#4.20 DOES ROMANS 14:5 CANCEL THE SABBATH DAY?

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Greek Word Study on 4521 σάββατον sabbaton Sabbath.
Hebrew Word Study on 7676 שַׁבָּת shabbat Sabbath.
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Greek - Romans 14:5-6 - English
ὃς μὲν κρίνει ἡμέραν παρ᾽ ἡμέραν, ὃς δὲ κρίνει πᾶσαν ἡμέραν ἕκαστος ἐν τῷ ἰδίῳ νοὶ πληροφορείσθω	5 One indeed judges a day with a day: but another one judges every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.
ὁ φρονῶν τὴν ἡμέραν κυρίῳ φρονεῖ καὶ ὁ μὴ φρονῶν τὴν ἡμέραν, κυρίῳ οὐ φρονεῖ ὁ ἐσθίων κυρίῳ ἐσθίει εὐχαριστεῖ γὰρ τῷ θεῷ καὶ ὁ μὴ ἐσθίων κυρίῳ οὐκ ἐσθίει καὶ εὐχαριστεῖ τῷ θεῷ	6 He who regards the day, regards it to the Lord; and he who does not regard the day, to the Lord he does not regard 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.

Note: This scripture (Romans 14:5) is used by some to say that we do not need to keep the Sabbath day, because it is now a matter of individual preference whether we regard one day as more important than another or not. This is a misinterpretation of what Paul is talking about here for the following reasons.

(1) There is no mention of the Sabbath day in this scripture, so to use it to prove that we do not need to keep the Sabbath day is not sound.

(2) Consider the context. There is no mention of the Sabbath in the whole of chapter 14. In fact the Sabbath is not mentioned even once in the whole book of Romans, so how anyone can think that Romans 14:5 refers to the Sabbath is totally unsound interpretation. Look at the word usage around this verse in the New King James Version. Verse 2 "eat" and "eats", verse 3 "eats" (twice) and "eat" (twice), verse 6 "eats" (twice) and "eat" (twice). Ten times in the immediate context the word "eat" is used. From verse 1 the conflict is between, "Him who is weak in the faith", who eats only herbs (v2), and those who are not weak in the faith, who believe that they can eat anything. The Mosaic law is not under consideration then, because nowhere does it prescribe strict vegetarianism. It does differentiate between different kinds of meat (Leviticus 11:1-8; Deuteronomy 14:3-8), but this is not under consideration here. If, as is generally presumed, it was the weak believer who regarded the Sabbath (one day above another (v5)), then Paul would have to regard himself as weak because he observed the Sabbath and other Jewish feasts.

(Acts 17:1-2) "Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews: And Paul, as his manner was, went in to them, and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures."
(Acts 17:10) "And the brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea: who coming there went into the synagogue of the Jews."
(Acts 18:4) "And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks."
(Acts 18:19-21) "And he came to Ephesus, and left them there: but he himself entered into the synagogue, and reasoned with the Jews.
When they desired him to remain a longer time with them, he did not consent;
But bade them farewell, saying, I must by all means keep this feast that comes in Jerusalem: but I will return again to you, if God will. And he sailed from Ephesus."
(Acts 20:16) "For Paul had determined to sail by Ephesus, because he would not spend the time in Asia: for he hasted, if it were possible for him, to be at Jerusalem the day of Pentecost."

But Paul regarded himself as strong in faith: "We who are strong" (Romans 15:1), so he could hardly have been thinking of Sabbath keeping when he was considering the days.

(3) Consider the context again. The whole of Romans chapter 14 is to do with eating food, and if we examine verse 6, we see that Paul is referring to days on which people should fast: "He who regards the day, ... he who does not regard the day, ... He who eats, ... he who does not eat." Some were regarding one day better than another on which to fast. Paul is telling them that this is not an important issue, and not to judge one another over it (v13). There was no instruction in the law saying that one day was better to fast than another, so do not judge each other concerning that. This is the preferred interpretation. A failure to consider the context often leads to erroneous interpretations.

In conclusion then, this bible study proves that Romans 14:5 does not cancel the Sabbath day commandment.

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