For people who have a strong conviction against eating any type of meat, the question of whether or not we can eat pork is a non-issue. But for people who generally have no conviction against eating meat, the question of eating pork can still arise, due to prohibitions against consuming pork (and other types of “unclean” meat) in the Old Testament.
For the first three covenants that God made with humanity (the Creation covenant, Noah’s covenant and Abraham’s covenant) there was no law against eating pork. The law against eating pork was first established for the Sinai covenant that God made with Moses and Israel.
This law was first stated in Leviticus 11:7-8, and remained in effect for Israel under the Sinai covenant. But, with the coming of the New Covenant in Jesus Christ, it seems clear that the law against eating pork and other “unclean” meat is no longer maintained. This is shown in several places in the New Testament:
- In Acts 10:9-17 , the Apostle Peter receives a vision showing him all kinds of animals that Jews considered unclean, but God tells Peter to “kill and eat” them because “what God has cleansed should no longer be considered unholy” (verses 13-15).
- In Galatians 2:11-14
- In Colossians 2:16-17, Paul teaches that Christians are free with regard to what they eat and drink, and this freedom apparently includes eating a pork roast—or bacon or ham if you prefer!
