New Testament Covenant Clean And Unclean Foods – Part 2 of 2

Hello, and welcome to Social Media Ministries. My name is Spencer Coffman. Thank you so much for being with us today. We are continuing; this is part two of a sermon series on clean and unclean foods so if you haven’t seen the first one please check it out. It’ll be in a card up here.

That one dealt mostly with the Old Testament food laws written in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. We also touched a little bit on Genesis, and how God told Noah to put some clean and unclean animals on the ark, and we went into a little bit about why God would do that. Why did God say that there are certain animals that are clean and certain that are unclean? What’s the point?

He did it to separate His people, to set them apart from the rest of the world. And that is what He’s still doing today. God hasn’t changed. God doesn’t change. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

So if God hasn’t changed, why is it that people today can eat shrimp? Why are they eating shrimp? Can they even eat it? Or, or pick anything — eel on sushi or crab or lobster or any of those different foods? Or why are they eating pork when pork wasn’t clean?

Why are they eating camel’s hump when they travel to other countries and get it in a bowl of noodles or something? What’s going on where Christians today are eating these foods? Are they simply misinformed? Did God change? Has there been a plan all along for God to allow us to eat those foods?

And if it’s not changing, what’s going on? We’re going to dive into that a little bit more today. So I hope that you’ve taken the time to not only watch last week’s sermon, but also to read those verses, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy that we mentioned before. It was specifically Leviticus Chapter 11, Verses 1 to 46, and Deuteronomy Chapter 14, Verses 1 to 21.

So make sure to take a look at those. Read them, meditate on them, learn them. You say “Why should I learn them?” That’s Old Testament. That’s Old Covenant. We’re under a New Covenant, New Testament. Hey, guess what? Doesn’t mean that the old is obsolete, it still applies. Jesus came, and yes, it is a New Testament and a New Covenant.

But He didn’t just make all this other stuff go away, we still follow the Ten Commandments. We still follow these laws. Jesus just elevated the standard. He raised the bar. It’s the same on every single topic that we’ve gone over, whether it’s tithing, whether it’s giving, whether it’s murder.

Jesus said, “Hey, you know, don’t murder, I’m telling you don’t even think about it.” Jesus raised the bar. He’s setting the standard a little higher. So if God doesn’t change, He’s the same yesterday today and forever, why would we think that this is any different? We can’t.

Jesus said, “Hey, you know, of clean and unclean foods in the Old Testament, you know of washing your hands, or properly preparing the bowls and the pots, and this and that for clean and unclean foods. Guess what? I’m raising the bar. I’m changing it. I’m making it harder. I’m making it so that you have to really try to follow me.”

And He didn’t just do it for His people, the Jews, or the Israelites. He opened it up for everyone. And we know that through the New Testament — parable after parable of Jesus saying like typically with feasts and banquets, on how, hey the invited guests aren’t showing up, let’s invite everyone else.

First the Jews, then the Gentiles. Thankfully for us, for me at least, I’m a Gentile. So we are now grafted into the faith which is excellent, because we have the ability to believe in Jesus as our Lord and Savior, and go to Heaven.

If you have not made that decision, comment below, reach out to us privately on one of the social media platforms. Send us a message on our website, whatever it takes. We would love to help you make that decision.

So for centuries, people have been following rules that traditionally, this separated the Jews from the Gentiles. God set His chosen people apart. Jews and Gentiles, they’ve been following this. What they don’t realize is that now Jesus came to fulfill this requirement, exactly like with sacrifices.

Hey, if you sinned, you had to sacrifice this. If you did this sin, you sacrificed this. Whether it was a lamb, a sheep, a goat, a flower, two doves, one dove, et cetera. When you made an error, you had to make a sacrifice. Something had to pay for those sins. New Testament Jesus paid for those.

So whatever the sin is, Jesus paid that price. We no longer have to follow all of these things. He relieved that burden. He redeemed us from the burden of making those sacrifices. In the same way, He redeemed us from these food law requirements. Now many of you might be getting upset, stick with me because guess what?

There’s a redemptive plan all along through time, that God has made to redeem people from such strict requirements. Not saying that, “Oh now it’s fine you can just do whatever you want,” but redeeming them through a process, making them set apart and different and stronger in their faith if they remain devoted to him.

Jesus came here and did that. What did He do? He fulfilled the law. We’re going to go to Matthew 5:17. Matthew 5:17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets.” What law is this referring to? Specifically Old Testament laws. Laws of Moses, Old Covenant.

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” Jesus came to fulfill the law, to continue this on. It was first the Jews but now it’s including the Gentiles. This was a big deal. I know you’re like, “Why does he keep bringing this up?”

