Romans 14: 4-7
4(H)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. 5(I)One person regards one day above another, another regards every day alike Each person must be (J)fully convinced in his own mind.6He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord, and he who eats, does so for the Lord, for he (K)gives thanks to God; and he who eats not, for the Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God. 7For not one of us (L)lives for himself, and not one dies for himself.
For an atheist, you sure know your way around scripture. Unfortunately, as is commonly done, it has been taken grossly out of context. Verses 1-4 identify the subject in context as vegetarianism—not which days should be kept.
Is Paul stating here that Jesus, by His death, did away with the very days He kept throughout His whole life? Of course not. Does he say, “God esteems one day above another” and “God esteems every day alike?” The verse says, “Each person esteems one day above another.” This is telling us that it was something men were teaching not God. Christ is not going to judge us by what any man believes. He will judge us by His Word, the Bible. He says so in John 12:48, “…the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day”
In no way is Paul giving a license to believe whatever you want. God commands, “…and lean not unto your own understanding” (Prov. 3:5). Paul stated, “the holy scriptures…are able to make you wise unto salvation” (II Tim. 3:15). Paul is writing to both Jewish and Gentile converts at Rome. He encouraged them to accept those who were weak in the faith (Rom. 14:1), and to not dispute with them over insignificant matters, nor sit in judgment of them. Some of these newly converted Gentiles, being weak in the faith, were vegetarians and refused to eat meats. Why did Paul break into this thought—about eating meat—and mention “days?”
Notice! Not only were there weak converts who avoided eating meat offered to idols, but there were others who customarily abstained from particular foods. They semi-fasted on specific days. Still others refused to practice a semi-fast or abstain from foods, but regarded every day in the same way! The Jews at the time were divided as to when to fast (Luke 18:12; Zec 7:4-7) The Gentile converts were also divided as to what days to abstain from certain foods. Because of their variety of backgrounds, they could not agree on which days to do this. There were divisions in the congregation. Jesus taught us that fasting is something that is done without making it obvious to others (Matt. 6:16). It is a personal matter, between an individual and God.
The subject of this question surrounded the matter of abstinence of food on particular days—upon which days many voluntarily abstained from certain foods. It did not involve whether to keep or not keep God’s Sabbaths!.
Colossians 2:15-17
15When He had (AJ)disarmed the (AK)rulers and authorities, He (AL)made a public display of them, having (AM)triumphed over them through Him. 16Therefore no one is to (AN)act as your judge in regard to (AO)food or (AP)drink or in respect to a (AQ)festival or a (AR)new moon or a (AS)Sabbath day--17things which are (AT)a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.
This scripture is quoted by nearly everyone in an attempt to prove that Paul did away with the Sabbath keeping, Holy Day observance, clean and unclean meats. The truth of the matter is that real meaning of these verses is that Christians should not let people arbitrarily judge their conduct. Only the Church (Col. 1:18)-"the body of Christ" (2:17)-can do this. Notice that the word "is" is italicized. This means that it was not in the original Greek text. By adding it, translators blurred the true meaning of this passage. The NASB version, you quoted above, totally misconstrued the words of the original Greek.
The phrase "in meat, or in drink" (vs. 16), translated from the Greek phrase en broosei ay en posei, meaning "in eating or in drinking." Some ascetics in Colosse were teaching that self-denial and will-worship (vs. 20-22) were God's Way. (See Galatians 4:9-10)
Notice that the first phrase in verse 17 uses the present tense in reference to the Sabbath, Holy Days, etc. It says, in effect, "these days are [not were] a [fore]shadow of things to come." true Christians know that the Sabbath and Holy Days picture the Plan of God, which certainly involves many "things to come." Verse 18 is a final warning to Christians not to let anyone trick them about these important issues-because it is only the Church that was to judge them (vs. 17, end).
The Colossians were Gentiles. They had never known God's Way, and had not previously kept His Sabbaths. In no way do these scriptures do away with God's Laws or Sabbaths! In fact, the Colossians were being criticized by unconverted Gentiles because they
were keeping the Sabbath and Holy Days!
