The Highway Forums General Discussion Open Forum Christmas

Rose,

First of all, let's look at the passage referred to by Boanarges:

Romans 14:6 (ASV) "He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord: and he that eateth, eateth unto the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, unto the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks."

What Paul is clearly teaching is that a believer gives special recognition of a particular day with the intent of it being a time of focusing upon the Lord, then it is acceptable and cannot be judged as being sin by another. Secondly, the entire passage in Romans 14 nowhere implies that those things which Scripture teaches as being sinful are acceptable regardless of the intent of an individual. In short, just because a person's motives are pure in their own eyes doesn't make something sinful or does it make it holy. That which is not condemned by God is acceptable in His eyes despite what a person thinks of it. And that is the entire point... if something is not sinful then a believer is free to partake of it and no man has the right to judge another on the basis of what THEY think about it. If God deems it as good, then it is good. One may consider eating certain foods or drinking certain liquids or celebrating certain days as sinful. Thus for THEM, it would be sinful to partake of them. However, unless God's Word has condemned these things, then a believer is free from sin by partaking of them if they so choose.

Secondly, "Christ-mass" is a word that has originated from the mind of man and not God. It is a decidedly different thing than "Christmas", which to many believers designates a day upon which one is to give special thoughts upon the incarnation of the Lord Christ. What each individual does on that or any other day does not profane the historical event, for it is the Lord's day not man's day. The world has always profaned that which is good. In fact, I would be hard pressed to think of ANYTHING which the world has not corrupted by it's own philosophies and for its own sinful use. Do we therefore abstain from EVERYTHING because we are called to separation from the world? We are to live IN the world but not OF it. (Col 2:20; 2Pet 1:4; 1Jh 1:15, 16)

Lastly, just because an author of a book you read condemns the Roman State Church, and rightly so and condemns the wickedness which flows out of its teachings does not and cannot change the fact that God became man at a point in history. Neither can the false teachings and practices of the Roman Church and/or the world change the glory of that special day. And especially, neither the Roman Church nor the world can dictate what a true believer can or cannot do unto the Lord in regard to the TRUTH which is found in Scripture.... not a book written by man. For example, October 31st is a "special" day for most believers. It is a day when the true Church was once again set free from bondage. Yet on this same day, the world celebrates silliness and evil, aka: Halloween (All Hallows Eve). Using your logic, it would be sinful for a believer to give special thanks unto the Lord for His providence in raising up Martin Luther, a Roman Catholic priest no less, to bring deliverance to His people because the world celebrates Halloween.

Personally, I shall never, by God's grace, allow either the world nor even another believer whose conscience is bruised dictate to my conscience what I can or cannot do on any particular day which God's Word has given me freedom to do as I please because the "day" itself is not inherently evil. But Christian Liberty isn't simply the freedom to DO but also to NOT DO that which is good if my actions may cause my weaker brother to stumble, i.e., to go against his conscience and thus sin. Thus there may be times which my freedom must be curbed at specific times and/or places where I know a weaker brother may be present. If I know my brother has the mistaken notion that the drinking of alcohol is sinful, then I would never drink alcohol in his/her presence. I am also obligated to try from time to time to open the Scriptures and show how alcohol is not inherently evil and one is free to partake of it in moderation unto the glory of God. But the weaker brother cannot demand of me that I abstain from all drinking of alcohol because to do so is sin, for it is not. Thus in the privacy of my home I can do as the Lord has given me the freedom to do.

So, in this matter of the celebration of the Lord's birth, since YOU are convinced that this day called "Christmas" has its origin with the Roman State Church and is actually therefore to be called "Christ-mass" and consequently is totally evil, you would be sinning against God if you had anything whatsoever to do with it. However, one like myself, who surely knows that Christ was not born on December 25th, that whatever the Roman State Church or the world dreams up in regard to that day has no bearing whatsoever upon me, I am free to give thanks unto the Lord and celebrate it within the freedom given me according to the Scriptures as I so please. So, on that day I will freely give to those less fortunate, show kindness to those in need and rejoice that Christ has set me free from bondage to sin and reconciled me to God through His precious blood. The "day" itself is pure and good. Wickedness and evil comes from the heart of an individual.

In His grace,