I received this question from a former student, “How do we decide what we follow from the Old Testament as modern Christians? For example, why can we cut our hearts but not support homosexuality?”
Great question. Tough question.
There’s been a lot of talk recently about how Christians view the Old Testament. It’s helpful to think in terms of covenants rather than testaments. Some people are saying we need to “unhinge” ourselves from it’s commandments completely, because the new covenant has made the old obsolete and defunct. In large measure, this is a reaction against those who have upheld the laws of the old covenant without viewing them through new covenant eyes. Christian tradition has consistently affirmed the goodness of the old covenant even while maintaining that we are now “under grace, not law.”
Understanding the Old Covenant
The Old Covenant was given to Israel. It told them who they were (“I will take you as My own people, and I will be your God.” Exodus 6:7), how they are to live (“Now this is the commandment – the statutes and the rules – that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it.” Deuteronomy 6:1), and how to be saved from their sin (“You shall present these to the Lord at your appointed times, besides your votive offerings and your freewill offerings, for your burnt offerings and for your grain offerings and for your drink offerings and for your peace offerings.” Numbers 29:39). It is important remember the Old Covenant was made with Israel, but for the sake of all nations on the earth.
That means God’s eye was on both Israel and the world. It makes sense, then, for some of the laws are specific to Israel while others pertain to his desire for all humanity. As Christians who are under the New Covenant, the Old must not be thrown in the trash and ignored. Instead, there is much to learn and benefit from, for it is the very foundation upon which the New is built. Discerning which aspects of the Old are still binding and beneficial today requires us to consider the three types of laws in the Old Covenant.
Three Types of Old Covenant Laws
Moral – These are the laws about foundational human living. Don’t worship idols, don’t murder, tell the truth, love your neighbor as yourself, etc. These laws are based not in Israel’s calling, but in God’s identity and reflect his purpose for humanity, who was created in the image of God (imago Dei). Because these laws are based in God’s eternal nature and in the imago Dei, these laws remain binding on all people for all time.
Civil – These are the laws specific to Israel for their governance and legal organization. These laws direct God’s people regarding how they should interact with one another (and with outsiders). For example, if someone steals your cattle, the civil law provides insight about what justice looks like. These laws were specific to Israel and while we may continue to learn from them, they are not binding.
Ceremonial/Sacrificial – These laws direct Israel’s worship of the Lord. More specifically, the ceremonial law governs the sacrifices that are presented in the temple in order that God’s people would receive mercy, grace, and righteousness as his holy people. Christ fulfilled the ceremonial law by offering himself once for all, this is taught throughout the New Testament but especially clear in Hebrews.
What Category Directs Human Sexuality?
I think this is the fundamental question driving the homosexual question in the Church today. If sexuality was a part of the Civil Law, then it can easily be sidelined as something specific for Israel that is not binding on Christians today. The Old Covenant prohibited the eating of shellfish, like lobster (Leviticus 11:9-10). I love lobster, and I eat it with glee. This is not sinful because the civil laws of the Old Covenant are no longer binding. In the same way, if sexuality falls under the Civil Law, then I would be free to love and marry whomever I desire.
But human sexuality is anchored in the imago Dei, the image of God. Genesis 1:27 clearly says, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” Gender and sexuality are an ingrained component of what it means to be created in the image of God. Sexuality is anchored in and flows from the nature of God. This is why the Apostle Paul describes marriage and then writes, “This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church” (Ephesians 5:32). Sexuality is not simply a human decision. This places the Old Covenant’s sexual laws under the Moral Law (which remains binding on all humanity) rather than the Civil Law (which is particular to Israel).
In today’s culture, sexuality is viewed as simply a choice between two (or sometimes more) people. If it makes them happy, then it is cruel and hateful to place your preferences over their desires. I completely understand this approach… if sexuality is a type of Civil Law. I am sensitive to this view, and am grieved by the ways the LGBTQ community has been singled out in some legitimately hateful ways. This article was written to explain that Christians believe sexuality is a direct outflow of what it means to be created in God’s image, and sexual intimacy is a living portrait of the intimacy we were made to experience with God. This means sexuality is governed by God’s Moral Law. That is why Christians uphold the Old and New Testament’s teaching on sexuality while eating lobster.
