Why do Christians eat pork when it is declared ‘unclean’ by the Old Testament?
This text is from a letter written by David Gooding in 1990.
In Old Testament times, God certainly forbade the Israelites to eat pork (see Leviticus 11:26), and it may well be that scientists nowadays say that it is not good to eat pork.
But for us as Christians, I think the basic principle regarding food is that which our Lord himself laid down in Mark 7:19. The last few words of this verse, which in some English translations read 'made all foods clean', mean, rather, according to Hebrew and New Testament Greek idiom, 'declaring all foods to be clean'. In other words, our Lord declared that foods were no longer under the ceremonial food laws of the Old Testament, and therefore his disciples were free to eat them if they wished. This is the meaning we see from what God taught Peter through the vision that he gave him (see Acts 10:9–16).
The same view is expressed by Paul in Romans 14:1–18. Verse 14 here is particularly to be noticed:
I know, and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean of itself: save that to him who accounteth anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.
Christians, therefore, are at liberty to eat whatever their conscience before God allows them to eat; though Paul goes on to say that, as Christians, we must respect the consciences of our fellow believers. If a fellow believer has a conscience against eating pork or some other meat, we must respect their conscience.
Again, in 1 Timothy 4:3–5, Paul points out that when it comes to food,
every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, if it be received with thanksgiving: for it is sanctified through the word of God and prayer. (1 Timothy 4:4–5)
These, then, are the passages in the New Testament that guide me in my thinking.
Yours sincerely in Christ,
