Page 111 - Laying Down the Law

meat. Christ declared that it is not what enters man’s mouth that defiles him. It is
what comes out of man’s mouth that defiles.

Mark 7:18-23
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,
because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated?"
Thus He declared all foods clean. And He was saying, "That which
proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. "For from within, out of
the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders,
adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy,
slander, pride and foolishness. All these evil things proceed from within and
defile the man."

Yahweh’s focus has always been upon creating a clean heart (soul) in man. Foods
do not defile the soul of man. They affect only the body. The Law’s regulations
pertaining to food were not given with the thought of making the man righteous. They
were given as types and shadows of spiritual truth. Through His Son, God made clean
that which was formerly unclean.

Acts 10:9-16
The next day, as they went on their journey and drew near the city, Peter went
up on the housetop to pray, about the sixth hour. Then he became very hungry
and wanted to eat; but while they made ready, he fell into a trance and saw
heaven opened and an object like a great sheet bound at the four corners,
descending to him and let down to the earth. In it were all kinds of four-footed
animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air. And a
voice came to him, "Rise, Peter; kill and eat." But Peter said, "Not so, Lord! For
I have never eaten anything unholy or unclean." And a voice spoke to him again
the second time, "What God has cleansed you must not call unholy."
This was done three times. And the object was taken up into heaven again.

I realize this experience of Peter’s served as a message to declare that the
Gentiles had been declared clean by God. Yet, other Scriptures reveal that foods that
were unclean under the Law were made clean as well. The apostle Paul declares this
to be so in several letters to different groups of people.

I Timothy 4:3-5
Men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has
created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth. For
everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if
it is received with gratitude; for it is sanctified by means of the word of
God and prayer.