Eat anything

It is from Levitical priesthood, with its abundance of ritual rules, that such food prohibitions concerning clean or unclean foods originated.

And since Jesus declared:

Matthew 5:18 – “For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.”

everything seems to suggest that all these rules are still in force. Is that the case? Might there still be some restrictions on freedom because Jesus Christ also said:

John 8:36 – “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

So there is a point to clarify! Clean foods. Unclean foods. Let us see or listen to how these laws came into being and what the New Testament of the Bible says about them, in the light of the new covenant—the only covenant in effect today between God and human beings.

Exodus 25:9 – “Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you.”

Exodus 25:40 – “See that you make them according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.”

Exodus 26:30 – “Set up the tabernacle according to the plan shown you on the mountain.”

Numbers 8:4 – “This is how the lampstand was made: It was made of hammered gold—from its base to its blossoms. The lampstand was made exactly like the pattern the Lord had shown Moses.”

Levitical priesthood is an earthly and temporary figure made according to a pattern that is in the heavens.

Moses received this spiritual vision of the tabernacle and its priesthood established in the heavens, and he transcribed it as faithfully as possible according to what God allowed him to glimpse. This priesthood is clearly declared to be an imitation—made by human hands—of the true sanctuary that is in the heavens, into which Christ entered. We read in Hebrews (the New Testament):

Hebrews 9:24 – “For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence.”

Hebrews 9:11 – “But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation.”

The true tabernacle is not earthly; it is not of this creation. The heavenly tabernacle is greater and more perfect than the earthly. The earthly tabernacle and its worship are only a shadow of what is to come and not the exact representation, as the following text says:

Hebrews 10:1 – “The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship.”

The earthly tabernacle was an imperfect illustration and was instituted by God to announce what the great High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, would accomplish—after His death—by passing through the true tabernacle. And what did the Lord Jesus accomplish in that tabernacle?

Hebrews 9:23 – “It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.”

Levitical priesthood is here called “copies of the heavenly things,” and it was within this framework that the purification of sins took place imperfectly—imperfectly because the high priest had to reproduce the same rites and sacrifices day after day.

Hebrews 7:17 – “For it is declared: ‘You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.’”

Jesus Christ, the High Priest—a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 5:6)—replaces all the earthly high priests, for after His resurrection He accomplished in the heavenly places all that Levitical priesthood was only an earthly, temporary, and veiled image of.

Hebrews 7:26–27 – “Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself.”

Jesus Christ made atonement once for all. By His excellent sacrifice He purified the heavenly things.

He did this once for all, rendering the repeated rites of the old Levitical priesthood unnecessary! In Moses’ time, the same rites had to be constantly repeated over the days, weeks, months, years, and centuries to maintain the purification of sins. Today the circle is complete. Purification is no longer something to be done, for it has been done once for all. It is by the perpetual effects of Jesus’ sacrifice that we have been purified and thus definitively reconciled with the Father.

ONCE FOR ALL. The Levitical priesthood was therefore an imperfect prototype for purification. The prototype has now been replaced by what is true and definitive.

Hebrews 7:11 – “If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood—and indeed the law given to the people established that priesthood—why was there still need for another priest to come, one in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron?”

The law—all the food prohibitions and other rites—rests, says this text, on this Levitical priesthood that brought no perfection. Perfection came with Jesus Christ. The powerless imitation (Hebrews 7:18) has been made obsolete and useless by the perfect work of Jesus Christ, the great High Priest forever.

Hebrews 7:18–19 – “The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.”

The overall message of this former regulation—the ordinance of Levitical priesthood —was that one could hope to approach the Holy God, and be approached by Him, only on the exclusive condition of first being made pure and perfect by purifying and sanctifying rules. One must be perfect and holy to stand in His presence.

This ordinance is today abolished by Jesus Christ, the Perfect Man, for we now approach God through Him (a better hope). The rites that could not make perfect constituted, by comparison, a lesser hope. Jesus Christ has introduced a better hope by which people can now approach God freely—better because it is perpetual, constantly at work, and without the need for human intermediaries, particular rites, or food prohibitions.

The high priesthood of Jesus Christ in heaven and the new covenant that flows from it are the culmination—the crowning point—of Levitical law on earth, which therefore becomes outdated.

The role of the precepts of Leviticus was only to announce, to foreshadow, the work of the High Priest, Jesus Christ, while waiting for Him to come; they therefore fulfilled their purpose.

Since Jesus died, rose again, and was glorified—and thus accomplished everything—they no longer have any reason to be, except to help us understand what Christ was to do and has done in heaven and on earth (for the most learned and enlightened among us).

And here, consequently, is what the New Testament says:

Colossians 2:16–17 – “Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.”

Colossians 2:20–23 – “Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules: ‘Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!’? These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.”

