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Particulars of Christianity:
305 Liberty in Christ


Liberty and Yet Prohibition

Liberty in Christ: Extended Introduction
Liberty in Christ: Introduction
Definitions and New Testament Survey
Synonyms for Liberty in Christ
Liberty and Death
Liberty, the Law, and the 10 Commandments
Origin of the Law of Liberty
Liberty and Yet Prohibition
Incorporating Pagan Practices in the Old Testament
"Christianizing" Pagan Practices
What is Observing Times?
Liberty, Bondage, and Righteousness
Liberty and Meat Sacrificed to Idols
Liberty and 1 Corinthians 8
Liberty, 1 Corinthians 10, and Idolatry
Liberty, 1 Corinthians 10, and Your Neighbor
Summary and Practical Applications
Addendum: Romans 14, the Conscience, and Morality



At this point in our study, we need to examine what the apostles, including Paul, upheld from the Old Testament regarding the first commandment ("thou shalt have no other gods before me") and the practice of idolatry. Did the apostles consider the second commandment regarding idols to be inseparable to the first commandment to have "no other gods before" God?

For an answer to these questions, we first turn to Acts 15 and it's parallel Acts 21.

Acts 15:5 But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses. 6 And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter.
...13 And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me:
...19 Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God:
20 But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood.
...23 And they wrote letters by them after this manner; The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia.
...29 That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.

Acts 21:25 As touching the Gentiles which believe, we have written and concluded that they observe no such thing, save only that they keep themselves from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled, and from fornication.

There are several things we need to mention from these passages.

First, notice that the initial question brought before the Jerusalem Council for a decision can be found in chapter 15:5-6. A group of Pharisees who had believed the Gospel message also believed it was necessary for the Gentile converts to Christianity to be circumcised and keep the Law of Moses. So, the apostles convened in order to decide the matter. What was their decision? The apostles decided that it was not necessary to "trouble" the Gentile converts by requiring them to keep the entire Law of Moses.

Now, we know from earlier in our study that throughout the New Testament the apostles maintained that Christians had to abide by the 10 Commandments (except regarding the Sabbath.) And we know that the reason the apostles maintained the 10 Commandments is because those 10 Commandments were deliberately contained and expressed in the Law of Christ.

However, from the decision of the Jerusalem Council we can see that the apostles also ruled that it was necessary for the Gentiles to abide by the following 4 regulations carried over FROM the Law of Moses.

1.) That they abstain from meats offered to idols.
2.) That they abstain from eating blood.
3.) That they abstain from eating strangled animals, since the blood would not have been properly drained from them.
4.) That they abstain from fornication.

It is worthy of note that the very first of these 4 requirements carried over from the Law of Moses was the prohibition of eating meat that had been sacrificed to idols. This in itself was part of the second of the 10 Commandments of Moses. Since the second of the 10 Commandments forbid idolatry, it likewise forbid the eating of meat that had through sacrifice become a means of fellowshipping with the false gods depicted in idols. Paul has more to say on this subject, which we will review later on in our study.

Third, and perhaps most significantly, this command by the apostles, including Peter, forbidding Christians from eating meat sacrificed to idols occurred AFTER Jesus had proclaimed all foods clean in Matthew 15:11,17-20 and Mark 7:15-20. Perhaps even more to the point is the fact that the apostles, including Peter, agreed to this decision after Peter's experience in Acts 10.

BEFORE there had been any Gentile converts, Peter has a vision recorded in Acts 10:9-16,28. In that vision, Peter sees all kinds of animals that were off limits for him to eat under the Law of Moses. The Lord then commands Peter to "rise, kill, and eat." To this Peter responds, saying, "No, for I have never eaten anything that is unclean." To which the Lord rebukes him, saying, "What God has cleansed, do NOT call unclean." This vision repeats a total of 3 times.

So, having personally heard the Lord tell him 3 times in a vision, "What God has cleansed, do NOT call unclean," how could Peter then agree to the decision forbidding Christians from eating meat sacrificed to idols? After having heard Jesus declare all foods clean in Matthew 15:11,17-20 and Mark 7:15-20, how could any of the apostles have agreed to forbid Christians from eating meat sacrificed to idols?

Were the apostles confused? Did Peter still not understand? Did the apostles make a mistake in Acts 15 when they issued this ruling? Or, perhaps the apostles understood perfectly well and decided to go against what Christ was teaching and prohibit eating meat sacrificed to idols anyway.

But of course, none of these are the case. In reality, the decision of Peter and the other apostles in Acts 15 did not in any way contradict Jesus teaching in Matthew 15 and Mark 7. And the reason can be found in those two passages, as this next quote from Mark 7 will demonstrate.

Mark 7:18 And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him; 19 Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats?

In both Matthew 15 and Mark 7, Jesus is abolishing the dietary requirements of the Law of Moses. The reason Jesus declares food clean here is quite significant. Jesus declares food clean BECAUSE food is natural and, therefore, it does not affect the spirit of a man.

So, wouldn't meat sacrificed to idols be unable to affect the spirit of a man as well?

No. The problem with the meat sacrificed to idols was not anything physical about the meat, what animal it came from or whether you had washed your hands or not before eating it. These were natural things and as Jesus taught, natural things about food cannot defile a man. However, meat sacrificed to idols was a matter, NOT of food, but of idolatry, which was a spiritual matter, NOT a natural matter. And so eating a sacrifice was spiritual, not because of the meat involved, but because of the sacrifice involved. Once again, Paul has more to say on this, which we will cover later on in our study.

However, even before we get to Paul's statements, it is clear that only by categorizing sacrificed meat as spiritual (due to the sacrifice) instead of as merely natural, as the meat would be if it were not sacrificed, can we explain why in the world Peter would declare meat sacrificed to idols as "forbidden" AFTER the Lord specifically told him 3 times "What God has cleansed, do NOT call unclean." Peter must not have considered sacrificed meat to fall under Jesus teaching in Matthew 15, Mark 7, and Acts 10. Peter and the other apostles must have considered sacrificed meat as a separate issue from dietary requirements. They must have considered it capable of affecting the spirit of a man.

So, it is clear from Acts 15 and 21 that the apostles maintained the Old Testament prohibition of idolatry even to the extent that they forbid Christians to eat meat that had been sacrificed to idols.

At this point we know that Jesus himself upheld the first Mosaic commandment that we must "love God above all else and with all our being" as the "first and greatest commandment" and as the first of the two commandment in his law, the law of Christ. And, we also know that the apostles upheld the second Mosaic commandment, which forbid idolatry, not only here in Acts 15 and 21, but in the following passages, which we listed earlier in our study.

1. 1 Corinthians 5:10-11 and 6:9 - Paul forbids fornication, coveting, and idolatry.
2. 1 Corinthians 10:7,14 - Paul forbid idolatry.
3. Ephesians 5:5 - Paul forbids idolatry.
4. Revelation 21:8 and 22:15 - John condemns those who practice murder, sorcery, idolatry, lying.

Since the apostles clearly upheld the Old Testament prohibition of idolatry, it is necessary for us to review what the Old Testament itself had to say about this matter. We'll start at the beginning.