Guess what? Gentiles were unclean. Gentiles weren’t godly people. Gentiles were thought to have — “Hey these people aren’t good, they are going to Hell. We don’t care about them, we’re not wasting our time saving them. They’re lost causes, they’re gone. We focus on the Jewish people and this is our community.”

When Jesus comes, when the Messiah comes, “He’s coming for us. He’s coming to redeem us. He is coming to raise us up, and we are going to fight against the Gentiles and the Jewish state. Or the Jews are going to be thriving. We will no longer be oppressed.”

That’s what they were hoping for. That’s what they were praying in. But guess what? They were wrong. Jesus didn’t come to abolish the old laws. He came to fulfill them. He came to save not only them but everybody — the whole world, including the Gentiles. He added the Gentiles to God’s kingdom as well.

When Jesus died, now that — that’s when the separation ended. There was no Jew slash Gentile. Now it’s just we’re all children of God. Why did God change His mind and say, “Well because throughout history the Israelites have continued to rebel against me, or the Jews have continued to rebel against me, I’m now going to include everyone.”?

No, God had a redemptive plan from the start. Jesus would come and be the sacrifice once and for all, and would cover everyone if they choose to believe. Let’s go to Ephesians 2, Ephesians 2:11- 20.

“Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called ‘uncircumcised’ by those who call themselves ‘the circumcision’ (that done in the body by the hands of men)— remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.”

So Paul is saying, “Hey before Jesus, you guys were excluded. You were without hope, you were lost causes. But then when Jesus came you now are part of this redemptive plan you can be part of the body of Christ.”

Verse 13, “But now in Christ Jesus you who were once far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who had made the two one” — the two separate camps, Jews and Gentiles, one — “made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, dividing the wall of hostility, by abolishing his flesh, the law with its commandments and regulations.

“His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and his one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility” — The hostility between the Jews and Gentiles put to death now reconciled as one flesh, one body.

We could do a whole sermon on these verses.

“He came and he preached peace to you who are far away and peace to those who were near” — the Gentiles and the Jews — “For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone.”

That right there should answer every single question about separation between Jews and Gentiles, clean and unclean, chosen not chosen, whatever the case may be. Jesus came, everyone is now part of one body if they choose to be.

We have to make that choice. Gentiles are now accepted. This’s excellent because I can go to Heaven, you — if you’re a Gentile, you can go to Heaven. In the Old Testament, the Old Covenant, it was Jews only. That’s who could be saved — The New Covenant — it’s everyone.

Did God change His mind? No. Can the food rules change if God doesn’t change? That’s the wrong question to be asking. This was part of God’s plan all along. It’s a redemptive plan. Nothing has changed. Prophecy has been fulfilled. That’s what’s going on here.

God isn’t changing his mind with things. Instead, prophecy is being fulfilled.

There’s no mix-match flip-flopping of God, because guess what? God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He doesn’t change. Well, then how can this happen if God doesn’t change? It happens because prophecy is fulfilled. There is nothing that God doesn’t already account for. His redemptive plan was there all along.

Let’s go to Genesis 22:18, 22:18 “And through” — this is a promise to Abraham — “through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.” So God is telling Abraham this is what’s going to happen in generations to come.

Now let’s go all the way to the New Testament — Galatians. Galatians 3:29 — so Galatians 3:29, we’re going to have to start moving. I got a lot of verses to cover and not a lot of time left. Galatians 3:29 says “If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

Okay, what is this meaning? God promised Abraham that He will redeem His people through the next generations. Typically Old Testament — that would be Jews only. New Covenant: if you belong to Christ you are now part of Abraham’s seed.

Therefore if you are in Christ you are a new creation. You have been grafted into the faith. All of these things remain in the vine. Guess what? Gentiles are now part of Abraham’s seed. So do the food laws apply to us? Yes, the food laws apply to both Jew and Gentile. We are all now God’s chosen people.

But what has happened with the food laws, if it applies to us now, why aren’t we following them? Well, stay with us, God had a redemptive plan: first the Jews, then the Gentiles.

Romans 1:18. Romans 1:18. Let’s go there. 1:18 says, “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men, who suppress the truth by their wickedness.”

Wel,l what in the world if that’s happening, the wrath of God is going against anyone who is suppressing this? Wel,l that would typically be the Gentiles, but guess what? If they’re grafted into the faith, what’s going on?

God is here to save these people, lighten their burdens, and make it easier for them to live. But Jesus is saying, “Wait a minute. Their burdens are going to be heavier. They might have more to do.” So it could be kind of confusing.

Let’s go to Matthew 11:30 which says “For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” These are the words of Jesus. He’s saying to people, “Hey the wrath of God can come on you if you’re not following these, but guess what? There’s a redemptive plan all along. If you don’t make the sacrifices in the Old Testament, you’re going to Hell because nothing paid for your sins.

