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People, by
creation, are free moral agents with the freedom to choose1
their own lifestyle, which includes the choices of foods they
eat. However, the Bible is clear that every choice made results
either in certain benefits or consequences.2
The inspired Scriptures give clear direction3
concerning recommended choices of nourishment as made by the Creator
Himself. In the garden of Eden, our first parents fell
on the point of appetite4
and have left to us a legacy of weakness5
on this point. It took Jesus forty days of fasting in order to
break the power of appetite6
and gain for us the victory over the clamors
of the flesh7 It
is only through His power in our lives that we can be victorious,8
as He gives us strength for greater victories.
It is
the mission of the church to share the
expressed will of God9
as taught in the Bible. Whether one decides to follow God's will,
or follow the natural inclinations of the human heart (mind),
is the challenge that man faces. The members of the Seventh Day
Adventist Reform Movement, however, have all agreed on one thing
in this area: Self-control, not impulse, is to govern our actions.
Foods are to be chosen based on wisdom about health, rather than
just to gratify taste. So, we are all united in our decision to
abstain from items of food and drink known to be injurious such
as flesh foods (including fish), animal fat, alcoholic drinks,
tea, coffee, caffeinated drinks, tobacco, narcotics. Since we
all are in harmony on this point, those entering into church fellowship
with us are, of course, like-minded,10
together to reap not only the physical
benefits11 of this
regimen, but more importantly, to enjoy the increased
clarity of mind and spiritual discernment12
to be gained by it.
1 "And
if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you
this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers
served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods
of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my
house, we will serve the Lord" (Joshua 24:15).
2 "And
they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their
lust. . . . He rained flesh also upon them as dust, and
feathered fowls like as the sand of the sea: And he let it fall
in the midst of their camp, round about their habitations. So
they did eat, and were well filled: for he gave them their own
desire; They were not estranged from their lust. But while their
meat was yet in their mouths, the wrath of God came upon them,
and slew the fattest of them, and smote down the chosen men
of Israel. For all this they sinned still, and believed not
for his wondrous works. Therefore their days did he consume
in vanity, and their years in trouble." "But with
many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown
in the wilderness. Now these things were our examples, to
the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also
lusted." "As the bird by wandering, as the swallow
by flying, so the curse causeless shall not come. . . . When
your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh
as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then
shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek
me early, but they shall not find me: For that they hated knowledge,
and did not choose the fear of the Lord: They would none of
my counsel: they despised all my reproof. Therefore shall they
eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their
own devices. For the turning away of the simple shall slay them,
and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them. But whoso hearkeneth
unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of
evil." (Psalm 78:18; 1 Corinthians 10:5, 6; Proverbs 26:2;
1:27–33.)
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3 "And
God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed,
which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in
the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall
be for meat." "Be not wise in thine own eyes:
fear the Lord, and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy
navel, and marrow to thy bones." "My son, attend to
my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart
from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For
they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their
flesh." "Blessed art thou, O land, when thy king is
the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for
strength, and not for drunkenness!" (Genesis 1:29;
Proverbs 3:7, 8; 4:20–22; Ecclesiastes 10:17).
4 "And
the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the
garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that
thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. . . . And when the
woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant
to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she
took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her
husband with her; and he did eat. . . . And unto Adam [God]
said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife,
and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying,
Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake;
in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns
also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt
eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou
eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast
thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return"
(Genesis 2:16, 17; 3:6, 17–19).
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5 "Watch
and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed
is willing, but the flesh is weak" "For the flesh
lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh:
and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot
do the things that ye would" (Matthew 26:41; Galatians
5:17).
6 "Then
was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted
of the devil.And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights,
he was afterward an hungered. And when the tempter came to him,
he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones
be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man
shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth
out of the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:1–4).
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7 "But
thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord
Jesus Christ.""This I say then, Walk in the Spirit,
and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh" "I
can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."
(1 Corinthians 15:57; Galatians 5:16; Philippians 4:13).
8 "For
what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh,
God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and
for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness
of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the
flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh
do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the
Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is
death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace."
"And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate
in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown;
but we an incorruptible." (Romans 8:3–6; 1 Corinthians
9:25).
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9 "Say
unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure
in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his
way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why
will ye die, O house of Israel?" "For I have no pleasure
in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God: wherefore
turn yourselves, and live ye." "Know ye not that
ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth
in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy;
for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are"
(Ezekiel 33:11; 18:32; 1 Corinthians 3:16, 17).
10 "If
there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort
of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and
mercies, Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having
the same love, being of one accord, of one mind."
"Can two walk together, except they be agreed?" (Philippians
2:1, 2; Amos 3:3).
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11 "Daniel
purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with
the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank:
therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he
might not defile himself. Now God had brought Daniel into favour
and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs. And the prince
of the eunuchs said unto Daniel, I fear my lord the king, who
hath appointed your meat and your drink: for why should he see
your faces worse liking than the children which are of your
sort? then shall ye make me endanger my head to the king. Then
said Daniel to Melzar, whom the prince of the eunuchs had set
over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, Prove thy servants,
I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat,
and water to drink. Then let our countenances be looked upon
before thee, and the countenance of the children that eat of
the portion of the king's meat: and as thou seest, deal with
thy servants. So he consented to them in this matter, and proved
them ten days. And at the end of ten days their countenances
appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which
did eat the portion of the king's meat" (Daniel 1:8–15).
12 "Thus
Melzar took away the portion of their meat, and the wine that
they should drink; and gave them pulse. As for these four children,
God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom:
and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. Now
at the end of the days that the king had said he should bring
them in, then the prince of the eunuchs brought them in before
Nebuchadnezzar. And the king communed with them; and among them
all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah:
therefore stood they before the king. And in all matters of
wisdom and understanding, that the king inquired of them, he
found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers
that were in all his realm" (Daniel 1:16–20). "For
thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God, and the Lord
hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above
all the nations that are upon the earth. Thou shalt not eat
any abominable thing" (Deuteronomy 14:2, 3). "Whether
therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the
glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31).
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