View source for Is the Kingdom of God created by our selection of what we eat and what we drink?...

'''Back to [[Study for the book Romans]]'''
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'''Back to [[Chapter Fourteen...]]'''
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No.

We know there were Jewish Christians in Rome because Paul says, "I speak to them that know the law" (Romans 7:1).
As we know, the Jews, before they became Christians, were governed by the numerous dietary regulations contained in the Law and in the traditions of the elders.

Becoming a Christian involved several major changes in Jewish thinking regarding the requirement of circumcision, the observance of holy days, animal sacrifices, gathering together with Gentiles to worship the Lord, and the variety of ordinances governing eating and drinking.

Unlike the old covenant, the new covenant is of the Holy Spirit rather than of a body of laws and ordinances contained in writing. Details of behaviour, such as the observance of holy days and the eating of specific foods, are not set forth in writing.

Bible teachers have attempted to glean such details of behaviour from the writings of the Apostles and make a Christian religion that the natural man can practice. But the true Christian redemption is the crucifixion of the adamic nature and the forming and dwelling of Christ in the personality. The exhortations of the Apostles are guidelines for the believer until the new creation comes into view. The new creation keeps the laws of God by nature because it has been born of God.

''We have also a more sure word of prophecy [the Scriptures]; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts'' (II Peter 1:19).
In view of the long-standing Hebrew traditions governing eating and drinking, combined with the lack of such ordinances under the new covenant, it is not surprising that food and drink became a topic of concern in assemblies that contained both Jews and Gentiles.

Paul taught that the solution is the adoption of brotherly love as the guiding principle. If any of us is practicing a behaviour that is forbidden by the conscience of our brother or sister in Christ, we are to change our behaviour in a manner that will strengthen and build up our fellow member of the Body of Christ.


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