In Paul’s first letter to Timothy, he warned that in the church age (last days) many would depart from the faith and that false teachers would go forth speaking lies (1 Tim 4:1-2). What lies would they speak? Some of their lies undermined marriage. Paul dealt with marriage issues in chapter two and he’ll have more to say about marriage in chapter five. Other lies were about what foods God allows under the New Covenant. Under the Old Covenant some foods were off limits. What about now? Are Christians required to keep Old Testament dietary laws?
Paul rather bluntly says that those who teach we should abstain from certain foods are lying! He unequivocally says that God created all foods and we are to reject none of them.
3 who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. 4 For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, 5 for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer. (1 Tim. 4:3–5 ESV)
Since this is so, those of us under the New Covenant have no dietary restrictions. Most Christians understand this. However, we often end up making some assumptions which aren’t founded on the biblical text. We also tend to reach the right conclusion about dietary practices under the New Covenant, but our conclusions are not always exegetically sound.
Right about dietary laws, but for the wrong reasons
The vast majority of Christians understand that there are no dietary restrictions under the New Covenant. Nevertheless, the passages they cite don’t teach what they think they teach. For example, Acts 10:9-16 is frequently said to teach that God has taken away the distinction between clean and unclean foods. In this passage Peter sees a vision of unclean animals being lowered down in a sheet. A voice told him to kill and eat these animals. Because of this people jump to the conclusion that this vision communicated the end of the kosher laws.
Likewise, Mark 7:19 is often understood to teach that Jesus declared all foods clean. This verse may not be as clear cut as it would first appear. Due to a few peculiarities in the English translations which are uncovered by a detailed study of this verse, it doesn’t mean precisely what we may think it means at first glance.
Because of these popular misinterpretations, this will be the first in a series of blog posts which will examine New Testament passages related to the notion of clean and unclean as it pertains to food. Some of the New Testament passages, such as this one in 1 Timothy 4, do indeed teach that all foods are now clean. We’ll take a look at a few other passages, which at first glance appear to teach that all foods are clean, but really don’t say this at all.
To be clear, the New Testament does indeed free Christians from the Old Testament food laws. We just get a little mixed up about which New Testament passages teach us this.
Why did God command the Old Testament dietary laws?
The Old Testament dietary laws, also known as the kosher laws, were part of God’s covenant with the Israelites. The text of Leviticus 11 prescribed which animals were clean and could be eaten by the Israelites, and which were unclean and should not be eaten.
The Old Testament “does not provide an explicit rationale for its division of animals in the clean/permitted versus unclean/forbidden categories.”1 We simply don’t know why God declared some foods to be off limits in the Old Testament.
This has led to endless speculation about the possible reasons. The most popular assumption is that God declared some animals unclean because they were not fit for human consumption due to health concerns. Modern science tells us that some of the unclean animals harbor parasites or other organisms harmful to humans. So, some people assume this is why God made the distinction. This sounds reasonable on the surface but lots of animals, even the ones God declared clean, can carry disease. The truth of the matter is that this notion is nothing more than speculation.
“You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy”
What we can say for sure is that, like many of the other laws of the Old Covenant, the categories of clean and unclean foods served to separate Israel from their pagan neighbors. Some of the laws God gave had obvious reasons behind them. Others seem to have no logical reason whatsoever. Jewish sages believed that some of the commands had no other practical purpose than to achieve separateness from the surrounding nations and societies.
Leviticus 11 hints that separateness was the reason for the food laws. After God gave Israel the dietary restrictions in this chapter, He commanded them “You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy” (Lev. 11:45 NKJV). The word holy (קָדוֹשׁ, qadosh) means to be separate, set apart.
God is completely separate and different from His creation. Similarly, He wanted Israel to be separate and different from the nations around them. The dietary restrictions were one of the ways God gave for Israel to achieve this separateness.
Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” (1 Cor. 15:33 ESV)
The reason God demanded separation between Israel and their neighbors was because Israel was prone to wander away from Him. God wanted Israel to be a separate people so that they would be less likely to turn away from Him. He was training them to avoid the false gods and pagan practices of their neighbors. A time was coming when this separateness would no longer be desirable, but first God’s people had to learn complete commitment to Him.
Middle wall of separation
Jesus removed the separateness or “middle wall of separation” as Paul put it. In Ephesians 2:11-18, Paul describes how the Gentiles were at one time alienated from Israel (v. 12). However, the Gentiles and Jews are now one in Christ. Jesus broke down this middle wall of separation (v. 14).
Paul may have been using an illustration from the Temple in Jerusalem. The Jewish religious rulers did not permit Gentiles beyond a certain point in the Temple courts. There was a low fence or balustrade which formed a barrier beyond which Gentiles could not legally go. This wall is in pink highlight in the photo below.
At various places around the fence were signs which warned Gentiles they were forbidden to venture beyond the wall. In 1871, archaeologists discovered a complete tablet which was one of the warning inscription signs from the balustrade around the temple.
The inscription written in both Greek and Latin says, “No stranger is to enter within the balustrade round the temple and enclosure. Whoever is caught will be himself responsible for his ensuing death.”
Jesus has broken down the wall
In Ephesians 2, Paul declares that Jesus “has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace…” (Eph. 2:14–15 NKJV).
Jesus has taken away the laws which served to separate Israel from the rest of humanity! Verse 16 tells us that Jesus did this to make it possible for both Jews and Gentiles to have reconciliation with God.
Old Testament dietary laws are gone
Jesus has removed all the Old Covenant commandments which separated Jew from Gentile. Their purpose was served and they were no longer needed.
What Paul hints at in Ephesians 2, he explicitly states in 1 Tim 4:3-5. The dietary restrictions are gone. They were part of the law which “was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor” (Gal. 3:24–25 NKJV).