In oriental culture, bloods are eaten in their precipitate state. I
\nlovED eating blood too at one time, one too many times. And I WAS already Christian. I WAS
\nusing ICorinthians chapter 8 as my alibi.<\/p>\n
However, eating blood is not a matter of who has stronger conscience, but a matter of theology.<\/p>\n
Drinking\/Eating Blood, in the old testament, is forbidden.<\/p>\n
In
\nthe new testament, Jesus said: John 6:53 Verily, verily, I say unto
\nyou, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye
\nhave no life in you. (我實實在在的告訴你們，你們若不吃人子的肉，不喝人子的血，就沒有生命在你們裡面。)<\/p>\n
And
\nthat in Acts 15:28 For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to
\nlay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things...<\/p>\n
Since this has been of the Holy Spirit, why would I keep eating blood?
And
\nsince I know that blood is life, and the real life for men is Jesus
\nChrist, thus His blood, the blood he shed on the cross, how can I think
\nof His blood sacrifice while eating others' blood? Unless I do not
\nthink of such. But, all things I do, I do to the glory of God,
\nICorinthians 10:31. So I must be thinking something else to not have
\nknown this; how can I think of something else if I'm a child of God? I
\nmust seek His countenance always.<\/p>\n
However, there are times blood
\ncannot be avoided in food, such as blood in chicken bones, beef soups,
\netc. And there are times where blood is used for medical purposes.
\nAbstaining from blood in this case would be obtuse(Mat 15:17, 1Cor
\n8:8). But this is different from deliberately eating blood piece by
\npiece when you got other choices.<\/p>\n
Now,
\neating blood and food
\nsacrificed to idols are not quite the same things. The
\nIsraelites were very easily influenced by idols worshipping neighbors
\nbefore their exile to Babylon. One is to be holy, idol worshipping
\nis obviously not right in the sight of God, and therefore, it is
\ncrucial that their minds were not corrupted and remain holy to God.
\nOnly after their Babylon Exile, was it more clear that all idols are
\nnothing compared to God. So what 1Corinthians Chapter 8 was saying is
\nthat there are still some, because being used to idols worshipping,
\nthey still believed that those idols are great enough to have some
\nauthority over their food, and therefore they fear that they would
\noffend the God of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob.<\/p>\n
Hence
\nit is clear now that these two statements should make sense: We DO EAT
\nbecause those sacrificed to idols are just food, and has nothing to do
\nwith the idols for the idols are nothing compared to God. We DO NOT EAT them only because it has something to do
\nwith the idols. Then, it is clear that we do all these, in honor of God.<\/p>\n
But
\neating blood has nothing to do with idols WHATSOEVER. So it is a rather
\ndifferent case. Acts 15's ORIGINAL TEXT did not specifically say Not to
\nEAT food sacrificed to Idols. But rather, implying keeping away from
\nany thing that are of the idols, worshipping idols, sacrificing to
\nidols, pollution of idolatry, even to the extend of admiring fantasy
\nlife and worldly riches. However, it did mention about abstaining from
\nblood, and strangled things. The latter, which I just learned last Sunday, is
\nrelated to blood being trapped in a strangled animal.<\/p>\n
So now it
\nshould be clear to understand these 2 statements: We DO NOT EAT BLOOD because it is for remembrance of
\nthe blood Christ has shed, the holy communion we have been partaking,
\nand that we want the eternal life from Christ, not from beasts. We CAN EAT BLOOD because
\nwe have NO CHOICE AND<\/b> it does not defile us. Therefore, such restriction, I do not believe that it should be considered absolute.<\/p>\n
For me, not only abstaining from eating of blood keeps me focus on Christ, it
\nwill also be a great testimony of Christ to gentiles and new christians
\nalike.\n<\/p>\n
[@more@]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In oriental culture, bloods are eaten in their precipitate state. I lovED eating blood too at one time, one too many times. And I WAS already Christian. I WAS using ICorinthians chapter 8 as my alibi. However, eating blood is … Continue reading