Q: What does the Bible say about dietary restrictions?
A: God tells His people what they can and cannot eat, and these rules change over time, from the Old Testament to the New Testament. It’s important to know that God’s commands about food are different in each age.
In the Old Testament, God gave different food regulations in the Garden of Eden, after the time of Noah’s flood, and in the time of Moses.
The foods that were unclean in the Old Testament were made clean in the New Testament. Jesus Christ established new food regulations, which broke down the barrier between Jews and Gentiles (Ac 10:9–48).
“It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things.”
This is the law about food we should follow nowadays. We no longer need to distinguish clean animals from unclean animals. We only need to avoid food sacrificed to idols, blood, and the meat of strangled animals (Ac 21:25). By obeying the laws God gave us in the time we’re living, God blesses us.
Since we’ve received food regulations in the New Testament, there’s no need to follow old laws (1 Ti 4:1–3). God gave His people laws in each age; and in this age, too, He has given a law for our salvation, containing His love for us in it.
