Someone recently asked, What Does The Bible Say About... Anything on Halloween or Holidays period? The Bible Teaches... a great example of the importance of days as found in Romans 14:1-23 Principles of Conscience 14 Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions. 2 One person has faith that he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats vegetables only. 3 The one who eats is not to regard with contempt the one who does not eat, and the one who does not eat is not to judge the one who eats, for God has accepted him. 4 Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. 5 One person regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord, and he who eats, does so for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who eats not, for the Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God. 7 For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; 8 for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. 10 But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. 11 For it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall give praise to God.” 12 So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God. 13 Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this—not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother’s way. 14 I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but to him who thinks anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. 15 For if because of food your brother is hurt, you are no longer walking according to love. Do not destroy with your food him for whom Christ died. 16 Therefore do not let what is for you a good thing be spoken of as evil; 17 for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 For he who in this way serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. 19 So then we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another. 20 Do not tear down the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are clean, but they are evil for the man who eats and gives offense. 21 It is good not to eat meat or to drink wine, or to do anything by which your brother stumbles. 22 The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves. 23 But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and whatever is not from faith is sin. One thing that believers must remember, when we are following Christ, we are seeking to be like Christ as well, and we are becoming conformed to His very image. In that respect, we should abstain from all appearances of evil! 1 Thessalonians 5:22. Also, 1 Corinthians 8 states further, Now concerning things sacrificed to idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge makes arrogant, but love edifies. 2 If anyone supposes that he knows anything, he has not yet known as he ought to know; 3 but if anyone loves God, he is known by Him. 4 Therefore concerning the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we know that there is no such thing as an idol in the world, and that there is no God but one. 5 For even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords, 6 yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him. 7 However not all men have this knowledge; but some, being accustomed to the idol until now, eat food as if it were sacrificed to an idol; and their conscience being weak is defiled. 8 But food will not commend us to God; we are neither the worse if we do not eat, nor the better if we do eat. 9 But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. 10 For if someone sees you, who have knowledge, dining in an idol’s temple, will not his conscience, if he is weak, be strengthened to eat things sacrificed to idols? 11 For through your knowledge he who is weak is ruined, the brother for whose sake Christ died. 12 And so, by sinning against the brethren and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. 13 Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause my brother to stumble. There are pagan rituals, holidays and foods in the world today, and many people celebrate them without knowledge of their roots. Regarding Valentines day, it is named for a Christian man that was dedicated to the Lord and was martyred for his faith. Patrick was also a man dedicated to the Lord, and he was an evangelist to Ireland. The funny thing is that Patrick wasnt even Irish, but he reached many for the Lord in Ireland. Christmas was a holiday created by the Church to get rid of a pagan holiday. The Church celebrates Resurrection Sunday which is popularly known as Easter. Regarding Halloween, the Scriptures are listed here as to how Christians are to react toward such things. Many Churches now have Fall Festivals which are developed to reach the community for Christ and detract from Halloween. As Christians, we know that there are no other gods, and we follow and worship the one true God, so we do not need to be too concerned about what men are celebrating. Christians can be great witnesses in these times. If you give candy away to kids, you can share the Gospel with them by giving out Gospel Tracts, or if your Church is doing a Fall Festival, try to be involved with intentional evangelistic efforts to share the Good News of Christ with your community. I will try to promote specific Gospel Tract sellers, so you and your Church can be intentional in sharing the Gospel. While men may regard one day higher than another, for the believer, all days belong to the Lord. We can ask the Lord to honor our day, and we can be devoted to serving God on any given day as long as we are not asking Him to honor sinful behaviors or thoughts. Personally, when our kids dress up and go to the Fall Festival or other events, we try to make sure they are NOT dressed in character outfits that honor negative characters or evil. We also try to teach our children the truth about these events. Our kids know that mommy and daddy are Santa Claus even though they get excited about him. I hope this helps. May God bless you according to His will and purpose for your life in accordance with the Scriptures. Gospel Tract Supplies: Bezeugen: bezeugentractclub.org/ (You can receive for FREE 30 Tracts per month if you sign-up) Living Waters: livingwaters/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.browse&category_id=8&Itemid=199&lang=en One Million Tracts: shop.onemilliontracts/ Tract Planet: tractplanet/
Posted on: Tue, 29 Oct 2013 15:03:20 +0000
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