Dietary laws?

Question

I have friend who is Seventh-day Adventist. He follows the dietary laws of the old testament. I feel we don;t need to. He keeps telling me I am in disobedience to God if I don't. I am getting confused. Do we need to follow the old dietary laws?..Where in the bible does it give us permission to eat pork and such.

Answer 1

1) “For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass the law until all is accomplished. Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but he who does them and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:18-19 RSV) Clearly the Old Testament is to be abided by until the end of human existence itself. None other then Jesus said so.

2) All of the vicious Old Testament laws will be binding forever. "It is easier for Heaven and Earth to pass away than for the smallest part of the letter of the law to become invalid." (Luke 16:17 NAB)

3) Jesus strongly approves of the law and the prophets. He hasn’t the slightest objection to the cruelties of the Old Testament. "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest part or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place." (Matthew 5:17 NAB)

3b) "All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness..." (2 Timothy 3:16 NAB)

3c) "Know this first of all, that there is no prophecy of scripture that is a matter of personal interpretation, for no prophecy ever came through human will; but rather human beings moved by the holy Spirit spoke under the influence of God." (2 Peter 20-21 NAB)

4) Jesus criticizes the Jews for not killing their disobedient children according to Old Testament law. Mark.7:9-13 "Whoever curses father or mother shall die" (Mark 7:10 NAB)

5) Jesus is criticized by the Pharisees for not washing his hands before eating. He defends himself by attacking them for not killing disobedient children according to the commandment: “He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.” (Matthew 15:4-7)

6) Jesus has a punishment even worse than his father concerning adultery: God said the act of adultery was punishable by death. Jesus says looking with lust is the same thing and you should gouge your eye out, better a part, than the whole. The punishment under Jesus is an eternity in Hell. (Matthew 5:27)

7) Peter says that all slaves should “be subject to [their] masters with all fear,” to the bad and cruel as well as the “good and gentle.” This is merely an echo of the same slavery commands in the Old Testament. 1 Peter 2:18

8) “Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law" (John7:19) and “For the law was given by Moses,..." (John 1:17).

9) “...the scripture cannot be broken.” --Jesus Christ, John 10:35

Answer 2

First let me say that I am an Atheist and do not believe any of the following. I used to attend The Worldwide Church of God which is now the United Church of God. They follow the same laws. According to the Bible when Jesus died on the cross he became the ultimate sacrifice for the redemption of sins for mankind. Before that the only way to be redeemed was to make a blood sacrifice and be blessed by a priest who *was* the mediator between god and man. After Jesus died he became the mediator and did away with the old law of blood sacrifices. This biblicaly is the only law that changed. If you are going to believe and follow the bible at least do it right. The verses mentioned by the person above me are pertaining to the meat that was still being offered by some and sometimes after this offering the meat was sold to the public. These verses are saying that if you happen to buy this meat by accident and eat it not to worry. It is only meat. The dietary laws in the old testament are meant as a guide as to what is clean and unclean or healthy and unhealthy. The book of Revelation speaks of people hiding behind a tree and eating swine. A *sin* is a sin if it is so in your mind

Answer 3

Leviticus chapter 11 lists the dietary restrictions God gave to the nation of Israel. The dietary rules were never intended to apply to anyone other than Israel. Jesus later declares all foods clean (Mark 7:19). God gave the apostle Peter a vision in which He declares concerning formerly unclean animals, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean” (Acts 10:15). When Jesus died on the cross, He put an end to the Old Testament law (Romans 10:4; Galatians 3:24-26; Ephesians 2:15). This includes the laws regarding clean and unclean foods.

Answer 4

Acts 10:9-15; 1 Corinthians 8:8; Colossians 2:16; 1 Tim 4:1-4 are examples of the fact that we are no longer under dietary laws. However, verses like Romans 14:14-21 teach us not to eat things in a manner which will cause a brother to stumble in his convictions toward living a Godly life

Answer 5

Interesting, I was thinking about this topic earlier today.

Just a few months ago, I probably would have told you that the "new covenant" of Jesus didn't include the laws of the Old Testament. However, over the last few months I've come to the startling conclusion that, while Jesus paid the "fine" for our sins against God (the final judge), his death didn't protect us from the earthly consequences of our behavior!

