Much of Christianity believes that in the New Testament the commandments about what we should not eat are done away with through the work of the Messiah. This idea stems from misunderstanding New Testament Bible passages. If we take a closer look, we will see that Scripture never changes the Living God's instructions about what we eat! It's time to see that point of the Messiah's death was to provide redemption for people, not to add pig flesh to our diets.
Here on the blog, we've already tackled misunderstood passages of the New Testament like, Jesus made all foods clean, Peter's hearing the voice say to eat unclean animals, and eating whatever is set before you. Links are below if you'd like to check out those topics later, but for now we are going to focus on Romans 14.
This passage of Scripture comes up in nearly every discussion about believers and what we eat. It gets thrown out as a catch all, "But Romans 14 says no food is wrong to eat and it's up to our conscience to decide!" Let's take a few minutes to learn to understand that passage of Scripture that has been misunderstood and abused.
Explaining Romans 14:
"One person believes it is right to eat anything. But another believer with a sensitive conscience will eat only vegetables. Those who feel free to eat anything must not look down on those who don't. And those who don't eat certain foods must not condemn those who do, for God has accepted them." -Romans 14:2-3
"See? Paul is saying that it's right to eat anything and we shouldn't judge what someone else eats because God accepts it, right? So we can eat any animals now, even what were considered abominable in the Old Testament." This logic is used by many believers, and it's extremely flawed. Nowhere in Romans (or anywhere else in the Bible) does it talk about a debate of whether or not it's okay to eat the animals that Leviticus 11 says not to. The subject in question is that while some people choose a vegetarian diet, others eat permissible meats. How do we know they're talking about clean animals? Because the Bible defines food as what YHWH says we can eat. Since Leviticus 11:41 says that things like pigs, dogs, most insects, lions, camels, etc. are not food, we know that "those who don't eat certain foods," weren't eating animals the Bible considers food - such as beef and lamb. This whole debate is about if you have to be a vegetarian, or if it's okay to eat the animals that the Old Testament says you can.
Romans 14 is not talking about anyone eating what the Bible says is not permissible!
"I know and am convinced on the authority of the Messiah that no food, in and of itself, is wrong to eat." -Romans 14:14a
Again, the subject here is food, as defined by the Bible. Paul is saying that if the Bible says something is food, then it can be eaten. This fits with other parts of Scripture, like the Messiah saying that the bread his disciples were eating was not unclean, even though they hadn't kept a manmade tradition of ritual hand washing in Mark 7, and 1 Timothy 4 that says that false teachers will promote a demonic idea that not all foods - again things the Bible says we can eat - should be eaten.
Paul is not saying that it's okay to go directly against what the Bible says and eat abominable creatures.
"If another believer is distressed by what you eat, you are not acting in love if you eat it. Don't let your eating ruin someone for whom the Messiah died." -Romans 14:15
It is somewhat mystifying that the same people who throw Romans 14 up as a license to consume literally anything they want...from abominable animals to psychedelic drugs...conveniently skip over this verse. Here's a Bible passage reminding us that our choices about what we eat have very real effects on others, and that we should do our very best to act in love and consideration!
I hope this explanation sheds light on what Paul meant by these words in Romans. When we understand that New Testament authors used the Bible's definition of what food is, then Scripture doesn't contradict itself!
More about eating:
Did Jesus Declare All Foods Clean?
Understanding Peter's Vision
Should We Eat Whatever is Set Before Us?
1 Timothy 4 Explained
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