Romans 14:5
Are all days equal?

This verse comes from the letter of Paul to the Christians in Rome. The context in Chapter 14 is about the freedoms we have as Christians with regards to the Old Testament regulations. The main point is that, even though we have many freedoms, we should not make use of them if they cause other Christians to stumble.

Romans 14:1 Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things. 2 For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables.

People who only eat vegetables (probably so that they would not be eating anything that could have been offered to idols) are called weak in the faith. Jesus made it clear that nothing that goes into our mouth makes us unclean. But if we know that our freedom is offensive to other believers, we should limit ourselves.

Romans 14:20 Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are pure, but it is evil for the man who eats with offense. 21 It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak.

So that is the context. Now what does our verse say? The word for esteem is 'krino' and this means to judge or decide. So some people judge that some days are special, and others have decided that every day is equally important. Now what does Paul mean by days? It could be the special celebration days of the Old Testament, or it could be the Sabbath day, or it could be both.

And then comes our imperative: let each one be fully convinced in his own mind. The greek word for convinced is 'plerophoreo'. This comes from 'pleres', which means full, and 'phero', which means to carry or to bear. So this literally means to carry full, or to bring in completely. When this word is used about someones mind (as in our verse), it means 'to fill one with a thought or conviction'. So the fully convinced translations above is accurate.

Some people think one day is more important, others disagree. Given Paul's assessments about food in verse 2, he is probably among those who consider every day of equal importance. Note also that the council of Jerusalem (Acts 15:23-29) stipulated that NT Christians are no longer obligated to keep the OT law, and only had to abstain from food offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. Not a word about the Sabbath day or special holidays.

Some Christians hear the ten commandments read to them every Sunday, and they are therefore fully convinced that it is a sin to work on Sunday. Others, based on the verse above, and Acts 15, consider every day equally important. Some Christians consider it a sin to drink alcohol. Others, based on this chapter, disagree. Regardless of where you stand on this, make sure you are fully convinced about it and then act according to your conviction. Because whatever is not from faith, is sin (Romans 14:23).

Godspeed!