24-Questions Regarding Health - NIV

1. Didn't Jesus Say, "It Is Not What Goes into a Man But It's What Goes Out Which Defiles Him?".
Mark 7:18-20 "Are you so dull?" he asked. "Don't you see that _nothing_ that enters a man from the outside can make him 'unclean'? [19] For it doesn't go into his heart but into his _stomach_, and then out of his body." (In _saying_ this, Jesus _declared_ all foods "clean.") [20] He went on: "What comes out of a man is what makes him 'unclean.'

2. The New Testament Plainly Tells Us to Keep Our Bodies Undefiled As Temples of the Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have _received_ from God? You are not your own; [20] you were bought at a price. _Therefore_ honor God with your body.

1 Corinthians 3:17 If _anyone_ destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is _sacred_, and you are that temple.

1 Corinthians 10:31 So _whether_ you eat or drink or _whatever_ you do, do it all for the glory of God.

3. The Scriptures Are Consistent in Their Teaching.
They do not tell us to carefully consider what to eat and Drink in one place, and then in another place tell us it doesn't matter what we Drink and eat.

 4. The Pharisees Had Very Strict Laws Regarding Ceremonial Cleanliness.
Mark 7:1 The _Pharisees_ and some of the teachers of the law who had come from _Jerusalem_ gathered around Jesus and

Mark 7:2 Saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were "_unclean_," that is, _unwashed_.

Mark 7:3 (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a _ceremonial_ washing, holding to the _tradition_ of the elders.

Mark 7:4 When they come from the _marketplace_ they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other _traditions_, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles. )

Mark 7:5 So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, "Why don't your _disciples_ live according to the _tradition_ of the elders instead of eating their food with 'unclean' hands?"

5. Jesus' Remarks in Mark 7:18-20 Are to Refute This Missunderstanding of the Teachers of That Day.
Mark 7:18-20 "Are you so dull?" he asked. "Don't you see that _nothing_ that enters a man from the outside can make him 'unclean'? [19] For it doesn't go into his heart but into his _stomach_, and then out of his body." (In _saying_ this, Jesus _declared_ all foods "clean.") [20] He went on: "What comes out of a man is what makes him 'unclean.'

The object of the discussion in Mark 7 was not the Levitical health laws of Leviticus 11 which were given by a loving God to preserve the health of His people. The discussion was about the Jewish "tradition of the elders" (mark 7:5). The Pharisees believed that to eat with unwashed hands, a person absorbed or took in defilement from the Gentiles. Jesus was not repudiating the health laws which our Lord Himself gave. Instead He was rejecting the idea that a person was ceremonially defiled by touching a Gentile.

In the context of Mark 7, Jesus is saying that "nothing from outside you can produce defilement or sin. " All sin begins in the mind. The Jews rejected God's commandments, to maintain their tradition of exclusiveness (mark 7:9).

The expression "purging all meats" (k. J. V. ) in verse 19 is better translated "purging all foods. " The word is "broma. " No food is ceremonially unclean. No food carries sin within it. Not from without, but from within sin arises (mark 7:21).

Jesus did not promote unclean animals as food. They were scavengers never to be eaten. The issue in Mark 7 is not health as to whether or not to eat unclean animals, but rather ceremonial defilement which the Jews believed came from touching Gentiles, transferring their defilement into themselves through foods into the body.

 6. Didn't Paul Say, "Meat Doesn't Commend Us to God, We Are No Better Or Worse If We Eat It. ".".
1 Corinthians 8:8 But food does not bring us near to God; we are no _worse_ if we do not eat, and no _better_ if we do.

7. Didn't He Also Say That We Should Eat Whatever Is Sold in the Market Place?
1 Corinthians 10:25 Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising _questions_ of _conscience_,

8. Paul Answers the Questions at the Beginning of 1 Corinthians 8.
1 Corinthians 8:1 Now about food _sacrificed_ to idols: We know that we all _possess_ knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.

9. So That No One Will Misunderstand Paul Emphasizes the Same Reason in Verse 4.
1 Corinthians 8:4 So then, about _eating_ food _sacrificed_ to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world and that there is no God but one.

10. Concerning the Quote From 1 Corinthians 10, Verse 25, Paul Ends His Discussion About Meat Offered to Idols in Verse 28.
1 Corinthians 10:28 But if anyone says to you, "This has been offered in _sacrifice_," then do not eat it, both for the sake of the man who told you and for _conscience_' sake--

11. Portions of the Meat Which Were Used in Idol Worship at Pagan Temples in Corinth Were Then Sold in the Market Places.
This led some very strict Jews to become vegetarians.

 12. Note What Paul Said to the Romans.
Romans 14:2-4 One man's faith allows him to eat everything, but _another_ man, whose faith is weak, eats only _vegetables_. [3] The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not _condemn_ the man who does, for God has accepted him. [4] Who are you to judge _someone_ else's _servant_? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

13. The Issue at Stake Here, Both in Corinth and in Rome, Is Whether It Is Morally Wrong to Eat Meat Offered to Idols.
In the eating of this meat, is a person actually participating in idol worship?

 14. Paul's Response Is That Idols Are Nothing at All.
1 Corinthians 8:4 So then, about _eating_ food _sacrificed_ to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world and that there is no God but one.

