5 Oct. Why Christians are free to eat all kinds of food.
"So do not let anyone make rules for you about eating and drinking or about a religious feast, a New Moon festival or a Sabbath day. These things were like a shadow of what was to come. But what is true and real has come and is found in Christ."
"Do not let anyone disqualify you by making you humiliate yourself and worship angels. Such people enter into visions, which fill them with foolish pride because of their human way of thinking. They do not hold tightly to Christ, the head. It is from him that all parts of the body are cared for and held together. So it grows in the way God wants it to grow."
"Since you died with Christ and were made free from the ruling spirits of the world, why do you act as if you still belong to this world by following rules like these: 'Don't eat this.' 'Don't taste that.' 'Don't even touch that thing.'?"
"These rules refer to earthly things that are gone as soon as they are used. They are only man-made commands and teaching. They seem to be wise, but they are only part of a man-made religion."
"They make people pretend not to be proud and make them punish their bodies, but they do not really control the evil desires of the sinful self."
(Colossians 2:16-23)
In this part of his letter to the believers in Colossae, Paul strongly opposes those who say that Gentile believers must follow the Jewish law.
As Jewish festivals were based on the lunar calendar, and often started on the day of a new moon, Paul says, “So do not let anyone make rules for you about eating and drinking or about a religious feast, a New Moon Festival, or a Sabbath day. These things were like a shadow of what was to come. But what is true and real has come and is found in Christ.” (Colossians 2:16-17)
Paul then rebukes the false teachings of those who worship angels and those who advocate asceticism by depriving the body of all physical pleasure.
He refers specifically to the Jewish 'kosher' food laws which forbid eating 'unclean' animals and meat containing blood (see Leviticus 11:1-47), and he says these religious food laws laid down in the Old Testament (the old 'agreement' or old 'covenant' with God) have now been superseded for those who live according to the New Testament (the new 'agreement' or new 'covenant' with God for those who put their trust in Jesus).
And he finishes this part of his letter by pointing out that what really matters to God is not what we eat or don't eat, but whether we control any evil desires that contradict the teachings of Jesus.
The photo shows the moon from the International Space Station (by NASA-Bill Ingalls).
You can read more from Paul's Letter to the Colossians @ https://www.thebiblejourney.org/…/15…/saved-by-christs-death