The wrath of God will come upon you. So those Gentiles, those pagans, those other people who weren’t following these laws, they were not being redeemed. The blood of the lamb, the sacrificial lamb was not covering them.

Jesus came He said, “I am now the the sacrificial lamb, my blood covers all of you if you choose to believe in the same way. Take my yoke upon you because my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” He told these people not to worry about clean and unclean, specifically with food.

Let’s go to Matthew 15:11. Jesus said, “What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.” Read Mark Chapter 7 for more details, but Jesus was telling people not to worry so much about washing their hands all the time.

Or stressing out about what food was next to what food on the plate, or was this utensil used in preparation of this, which then would be unclean, and we can’t eat it. Was this pot used to boil something and it was wrong, and now we got to break the pot?

If we use the pot, we defile ourselves. We become unclean, then we got to go make a sacrifice to pay for that. And we didn’t know about it so now we got to make this sacrifice just in case that pot might have not been clean.

Jesus is like, “Stop, you’re stressing me out. Don’t worry about all of this. It’s not what goes in that defiles you, it’s what comes out.” What is He talking about? He’s saying, “Stop stressing out about all this.”

He’s not negating the Old Testament, He’s not abolishing the law — He’s fulfilling the law. Jesus is God, it’s His command. He’s saying, “Relax, and eat, it’s what comes out of you that defiles you.”

Let’s go to Acts. Acts Chapter 10 is a great vision of Peter, and Peter has this vision and He’s saying, there are a bunch of animals that are showing up in this vision and God is saying to him “Eat,” and he’s saying “Lord, surely not, Lord it’s unclean.”

God’s right there correcting his way of thinking. It’s not what goes into your body that defiles you, it’s it’s the words that come out of your mouth that defile you.

Acts 10:9-16, “About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. He became hungry and wanted something to eat while the meal was being prepared. He fell into a trance.

He saw Heaven opened up and something like a large sheet being let down to the earth by its four corners like a big tablecloth coming down. It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles of the Earth and birds of the air,” — they’re unclean — “Then a voice told him,” — the voice of God says “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”

Now this is something you probably never want to say to God, look what happened to Jonah. “‘Surely not, Lord!’ Peter replied.” First of all, that’s probably not good. But guess what? God’s going to correct him. “‘I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.’ The voice spoke to him a second time, ‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’ This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to Heaven.”

Continue reading on, in that if you want it, it has some great things about Peter contemplating that in his mind. But God is saying “Hey I’ve made this clean. do not call it unclean.” He, Jesus is telling people “I’ve made this clean.” It’s not what goes in that defiles you. You can eat, get up, kill, eat, don’t worry about it. It’s the things that come out that defile you.

Let’s go to Matthew 15:18. “But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them.” So if you put unclean food in you that doesn’t make you unclean it’s what comes out of your mouth.

Not like your vomit, no, it’s the words. What you speak, what you do — your actions come from who you are. Your essence, your spirit, your heart, your being. If you are doing wicked things, that’s what makes you unclean. That’s what defiles you.

Your words are a reflection of your heart. So you need to keep them pure. Let’s look at a few more verses in Romans to clarify this clean and unclean food: when it comes to Paul giving some excellent interpretation.

Romans 14:2 and 3:

“One man’s faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. 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.

While someone eats everything, someone eats only the clean foods. God has accepted both, because God had a redemptive plan all along to have Jesus redeem the people from their burdens. His burden is light, his yoke is easy. To carry his burdens put your trust in him, in him alone in Jesus.

Let’s keep going through Romans 14, Verses 20 and 21. 20 and 21, “Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble.”

Therefore if your friend, or if you’re witnessing to a Muslim, and they say, “No we don’t eat pork.” Or you’re witnessing to a Hindu and they say, “No we don’t eat beef,” then guess what? You’re not going out for pork chops or beef steaks when you’re witnessing to them, because it is unclean for them so it would also be unclean for you if it causes them to stumble.

That was the point of the Old Testament God saying “Hey, I’m setting you guys apart. These are unclean foods because guess what I want you to do? If you would listen to me you would go into that land, the promised land, and you would conquer those people and you would turn them away from their gods and to the one true God Yahweh.”

But guess what happened? Well, we know they went into those lands. Sometimes, they ran away, other times, they went in, and then they decided, “Hey, these gods that they’re worshiping, we’re going to worship.”

And Prophets would say to them, “You idiots, these gods were not able to deliver them from your hand, now you’re worshiping them? What are you doing worship the one true God Yahweh?”

But they didn’t listen, so Jesus is saying and Paul is reiterating, “All food is clean.” But guess what? If it’s unclean to someone else then you need to abstain from it, because you need to bring them into the faith into the body of Christ and teach them the right way. So if you’re — if you’re witnessing to an alcoholic, you’re not going out for drinks even though alcohol is clean.