In the end, each person needs the same savior, Jesus Christ. Regardless of one’s sexual orientation, we can all agree that we have sinned sexually in some way. More than that – we have all sinned in more ways that we could possibly recount. Whether your sin is of a sexual nature or of another kind, each person is invited to find life and hope and salvation through Jesus Christ. May this be the greatest and boldest message that Christians are known for proclaiming – life through Christ Jesus who loves us.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son,
that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,
but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
John 3:16-17
November 19, 2018 at 11:25 am
Thank you, for such a well-worded message! I, too, used to enjoy lobster; I still love it, but refrain from eating it. God had very important reasons for denying Israel from partaking in shellfish, i.e. lobster, oysters, mussels, etc. The reason is because these “foods” were not and are not healthy for them or for us. God gave dietary laws to Israel because He wanted them to live long enough so they could cash in on the promises He made to Abraham, David, etc. Seeing that these laws are designed with a specific purpose in mind, then wouldn’t it be to our benefit to abstain from shellfish also? They eat the carrion (often humans) off the bottom of the ocean, and they are the biological filter systems for the ocean. They clean up mercury, lead, and other contaminants that are not healthy for us. Today, the oceans in which they live are full of radiation from the chemtrails the planes intentionally dispel into our sky ways for population control. They are also being polluted by leaking ships, oil spills, fire retardants, aircraft dumping fuel prior to landing, nuclear site meltdowns, etc. As I type this, 400,000 gals. of radioactive waste water from Fukushima is being spilled into the Pacific Ocean daily!
Today, there’s not a single saltwater fish that’s safe for human consumption; many foreign raised fresh water fish are also to be of grave concern. God designed us to live forever before the Fall, and He still desires to see us live long and healthy lives. To partake of these things whether in the Old or New Testaments is not being a good steward of the temple in which we live. OUCH! I know!!! I love lobster, dipped in real melted butter… God wants our obedience, not our sacrifice… Fellowship with God is much sweeter when we are in obedience to Him. Blessings!
June 12, 2019 at 2:31 pm
Mike, I’d like to see your response to my post of almost a year ago. Why do we apply some laws and not others? You had a catchy title, but you didn’t answer the question, why Christians eat lobster when God’s Word forbids it?
August 6, 2020 at 10:06 pm
Hi Skywatcher. Wow… it’s been a loooong time since I’ve logged into this blog, but I’m finally considering picking it back up again. That led me to see your comment. I wasn’t ignoring you personally, I was ignoring this entire site. So here’s my brief response…
I think the article outlines why it’s not sinful for Christians to eat lobster. To me, that places “lobster eating” in the same category as being any other kind of “meat eater.” If your conscience leads you to be a vegetarian because you think it’s a healthier lifestyle or to protest the cruelty to animals, then by all means… forego eating meat. In the same way, if you think it is simply a better and healthier decision to not eat lobster because they are, as you say, “the biological filter systems for the ocean,” then don’t eat lobster. BUT, hold off on saying that your reasons are because the Bible forbids it. It’s become a health-decision and a conscience-issue, not a biblical mandate over whether or not it is sinful.
I hope that helps clarify. And thanks for your patience on waiting almost two years for a reply!
August 7, 2020 at 7:05 am
You’ve convinced me to believe in the resurrection! LOL Welcome back! A lot has changed since I made my original post, and the eating or not eating lobster pales in comparison. Now, taking the ID2020 vaccine (mark of the beast) is the really HUGE issue. Yes, I have plenty of proofs that it is the mark, if you have any doubts. It’s global; it’s mandatory; one cannot buy or sell without it; one cannot “travel” (leave their property without it; its patent number ends with “060606”, and it contains a substance called hydro gel which immediately changes one’s DNA to something none human (zombie?). The latter explains why there is no redemption for the recipients. Christ died for humans, and not for mutants or hybrids. Anyway…back to the subject at hand…
One sentence in your response really caught my attention: “I think the article outlines why it’s not sinful for Christians to eat lobster. To me, that places “lobster eating” in the same category as being any other kind of “meat eater.””
