Almost every Christmas, I see blog posts and sermons about how Christians should not celebrate Christmas as Christ’s birth. Some say it should not be celebrated because it has roots in paganism, others because it is not actually the day of Christ’s birth. However, possibly the most convincing reason among our brethren is because the Bible never commands us to keep Christmas.

However, the Bible is more lenient on this subject than these reasons let on. In Romans 14, Paul encourages the congregations in Rome not to judge one another for things that are a matter of conscience, “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. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord” (14:5–6a; ESV). Some people were arguing over whether the holidays (or “holy days”) should be kept or if they should just regard all days as the same. He gives them liberty to celebrate holidays if their conscience allows it.

Therefore, we need to do the same thing. We should not bind laws upon our brethren that Christ did not bind himself. If people want to recognize December 25th as a time to celebrate Jesus coming into the world, they are permitted by God. Nevertheless, they need to keep the other commandments of God and make sure that this practice does not impede your relationship with God and others, “whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor 10:31b).

This is a reprint of my article from December 13, 2020 (with some revisions).