Does this text not say that the Christian is no longer subject to any food or ritual rule (called the shadow of things to come)? NONE. Because in Christ, everything is accomplished.

And Jesus does not contradict His declaration that not one iota of the law would disappear, for all this law, having been perfectly accomplished by Him, is in a sense gathered up in Him. He fulfilled it, as He had also announced. The law is still there, but fulfilled, perfected, complete, and eternally finalized in Him, in His own person.

Ephesians 1:7–10 – “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.”

God has brought everything together in Christ, and that includes Levitical priesthood. Christ is the completed, finalized, and perfect version of Leviticus, which now resides in Him, in His divine person, for eternity. The rites and ordinances, having become useless, are replaced in the new covenant by a higher reality: the imperishable LIFE of the Son of God. This life Christ shares by the Spirit with all the members of His body—us!

The children of God, born again, form one body with the One who is the final, perfect, and accomplished version of Leviticus, and they are made participants in that perfection. They are therefore no longer subject to the rites of the imperfect prototype—to the rites and ordinances of the shadow of things to come! We no longer live in the barracks once the house is finished being built.

But then, what place does the following text have?

Acts 15:20–21 – “Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. For the law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.”

In Acts 15, the apostles advise—in a letter to young churches—not to eat meat sacrificed to idols, meat of strangled animals, and blood (hence the controversy about black pudding, among other things): very Levitical rules!

The book of Acts (the Acts of the Apostles—or of the Holy Spirit) is an account tracing the birth and beginnings of the church. It is unquestionably an inspired book and contains many principles supporting Christian doctrine, but it is not a doctrinal treatise.

Should this counsel given by the apostles be considered a permanent doctrinal point, or rather a temporary measure of wisdom tied to the time and context reported by a faithful narrative?

The little word—very small!—in the next sentence, “For”, gives the simple reason for this statement by the apostles, and it is nothing doctrinal. They wanted to spare difficulties for newly converted Jews by avoiding shocking the adherents of Moses—numerous and very influential—since it was the predominant religion of the time.

The apostle James, who speaks here, simply expresses an opinion (“It is my judgment that we should not make it difficult…”), which is easily understood in view of the time, their environment, and especially the limited understanding of the gospel that the disciples had at that moment (as we will see).

The time and the environment

At the time of this account, the doctrine of the good news of the gospel was not yet solidly established as it is today thanks to the New Testament epistles. Let us remember that nothing had yet been written at that time. Doctrine was being transmitted orally in Jerusalem through the teaching of some apostles (Acts 2:42). And it clearly appears that these apostles had not yet fully grasped the new place the law given by Moses was to take in the gospel of Jesus Christ. It took several of Paul’s epistles to explain it later—and even today we struggle to apply it.

Yes! The Bible shows us apostles in a newborn church insufficiently instructed on everything related to the law and the revolutionary implications of the gospel! Judge for yourselves:

Acts 11:1–3 – “The apostles and the believers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him and said, ‘You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them.’”
Acts 11:4 – “Starting from the beginning, Peter told them the whole story.”
Acts 11:17–18 – “So if God gave them the same gift he gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could stand in God’s way?” When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then, even to Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life.”

Had the Jewish brothers—converted to Christ and taught by the apostles (Acts 15:5; Acts 2:42)—fully understood God’s plan of salvation in Jesus Christ for all nations, would they have reproached Peter for going to eat with Gentiles (the “uncircumcised,” as they called them)?

Moreover, would they have been surprised that God also grants repentance to Gentiles, and that the baptism of the Holy Spirit could be given to a Roman centurion—to Cornelius, a non-Jew—at the moment of his conversion?

And beyond that, would they have been so upset that Peter had to explain to them in detail how God had brought him to understand and accept that the promises were now also for all nations, not only for the people of Israel, in order to calm them down?

The lack of understanding of the gospel was such that some went so far as to affirm that one had to be circumcised to be saved! That one had to remain under the law of Moses to be saved!

Acts 15:1 – “Certain people came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the believers: ‘Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.’”

Paul and Barnabas opposed them and there were debates and sharp discussions; and the brothers decided that Paul and Barnabas, and some others, should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders to consider this question.

Acts 15:5 – “Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, ‘The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses.’”

It was absolutely necessary to silence some who wanted to force the Gentiles who were converting to follow Jewish customs (Acts 15:1)—that is, to adopt Jewish ritual practices as taught in the Torah (for example, circumcision)—a trend that, incredibly, still persists today in certain Christian communities in the 21st century! But here is what the doctrine of grace in Jesus Christ says:

Galatians 5:6 – “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.”

That is why nothing said at that moment can be considered a point of doctrine unless it is confirmed and balanced by other texts in the epistles.

Let us consider for a moment the one who is behind this famous opinion: the apostle James. Did the Holy Spirit not give us a “wink,” so to speak, by allowing a particular fact to be reported in the epistle to the Galatians? Indeed, in that epistle, James appears as the leader of the hardline, legalistic branch of the just-born church.

