dizerner wrote: ↑Sun Aug 28, 2022 4:21 am
You're building way too much from Jesus calling a scorpion and snake bad food. He wasn't talking about their meat.
Both those animals are venomous animals. Christ did not say "Don't give your child a dead, cooked snake with spices and a side dish."
Christ is talking about giving them animals that will hurt them.
I would recommend prayer to expose a legalistic spirit, as long as this thing is influencing you, you will always interpret passages of grace in a legalistic way.
How can anyone "build too much" from what Jesus said? I hang on to His every word, as I believe we are all called to do. That's not legalistic, that's reverence for the words of Jesus. Of course he was talking about their meat! The context is a father giving food to his son. If God has cleansed ALL animals, then why would there be ANY venomous animals now that "will hurt" us? We're not stupid. There are still MANY poisonous, venomous, deadly and dangerous animals, insects, fish, and birds, that would be foolish and, in some cases even suicidal, for us to eat. So why would anybody think that God has literally cleansed them, so that it is now safe for us to eat them? God cleansed the Gentiles, not all animals. Peter's vision was symbolic, not literal. Peter himself told us that. He did not take it literally. Jesus declared all FOODS clean, He did not declare all NON-FOODS clean. It does not say that He declared all animals clean. Peter's vision only implies that, but Peter knew exactly what God was telling him - that the gospel could be given to Gentiles also, not just the Jews. There was no secondary message there about how we can now eat ANY animal. If there was, then Peter missed it.
How about if we were to do an experiment? All of you who believe that God has now cleansed all animals - would you please demonstrate that by eating toxic, poisonous, venomous and deadly animals, insects, fish, and birds? No? I didn't think so. In fact, I'm sure there are many creatures that are NOT POISONOUS or TOXIC, but you still wouldn't eat them, because they would make you sick. God never intended for you to eat them! They're called UNCLEAN animals. It's telling that those who believe that God cleansed all animals, are only willing to experiment with certain unclean creatures, such as lobsters, crabs, oysters, shrimp, and the like. But if you serve them a plate of cobras, pythons, rattlesnakes, ladybugs, caterpillars, worms, mosquitoes, flys, moths, larvae,etc., all of a sudden they're not so sure that they should take the experiment that far. Why not? Didn't God cleanse those creatures too? So if I avoid eating all of those creatures, does that mean I'm attempting to be justified by keeping the Mosaic Law? No, it means that I recognize the wisdom of God expressed in the Law. It means that I don't want to get sick and die prematurely because I foolishly ate deadly or unhealthy creatures. If God has cleansed ALL animals, then it appears that He forgot a HUGE portion of them.
Living under the New Covenant, being saved and forgiven because of the blood of Jesus, following Him as my Lord and Master, does not mean that I cannot glean wisdom from many things said in the Law. Paul said, "For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope." Romans 15:4 If we cannot receive instruction and wise counsel from the Mosaic Law, without living under it, then we might as well remove that section from our Bibles. There would be no need for it. It is not sin to heed instruction and warnings, etc. from the Old Testament, even though we know that we cannot be saved through the Law. Salvation only comes through Jesus.