Preliminary remarks

Does it matter what we eat?

These questions are answered quite differently by Christians. Quite a few have chosen not to eat certain things. Some also display a religious zeal to convince others of these same “rules”. Some focus on the dietary laws of the Noahite Laws (Gen 9:3-4), while others go a few steps further in the story and end up with the dietary laws for Israel. Still others leave behind the dietary rules for Israel and refer to Acts 15:28-29, where the Noahite laws are repeated again by the apostles in Jerusalem for the non-Jewish believers.

Now, are these concluding remarks and do we only have to choose from one of these “methods” in order to stand before God? Or is the approach perhaps not optimal, and is it again about something completely different? Is it a matter of making our own decisions for our own good, or rather, do we need to live up to God’s expectation about this area of life? Are we better off before God if we eat or don’t eat something, or does it not matter? Our image of God and understanding of the Bible plays a big role in answering these questions.

The religious man

The religious person sets rules for himself. Sets of rules and rituals reassure. This may not be true for everyone, but it has great meaning for some people – it matches their temperament. People to whom clear structures are important will therefore quickly find all kinds of rules in the Bible as well. Also rules about eating. Doing something themselves seems highly desirable to them. After all, you want to direct your life towards good, as well as valuable and lasting things. It perhaps resonates with this assumption that “obedience to God” leads to “greater closeness to God.” And obedience – isn’t that a good approach to the Almighty?

In principle, there is nothing wrong with this, even though every effort of its own cannot, by definition, produce righteousness toward God. Indeed, this righteousness of God, which is given to us freely (Rom 3:24), has nothing to do with our efforts (Eph 2:8; Rom 11:6). The righteousness of God He alone has wrought, through His Son Jesus Christ our Lord. This very fact that He gave everything is the essence of the gospel. It is indeed Good News. Because this message is based entirely on God’s activity, it is so not religious!

Obedience now is important, but it is directed, according to Paul, to the obedience of faith, namely, of trust in the preaching of grace (Rom 1:5). It has nothing to do with our own effort (Rom 3:28). Trust is not an effort of one’s own, but “trust” in the effort of another. This trust says: He did it for me!

As a Christian, I don’t want to be religious, but I want to base my life in the reality of God. It’s a different foundation. This is not expressed in rituals, in following certain rules, or in pious activities. Nor does it manifest itself in eating or not eating certain foods. Doing something is important, but not as a precondition to a life pleasing to God. Doing something is more the result of grace (1Cor 15:10), it is my response to God’s unconditional “yes” (2Cor 1:18-20) to me as a fallible human being. The fruit that then grows is not shaped by dietary rules, but by entirely different things (Gal 5:22). I do not want to confuse religious acts with the fruit of the Spirit, because they have nothing to do with each other.

Those who today consider religious rules about food important do so for themselves. He does not do this for God, but for his own religious feeling. Paul is quite clear about this when he writes:

“If you have died with Christ to the elements of the world, why do you subject yourselves to statutes, as if you were still living in the world: Touch not, taste not, touch not! which are all destined to destruction by use, according to the commandments and doctrines of men? All of this has a semblance of wisdom, in wayward worship and in humility and in not sparing the body-that is, not in some appreciation-but it serves to gratify the flesh.”
Col 2:20-23

Such rules, writes the apostle, serve to satisfy the (own) flesh. There is a “semblance of wisdom,” but it is, at its core, a self-willed and self-focused worship service. In other words, it’s a pious ego trip.

Read food regulations in context

But – someone may object – aren’t the biblical guidelines better and healthier for this or that group anyway? Well, I doubt that, because first of all, everything was released by God once as food (see below), and secondly, every statement is in its own context. Now, how can I check whether certain food rules apply to me and to today? How can I check if there is a requirement from God that I should eat one way or another today? Again and again I have experienced that instead of an examination it is said sweepingly that the biblical guidelines are “healthier”. The word “sound” here is an excuse for not examining the Bible. Those who proceed in this way prove nothing other than their own religious opinion, but not that the Bible actually clarifies anything.