Jesus drank wine. It could be considered clean in that moment. It’s unclean because you’re not going to drink wine with an alcoholic to bring them to Christ. No that’s stupid, it wouldn’t work. And that’s what Paul is saying, he’s saying this: “It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fail.”

So stop eating certain things or drinking certain things if it will cause other people to stumble. Let’s go to Chapter 14, Verses 22 and 23 “But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith. And everything that he does not from faith is a sin.”

All right I’m going to read that again because it can be a little confusing. So we’re saying here, if one person has doubts about clean and unclean foods and they believe that we need to follow the Old Testament law, then guess what? For that person, yes it’s unclean.

Now you may be saying “Wait a minute, how is it sin for someone and not for another, because you have faith?” God is saying, “I have made all food clean, so for those the person who has doubts is condemned if they eat something unclean, because their eating is not from faith.”

Everything that does not come from faith is a sin, so if they’re doing something, following the laws of men not the laws of God, then guess what? It’s a sin. So whether they eat clean or unclean, they’re not doing it in faith, it’s sinful. That could be very harsh, yes.

Guess what? It is. Here Paul is saying that you not need to be worrying about all of these little things. Jesus said the same. Paul’s reiterating it, because he still can’t believe that people don’t understand.

Exactly like when he was telling him about circumcision and he’s saying to you, “What difference does it make, whether you’re circumcised or uncircumcised?” At this point, you might as well cut the whole thing off because you’re missing the point. Same thing.

Paul is frustrated with the fact that people aren’t getting this, and he’s telling them, “Hey, everything is clean. If someone though doesn’t think it’s clean, then it’s not clean for them.” And if you’re going to witness to them and you’re going to try to bring them to Christ, that’s not the place to start.

Don’t correct them in that, just follow their rule. It’s not clean for you either at that point in time. Bring them to Christ, get them into the faith, because that’s what’s important. We want the redemptive blood of Jesus to cover everyone.

Then you can start correcting these things, similar to how Jesus told people, “Hey, first correct your own sin before correcting others.” Guess what? Clean and unclean food—if that’s not clean to them, it’s not clean.

Bring them into the faith. Give them faith and show them all food is clean. You can have faith, Jesus redeemed us from this. God had a redemptive plan all along. He didn’t change the rules, didn’t change because guess what? It’s the belief in Jesus that makes us clean.

Your words and your actions are a reflection of your heart, and what’s in your heart is the spirit within. And so what you do and what you say is a reflection of your inner self. What’s in your heart? If Jesus is in your heart, He makes you clean.

How is Jesus in your heart? You ask him into your heart. God wants you to have a pure and a clean heart, and the things you say make you clean or unclean. The things you do make you clean or unclean.

We have a sermon called “Reign in Your Tongue”, check that out. It’s about the spoken word and what you’re doing, so be careful what you say. But let’s sum all this up really quickly. There were a lot of verses. I really encourage you to go through and read them.

Also check them out on Bible Hub, because there are commentaries with each of these verses that goes into lengthy detail on all of this – clean and unclean things that are going on, and what’s changed in the New Testament, or compared to Old Testament if it’s changed.

Here’s the bottom line: Old Testament God set His people apart. He said you guys need to be different, you have to follow all these rules. You have to follow these laws, you have to sacrifice for your sins.

You need to be witnessing to these people, and I don’t want you confusing them by eating foods that they think are of a deity. Jesus comes along, becomes the sacrifice so we no longer have to do this. Does that mean it changed? No, the law was fulfilled.

Jesus redeemed us from that. Jews and Gentiles in the same way He redeemed us from the foods in the Old Testament regulations to the New Testament. But what’s really important is Jesus is saying, “You need to be witnesses exactly like I wanted you guys to do back then. You need to do it now. I died on the cross to bring both the Jews and Gentiles together in one body.”

There is no such thing as an unclean food, but guess what? If someone else is of that disposition then you need to witness to them. You need to meet them there. If someone is an alcoholic or a drug addict, you don’t tempt them with that. You don’t try to start with that.

You bring them into the faith, you build up their faith, then when they have faith, they start to realize God’s redemptive plan that they have been grafted in. First the Jews, then the Gentiles. They are now part of one body, and if they have Jesus in their heart that’s what makes them clean.

I know a lot of you are going to have questions, so feel free to comment below. I really hope you share this sermon with others. In addition, please check out the commentary online on Bible Hub, and also check out all of the verses referenced in the description below.

Let’s pray. Lord thank you so much for this great sermon series. We had two weeks of back-to-back sermons on clean and unclean foods. There’s a lot of information. Please let people accept and learn this with an open heart and an open mind.

Speak to them, Lord. Have them meditate on the Scriptures, have them dive into the commentaries, and let their hearts and minds be focused on you, so you can speak to them the truth of these words. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

God bless and have a great week.