It is recounted that when he sent his people to visit Peter, Peter—upon learning of it—was so afraid of them and their legalistic rigidity that he interrupted a meal he was taking with non-Jews so as not to be seen with them. He slipped away and kept his distance to avoid conflict and the inevitable reproaches of the tyrants. He was not the only one to tremble before this rigid faction of the church, for even Barnabas, Paul’s ministry companion, was carried away. Paul publicly rebuked Peter for his behavior, and the Holy Spirit allowed and intended for this story to reach us, for we read:

Galatians 2:11–12, 14 – “When Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group… When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, ‘You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?’”

Since his vision and his experience with Cornelius (Acts 10), Peter had understood that he did not defile himself by eating with non-Jews, contrary to what Jewish law said. Yet he preferred not to be seen with them upon the arrival of “James’s group.” This shows how fragile and weakly founded the doctrine of the gospel was at that time, and how powerful the pressure of the Pharisee party—who had converted yet were still dominated by the Mosaic law—could be. Except for the apostle Paul, no one had yet received the revelation of the full scope of the gospel’s revolutionary doctrine.

It is therefore not surprising that the apostles gave that rather ill-informed opinion in our Acts 15 passage.

As we have understood, it cannot be a permanent doctrinal point about foods. That opinion was issued during a time of adjustments—of “sharp disputes”—in the church. The disagreements were strong on the subject and marked by the influence of Pharisees who, though converted, were not at all instructed and were still dominated by the Mosaic law.

In the light of the whole New Testament, making James’s opinion—that these rules about strangled meat or blood should be imposed—a permanent doctrinal rule about foods is in total contradiction with what is written in the epistles. And since there is no contradiction in the biblical message, if one seems to appear, it means that something has escaped us and that we must study, reflect, and let ourselves be guided by the true Author of this Word.

The maintenance of such principles of food restriction or ritual obligations today sows confusion among God’s people, who for a long time should have been freed from these useless and outdated yokes.

1 Corinthians 10:27 – “If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience.”

That said, there is something in the apostle James’s advice that we should retain and apply in a particular circumstance. A great and beautiful principle is described for us in the epistle to the Romans: Let your liberty not be a stumbling block—that is, a cause of falling or scandal—for someone whose conscience is weaker.

Romans 14:20–21 – “Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a person to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother or sister to fall.”

The second sentence—read quickly or isolated from its context—can be misunderstood. It is not saying here that, in an absolute sense, one must neither eat meat nor drink wine (and in any case the issue here is meat sacrificed to idols, not meat in general). It says that we should abstain when it could become a stumbling block for a brother or sister in Christ.

We are taught here that our freedom (so we do indeed have one!) should never cause the fall of someone whose conscience is weaker than ours because it is imperfectly instructed. Love takes precedence over liberty. In accordance with sound doctrine, I am free to eat black pudding or to drink wine, but in a circumstance where this might shock or destabilize the faith of someone less well instructed in the grace of God, I would prefer to abstain. Out of love, out of charity.

In all other cases, the following doctrinal rule prevails:

1 Corinthians 10:27 – “If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience.”

It is clear, isn’t it? You are free. The Holy Spirit tells you this in a clear and indisputable way in 1 Corinthians 10:27. Free to eat anything without raising questions of conscience. And you are also free to abstain from that food, so as not to hurt your neighbor. This expression of love is not hypocrisy but a voluntary and benevolent act of a truly free man or woman, respectful of the convictions of others.

Romans 14:14–16 – “I am convinced, being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for that person it is unclean. If your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy someone for whom Christ died. Therefore do not let what you know is good be spoken of as evil.”

Love comes before our freedom—but let no one enslave us to outdated, needlessly repressive rules, not to mention the deplorable and inappropriately sectarian witness this offers to those around us.

These rules, slyly imposed by pulling verses out of their context and out of the spirit of prophecy, are in violation of sound doctrine and reflect either a lack of instruction in the Scriptures or a suspect legalism. They must be rejected, whatever the messenger may be.

Let there be no misunderstanding! We all know only in part (1 Corinthians 13:9), and if we know anything, it is because the Lord has taught it to our hearts.

1 Corinthians 4:7 – “For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?”

So it is not at all a question of reproaching the messenger for not knowing something and even less of rejecting or criticizing any person who, being poorly instructed, might give bad instructions.

Remaining in love and respect, let us examine what is good (1 Thessalonians 5:21), reject the bad message without rejecting the messenger, and let us not allow anyone to distort the Word so as to enslave us to anything!

Galatians 5:1 – “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”

1 Corinthians 6:12 – “‘I have the right to do anything,’ you say—but not everything is beneficial. ‘I have the right to do anything’—but I will not be mastered by anything.”