabbath that God instituted at creation. He is speaking of the 'shadows' that were appointed AFTER sin, that pointed to Christ and ceased at the cross. These 'days' are of no consequence whether you keep them or not.
Today we could include Thanksgiving, Easter, Christmas, etc. If a man wants to keep these days to the Lord, then so be it. But if another believes that these days are nothing more than a common day and doesn't keep them, then so be it also.
This text of Paul is a reference to NON-ESSENTIALS, which is why he begins the chapter talking about "doubtful disputations." He is in no way speaking about moral obligations, like the 7th day Sabbath of the 4th commandment. Is that a "doubtful disputation", written by the finger of God upon the stone tablets? No, it is a clear moral obligation given by God Himself, included in His great law of love. A day that was "made FOR man" (Mark 2:27) and given BEFORE any sin came into the world and BEFORE there was any Jew. Could that be a 'doubtful disputation'? Never.
So as we can see, the "every day alike" comment does NOT include the 7th day Sabbath, which is 'SET APART' from all other days, but are those 'days' which fall upon any of the 6 common working days, that man is free to keep or not to keep.
For more important studies on the 7th day Sabbath, please see the following:
DID THE APOSTLES CHANGE THE SABBATH TO SUNDAY?
SUNDAY CHURCHES MISS THIS KEY POINT OF FAITH REGARDING SABBATH