What Does the Bible Say About Eating Bacon?

The Old Testament Dietary Laws and the Claim That Pork Is Still Forbidden

There's a brand of teaching out there claiming that the dietary laws of the Old Testament still apply, so pork is still forbidden. That's right, bacon is an abomination to the Lord, as well as throwing a shrimp on the barbie.

Paul on Food, Judgment, and the Kingdom of God

But the Apostle Paul said to the Colossians, let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink. Also related to food, he wrote, do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil, for the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Jesus Declares All Foods Clean

And we can go one better than that. In Mark 7, Jesus said, do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart, but his stomach, and is expelled?

Then the parenthetical reference, thus he declared all foods clean. The purpose of the ceremonial laws was to make us aware of our sin and show God's holiness so we might be cleansed and have fellowship with God.

Christ Has Fulfilled the Ceremonial Law

But that law has been fulfilled in Christ, who is our fellowship with God. This idea that there are certain foods we're to stay away from lest we defile ourselves, this is exactly the kind of teaching Paul told Titus to silence.

Christian Liberty, Weak Conscience, and Eating to the Glory of God

The Bible says it is those with a weak conscience who think it's unholy to eat such foods. But we're also to be considerate of one another. Again in Romans 14, let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him.

If our eating something would cause a brother or sister to stumble, then don't eat it. But if you like bacon, eat it to the glory of God when we understand the text.