Also concerning SDAs not eating bacon, I do not judge you:
Romans 14:1 Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations. 2 For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs.
Romans 14 is also
not talking also not about the clean and unclean food laws. It is talking about eating and not eating (fasting) on days that men esteem over other days and and judging others in this regards.
Here let's look at the contexts...
The New Testament writers referred to two concepts of unclean, using different Greek words to convey the two meanings.
Unclean could refer to animals God did not intend to be consumed as food (listed in
Leviticus 11 and
Deuteronomy 14).
Unclean could also refer to
ceremonial uncleanness.
In
Romans 14 Paul uses the word
koinos, which means “common” (W.E. Vine,
Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, 1985, “Unclean,” p. 649). In addition to the meanings of “common” and “ordinary” (see Acts 2:44; Acts 4:32;
Titus 1:4;
Hebrews 10:29), the word also applied to things considered polluted or defiled. This word, along with its verb form
koinoo, is used in
Mark 7:2,
Mark 7:15-23, where it obviously refers to ceremonial uncleanness.
Koinos and
koinoo appear throughout the New Testament to refer to this kind of ceremonial uncleanness. Something could be “common”—ceremonially unclean—even though it was otherwise considered a scripturally clean meat.
An entirely different word,
akathartos, is used in the New Testament for those animals Scripture specifies as unclean. Both words,
koinos and
akathartos, are used in Acts 10, where Peter distinguished between the two concepts of uncleanness by using both words in Acts 10:14.
When Paul said in
Romans 14:14 that “I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean [
koinos, or ‘common’] of itself,” he was making the same point he had made earlier to the Corinthians: Just because meat that was otherwise lawful to eat may have been associated with idol worship does not mean it is no longer fit for human consumption. As seen from the context, Paul wasn’t discussing biblical dietary restrictions at all.
Paul goes on to state in
Romans 14:20 that “all food is clean” (NIV). The word translated “clean” is
katharos, meaning “free from impure admixture, without blemish, spotless” (Vine, “Clean, Cleanness, Cleanse, Cleansing,” p. 103).
“Clean” meats as such aren’t addressed in the New Testament, so there isn’t a specific word to describe them.
Katharos is used to describe all kinds of cleanliness and purity, including clean dishes (
Matthew 23:26), people (
John 13:10) and clothing (
Revelation 15:6;
Revelation 19:8-14), “pure” religion (
James 1:27), gold and glass (
Revelation 21:18).
Realize also that, in both
Romans 14:14 and
Romans 14:20, the word
food or
meat doesn’t appear in the original Greek, but was inserted by later translators. No specific object is mentioned relative to cleanness or uncleanness. The sense of these verses is merely that “nothing [is] unclean [
koinos: common or ceremonially defiled] of itself,” and “all is clean [
katharos: free from impure admixture, without blemish, spotless].”
Paul’s point is that association of food with idolatrous activity had no bearing on whether the food was inherently suitable or unsuitable for eating. Understood in its context,
Romans 14 does
not convey permission to ignore the biblical laws as to which meats are clean or unclean.
CONCLUSION: Romans 14 is focusing on eating and not eating also showing strong connections to Pauls writings in
1 CORINTHIANS 10 and
1 CORINTHIANS 6 with food offered to idols. It is not saying we are not free to break God's dietry laws or is it talking about eating clean and unclean means.
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SOME POINTS TO CONSIDER IN ROMANS 14:1-23
[1] the days spoken of are associated with eating/drinking, not eating/not drinking.
[2] the matter is over those 'weak' and 'strong' in faith concerning eating/drinking and days to do and not do those things on
[3] the context deals with "One man esteemeth", and not what God esteems (Isaiah 56:1-8, 58:13; Psalms 89:34) as permanent and so, and God's word is clear about what men esteem:
Luke 16:15 And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God. The Jews continually argued over which were better days to do this thing or that thing, like fasting, feasting, etc: [Matthew 9:14; Mark 2:18; Luke 5:33, 18:12 KJB]
[4] the words for sabbath is not present in all of Romans 14, neither in all of Romans
[5] the words of the seventh day is not present in all of Romans 14, neither in all of Romans
[6] the words for the Lord's day is not present in all of Romans 14, neither in all of Romans
[7] Romans 14 is in the context of Romans 13, which directly cites the latter (2nd) table of the Ten Commandments, for love to neighbour, which is also found in Leviticus 19:17-18, in the context of sin and the Ten Commandments
[8] Romans 15 is the other end, and when combined with 1 Corinthians 8-10, the context is clear that the sabbath of the LORD thy God (Exodus 20:8-11) is not in view in the least, and is sustained by the rest of Paul in Romans by his statements on the eternal spiritual, holy, just and good Law (Exodus 20:1-17) of God, which identifies what sin is (Romans 7:7; 1 John 3:4)
[9] the entire context of Romans 14 is to do nothing (even if allowed normally, yet not under special circumstances) to cause others to sin:
Romans 14:13 Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother's way.
[10] Paul never contradicts himself, and Paul's writings are scripture (2 Peter 3:16), and scripture cannot be broken, John 10:35) and does not teach transgression of God's Law (Exodus 20:1-17) at any point:
Romans 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
Romans 6:2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
Romans 6:15 What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.
Romans7:7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.
[11] the words for "law", "commandments" are never used in Romans 14
[12] Paul in numerous places lists and upholds every single one of the Ten Commandments in the NT, including the 4th Commandment (Genesis 2:1-3; Exodus 20:8-11) in Hebrews 3-4, etc.
[13] Romans 14 is about excluding those things which were "doubful disputations", and not a single one of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17) were ever doubtful or to be disputed in any place in all of scripture (KJB), for the Commandment of God are "sure" (Psalms 111:7).
[14] the words for "covenant/testament" are never used in Romans 14
[15] the words for 'first [day] of the week' are never used in Romans 14, neither in all of Romans
[16] none of the 'Sunday' (first [day] of the week) churches use Romans 14 to teach that I may ignore the day they gather on, even though that day is not sanctified by God in any way what so ever in scripture (KJB), and is never called "the Lord's day" in scripture, neither is it "the seventh day the sabbath of the LORD thy God".
[17] nobody uses Romans 14 to teach I can simply stop eating/drinking on every day
[18] anyone who quotes Romans 14, has in mind 'restrictions', rather than allowances
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CONCLUSION: According to the scriptures once context is applied at can be clearly seen that Romans 14 has nothing whatsoever to do with both the Sabbath of God's 4th commandment or clean or unclean food laws. The scriptures are talking eating and not eating (fasting) on days men esteem over other days. Not what days God esteems and judging others in this regard not what days God esteems. The things that men esteem are an abomination in God's eyes.
LUKE 16:15 And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God
There is no mention in all of ROMANS 14 of God's 4th commandment or any of God's 10 commandments of clean and unclean food laws.
