Does the Apostle abolish the prohibition on the eating
of blood according to Acts 10:14-16?
“The prohibition on the eating of the
blood was already abolished in the Christian era. Acts 10:14-16 proves this.
The Lord God said to Apostle Peter, ‘Do not call anything impure that God has
made clean.”
THE
EATING OF blood was forbidden by God to His servants as early as the time of
Noah (cf. Genesis 9:1-4). The ancient nation of Israel was also forbidden to eat
blood (cf. Leviticus 17:10-13). However, others claim that this prohibition was
abolished by the apostles and citing Acts 10:14-16 to prove their contention. Does
Acts 10:14-16 say that eating of blood already allowed in the Christian era?
Let us quote Acts 10:11-16:
“He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet
being let down to earth by its four corners. It contained all kinds of
four-footed animals, as well as reptiles of the earth and birds of the air.
Then a voice told him, "Get up, Peter. Kill and eat." Surely not,
Lord! Peter replied. "I have never eaten anything impure or
unclean." The voice spoke to him a
second time, "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean."
This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.”
(NIV)
There is nothing
here that says the eating of blood is already allowed. It is only their
interpretation of the verse, but this interpretation (that Acts 10:14-16
teaches that eating of blood is already allowed) is against the teachings of
the apostles. Why? Is eating of blood no longer forbidden in Christian Era? Let
us find out:
“As for the Gentile believers, we have written to them
our decision that they should abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from
blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality.” (Acts
21:25 NIV)
The believers or
the Christians are exhorted to “abstain from food sacrifices to idols, FROM
BLOOD, from the meat of strangles animals.” This means that they are not
allowed “to eat any food that has been obliged to idol, or ANY BLOOD, or any
animal that has been estrangled.”
“But as for the Gentiles who have become believers, we
have sent them a letter telling them we decided that they must not eat any food
that has been offered to idols, or any blood, or any animal that has been
strangled, and that they must keep themselves from sexual immorality.” (Acts
21:25, TEV)
The Bible
explicitly tells us that the eating of blood is still forbidden even up to the
Christian Era. Take note that to Apostle Peter whom the Lord said “Do not call
anything impure that God has made clean.” This phrase was interpreted by others
as God already allowing the eating of blood. Is this really the case? Let us
read Acts 15:13-20:
“When they finished, James spoke up: ‘Brothers, listen
to me. Simon has described to us how God at first showed his concern by taking
from the Gentiles a people for himself. The
words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written: 'After this
I will return and rebuild David's fallen tent. Its ruins I will rebuild, and I
will restore it, that the remnant of men may seek the Lord, and all the
Gentiles who bear my name, says the Lord, who does these things' that have been
known for ages. It is my judgment,
therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are
turning to God. 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.” (Acts 15:13-20,
NIV)
There was an issue
brought to the apostles and elders in the first century Church of Christ regarding
if the Christians Gentiles are still under the Law of Moses. After listening to all
sides, Apostles James made his decision. He said, “It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for
the Gentiles who are turning to God. 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.”
What Apostle James meant in saying that believers must “abstain from blood” is “not
to eat any blood”:
“Instead, we should write a letter telling them not to
eat any food that is ritually unclean because it has been offered to idols; to
keep themselves from sexual immorality; and not to eat any animal that has been
strangled, or any blood.” (Acts 15:20 TEV)
Take note that
when Apostle James made this judgment, Apostle Peter was there. He was the “Simon”
that Apostle James mentioned who “has
described to us how God at first showed his concern by taking from the Gentiles
a people for himself.” If Acts 10:14-16 means God is already allowing
Christians to eat blood as what others interpreted, surely Apostle Peter will
disagree with Apostle James when he included in his decision to tell the
Gentile Christians to abstain from blood (not to eat any blood). However, that
was not the case. Apostle Peter agreed with Apostle James:
“Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church,
decided to choose some of their own men and send them to Antioch with Paul and
Barnabas. They chose Judas (called Barsabbas) and Silas, two men who were
leaders among the brothers. With them they sent the following letter: THE
APOSTLES AND ELDERS, your brothers, To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria
and Cilicia: Greetings. We have heard that some went out from us without our
authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said. SO WE ALL AGREED to choose some men and send
them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul- men who have risked their lives for the name
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore we
are sending Judas and Silas to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing. IT
SEEMED GOOD TO THE HOLY SPIRIT AND TO US not to burden you with anything beyond
the following requirements: YOU ARE TO
ABSTAIN FROM FOOD SACRIFICED TO IDOLS, FROM BLOOD, FROM THE MEAT OF STRANGLED
ANIMALS and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things.
Farewell. The men were sent off and went
down to Antioch, where they gathered the church together and delivered the
letter.” (Acts 15:22-30, NIV, emphasis mine)
Thus, the Acts
of the Apostles tell us of many things abolished by the Apostles EXCEPT the
eating of blood which is one of the few things remained.
You might also like:
|
|
Copyright Statement
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
© THE
IGLESIA NI CRISTO 2013
No part of this publication
may be produced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or
by any means, electronic, mechanical photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior written permission from the publisher.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Know why more and more people worldwide convert to Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church Of Christ). Learn more about this Church and find out what makes it unique.