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. He who doesn’t eat, to the Lord he doesn’t eat, and gives God thanks. Romans 14:6 WEB
A controversy arose in the early church concerning the keeping of religious traditions. Freed from the condemnation of the law by the sacrifice of Christ, should Christians keep the rites commanded by religious leaders? Were they still required to observe special religious days? Paul answers these concerns in this section of his letter to the Romans.
Paul addressed these issues in other letters. In Galatians 4,10-11, he writes, “You observe days, months, seasons, and years. I am afraid for you, that I might have wasted my labor for you. WEB”
Paul’s concern arose from a concern that if church members participated in special religious activities like fasting in hopes that they may earn their salvation, then they were not placing proper emphasis on Christ’s righteousness and sacrifice on the cross to save them. Aware of the error in this, Paul corrected the misguided practices.
Honor the Lord
In his letter to the Romans, Paul takes the opportunity to affirm the believer. His words point to the harmlessness of these observations as long as the believer engages in the behavior to honor the Lord. He makes clear that either way, salvation is of the Lord and not achieved by special religious observations.
As long as the behavior is motivated by devotion to God and not the mistaken notion of gaining salvation through religious acts or the fear of losing salvation from the failure to participate, Paul does not condemn the religious rites.
Beyond that, Paul proclaimed freedom from the necessity of these human rituals in Colossians 2:16-17 writing, “Let no one therefore judge you in eating, or in drinking, or with respect to a feast day or a new moon or a Sabbath day, which are a shadow of the things to come; but the body is Christ’s. WEB” The salvation of the church comes by faith in Christ and Christ alone.
Prayer: “Father God, thank you for relieving me of the burden of my sins. Increase my understanding of your holy word as I study the scriptures. Give me wisdom and discernment to apply the principles to the sharing of the gospel message. In Jesus’ name – Amen”
Yesterday’s Devotional: Jesus Is The Christ