This topic is just the most recent question in a long line of OT "laws" that I've questioned. Over the past few months, I've come to accept that God gave humans several other commandments to protect them from earthly AND heavenly consequences. After all, if you accept that God created you, you also need to accept that he's in the best position to understand how his creation works. "For optimal performance, use gasoline with an octane rating of 93 or higher"!

While I don't think a Christian needs to be worried that breaking the law will separate them from God, I do think that more Christians need to study the laws in the Old Testament with the perspective of "safety warnings" instead of discarding those laws as worthless. To suggest that God gave people those laws just to control them and spoil their fun isn't consistent with the perspective of a loving God necessary to accept God's grace!

I've seen and experienced the positive effect it has on me when I accept an OT "law" as a warning from a loving father and choose to follow his instructions. I'm planning to do some more research on the dietary guidelines (something I've quite honestly largely ignored in the past) to see if I can accept that his dietary instructions, like an increasing number of others, aren't just silly rituals or rules...that the dietary rules are actually God's version of the food pyramid!

Answer 6

Did Jesus do away with fundamentally important biblical laws concerning human health? Those who believe this usually cite Mark 7 and Acts 10. Some Bible translations of Mark 7:18–19 say: "Jesus declared all foods clean"—yet other translations render the verse differently. When you compare Mark 7 with a similar account in Matthew 15, you find that Jesus was not even addressing the subject of clean or unclean foods—the issue in question was eating without a ceremonial washing of the hands! Acts 10 describes Peter's vision of a sheet coming down from heaven containing unclean animals that he is told three times to kill and eat. Peter, who had been trained by Christ for more than three years, understood that this was wrong and resisted! While Peter pondered the meaning of the vision (Acts 10:17), several Gentiles arrived at his home. On hearing their mission, Peter grasped the meaning of the vision: "God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean" (Acts 10:28). According to Scripture, Peter did not conclude from this vision that the laws of clean and unclean foods had been eliminated. This is confirmed by a prophecy that indicates when Christ returns He will bring judgment on idol worshipers and those who persist in eating unclean animals (Isaiah 66:15–17).

Answer 7

No, we don't have to follow these laws. Jesus did say He did not come to abolish the Law but to FULFILL it and that nothing will disappear from it until everything is ACCOMPLISHED. Jesus (the lamb of God) fulfilled the law when He shed His blood on the cross as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. That's why Jesus' last words were, "It is finished" (John 19:30). So, in other words, it has been accomplished; it has been fulfilled.

Here are the some verses to consider:

"Jesus called the crowd to him and said, 'Listen and understand. What goes into a man's mouth does not make him 'unclean,' but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him 'unclean.' " Matthew 15:10-11

"Don't you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man 'unclean.' For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander." -Matthew 15:17-20

"For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace." -Romans 6:14

"I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!" -Galatians 2:21

"You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace." -Galatians 5:4

We are not reconciled to God by following OT laws. Man's relationship to God was restored by Christ's sacrifice. We are saved by grace, through our faith in Jesus.

***And, pay no attention to Dreamstuff's post. He's ripping scripture out of context left and right with no understanding behind the verses he's posted - as evidenced by his comment, "of course, it's all nonsense."

Answer 8

I think this covers it. It basically says what we does not commend us to God. Nor does it keep us from him.

1Corinthians 8:7 Howbeit there is not in every man that knowledge: for some with conscience of the idol unto this hour eat it as a thing offered unto an idol; and their conscience being weak is defiled.
1Co 8:8 But meat commendeth us not to God: for neither, if we eat, are we the better; neither, if we eat not, are we the worse.
1Co 8:9 But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumblingblock to them that are weak.
1Co 8:10 For if any man see thee which hast knowledge sit at meat in the idol's temple, shall not the conscience of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols;
1Co 8:11 And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died?
1Co 8:12 But when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ.
1Co 8:13 Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend.

Answer 9

paul said in the bible; all meat is good and lawful, but if offends someone don't eat it when your with them, otherwise don't offend anyone.
so No, but when your with them don't cause them grief.

Romans 14:
13Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way. 14As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that no food[b] is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean. 15If your brother is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother for whom Christ died. 16Do not allow what you consider good to be spoken of as evil. 17For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, 18because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.

19Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. 20Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. 21It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall.

22So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves. 23But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.

Answer 10

1Ti 4:4 For every creature of God [is] good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving:


1Ti 4:5 For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.