Introduction: Clean and Unclean
Many believe the dietary laws were abolished in the New Testament. But is that true?
Leviticus 11:7: “The pig… you shall not eat, for it parts the hoof but does not chew the cud.”
Pork is unclean. And the Bible never rescinds this.
Peter’s Vision — Misunderstood
In Acts 10, Peter sees a sheet with unclean animals and hears, “What God has made clean, do not call common.”
But the vision was about people, not food — God was showing Peter that Gentiles were not unclean.
Peter himself said: “I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean” (Acts 10:14).
The Jerusalem Council
In Acts 15, the apostles told Gentiles to abstain from:
- Food polluted by idols
- Sexual immorality
- Meat of strangled animals
- Blood
But they did not say “you may now eat pork.”
Jesus and the Law
Jesus said: “Not an iota will pass from the Law” (Matthew 5:18). He kept kosher — there’s no record He ate pork.
Health and Holiness
God gave dietary laws for health and holiness. Pork carries parasites, and Leviticus 11 is wisdom.
“You shall be holy, for I am holy.” — 1 Peter 1:16