Do the Sabbath and dietary laws remain because God doesn’t change?
Question:
Hello, I just want to say thank you for having such a great site that people can go to with all kinds of questions and get answers. This is my first time here and I am very pleased. However, I didn’t see any of the articles mention clean and unclean food. You see I have a friend who is an Old Testament believer but still claims Jesus Christ. I am not sure if he confesses Jesus as Lord and Savior. But he believes in the virgin birth, died for sins, rose again…He believes in the Saturday Sabbath, no eating of certain foods, keeping the Ten Commandments, etc. So here is somewhat of the conversation if you don’t mind reading it. Can you please help me with this?
"I am sure that you will probably agree that Jesus the same today, yesterday, and tomorrow. In John 5:37-38, Jesus said no man has heard the Father's voice or seen His shape at any time. This apparently lets us know that in all the places where the Lord said, for instance in Leviticus 11:45-47, "for I am the Lord that brought you out of Egypt ye shall be holy for I am holy. This is the law of the beast and the fowl and of everything creature that moveth in the waters and of every creature that creepeth upon the earth: to make a difference between the clean and the unclean and the things that may be eaten and the beast that may not be eaten." This why Moses doubted in his mind what this should mean because he knew one jot or one title of the word shall not fail until all things are fulfilled."
Answer:
Your friend makes no distinction between the Old and New Testaments. See, "Why We Don't Follow the Old Testament" for a way to reason about this. One of his arguments is that God doesn't change, thus God's dealings and covenants with men don't change. This is clearly false. When mankind became exceedingly wicked, God said, "And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart" (Genesis 6:6). God does change His dealings with men because of man. That is why He stated, "Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah- not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD" (Jeremiah 31:31-32). Notice that the change in covenants came about because of Israel's violations of the covenant.
Instead of dealing with the Sabbath first, ask your friend if circumcision is still required. It is very specifically stated as being necessary under the Old Testament. But Paul stated, "Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace" (Galatians 5:1-4). If he admits that the law concerning circumcision changed, then his argument concerning the Sabbath having to remain because God doesn't change falls apart. If he denies what Paul stated, you will not be able to convince him because he doesn't believe the Bible.
The concept of clean and unclean, including food, is covered in the article "Uncleanness."
