8.21- Be careful about religious bigots using their food rules to take away your freedom in Christ Jesus.

8.21-
 Be careful about religious bigots using their food rules to take away your freedom in Christ Jesus.

Regarding details rules about what Christians should eat.

For Jesus followers it seems to me that detailed rules about eating certain things and not eating others is not in keeping with His ways.

Be careful to not violate your own conscience in food matters.

Do not judge other people in matters of conscience.

Do not fall into the temptation to the world's ways of immorality, out control eating and drinking and grumbling.

Do not get bogged down in legalistic food rules.

Mark 7.

7 The Pharisees and some of the scribes gathered around Him when they had come from Jerusalem, ² and had seen that some of His disciples were eating their bread with impure hands, that is, unwashed. ³ (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they ^[a]carefully wash their hands, thus observing the traditions of the elders; ⁴ and when they come from the market place, they do not eat unless they ^[b]cleanse themselves; and there are many other things which they have received in order to observe, such as the ^[c]washing of cups and pitchers and copper pots.) ⁵ The Pharisees and the scribes *asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with impure hands?” ⁶ And He said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:

‘This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far away from Me.
⁷ ‘But in vain do they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’

⁸ Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.”

⁹ He was also saying to them, “You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition. ¹⁰ For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, is to ^[d]be put to death’; ¹¹ but you say, ‘If a man says to his father or his mother, whatever I have that would help you is Corban (that is to say, ^[e]given to God),’ ¹² you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or his mother; ¹³ thus invalidating the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such as that.”

The Heart of Man

¹⁴ After He called the crowd to Him again, He began saying to them, “Listen to Me, all of you, and understand: ¹⁵ there is nothing outside the man which can defile him if it goes into him; but the things which proceed out of the man are what defile the man. ¹⁶ [^[f]If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”]

¹⁷ When he had left the crowd and entered the house, His disciples questioned Him about the parable. ¹⁸ And He *said to them, “Are you so lacking in understanding also? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him, ¹⁹ because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and ^[g]is eliminated?” (Thus He declared all foods clean.) ²⁰ And He was saying, “That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. ²¹ For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, ^[h]fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, ²² deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, ^[i]envy, slander, ^[j]pride and foolishness. ²³ All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.”


Acts 15.

15 Some men came down from Judea and began teaching the brethren, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” ² And when Paul and Barnabas had ^[a]great dissension and debate with them, the brethren determined that Paul and Barnabas and some others of them should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders concerning this issue. ³ Therefore, being sent on their way by the church, they were passing through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and were bringing great joy to all the brethren. ⁴ When they arrived at Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they reported all that God had done with them. ⁵ But some of the sect of the Pharisees who had believed stood up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to direct them to observe the Law of Moses.”

⁶ The apostles and the elders came together to ^[b]look into this ^[c]matter. ⁷ After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brethren, you know that ^[d]in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the word of the gospel and believe. ⁸ And God, who knows the heart, testified to them giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us; ⁹ and He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith. ¹⁰ Now therefore why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? ¹¹ But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are.”
¹² All the people kept silent, and they were listening to Barnabas and Paul as they were relating what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles.

James’s Judgment

¹³ After they had stopped speaking, ^[e]James answered, saying, “Brethren, listen to me. ¹⁴ Simeon has related how God first concerned Himself about taking from among the Gentiles a people for His name. ¹⁵ With this the words of the Prophets agree, just as it is written,

¹⁶ ‘After these things I will return,
And I will rebuild the ^[f]tabernacle of David which has fallen,
And I will rebuild its ruins,
And I will restore it,
¹⁷ So that the rest of ^[g]mankind may seek the Lord,
And all the Gentiles ^[h]who are called by My name,’
¹⁸ Says the Lord, who ^[i]makes these things known from long ago.

¹⁹ Therefore it is my judgment that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles, ²⁰ but that we write to them that they abstain from ^[j]things contaminated by idols and from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood. ²¹ For Moses from ancient generations has in every city those who preach him, since ^[k]he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”

²² Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them to send to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas—Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brethren, ²³ and they ^[l]sent this letter by them,

“The apostles and the brethren who are elders, to the brethren in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia who are from the Gentiles, greetings.
²⁴ “Since we have heard that some ^[m]of our number to whom we gave no instruction have disturbed you with their words, unsettling your souls, ²⁵ it seemed good to us, having ^[n]become of one mind, to select men to send to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, ²⁶ men who have ^[o]risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁷ “Therefore we have sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will also report the same things by word of mouth. ²⁸ “For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these essentials: ²⁹ that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication; ^[p]if you keep yourselves free from such things, you will do well. Farewell.”

