The Narrow Path Ministries

What are Christians to make of the dietary laws from the Old Testament? I have seen a few Seventh Day Adventist shows on the NRB (or the Christian channels around it) and they really harp on keeping the seventh day. It seems they speak 50 times more about that, than about Jesus. And some of the shows are about staying away from shellfish and crab and the such. What are Christians views to be on these as forbidden? Then what are Christains views to be on other behavior as forbidden? If eating crab is a matter of conscience, wouldn't sleeping around, divorce, and other forbidden behaviors be "matters of conscience"? I'm sorry for the naivity of the question. I'd like others' opinions and/or scriptures on the matter.

Thanks, Kevin

Haole wrote:What are Christians to make of the dietary laws from the Old Testament? I have seen a few Seventh Day Adventist shows on the NRB (or the Christian channels around it) and they really harp on keeping the seventh day. It seems they speak 50 times more about that, than about Jesus. And some of the shows are about staying away from shellfish and crab and the such. What are Christians views to be on these as forbidden? Then what are Christains views to be on other behavior as forbidden? If eating crab is a matter of conscience, wouldn't sleeping around, divorce, and other forbidden behaviors be "matters of conscience"? I'm sorry for the naivity of the question. I'd like others' opinions and/or scriptures on the matter.

Thanks, Kevin

Hey Kevin...

Anytime a teacher/group puts more emphasis on a certain area of doctrine than they do on Jesus, it's a warning sign.

In Mark 7:18-20, Jesus said...

“Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body... What comes out of a person is what defiles them."

Mark added commentary to this passage:

(In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.)

So that seems to deal with the dietary laws.

But the broader issue that you ask about is very important. What is the relationship between Christians and the 613 laws of the Old Testament? Different Christians have different perspectives on this question.

Here's mine:

1. I think we are part of a new covenant. In a sense, we are bound to ZERO% of the Old Covenant laws/stipulations b/c its simply not our covenant.

2. The New Covenant, though, is not without Law. We submit to the Law of Christ. The Law of Christ is, essentially, LOVE GOD and LOVE PEOPLE.

3. Of course, LOVE GOD and LOVE PEOPLE is the essence of the Old Covenant Law anyways. The 613 are extensions of the 10 Commandments (first 4 are about loving God, last 6 are about loving people). The 10 Commandments are, then, simply extensions of those 2 greatest commandments.

4. So, in practice, the heart of Old Covenant Law coincides with the heart of New Testament Law.

5. BUT another thing to keep in mind is the nature of some of the Old Testament Laws. Some of them were moral in nature (don't kill, lie, steal, etc). Some of them were ceremonial in nature (put this furniture in the tabernacle, visit Jerusalem after that harvest, sacrifice this animals that way, etc.). Some of them were civil in nature (Israel should have this foreign policy, Israel should have this domestic policy).

6. It is no accident that the laws that coincide between the 2 covenants are the moral ones (because moral truths don't change). The ceremonial laws pass away because they were fulfilled in Jesus (He is the tabernacle of God, He is the One Sacrifice, etc.). The civil laws pass away too b/c God's people no longer make up 1 earthly nation, but are scattered in the midst of every nation.

7. So, in sum, we are bound to ZERO Old Testament laws directly, but many of the laws (the moral ones) were re-instituted by Jesus (the Law of Christ).

Haole, you mentioned Seventh Day Adventists "harping" about keeping the seventh day, that is, the weekly Sabbath day.

Here is Justin Martyr's explanation of the Sabbath:

Justin Martyr’s Explanation of the Sabbath to Trypho and other Jews
(Justin lived from 110 – 165 A.D.)


Righteous Men of Old Kept No Sabbaths

... all those righteous men already mentioned [Abel, Enoch, Noah,] ,
though they kept no Sabbaths, were pleasing to God; and after them
Abraham with all his descendants until Moses... Chapter 19 of Dialogue with Trypho

..For if there was no need of circumcision before
Abraham, or of the observance of Sabbaths, of feasts and sacrifices, before
Moses; no more need is there of them now,...Chapter 23

Nature Does Not Observe Sabbath Days

Do you see that the elements are not idle, and keep no Sabbaths? Chapter 23
.

God Himself Does Not Observe the Sabbath Day

Think it not strange that we drink hot water on the Sabbaths, since God directs
the government of the universe on this day equally as on all others.. Chapter 29

The True Israelites Are Those Who Come to God Through Christ

For the true spiritual Israel, and descendants of Judah, Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham (who in uncircumcision was approved of and blessed by God on account of his faith, and called the
father of many nations), are we who have been led to God through this crucified Christ, as shall be demonstrated while we proceed. Chapter 11 (near the end)

We Are Now Required To Keep Sabbath Daily By Resting From Sin and Working Righteousness

The new law requires you to keep perpetual sabbath, and you, because you are idle for one day, suppose you are pious, not discerning why this has been commanded you: and if you eat unleavened bread, you say the will of God has been fulfilled. The Lord our God does not take pleasure in such observances: if there is any perjured person or a thief among you, let him cease to be so; if any adulterer, let him repent; then he has kept the sweet and true sabbaths of God. If any one has impure hands, let him wash and be pure. Chapter 12 (at the end)

mattrose wrote:
6. It is no accident that the laws that coincide between the 2 covenants are the moral ones (because moral truths don't change). The ceremonial laws pass away because they were fulfilled in Jesus (He is the tabernacle of God, He is the One Sacrifice, etc.). The civil laws pass away too b/c God's people no longer make up 1 earthly nation, but are scattered in the midst of every nation.

I thought that your post was a very good synopsis, but I think something could be added to this point. Some of the ceremonial and civil elements of the Law of Moses were instituted as a marker of membership in the Old Covenant nation. I'm thinking here specifically of the Sabbath and circumcision. The reason that those external elements of the Law have been done away with is because we aren't part of the Old Covenant nation anymore. This is the primary point behind Galatians, where Christians were being seduced into seeking justification by membership in the Old Covenant nation (AKA, justification by works of the Law) vs. justification by faith in Christ like Abraham had. Appreciating or studying the theological significance of the various works of the Law of Moses is not the same thing as believing that they have any intrinsic effectiveness or merit. So, we study the Old Testament and learn how to understand and appreciate the narrative of the history of Israel, but we don't live under their covenant so it isn't integrated into our lives.

Doug