Are Christians free to worship God any day of the week?
Does Romans 14:5 indicate we are not bound by law to worship on a certain day? [Moderator note: This topic is about when we can worship God, not specifically about keeping the Sabbath. For Sabbath related topics, please see the related eBible.com topics: https://ebible.com/questions/857-does-god-require-sabbath-keeping-of-christians https://ebible.com/questions/567-what-does-it-mean-that-jesus-is-the-lord-of-the-sabbath https://ebible.com/questions/860-what-day-is-the-sabbath-saturday-or-sunday-do-christians-have-to-observe-the-sabbath-day ]
Romans 14:5
ESV - 5 One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.
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Asked September 27 2015
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John Smith
Supporter
Ariel HaNaviy
Supporter
There appears to be two questions here, thus I will attempt to answer both of them: First Question: Does Romans 14:5 indicate Christians are free to worship God any day of the week? Answer: In one sense, believers ARE free to worship God any day of the week—and we SHOULD be worshiping him EVERY day of the week, right? However, our Messianic freedom should not drastically separate us, but cause us to "pursue what makes for mutual upbuilding” (Rom 14:19). There is no historical evidence or theological support from the 1st century to suppose that Rom 14:5 should be interpreted as a freedom to choose worship days. Second Question: Does Romans 14:5 indicate we are not bound by law to worship on a certain day? Answer: How one answers this question depends on who the “we” are in this question, and what is meant by “a certain day.” If the “we” are Gentile Christians, I can only say that the early Messianic communities were a sect of Judaism (Acts 24:14). This means the Gentile members must have been quite familiar with and most certainly respectful of Torah, even if they did not fully embrace it as Gentile believers (Acts 15:19-21). Indeed, the evidence from extant 1st century rabbinic writings (i.e., Mishnah) indicate Gentiles without legal Jewish status were forbidden from embracing Torah. Thus popular opinion today would say “no” to this question, citing the “Christian freedom” themes taught in the NT. However, if the “we” is Jewish people, and the “certain day” implies Sabbath, then the answer is an emphatic “yes,” for indeed Jews are covenantally bound by God and Torah to worship on seventh day Sabbath (Ex 19:8; 20:8; 31:13, 15, 16; Acts 21:20). This most naturally includes we Messianic Jews, since, like Paul himself, we are 100% Jewish (Acts 22:3), we are 100% Messianic (Acts 24:14), and we are 100% a part of Isra'el (Rom 11:1). What is more, even the popular opinion teaches that the Torah is for Jews. Conclusions: In this day and age, believers are free to worship on whatever day the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) leads them to worship on. However, it would be wise to at least establish a regular scheduled pattern and location of worship so that one can become accountable to a local congregation if at all possible. Biblical freedom is not a license to “Church hop” as often as one pleases. To this degree, there may be no rigid “right or wrong answer” to this question. I don't personally agree with using Rom 14:5 to justify a choice in worship days, since I believe the context to be that of voluntary fast days instead.