What Did Jesus Mean- 'Purging All Meats?'

Sin is spiritual. That fact is emphasized throughout the New Testament. The Bible definition of sin is this: "Sin is the transgression of the law" (I John 3:4, Authorized Version) .

The penalty for violation of God's spiritual law is death - not the first death, which will be followed by a resurrection, but the second or eternal death in the "lake of fire" (Revelation 20:14).

Now the accidental eating of forbidden or unclean food is not a transgression of this spiritual law. It becomes sin if one lusts for food that is unclean and forbidden! Nevertheless, to violate the revealed law of clean and unclean meats does bring the penalty of disease, pain, sickness and sometimes the first death.

That is what Jesus made plain, as recorded in Mark 7:14-23. Note especially verses 18-20 from the Authorized Version:

"And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Do yenot perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him; because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats [Greek: broma. "food"]? And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man."

Here Jesus was speaking of spiritual defilement, not physical health. Not that which enters into a person's mouth, but the evil that comes out of his heart, defiles the person spiritually. What defiles the person - and he is speaking of defiling the person spiritually, not injuring the body - is transgression of the Ten Commandments - evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications , murders, thefts, covetousness, blasphemy (verses 21-22) .

Notice it - for upwards of 10 years after the crucifixion the apostles had gone only to Jews and the circumcised Samaritans.

No uncircumcised gentile had been called until the moment God called Cornelius. And the Jewish Christians who accompanied Peter north from Joppa to Caesarea were astounded that it was even possible for a gentile to be converted.

No wonder Peter had to have a vision, in which a voice from heaven spoke three times, to know what to do when the three gentiles knocked at the gate of the home where Peter was.

This event was the most significant turning point in the history of the Church of God.

The account continues in Acts 11: "Now the apostles and brethren who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God. And when Peter went up to Jerusalem, those of the circumcision contended with him, saying, 'You went in to uncircumcised men and ate with them!'" (verses 1-3).

Peter told about the vision he had seen and described what had happened with Cornelius and Cornelius' household. Then Peter concluded, "'If therefore God gave them the same gift as He gave us when we believed on the Lord Jesus  Christ, who was I that I could withstand God?' When they [the critics] heard these things they became silent; and they glorified God, saying, Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life'" (Acts 11:17-18).

 The meaning of the vision is clear. It meant that gentiles who were uncircumcised were not to be counted as socially impure. God is able to clean up their hearts and purify them as He is also able to clean up and purify the hearts of circumcised Jews.

The New Testament Church took years to make this a living principle. It was not finally settled once and for all until in assembled council, nearly 10 years later, Peter declared that gentiles do not have to be circumcised to receive the gift of eternal life (Acts 15).

The question of eating unclean meats was not the issue in Peter's vision. If it had been, then God made a great mistake by not including "sea life" in the sheet sent to Peter in vision on that housetop. It is not lions and vultures and snakes that most, who say they are Christians, clamor for. It is sea creatures - oyster, shrimp, turtle, lobster, eel, octopus, catfish - that they crave. And these are the very creatures not included in the vision! Read it for yourself - Acts 10: 12 and 11 :6.