Romans 14:6

he that regards the day regards it unto the Lord; and he that regards not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. he that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks.

The present section of St. Paul's letter has reference to a special class of people in the Roman congregation, namely, to such as were weak in the faith, the apostle giving both them and the other members of the congregation a few rules as to their deportment toward each other. He addresses himself first of all to those that are firmly grounded in the faith. that are not bothered with scruples of conscience concerning various foods, especially the meats that were offered for sale in the shops. Him that is weak in the faith, that is not yet so firmly established on the basis of his faith, receive, welcome as a member in full and equivalent standing. There were only a few of such members in the congregation at Rome, but Paul was just as solicitous about their spiritual welfare as though there had been a great number. This small minority was to be welcomed and given all the privileges of membership in the congregation, but not for the condemnation of thoughts, not with the purpose of passing judgment upon their strange notions or scruples. The members should show all kindness and brotherliness, deal with the few scrupulous ones with all Christian tact, lest uncharitable criticism cause dissension. For the one, being strong in faith, has confidence to eat all things. The stronger members did not deem it much of a venture to eat all foods, even meat, and their behavior did not result in any spiritual damage to themselves. Their conscience remained clear, no matter what food it was that was placed before them. They had the conviction that their conduct in eating all things was in no way displeasing to God and did not interfere with their Christianity. And this conviction, in turn, rested upon their faith in Christ, which caused them to choose and to do only such things as were agreeable to their Savior. But those that lacked this confidence ate vegetable food only, fearing to partake of flesh that might have been offered as a heathen sacrifice, or they believed that the eating of meat in itself was harmful to their spiritual life. St. Paul addressed himself to both parties, giving to each one the instruction necessary for the maintenance of Christian harmony and charity: Let him that eats not despise him that eats not; such a one should not look down with contempt upon his weaker brother and his scruples with regard to food. And on the other hand, one that refuses to partake of meat should not condemn him that eats, as though he were less spiritual, as though his Christianity were not so strongly expressed and so consistently carried out. This warning against judging is substantiated by the statement: For God has accepted him: a person that eats meat without scruples is acting in full accordance with God's will, he is assured of the grace of God. For who is lie that ventures to judge and condemn the servant of another man? It is not the proper thing, it should not be done, that any one should pass judgment upon a Christian brother who is Christ's own; Christ has accepted him as one of His servants. He stands or falls with respect to his own lord. It is the business of each master, it concerns only him whether his servant stands or falls; he will take care of that. But he will remain standing, he will continue in his Christian state; for God is fully able to keep him upright, to hold him up and not let him come to grief in his Christianity. It is an easy matter for God to guide and guard also such a brother whose conscience permits him to partake of all manner of foods, with relation to whose constancy the weaker brethren are unduly concerned.

A second point of controversy is now touched upon: One, indeed, makes a distinction between various days, while the other rates all days alike; let everyone be fully persuaded in his own opinion. He that clings to a certain day does so to the Lord; and he that does not insist upon a certain day does so to the Lord, vv. 5-6. The weaker brethren in the congregation at Rome made a distinction between days for conscience' sake, preferring a certain day of the week for the worship of the Lord, believing that it was absolutely necessary to devote one day entirely to prayer, praise, and thanksgiving, to spiritual edification. But the others, those that were stronger in faith, that had the confidence of Christian conviction based upon their knowledge of God's will, esteemed all days alike and gave special preference to none. To them all days were equally holy and fit for the worship of God and for the study of His Word. And now the apostle says that both he that insists upon a distinction between days and he that does not favor such a preference should be fully persuaded in his own mind that his way is the one which suits his individual needs best. He intimates thereby that before God there is no distinction of days in the New Testament, and that therefore the choice of a certain day of the week as a day of worship is entirely a matter of Christian liberty. And therefore he that is concerned about a certain day and believes it to be in the interest of his spiritual life always to observe one certain day observes it unto the Lord; he must keep in mind that it is to the Lord's service and honor that he makes the distinction, and not get the idea that he is performing an unusual work of merit. As a matter of fact, the stronger also, that keeps all days alike, sanctifying every one through the Word of God and prayer, serves the Lord. So "the strong should not despise the scrupulous, nor the scrupulous be censorious toward the strong. " This is evident again from the distinction between eating certain foods and abstaining from their use. If one eats all foods, not concerning himself about any specific distinctions, Acts 10:14, nor worrying about the fact that the meat was taken from animals sacrificed to idols, 1 Corinthians 10:25, he makes use of the liberty which he has in Christ, thus honoring his Lord and Savior, as appears also from the fact that he returns thanks to God for the food, 1 Corinthians 10:30; 1 Timothy 4:4. And if one does not eat, if he abstains from eating meat or any other food in the belief that he will thus be placed into a better position to serve the Lord, he does so to his Lord; but he also gives thanks to God for whatever food he might partake of. So far as the expression of religious conviction is concerned and the condition of the heart with relation to God, there is no difference between the strong and the weak in faith.