Frankly Answered Questions - FAQs
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Frankly Answered Questions - FAQs
Are all foods now "clean"?
Q: I eat according to the Old Testament (The Maker's Diet), but friends tell me that I am wrong because in the New Testament, God declared that the unclean meats and fishes are now clean. I can't find anywhere in the New Testament a sweeping statement like that? I know food doesn't condemn you by eating it. I eat to maintain good health and nutrition, not just for the pleasure of it.
What does the New Testament say regarding this?A: I believe the verse they are referring to is Mark 7:19: In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.
1 Timothy 4:3-5 is on the same subject: [These false teachers] forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.
These verses make it clear that there are no "clean" and "unclean" foods since the time of Jesus - in other words, that there is no punishment or discipline for disobedience attached to the eating of any food.However, it may be that God declared foods clean or unclean in the Old Testament based on their health value. Others believe that God simply forbade the eating of certain foods to set His people and the nation of Israel apart from the world. That's a question that you will need to resolve in your own mind. If the former idea is true (health value), then there is some benefit to eating only Old Testament clean foods. But the point would be that these healthy foods are better alternatives to other foods, not that eating them or not eating them is an act of obedience or disobedience to God.
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