Bible Contradiction: Is One Day More Holy Than Another?

Claim:

The Bible contradicts itself on whether one day is special or not. In Exodus 20:8, the Bible tells us to keep the Sabbath day holy. Yet in Romans 14:5, Paul writes that one day isn’t more special than another, as long as the person is convinced in their own mind.

The Issue

Today we will be looking at the first of 15 “contradictions” to the Bible found from the American Atheists website.

This first contradiction has to do with the Sabbath day.

In Exodus, we read this about the Sabbath day:

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

Exodus 20:8

However, in Romans, Paul writes this:

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.

Romans 14:5

These two verses seem to contradict each other.

How can the Bible say that it is okay for someone to “esteem all days alike”, yet say that we need to treat the Sabbath day differently than the other days?

The simple answer: these verses don’t have to contradict each other if something changed in between when they were written.

The Coffee Example

So maybe something changed between when these verses were written? How does that make these verses not contradict each other?

Let’s give an example from my life: coffee.

I have said both of these statements in my life truthfully:

I don’t like coffee.

-Jayden

I love coffee, I have it every morning for breakfast.

-Jayden

At first glance this would seem like an obvious contradiction. How can I say I don’t like coffee, but also say I love it and have it every morning for breakfast?

This would be a contradiction, right?

Wrong.

The answer: context.

The first quote from me was true… when I was younger.

I don’t like coffee.

-Young Jayden

However, if you asked me now as an adult (after years of drinking coffee every day), I would say this:

I love coffee, I have it every morning for breakfast.

-2023 Jayden

It’s simple. When I was a kid, I didn’t like coffee. As an adult, I now like coffee. What changed in between those two quotes is that I learned to enjoy coffee.

These two quotes I shared from myself technically contradict each other with no context. But no one would actually consider this a contradiction because both statements were true when they were made.

It is perfectly reasonable that two statements that contradict each other at face value can both be true if something changed in between when they were made.

Back to the Bible

Okay, so what does this coffee example have to do with this contradiction in the Bible?

Let’s look at this issue again: The Bible says that someone can “esteem all days alike”, yet the Bible also say that we must treat the Sabbath day specially.

We have to remember that these verses were written hundreds of years apart from each other.

But before we go any further, we have to understand a little bit about the Sabbath.

Why Was the Sabbath Important?

God gave the Israelite people His law for many reasons:

To show them right and wrong
To separate them apart from the other nations surrounding them
To give them civil laws

For hundreds of years, honoring God meant obeying the Law. One of the commandments of the Law is to observe the Sabbath day, and to keep it holy. This is what we read in Exodus:

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

Exodus 20:8

In a time well before the five day work week, the idea of a Sabbath, a whole day devoted to rest and worship, was a huge deal. And as part of God’s Law, it was extremely important to follow. Because of this, if you were to ask an ancient Israelite, “Is one day more holy than another?”, they would reply with an enthusiastic, “yes!”

However, the Sabbath, along with the rest of the Law was not ultimately meant to save us. Regarding the Law, the apostle Paul has this to say in his letter to the Roman church:

For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

Romans 3:20

Why is it that no one will be justified in God’s sight through the law? Paul answers this just two verses later:

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Romans 3:23

Every human being has sinned and fallen short of God’s holy law. We cannot be made right with God through our own power.

Jesus Changes Everything

Through His perfect life, death for our sins, and power in resurrection, it would be an understatement to say Jesus changed a lot. One thing Jesus changed forever is our relationship to the Old Testament Law. In Galatians we read this:

Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.

Galatians 3:23-26

It is important to note that Jesus did not abolish the Old Testament Law, but He fulfilled it. Jesus Himself says exactly this in the Gospel of Matthew:

Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.

Matthew 5:17

What exactly does Jesus fulfilling the Law look like? The simple answer is that Jesus calls us to an even higher standard. The Old Testament Law says do not murder. Jesus tells us that if we even hold anger against another person we are sinning. Jesus addresses the heart behind the Law.

Applying this idea towards the Sabbath, Colossians has this to say:

Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.

Colossians 2:16-17

The Apostle Paul makes it clear in Colossians that we are no longer to judge others on whether or not they practice the Sabbath. Why? Because the Sabbath was a shadow of Christ. Now that Christ, the substance, has come we are no longer under the law of the Sabbath.

Think about it for a minute. What was the point of the Sabbath? To rest and spend time in worship to be closer to God. This is perfected in the person of Jesus Christ.

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Matthew 11:28-30

Jesus is our ultimate rest.

With that being said, there is nothing wrong with Believers today using the practice of the Sabbath to slow down and connect with God. With phones, social media, and a million distractions at our fingertips, the intentional slowing down of our lives is crucial for our faith. A must-read book on this subject is The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry.

However, Scripture makes it clear that the Sabbath is no longer a strict requirement for followers of Christ. This is why Paul writes in Romans 14 that a Christian can be fully justified in seeing ‘all days alike’, so long as they are fully convinced in their own mind.

Conclusion

God gave the Sabbath as a Law to be followed by the Israelite people as part of the Old Testament. However, Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection changed our relationship with the Old Testament Law. We are no longer under the guardian of the Law. Followers of Christ do not have to observe the Sabbath, meaning that Romans 14:5 is perfectly consistent with Scripture in saying someone can see all days as the same.