Examining questions on the Bible always follows the principle of “interpret the text in context.” If there are food rules, they are in the context of a story. All statements are related to each other. Food regulations for Israel, for example, exist, but they are in no way binding on gentiles. The regulations and feast days were even considered a clear demarcation from gentiles (Ezra 6:21) We can therefore note this: As a believer from the nations, we do not become “better” before God by unlawfully confiscating His instructions for Israel for myself. We would have to be a little more thorough in examining this question.

We find a well-known example of changes to the food rules in Genesis. Chronologically, we find here two statements one after the other:

• Adam and Eve, in the Garden of Eden
  “And God said, Behold, I have given you every seed-bearing herb that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree wherein is seed-bearing tree fruit: it shall be for your food.”
  Gen 1:29
• Noah, after the flood
  “Everything that stirs, that lives, shall be food for you; like the green herb I give it all to you. Only flesh with its soul, its blood, you shall not eat!”
  Gen 9:3-4

This outlines a significant expansion of the menu. The obvious contrasts can only be explained as a development. Accordingly, an understanding of the developments in the Bible also seems helpful in asking whether God has certain expectations of us regarding food? Here we can put into practice what Paul urged Timothy to do, namely, that we “Rightly cut the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15. Read more in this series of articles). Not all parts of the Bible apply today. Recognizing this resolves many questions and contradictions. While the whole Bible is God’s Word, not everything speaks of today. Everything is for us (so that we learn from it), but not everything speaks of us (as if it were addressed to us).

There are also different target groups in the New Testament. It is related to the gospel that is being preached to all nations today. Understanding this is a first step toward clarity. The article “Jesus and Paul, Are They Saying the Same Thing?” outlines a development in the New Testament that allows us to understand which parts of the New Testament have more meaning today than others and how they are related. This is the basis for the following selection of Bible quotations.

Food rules for Christians today?

Food has no influence on our position before God

“Food enjoyment will have no [Einfluss] bearing on our standing before God. Neither will we be at a disadvantage if we do not eat; nor will we be at an advantage if we do eat.”
1Cor 8,8

The limited importance of food

“Everything is permitted to me, but not everything promotes me! Everything is permitted to me, but I will not let myself be put under their authority by anything. The food is for the body, and the body for the food; but God will dismiss this as well as that.”
1Cor 6,12-13

The irrelevance of dietary rules today

“Therefore, let no one judge you in food or drink … which are a shadow image of things to come; but the body is Christ’s! Let no one decide against you as an arbiter …”
Col 2:16-18

“If then you have died together with Christ to the basic rules of the world, what do you put yourselves under decrees like those living in the world: Do not touch this! Do not taste this! Do not touch this! (all this is destined to destruction by consumption) – according to human precepts and doctrines which, though they have an expression of wisdom in arbitrary ritual, in humility and non-sparing of the body, are of no value except for the gratification of the flesh.”
Col 2:20-23

The derailments in the end times

“But the Spirit expressly says that in the subsequent periods some will fall away from the faith because they pay attention to misleading spirits and teachings of demons. Such have scorched their own conscience as with a branding iron through hypocrisy in words of lies [burned, desolated, in this sense: made insensitive]; they forbid to marry and command to renounce foods that God created to be taken with thanksgiving by the faithful, who have known the truth that every creature of God is excellent, and nothing is reprehensible if it is taken with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by the word of God and intercession. If you hold this up to the brethren, you will be a faithful servant of Christ Jesus, feeding on the words of faith and the delicious teaching you have fully followed.”
1Tim 4:1-6

Everyone should only be convinced for themselves

“Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. Though all things are pure, they are evil to the man who eats with offence.
Rom 14:20

“Have the faith you have for yourself in the face of God! Blessed is he who does not need to judge himself in what he considers approved. But he who has misgivings when he eats is condemned because he does not act from faith.”
Rom 14:22-23