the council at Jerusalem?

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Permalink Reply by Leonard T on February 11, 2014 at 3:11pm

Their salvation was not dependent upon these things. Yet, there are principles that we are to live by because they are the right thing to do. We are to have no gods before our God, nor are we to worship other gods of any kind. The Bible is replete with teachings and examples of refraining from sexual immorality. Even in the New Covenant both of these are no-no's. I don't understand the strangled issue other than how it related to the worship of false gods. The idea of the blood lends two points to us. The first is that the Bible views the life of the creature to be in the blood (including humans). Second has to do with health aspects. A piece of meat that has its blood still in it is under cooked and thus has the possibility of causing food poisoning. Many of the laws given regarding dietary restrictions in the old were for the good of the people because of various health concerns due to the type of food and prep. There is also the concern regarding the blood and its uses of worshiping false gods. Remember this letter was being sent to the Gentiles who are now children of God. Thus, it is safe to say that these four related to specific problems that the new believers faced.

Lord Bless,

LT

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Permalink Reply by Jenny on February 11, 2014 at 4:32pm

thankyou,

so would you say its safe to say that the strangle issue was of specific concern for these new believers and doesn't apply to us today (i know its clear in the new testament that we aren't to commit sexual immorality or have false gods). 

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Permalink Reply by Leonard T on February 11, 2014 at 5:23pm

Yes, I believe that it was directed at the specific Gentiles and dealt with their specific issues. Yet, even though it appears to not be directed to us there is usually a principle to be found that can be applied (though in this case I struggle to see it).

Lord Bless,

LT

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Permalink Reply by Jenny on February 11, 2014 at 7:17pm

thankyou, 

God bless you too

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Permalink Reply by Jenny on February 14, 2014 at 1:44pm

Thanks for this, its so true God is the 1 truth and rewarder of those who seek Him

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Permalink Reply by Francis Drake on February 22, 2014 at 12:50pm

The reference to idolatry and fornication are fairly obvious, but what about strangled animals and blood?
The requirement regarding things strangled and blood, are one in the same, and go right back to Noah, and onward through that right to the Garden of Eden.
When Noah came out of the Ark after the flood, for the first time they were told they should eat meat. Prior to that they were vegetarians, and only kept flocks for sacrifice or for wool. God therefore gave Noah specific instructions about the blood.

Genesis 9v
3"Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I give all to you, as I gave the green plant.

4"ONLY YOU SHALL NOT EAT FLESH WITH ITS LIFE, THAT IS, ITS BLOOD.

5"Surely I will require your lifeblood; from every beast I will require it. And from every man, from every man's brother I will require the life of man.
6"Whoever sheds man's blood, By man his blood shall be shed, For in the image of God He made man.

As can be seen, Noah and his offspring, (ie. all of mankind), when they ate the meat, were forbidden to eat the blood along with it. That would therefore include strangled animals, as the blood was still in them. And for me a Yorkshireman, it also includes a ban on that Yorkshire favourite, Black Pudding, because that is made entirely from blood!
These blood requirements relate to all sons of Noah, and obviously predate the Law of Moses which only applied to the Tribe of Israel. That's why Peter and the other elders still held them to apply to the Gentiles.
The one single issue is that the blood belongs to God! We, or the animal slaughterer pours the blood on the ground as a testimony to God. Obviously few households are involved in slaughter nowadays, and all the blood products are likely to get used in various things we have no clue about rather than wasted on the ground. Yet we can still easily make the personal choice to not knowingly eat blood products.
God is not going to strike you dead for eating a rare cooked steak, however even in the New Covenant, this one requirement still holds as a testimony to not only Noah, but to the sin of Adam in the Garden of Eden.
After God had rebuked Adam and Eve for rebelling against him, he turned around and slit the throat of a lamb, tore the skin from its back, and then draped the still warm and bloody mess around the shoulders of Adam and Eve. Death came by Adam! Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins.
In the Old Covenant, redemption was demonstrated by blood, in the New Covenant, the same truth is demonstrated by the wine of communion, because the one true sacrifice has passed, and death is no longer required.
That's why taking communion wine is not merely an act of remembrance as so often stated. Scripture tells us that the bread and wine is a proclamation of His death, 1Cor11v26For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you PROCLAIM the Lord's death until He comes.

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