Holidays or Holydays (Part 1)
by: Dalton Gilreath

I.                Introduction

A.    It is that time of the year again when we begin the “holiday season”

                                                    i.     But what do we do around the holidays and why do we do it?

                                                   ii.     Are we sure our practices are acceptable to God?

B.    Consider the difference between a holyday and a holiday

                                                    i.     Holydays are days commanded by God to be set apart for a spiritual purpose (Col 2:16)

1.     The Passover was a holyday

2.     Sabbath days were holy days

3.     The day of atonement was a holy day

4.     However, these holydays have been thrown away as they were all under the Old Testament

                                                   ii.     Holidays, which stems from the term holydays, can be secular or spiritual

1.     Veterans day, for example, is a holiday not a holyday

2.     As I use the term I will focus upon the secular definition throughout this study

II.              The religious world wants to teach that God has multiple holydays today

A.    Many say Christmas is a holyday instituted by God

                                                    i.     Christ’s birth was never celebrated by the early church or apostles

                                                   ii.     The Roman Catholic church added this practice and it was made official as the 25^th of December around the 6^th century

1.     Interestingly, protestants borrowed the practice and secularized it in time

2.     Many rejected the practice as ungodly but in time it became a fun practice for kids and families

B.    Easter is another day many believe to be a holyday

                                                    i.     This has a lot to do with a mistranslation of Acts 12:4 (KJV)

                                                   ii.     The term should be translated Passover but is instead Easter

C.    The fact is, there is no holyday instituted by God called Easter, Christmas, Hanukah, Ramadan, or anything similar

III.            But what about holidays instead of holydays?

A.    The New Testament teaches we are to give honor to those deserving of it (Rom 13:7, 1 Pet 2:17)

                                                    i.     Would it be acceptable to honor men on a particular day each year? Sure

                                                   ii.     For example, can we honor our military troops on veterans days? Of course

B.    Secondly, we are to obey the government so long as it does not violate God’s word

                                                    i.     If the government required a holiday to be observed could we obey? Yes

                                                   ii.     In fact, we must obey unless it contradicts the Bible

C.    Lastly, consider Romans 14:5-6

                                                    i.     Paul says we can esteem days above others if we so choose as we have these freedoms in Christ

1.     Of course, he means in a secular sense not as holydays

2.     Again, we are discussing holidays here as we apply it

                                                   ii.     Paul also says not to use days as spiritual days when God hasn’t commanded such (Gal 4:8-11)

D.    The only holyday today is the weekly first day of the week

                                                    i.     This is the day we commemorate Christ’s death as commanded (Acts 20:7)

                                                   ii.     This is the Lord’s Day (Rev 1:10)