Where is your biblical support for this statement? God obviously had very important reasons for telling the Jews to abstain from eating lobsters, a creature “with no scales”. If God’s mandate is because it’s a very serious health issue, then it should be good enough reason for us not to eat it. Could it be that the mercury and lead content in its body would affect the reproductive health of His chosen people? Perhaps even worse?
My comment is coming from a guy who loves lobster, but is caught “in the middle of the road.” I might eat one once a year; because of the garbage it eats, I restrain myself.
August 7, 2020 at 11:24 am
Friend, I just think we’ll need to agree we’re using a different hermeneutic to interpret Scripture. I’m not sure how the dietary restriction with lobster is different from pig or any other food they were told to avoid. When Peter was on Simon the Tanner’s roof and the Lord told him “Don’t call anything unclean the God has called clean” (Acts 10:15), I think that removed the forbidden nature of clean/unclean foods. That’s how Christians have always interpreted this passage. So, if you have a conscience issue with it, then don’t eat – but continuing to look for a specific verse about lobster misses the point entirely. This initial post is about the different types of laws in the OT and, while they were all God-given for Israel, that doesn’t mean they’re all binding on Christians today.
That’s about all I have to say about lobsters (except they’re delicious.. as a New Englander, I love them). If you want to reply again about lobsters, then feel free, but don’t take it personally if I let your final comment be the final word on this comment thread.
All the best to you.
August 7, 2020 at 6:43 pm
Sadly, Pastor Mike, you’ve missed the whole point of the chp. in Acts that you cited. You said, “That’s how Christians have always interpreted this passage.” No, that’s NOT how ALL Christians have interpreted that passage, and those who did, misunderstood the whole theme of that chapter. Those who needed an excuse to step outside of God’s plan for dietary health USE this passage to justify their wrongdoing, carefully and foolishly leaving out the interpretive verses that follow. I used to be one of those people. If you carefully read that chapter, you’ll find that food is NOT the main theme; people are.
This may be the most important chapter in the whole Bible for us Gentiles, for without it we may never have heard the gospel, and would be on our way to a lost eternity. Many of us understood this chapter to be about people– loud and clear, as should yourself.
If you read a little further down, you’ll find that meat is NOT the subject of the vision; Gentiles and ministry to such is! This is confirmed by the apparently simultaneous vision that Cornelius, “…a centurion of the band called the Italian band, A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God.” (vs. 1(b)-3. the visit shortly after the vision, by the ambassadors of Cornelius, a Gentile. Surely, you must realize that Israel considered Gentiles to be as dogs, a much lower class of people. Prior to this vision and the subsequent visit, Peter’s heart was not prepared to minister to the “dogs”, and God intervened with this vision, as we see in vs. 17 ti the end of the chapter. The solidifying interpretive verses on this topic are vs. 36, 44-48:
“The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of ALL:) v, 44. While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on ALL them which heard the word. 45. And they of the circumcision (Jews) which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that ON THE GENTILES ALSO was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost, 46. for they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Then answered Peter, 47. Can any man forbid water, that these (Gentiles) should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? 48. And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord…”
God was speaking to Peter in a visionary language that he could understand, an object lesson of sorts. Right after the vision, Peter had a visitation, followed by the interpretation of the vision. It’s all about context, Brother. Correct hermeneutics dictates that we keep all the Scriptures in context that pertain to any subject. that means reading the whole chapter to the end.
Thank you, for taking the time to dialogue with me (and those who are reading our posts). It’s not just about you and me, it’s about God and others reading our comments. They want the truth, and they deserve it, especially during the “perilous times” in which we find ourselves. Don’t you agree? By the way, I too, was a pastor at one time. Maranatha!
God bless you!