I've read Leviticus 11:9-12 which says, "And all that have not fins and scales in the seas, and in the rivers, of all that move in the waters, and of any living thing which is in the waters, they shall be an abomination unto you.”  Help; I love shellfish!  Please advise.

Sincerely,
Crabby

Dear Crabby,

Under the New Covenant, all food is clean.  God sent Peter a vision of unclean beasts and told Peter to “kill and eat” (Acts 10:13).  Peter told God that he would never eat anything unclean (Acts 10:14), and God informed Peter that He had cleansed all meat (Acts 10:15).  Jesus also specifically said that all food is clean in the New Testament (Mk 7:19).

Later on, the apostle Paul reiterates this idea and says that all meat is clean unless it offends your conscience (Rom 14:20).  So, feel free to eat pork, rattlesnake (if you dare), and clams without fear of sin.

Did God drink coffee?

Sincerely,
Caffeinated

Dear Caffeinated,

God doesn’t drink coffee because God is a spiritual being, not a physical one (Jhn 4:24).  In this life, we have bodies that rely upon physical sustenance, and we have bodies that are slowly wearing down (2 Cor 4:16).  However, God isn’t like us.  God is an eternal spiritual being.  He doesn’t require the things of this world (Acts 17:24-25).

What is British Israelism?

Sincerely,
Yankee

Dear Yankee,

British Israelism is a small, fringe, religious movement based around the idea that Europeans are the direct descendants of the ten destroyed tribes of Israel.  This has no basis in Bible fact and has no bearing on actual Christianity.  After all, we are told that today those who turn to Christ, whatever their lineage and background, are God’s people (Col 3:11, Gal 3:27-28).

     I have to ask you something.  Why does Jesus tell His disciples to steal?   Matthew 21:2-3: that breaks the eighth commandment.  Also, Matthew 24:26 contradicts Matthew 28:7.  The first says don’t go if someone tells you He’s here or there.  Then the other verse says they were told to go, and they went.  Why are we supposed to look up to the apostles?  Jesus always had to get on to them about faith, told them they needed to be like children, they all betrayed Him, one turned Him in, one kept denying Him, and they all abandoned Him.  Sounds to me like He picked the wrong ones.  Please help.  I love God, but the Bible has lots of problems with contradictions.

Sincerely,
Appalled At The Apostles

Dear Appalled At The Apostles,

There are three questions here, and we’ll answer them each in turn.  In Matt 21:2, Jesus told His disciples to go and fetch a colt that was tied up – but He specifically said that if the owners of the colt asked about what they were doing, they should reply, and then the owners would give them permission (Matt 21:3).  Jesus didn’t tell His disciples to steal; He had supernatural knowledge of someone willing to give their colt to His disciples.  There is no contradiction.

Matt 24:26 does say that they shouldn’t believe people when they said that the Christ had come back… but the time context is very important.  In Matthew 24, Jesus is addressing what to do when people other than Him say that they are the Christ (Matt 24:4-5).  In Matt 28:7, the angel is saying that they can find Jesus in Galilee because He had risen from the dead.  One verse deals with false christs that would come after Jesus; the other verse is a command to seek Jesus Himself.  No contradiction, just different contexts.

Lastly, we’ll address the apostles.  We are told to imitate the apostles inasmuch as they imitate Christ (1 Cor 11:1).  There is no doubt that not everything the apostles did was right – they admitted they were just men and not worthy of worship (Acts 10:25-26).  However, the apostles were Jesus’ chosen servants to preach and teach His message.  The apostles were men of great bravery and faith – men that failed and got back up again to fight another day.  We should also follow the apostles because they were led by the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit gave them perfect remembrance of Christ’s life (Jhn 14:26) and perfect knowledge of what God needed mankind to know (Lk 12:11-12).

What is sin?

Sincerely,
Definition Please

Dear Definition Please,

Sin is disobeying what God says.  The very word ‘sin’ is defined as ‘missing the mark’.  God defines what a good life looks like in His Word.  We wouldn’t know who we ought to be if He didn’t tell us.  We are made in His image (Gen 1:26) and created for His glory (Col 1:16).  We are the creation, and He is the Creator.  Understanding His supreme authority is crucial.  We must realize and accept that we are designed with a purpose and that the Creator understands how to properly guide our lives to fulfill that purpose.

Sin can be doing something that God has condemned (i.e. David sleeping with Bathsheba – 2 Sam 12:13).  Sin can also be failing to do what you ought to (i.e. Jonah refusing to preach to the Ninevites – Jonah 1:3).  We must model our lives after God’s commandments and teachings.  Our lives must bear godly fruit (Jhn 15:12, Lk 3:8), and we must flee from wickedness (1 Tim 6:11).  It is our adherence to both the positive and negative commandments of God that shows our friendship with Him (Jhn 15:14).  The Bible is God’s roadmap for life; follow it to avoid the pitfalls of sin.