One man esteems day more than day; another esteems every day [alike]. Let each be fully persuaded in his own mind.
Paul turns from big doctrine to a small argument about the calendar: some believers kept certain days as special, while others treated every day the same. The real question is not who was right, but why God left the matter open — and how believers should treat each other when they disagree.
This concern had a history. Jewish believers had grown up in a system where God Himself had set certain days apart.
It is easy to see where keeping special days came from: Judaism. God had set those days up in that system of things — but only as pictures of better things to come, and not as having any spiritual value in themselves. Yet if some believers still held on, to some degree, to keeping those days because their conscience required it of them, no one should make an issue of it. And they must not be allowed to demand it of others.
Commentators are careful to say what this verse does not cover. They put the first day of the week on settled ground:
It is worth seeing that the Apostle is not speaking about the Lord's day. Keeping the first day of the week as the Lord's day has the backing of Scripture. It is not left as an open matter (see John 20:19; Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2; Revelation 1:10).
The freedom in this verse is not freedom to do as you like. It comes from belonging to one Master.
In matters like these — personal behaviour and service to the Lord done from conscience — Christ's higher lordship sets us free from the rule of fellow believers. We may be right or wrong in our judgment. What matters most is that each of us, with a single eye for our Master, does what we believe pleases Him. The instruction that hangs on this is, "Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind."
If Scripture had given a plain command, no one would need persuading. God leaves some questions open on purpose, and that puts each believer alone before Him.
God means each of us to face such matters before Him, each one for himself. If Scripture gave a clear command, there would be no need for that exercise. Then simple obedience is the only course that pleases God. But how many other matters there are! Should I go here or there? Should I take part in this or that? May I enjoy this pleasure or not? … What bitter and harmful arguments have raged around such questions! And the answer is so simple. Stop the quarrelling! Hands off each other! Let each man go to his own knees, in the presence of his own Master, so that he may learn, as far as he is able, what his Master wants.
Two people cannot both be right about the same day. But both can act out of loyalty, and God weighs that.
The Lord has one mind, so it cannot point in two opposite directions. Yet whether they acted or held back, loyalty to the Lord guided both of them, as far as they understood His mind. That pleased Him, and it counted for more than getting the point right.
This tolerance has a boundary. In Galatians the same practice gets a very different answer, because there people kept days in order to gain blessing.
They were keeping days and months and seasons and years, as if an outward ritual could secure blessing — a ritual that even an unconverted person could carry out, whether Jew or pagan. It is true that in his letter to the Romans the Apostle urges believers who are not Jews to bear with a Jewish believer who still holds on to keeping special days and refusing certain foods. But here he shows that if such a believer goes back to the system of keeping certain days and ceremonies, he returns not only to Judaism but to pagan idol worship.
The standard is personal conviction. So pushing someone into your practice does him real harm.
To press my faith on someone else would all but destroy his own exercise of faith. If I stand before God, then let every believer stand before God too… The one who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat with the full freedom of personal faith. If we really care about a fellow believer, we will do all we can to see him act only in faith.
- Persuaded, not pressured — where Scripture gives no command, God wants each believer settled in his own mind before Him, not pushed there by someone else.
- Persuaded about what — open questions like food and special days. The Lord's day is not one of them; Scripture settles that.
- Persuaded before whom — one Master sets you free from a fellow believer's judgment. Keep a single eye on what pleases Him.
- Persuaded together — two believers can act in opposite ways and both be loyal. God counts that loyalty for more than being right.
- Persuaded, or harmed — press your freedom on a doubting believer and you rob him of his own faith. Patience ends only where days are taught as a system you must keep.
He that regards the day, regards it to [the] Lord. And he that eats, eats to [the] Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he that does not eat, [it is] to [the] Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks.
Some believers ate meat; others would not. Some kept special days; others kept none. The verse settles the dispute without saying who was right. Its repeated phrase — "in honor of the Lord" — points past the practice to the Lord Himself. Both sides end up giving thanks to God.
Both sides act toward the same Lord. So the call is not to match each other, but to bear with each other. That also leaves the door open to learn more later.
In such matters believers must bear with each other. They all agree in doing what they do to the Lord, even though they differ in judging what to do. This leaves room for growth in knowledge as the word of God opens to our faith, while their conscience is still respected.
Two people who act in opposite ways cannot both read the Lord's mind correctly. Yet the verse commends both. So something other than being right counts here.
The verse shows that the one who regards the day, or who eats, does so to the Lord. The one who does not regard the day, or does not eat, holds back to the Lord just the same. The mind of the Lord is one, and it cannot lie in two opposite directions. But whether they acted or did not act, loyalty to the Lord governed both, as far as each understood His mind. This pleased Him, and it counted for more than being correct in understanding.
The verse gives one visible sign that a choice points to the Lord: the person can thank God for it. This test works either way.
If a man feels that the Lord's authority calls him to keep other days carefully, let him not ignore his conscience. Let every man be fully sure in his own mind about the Lord's authority over him. Let him gladly seek to own that authority in practice. Whether he eats or refrains from eating, let it be with a heart that can freely give God thanks.
This chapter does not permit anything and everything. The subject is narrow, and the "weak" believer is not the careless one.
Keep this carefully in mind. What the Holy Spirit lays down here does not refer to matters of moral good or evil, nor to doctrine or revelation. It refers to questions that grew out of the remains of Jewish feeling. In other words, "the weak" brother loved Christ and hated sin no less truly than "the strong." The weak were not lax, but the opposite: they were extremely and painfully careful, and so they worried about eating meat or keeping a day.
The verse leaves the choice of days open, so it matters which days are meant. One day is not part of the discussion.
It is well to see that the Apostle is not speaking of the Lord's day. Scripture itself sanctions keeping the first day of the week as the Lord's day. It is not left as an open matter. (See John 20:19; Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2; Revelation 1:10.)
The first people in view had grown up with Jewish observances. The same thing happens whenever believers come in with a conscience about forms they grew up with.
There are many even Gentiles in our own day who are in a very similar position. They grew up with forms and ceremonies, and their conscience tells them to keep them. We are to bear with these saints, and remember they keep the day as to the Lord. We sometimes hear very bitter things said against those who keep Christmas day… But many dear children of God value this day above other days. They do it not in the spirit of Galatians 4, but in the spirit of Romans 14.
Because both sides act for the Lord, neither one should judge the other. But there is a limit. Bearing with a private conscience is one thing; teaching it as a rule for everyone is another.
The weak regard the day for the Lord's sake; the others do not regard it because of the Lord. This is the reason for not judging. The one I judge is the Lord's… But this principle can be turned the other way, when people use such observances to destroy liberty in Christ. For that, see Galatians 4. There the apostle shows that if someone teaches the observance as a principle, it is really turning back to paganism.
- Aim — The keeper and the non-keeper act toward the same Lord. The verse names the aim, not the action.
- Loyalty — Two opposite practices cannot both match His mind. Yet loyalty, as far as each one understands Him, pleases Him more than being right.
- Thanks — Both sides give God thanks. That is the sign the choice was aimed at Him: if you cannot thank Him for it, do not do it.
- Scope — The subject is worries over food and days, not morals or doctrine. The "weak" here love Christ and hate sin. They are over-careful, not careless.
- Limit — Bearing with others covers a private conscience. When someone teaches an observance as a rule for all, Galatians 4 applies instead.