There is a common false assertion made in christianity that the scriptures tell us it doesn’t matter which day of the week we set aside for assembling together for fellowship and scriptural instruction.
While it is true that genuine believers worship every day (because they are indwelt by the covenant, and true worship of the Father occurs where the covenant is), that is something altogether different from the weekly Sabbath, which is given to Yah’s people as a day of rest and “holy convocation” (assembly, rehearsal), as we’re told in Leviticus 23:3.
Now, a common method of false teaching in christianity is to deceptively distort what the scriptures actually state on a matter, and this particular false teaching is no different. You see, many in christianity lift something Paul said in Romans 14 out of its context to make it say something completely different than it actually states.
First, here is the verse that is lifted out of its context for the false doctrine:
“One person regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind.” Romans 14:5
I have to admit that when I was lost in christianity, I also believed this verse to mean that ANY day could be classified as the day of the week for rest and assembling of the body of believers. But, christianity relies on ignorance of the masses concerning the entire context of what Paul is talking about in this passage.
Paul is speaking here about the matter of eating and fasting, not of the weekly assembling of believers. Let’s look at the context of what Paul is speaking of here.
“Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions. One person has faith that he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats vegetables only [here Paul is comparing those who ate only vegetables with those who also ate meat].
The one who eats [meat] is not to regard with contempt the one who does not eat [meat], and the one who does not eat [meat] is not to judge the one who eats [meat], for God has accepted him. Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand (Romans 14:1-4).”
So far, this has only covered eating meat or abstaining from meat. It must be understood that in the next verse, Paul moves on to days that have something to do with eating (since the context so far has been ONLY about eating). What days would have something to do with eating or not eating?
Well, many physical Jews used to have a semi-fast twice a week (Luke 18:12), and some fasted in the fifth and seventh months (Zechariah 7:4-7). Paul is speaking only of those days of fasting, not about the days that the Father ordained as His Sabbaths, for it would be ludicrous to assert that Paul said the ordained days don’t matter in this passage, but then he taught them everywhere else.
So, within the context of different people choosing to FAST on different days, Paul says:
One person regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind. He who regards a day, regards it for the Lord. He who EATS, does so for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who EATS NOT, for the Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God.
Again, it is absurd to contend that Paul was speaking of anything other than fasting and eating in this entire chapter, when it is understood that, throughout the New Testament, Paul both observed the Sabbaths, and he taught them to the Gentile converts.
To state that Paul was saying that any day can be chosen as a day set aside for rest and holy convocation makes Paul a hypocrite and a false teacher. If that were true, then the Sabbaths would no longer have any actual meaning—and if the Sabbaths no longer had any actual meaning, then why would Paul refer to the seventh day of the week as the Sabbath, and why would he observe the annual Sabbaths (feasts)?
And, if it “doesn’t matter,” then why pick the venerable day of the sun? That day was chosen because it was the day of sun worship that the Gentile idolaters were already comfortable with. It’s not the true day that the Father ordained. And, John 4:24 is clear that, for worship to be acceptable to the Father, it must be in TRUTH (and SUNday assembling is NOT truth).
The false notion that any day can be set as one’s “sabbath” puts the power of ordaining days in the hands of man, when it is the Father alone who designed and ordained His Sabbaths, both weekly and annual (feasts). And, they are all of Messiah. It seems like a pretty sloppy belief system to claim that things designed specifically pointing to Messiah can be determined by man’s will.
No, the Father’s Sabbaths belong to Him, and there are no other days of the week, month, or year that are ordained as His days. Not SUNdays, not Wednesdays, not christ-mass, and not easter/ishtar!
The Father has one weekly Sabbath—the seventh day. And, He has seven annual Sabbaths—Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, Weeks, Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles.
The Ten Commandments, which was the physical covenant foreshadowing the seal of the Holy Spirit, is a list of HOW the Father desires His children to live. On that list, He says to remember His Sabbath day to keep it set apart from the other days of the week.
I can still find no christian who can explain in what year the Father changed His mind about that, and why He didn’t clearly tell us He had done that. And, if one cannot point to a scripture declaring such a change, then teaching that His ordained days don’t matter is blatantly false teaching.
Man cannot ordain any days as belonging to the Father. He alone is the one who did that. Why does christianity fight so vehemently against His days? I already know why, so that is a rhetorical question.
For more information: Saturday or Sunday? Does It Even Matter?