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NASB | Acts 15:29 that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication; if you keep yourselves free from such things, you will do well. Farewell." |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Acts 15:29 that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols, and from [consuming] blood, and from [eating the meat of] things that have been strangled, and from sexual impurity. If you keep yourselves from these things, you will do well. Farewell." |
Subject: Does "abstain" include more than eating? |
Bible Note: Angel: Your question is a fair one: "How could God proclaim clean the animals, which are used for our physical nourishment, and condemn blood transfusions which provide life to God's Temple? (1 Corinthians 3:16)" The answer lies in God's view of blood and his right to restrict the use of anything he creates. God had forbidden the eating of certain animals by the Jews, his covenant people, and scientists marvel at the wisdom in these and other laws that preceded medical knowledge that would not come to light for hundreds if not thousands of years! To Peter, God now instructed him to go to people as reviled by Jews as unclean animals - uncircumcised gentiles. Paul clarified the end of the law for Christians as you are well aware. But for reasons incumbent on us, we must comprehend why he has not lifted the prohibition against blood. As Jesus' shed blood cleanses us from sin, thus providing the prospect of life eternal, can you see why God could rightfully, perhaps especially, require Christians to continue 'abstaining' from blood? James made it clear that the Holy Spirit and the older men presiding over the Christian congregation "did not to want to burden you with anything beyond these requirements." So we need not fear the use of any and all medical treatments, only those that would violate clear Bible principles. Luke was a physician and the writer of Acts so no one can say Christians are to shun doctors, only that which violates what is holy. We have to be careful not to rationalize away God's requirements that often serve as a physical as well as a spiritual protection in order to benefit, as the Israelites did, from God's laws. Thanks for your insigtful remarks. |