All Food is Clean & Good
Jesus declared all food clean
Mark 7:19 and Matthew 15:11.
In Mark 7:19, Jesus is engaged in a debate with the Pharisees about the importance of ceremonial washing before eating. The Pharisees believed that it was wrong to eat without first washing their hands, even if they had not touched anything unclean. Jesus argued that this was a man-made tradition that had no basis in Scripture. He then went on to say:
"It is not what enters a man from outside that can defile him, but what comes out of him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a man."
In Matthew 15:11, Jesus repeats this teaching in a slightly different form:
"It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a man."
Also when preparing a Apostle to go to the gentiles to witness to them. Here he was being sent to a gentiles home who ate what Jews held were unclean food.
Acts 10:15: Jesus from Heaven:
But the voice answered again, “What God has made clean, do not call unclean.”
This verse occurs when the vision that Peter receives from Jesus. In the vision, Peter sees a sheet lowered from heaven, containing all sorts of animals, both clean and unclean. A voice tells Peter to "kill and eat," but Peter refuses, saying that he has never eaten anything unclean. The voice then tells Peter that what God has made clean, he should not call unclean.
This revelation leads Peter to 1. go to and 2. to eat with Cornelius and his household.
The passage in Acts 10 is significant because it shows that the New Testament telks Christians can eat what were considered unclean foods and to associate with Gentiles. This is a major departure from the Old Testament dietary laws, which prohibited Jews from eating certain types of food and from associating with Gentiles.
Jesus abolished the dietary laws. You can see clearly in Acts 10:15 as evidence that Christians are free to eat any type of food.
Why were some foods put on forbidden list for Jews? Today, People only tend to think of life, culture and ways if thinking based on their culture and not historically biblically accurate info. They totally "miss" what God wants them to know because they dont see clearly. God was preserving the Jews lives back then by keeping them from getting bacteria, infections, brain worms, and intestinal worms, (like you see longggg strings out bears butts), that come from certain "foods" when not cooked right or prepared right. God wanted the Israelites to reproduce, live and keep growing in numbers; which is why they are still here today when other nations from back then are long gone. The cooking wasnt very good back then and to protect His people God limited certian foods, for a time. It was time for Christians who were Jews to open up and embrace all things for the sake of the gospel. God created all things, and he created them "good". Thus Christians live in freedom and liberty. Not legalism. It was also to separate them from the nations around them in a unique way and to ensure they didnt mingle with the ungodly pagans. It was to avoid pagan practices and set Israel apart as holy in matters of food and worship. Pagans used certain foods in certain ways and God drew a line to separate them from pagan practices with meat, blood, & sacrifices to idols.
In the New Covenant of grace, the Bible is far more concerned with how much we eat than what foods Christians eat. Physical appetites are an analogy of our ability to control ourselves. If we are unable to control our eating habits, we are probably also unable to control other habits such as those of the mind (lust, covetousness, unrighteous hatred/anger) and unable to keep our mouths from gossip or strife. As Christians, we are not to let our appetites control us; rather, we are to control them (Deuteronomy 21:20; Proverbs 23:2; 2 Peter 1:5-7; 2 Timothy 3:1-9; 2 Corinthians 10:5).
Further look into the above and more:
Cr: some credits to GotQuestions
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