³⁰ So when they were sent away, they went down to Antioch; and having gathered the ^[q]congregation together, they delivered the letter. ³¹ When they had read it, they rejoiced because of its ^[r]encouragement. ³² Judas and Silas, also being prophets themselves, ^[s]encouraged and strengthened the brethren with a lengthy message. ³³ After they had spent time there, they were sent away from the brethren in peace to those who had sent them out. ³⁴ [^[t]But it seemed good to Silas to remain there.] ³⁵ But Paul and Barnabas stayed in Antioch, teaching and preaching with many others also, the word of the Lord.

Romans 14.

14 Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions. ² One person has faith that he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats vegetables only. ³ The one who eats is not to regard with contempt the one who does not eat, and the one who does not eat is not to judge the one who eats, for God has accepted him. ⁴ Who are you to judge the ^[a]servant of another? To his own ^[b]master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

1 Cor. 8.

8 Now concerning things sacrificed to idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge ^[a]makes arrogant, but love edifies. ² If anyone supposes that he knows anything, he has not yet known as he ought to know; ³ but if anyone loves God, he is known by Him.

⁴ Therefore concerning the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we know that ^[b]there is no such thing as an idol in the world, and that there is no God but one. ⁵ For even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords, ⁶ yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.
⁷ However not all men have this knowledge; but some, being accustomed to the idol until now, eat food as if it were sacrificed to an idol; and their conscience being weak is defiled. ⁸ But food will not ^[c]commend us to God; we are neither ^[d]the worse if we do not eat, nor ^[e]the better if we do eat. ⁹ But take care that this ^[f]liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. ¹⁰ For if someone sees you, who have knowledge, dining in an idol’s temple, will not his conscience, if he is weak, be strengthened to eat things sacrificed to idols? ¹¹ For through your knowledge he who is weak is ruined, the brother for whose sake Christ died. ¹² And so, by sinning against the brethren and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. ¹³ Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause my brother to stumble.


 1 Cor. 10.

10 For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea; ² and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; ³ and all ate the same spiritual food; ⁴ and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was ^[a]Christ. ⁵ Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased; for they were laid low in the wilderness.

⁶ Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they also craved. ⁷ Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and stood up to play.” ⁸ Nor let us act immorally, as some of them ^[b]did, and twenty-three thousand fell in one day. ⁹ Nor let us try the Lord, as some of them ^[c]did, and were destroyed by the serpents. ¹⁰ Nor grumble, as some of them ^[d]did, and were destroyed by the destroyer. ¹¹ Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. ¹² Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall. ¹³ No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.
¹⁴ Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. ¹⁵ I speak as to wise men; you judge what I say. ¹⁶ Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the ^[e]bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ? ¹⁷ Since there is one ^[f]bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one ^[g]bread. ¹⁸ Look at ^[h]the nation Israel; are not those who eat the sacrifices sharers in the altar? ¹⁹ What do I mean then? That a thing sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? ²⁰ No, but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God; and I do not want you to become sharers in demons. ²¹ You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. ²² Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? We are not stronger than He, are we?
²³ All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify. ²⁴ Let no one seek his own good, but that of his ^[i]neighbor. ²⁵ Eat anything that is sold in the meat market without asking questions for conscience’ sake; ²⁶ for the earth is the Lord’s, and ^[j]all it contains. ²⁷ If one of the unbelievers invites you and you want to go, eat anything that is set before you without asking questions for conscience’ sake. ²⁸ But if anyone says to you, “This is meat sacrificed to idols,” do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for conscience’ sake; ²⁹ I mean not your own conscience, but the other man’s; for why is my freedom judged by another’s conscience? ³⁰ If I partake with thankfulness, why am I slandered concerning that for which I give thanks?
³¹ Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. ³² Give no offense either to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God; ³³ just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit but the profit of the many, so that they may be saved.


Col. 2.
⁸ See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, ^[h]rather than according to Christ. ⁹ For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, ¹⁰ and in Him you have been made ^[i]complete, and He is the head ^[j]over all rule and authority; ¹¹ and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; ¹² having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. ¹³ When you were dead ^[k]in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, ¹⁴ having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. ¹⁵ When He had ^[l]disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through ^[m]Him.
¹⁶ Therefore no one is to ^[n]act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath ^[o]day— ¹⁷ things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the ^[p]substance ^[q]belongs to Christ. ¹⁸ Let no one keep ^[r]defrauding you of your prize by delighting in ^[s]self-abasement and the worship of the angels, ^[t]taking his stand on visions he has seen, ^[u]inflated without cause by his fleshly mind, ¹⁹ and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ^[v]ligaments, grows with a growth ^[w]which is from God.
²⁰ If you have died with Christ ^[x]to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as, ²¹ “Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!” ²² (which all refer to things destined to perish ^[y]with use)—in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men? ²³ These are matters which have, to be sure, the ^[z]appearance of wisdom in ^[aa]self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.


Hebrews 13.

⁹ Do not be carried away by varied and strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, through which those who ^[b]were so occupied were not benefited.