If freely and knowingly eating things sacrificed to idols was permitted in His church, then I believe Jesus’ would have been in error when He expressed His hatred for this practice to about half of the churches He directly wrote to in Revelation chapters 2 and 3, with strong rebuke and severe judgment for those who engaged in it if they did not repent.
In Revelation 2:20, Jesus gave this warning to the church in Thyatira: “But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bond-servants astray so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols”. Additionally, a similar warning was given to the church in in Pergamum: “‘But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality. So you also have some who in the same way hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. Therefore repent; or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of My mouth” (Revelation 2:14-16). From this text, I believe Jesus clarified what the practice of the Nicolaitans entailed: acts of sexual immorality and eating things scarified to idols (see Revelation 2:14-15). Furthermore, Jesus declared His hatred for this deeds of the Nicolaitans to the church in Ephesus and commended the church for also hating such practice: “Yet this you do have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate” (Revelation 2:6). I believe its frequent association with sexual immorality in Jesus’ messages to the churches shows that eating things sacrificed to idols is as grievous as sexual immorality, just as idolatry is also portrayed as harlotry in Scripture (e.g., Hosea 3:12-14, Ezekiel 23).
It is worthy of note that Jesus’s severe warning to His church regarding eating things sacrificed to idols, made no distinction between mature and immature Christians or those with strong and weak faith. The entire church were to desist from that practice. If Jesus has made it evidently clear to His church that He hates eating things sacrificed to idols, then why do we suppose that we can still do so if we are mature or strong in faith? I believe this stem from a misrepresentation of what Paul taught on the subject, particularly only taking a part of what Paul said to make conclusive statements which contradict the entirety of what Paul taught on the Subject.
We shall look at this in the next post.
Kwadwo Omari, PhD
July 31, 2024.
A Very Important Message
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life (John 3:16). For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23). Therefore, If you do not know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour, I invite you to put your faith in Him. Pray the prayer below to accept Jesus Christ as your Saviour: “I come to you God in Jesus’ name and surrender my life unto you. I repent of my sins and I ask You to forgive me all my sins. I confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord, and I believe with my heart that God has raised Jesus from the dead. I thank you God for saving me, in Jesus name, Amen”. If you sincerely prayed this prayer, believe and be assured that you are saved, for the Bible says that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved (Romans 10:13, Romans 10:9-10, Acts 16:31). Find a Bible believing church to attend so that you can be taught and trained to grow in the ways of God. You can also email me ([email protected]) and I will be happy to grow together with you in Christ. God bless you.