15. However, Paul Does Go on to Address the Idea That Our Liberty May Become a Stumbling Block for Someone Else.
1 Corinthians 8:11-13 So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your _knowledge_. [12] When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak _conscience_, you sin against Christ. [13] _Therefore_, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall.

16. At Stake Here Is Not Unclean Foods But Food Offered to Idols.
Jesus did not come to cleanse pigs. Unclean animals which were unhealthful in the Old Testament are still unhealthful in the New Testament.

 17. The Lord Will Not Withhold Any Good Thing From Us.
Psalms 84:11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he _withhold_ from those whose walk is _blameless_.

18. Unclean Animals Do Not Fall in the Category of Good Things.
They are scavengers and unfit for food.

 19. Aren't the Health Laws in the Bible Just Jewish Old Testament Rituals Which Christ Did Away with at the Cross?
When Jesus died, He gave His life to redeem mankind. His death did not affect in anyway what was healthy and what was not healthy. It only makes sense that if pork, for example, was unhealthy because it was a scavenger before the cross, it is unhealthy because it is a scavenger after the cross.

Contrary to popular opinion, the Biblical health laws are not for the Jews alone.

When Noah entered the ark, he was instructed to bring the unclean in by twos. Since the clean animals would be eaten due to the shortage of vegetation after the flood, they were brought in by sevens.

In Leviticus 11, God distinguishes between clean and unclean animals for all mankind.

 20. Isaiah Describes Those Who Rebel Against God As Worshipping Idols and Eating Swines Flesh.
Isaiah 65:2-4 All day long I have held out my hands to an _obstinate_ people, who walk in ways not good, _pursuing_ their own imaginations-- [3] a people who _continually_ provoke me to my very face, offering _sacrifices_ in gardens and burning incense on altars of brick; [4] who sit among the graves and spend their nights keeping secret vigil; who eat the flesh of pigs, and whose pots hold broth of unclean meat;

The prophet Isaiah reveals the results of rebellion as destroying those who eat unclean animals.

God knows best. He wants for us to be in good health. He invites us to give up anything that will harm our body temple in which He want to dwell.

 21. Since God Told Noah, "Every Moving Thing Which Liveth Shall Be Meat for You," Isn't It Permissible to Eat Whatever We Want?
Genesis 9:3 Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the _green_ _plants_, I now give you everything.

Genesis 7:2 Take with you seven of every kind of _clean_ animal, a male and its mate, and two of every kind of un_clean_ animal, a male and its mate,

We might ask, "was God giving Noah permission to eat snakes, rats, alligators, lizards, worms, and cockroaches? Certainly not! Noah already knew the difference between clean and unclean foods.

God was simply making a statement. Noah, you may now eat flesh foods.

The evidence is that God clearly forbade unclean animals later in both Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14.

 22. God Does Not Change.
Psalms 89:34 I will not violate my _covenant_ or alter what my lips have _uttered_.

Malachi 3:6 "I the LORD do not change. So you, O _descendants_ of Jacob, are not _destroyed_.

23. Since God Does Not Change, Would He Give Permission to Noah to Do Something He Forbade Moses to Do?

All of God's Laws Including Those Relating to Health Were Given in Love to Reduce Disease and Increase Happiness.

Exodus 15:26 He said, "If you listen _carefully_ to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay _attention_ to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the _Egyptians_, for I am the LORD, who heals you."

Many in the scientific community recognize that the health principles of the Bible can significantly assist in reducing heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and cancer. God's ways are best.

 24. Doesn't the Bible Say to Beware of Those Who Command You to Abstain From Meat?
1 Timothy 4:3 They 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.

Genesis 1:29 Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has _fruit_ with seed in it. They will be _yours_ for food.

This passage describes a group who depart from the Biblical faith in the last days. According To Timothy 4:3, they teach twin errors. This group forbids marriage and commands to abstain from meats (k. J. V. ) or foods (greek: broma) which God has created to be received with thanksgiving. The word meat (k. J. V. ) refers not to animals in particular, but food in general. The same word is used in the Greek version of the Old Testament in Genesis 1:29.

The Greek word broma, could as well be translated as food, rather than meat. Meat was an old English term that was used for food.

Throughout the centuries, certain ascetics, monks, and priests have declared the world as evil. Both marriage and food are created by God. They are both part of God's good plan for the human race.

According to 1 Timothy 4:4, 5, those creatures sanctified by the word of God are good and not to be refused when received with thanksgiving. Paul here is arguing against the fanaticism which declares all physical pleasure as evil.

God desires that His creatures heartily enjoy the food He has created for them. The issue here is not clean or unclean foods, but whether food itself is part of the material world and to be rejected through a monastic life. Paul says no! God's creation is good.

 25. What Difference Does It Make As to What We Eat and Drink? Isn't God Interested Only in Our Spirituality?
Human beings are a unit. Whatever affects the physical also affects the mental and the spiritual faculties. Our physical habits affect the quality of blood which passes through the brain. A poor quality of blood supplied to the brain makes one less capable of comprehending spiritual truth.

 26. Paul Says This About Body and the Spirit:
1 Thessalonians 5:23 May God himself, the God of peace, _sanctify_ you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept _blameless_ at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living _sacrifices_, holy and pleasing to God--this is your _spiritual_ act of worship.

27. John Adds This:
3 John 1:2 Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good _health_ and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is _getting_ along well.

Next Bible Study: 25-State of the Dead

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