24-Questions Regarding Health - RSV

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 And he said to them, "Then are you also without _understanding_? Do you not see that whatever goes into a man from outside cannot defile him, [19] since it enters, not his heart but his _stomach_, and so passes on?" (Thus he _declared_ all foods clean.) [20] And he said, "What comes out of a man is what _defiles_ a man.

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 within you, which you have from God? You are not your own; [20] you were _bought_ with a price. So _glorify_ God in your body.

1 Corinthians 3:17 If any one destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is _holy_, and _that_ temple you are.

1 Corinthians 10:31 So, _whether_ you eat or drink, or _whatever_ you do, do all to 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 Now when the _Pharisees_ gathered together to him, with some of the scribes, who had come from _Jerusalem_,

Mark 7:2 They saw that some of his _disciples_ ate with hands defiled, that is, _unwashed_.

Mark 7:3 (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they wash their hands, _observing_ the _tradition_ of the elders;

Mark 7:4 And when they come from the market place, they do not eat unless they purify themselves; and there are many other _traditions_ which they observe, the washing of cups and pots and _vessels_ of bronze.)

Mark 7:5 And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, "Why do your _disciples_ not live according to the _tradition_ of the elders, but eat with hands defiled?"

5. Jesus' Remarks in Mark 7:18-20 Are to Refute This Missunderstanding of the Teachers of That Day.
Mark 7:18-20 And he said to them, "Then are you also without _understanding_? Do you not see that whatever goes into a man from outside cannot defile him, [19] since it enters, not his heart but his _stomach_, and so passes on?" (Thus he _declared_ all foods clean.) [20] And he said, "What comes out of a man is what _defiles_ a man.

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 Food will not _commend_ us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no _better_ off 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 whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any _question_ on the ground of _conscience_.

8. Paul Answers the Questions at the Beginning of 1 Corinthians 8.
1 Corinthians 8:1 Now _concerning_ food offered to idols: we know that "all of us _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 Hence, as to the eating of food _offered_ to idols, we know that "an idol has no real _existence_," 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 some one says to you, "This has been offered in sacrifice," then out of _consideration_ for the man who informed 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 _believes_ he may eat anything, while the weak man eats only _vegetables_. [3] Let not him who eats despise him who abstains, and let not him who abstains pass judgment on him who eats; for God has _welcomed_ him. [4] Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of _another_? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Master 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 Hence, as to the eating of food _offered_ to idols, we know that "an idol has no real _existence_," 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 And so by your knowledge this weak man is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. [12] Thus, sinning against your brethren and wounding their _conscience_ when it is weak, you sin against Christ. [13] _Therefore_, if food is a cause of my _brother's_ falling, I will never eat meat, lest I cause my brother 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; he bestows favor and honor. No good thing does the LORD _withhold_ from those who walk _uprightly_.

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 I spread out my hands all the day to a _rebellious_ people, who walk in a way that is not good, following their own devices; [3] a people who provoke me to my face _continually_, _sacrificing_ in gardens and burning incense upon bricks; [4] who sit in tombs, and spend the night in secret places; who eat swine's flesh, and broth of _abominable_ things is in their vessels;

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 Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you; and as I gave you the green _plants_, I give you _everything_.

Genesis 7:2 Take with you _seven_ pairs of all clean animals, the male and his mate; and a pair of the animals _that_ are not clean, the male and his 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 the word that went forth from my lips.

Malachi 3:6 "For I the LORD do not change; _therefore_ you, O sons of Jacob, are not _consumed_.

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 Saying, "If you will _diligently_ hearken to the voice of the LORD your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give heed to his _commandments_ and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases upon you which I put upon the _Egyptians_; for I am the LORD, your healer."

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 Who forbid marriage and enjoin _abstinence_ from foods which God created to be received with _thanksgiving_ by those who believe and know the truth.

Genesis 1:29 And God said, "_Behold_, I have given you every plant _yielding_ seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them 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 the God of peace himself _sanctify_ you wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and _blameless_ at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 12:1 I appeal to you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and _acceptable_ to God, which is your _spiritual_ worship.

27. John Adds This:
3 John 1:2 Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in _health_; I know that it is well with your _soul_.

Next Bible Study: 25-State of the Dead

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