4 Bible Verses about Meat

The Reign of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, it means righteousness, peace, and joy in the holy Spirit;

I know, I am certain in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is in itself unclean; only, anything is unclean for a man who considers it unclean. If your brother is being injured because you eat a certain food, then you are no longer living by the rule of love. Do not let that food of yours ruin the man for whom Christ died. Your rights must not get a bad name. read more.
The Reign of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, it means righteousness, peace, and joy in the holy Spirit; he who serves Christ on these lines, is acceptable to God and esteemed by men. Peace, then, and the building up of each other, these are what we must aim at. You must not break down God's work for the mere sake of food! Everything may be clean, but it is wrong for a man to prove a stumbling-block by what he eats; the right course is to abstain from flesh or wine or indeed anything that your brother feels to be a stumbling-block. Certainly keep your own conviction on the matter, as between yourself and God; he is a fortunate man who has no misgivings about what he allows himself to eat. But if anyone has doubts about eating and then eats, that condemns him at once; it was not faith that induced him to eat, and any action that is not based on faith is a sin.

With regard to food that has been offered to idols. Here, of course, 'we all possess knowledge'! Knowledge puffs up, love builds up. Whoever imagines he has attained to some degree of knowledge, does not possess the true knowledge yet; but if anyone loves God, he is known by Him. read more.
Well then, with regard to food that has been offered to idols, I am quite aware that 'there is no such thing as an idol in the world' and that 'there is only the one God.' (So-called gods there may be, in heaven or on earth ??as indeed there are plenty of them, both gods and 'lords' ??6 but for us there is one God, the Father, from whom all comes, and for whom we exist; one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom all exists, and by whom we exist.) But remember, it is not everyone who has this 'knowledge.' Some who have hitherto been accustomed to idols eat the food as food which has been really offered to an idol, and so their weaker conscience is contaminated. Now mere food will not bring us any nearer to God; if we abstain we do not lose anything, and if we eat we do not gain anything. But see that the exercise of your right does not prove any stumbling-block to the weak. Suppose anyone sees you, a person of enlightened mind, reclining at meat inside an idol's temple; will that really 'fortify his weak conscience'? Will it not embolden him to violate his scruples of conscience by eating food that has been offered to idols? He is ruined, this weak man, ruined by your 'enlightened mind,' this brother for whose sake Christ died! By sinning against the brotherhood in this way and wounding their weaker consciences, you are sinning against Christ. Therefore if food is any hindrance to my brother's welfare, sooner than injure him I will never eat flesh as long as I live, never!

Shun idolatry, then, my beloved. I am speaking to sensible people; weigh my words for yourselves. The cup of blessing, which we bless, is that not participating in the blood of Christ? The bread we break, is that not participating in the body of Christ? read more.
(for many as we are, we are one Bread, one Body, since we all partake of the one Bread). Look at the rites of Israel. Do not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar? Do I imply, you ask, that 'food offered to an idol has any meaning, or that an idol itself means any thing'? No, what I imply is that anything people sacrifice is sacrificed to daemons, not to God. And I do not want you to participate in daemons! You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and also the cup of daemons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and also of the table of daemons. What! do we intend to rouse the Lord's jealousy? Are we stronger than he is? 'All things are lawful'? Yes, but not all are good for us. 'All things are lawful'? Yes, but not all are edifying. Each of us must consult his neighbour's interests, not his own. Eat any food that has been sold in the market, instead of letting scruples of conscience oblige you to ask any questions about it; the earth and all its contents belong to the Lord. When an unbeliever invites you to dinner and you agree to go, eat whatever is put before you, instead of letting scruples of conscience induce you to ask any questions about it. But if someone tells you, 'This was sacrificial meat,' then do not eat it; you must consider the man who told you, and also take conscience into account ??29 his conscience, I mean, not your own; for why should one's own freedom be called in question by someone else's conscience? If one partakes of food after saying a blessing over it, why should one be denounced for eating what one has given thanks to God for? So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, let it be all done for the glory of God. Put no stumbling-block in the way of Jews or Greeks or the church of God. Such is my own rule, to satisfy all men in all points, aiming not at my own advantage but at the advantage of the greater number ??at their salvation.

I know, I am certain in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is in itself unclean; only, anything is unclean for a man who considers it unclean. If your brother is being injured because you eat a certain food, then you are no longer living by the rule of love. Do not let that food of yours ruin the man for whom Christ died. Your rights must not get a bad name. read more.
The Reign of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, it means righteousness, peace, and joy in the holy Spirit; he who serves Christ on these lines, is acceptable to God and esteemed by men. Peace, then, and the building up of each other, these are what we must aim at. You must not break down God's work for the mere sake of food! Everything may be clean, but it is wrong for a man to prove a stumbling-block by what he eats; the right course is to abstain from flesh or wine or indeed anything that your brother feels to be a stumbling-block. Certainly keep your own conviction on the matter, as between yourself and God; he is a fortunate man who has no misgivings about what he allows himself to eat. But if anyone has doubts about eating and then eats, that condemns him at once; it was not faith that induced him to eat, and any action that is not based on faith is a sin.

With regard to food that has been offered to idols. Here, of course, 'we all possess knowledge'! Knowledge puffs up, love builds up. Whoever imagines he has attained to some degree of knowledge, does not possess the true knowledge yet; but if anyone loves God, he is known by Him. read more.
Well then, with regard to food that has been offered to idols, I am quite aware that 'there is no such thing as an idol in the world' and that 'there is only the one God.' (So-called gods there may be, in heaven or on earth ??as indeed there are plenty of them, both gods and 'lords' ??6 but for us there is one God, the Father, from whom all comes, and for whom we exist; one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom all exists, and by whom we exist.) But remember, it is not everyone who has this 'knowledge.' Some who have hitherto been accustomed to idols eat the food as food which has been really offered to an idol, and so their weaker conscience is contaminated. Now mere food will not bring us any nearer to God; if we abstain we do not lose anything, and if we eat we do not gain anything. But see that the exercise of your right does not prove any stumbling-block to the weak. Suppose anyone sees you, a person of enlightened mind, reclining at meat inside an idol's temple; will that really 'fortify his weak conscience'? Will it not embolden him to violate his scruples of conscience by eating food that has been offered to idols? He is ruined, this weak man, ruined by your 'enlightened mind,' this brother for whose sake Christ died! By sinning against the brotherhood in this way and wounding their weaker consciences, you are sinning against Christ. Therefore if food is any hindrance to my brother's welfare, sooner than injure him I will never eat flesh as long as I live, never!

Shun idolatry, then, my beloved. I am speaking to sensible people; weigh my words for yourselves. The cup of blessing, which we bless, is that not participating in the blood of Christ? The bread we break, is that not participating in the body of Christ? read more.
(for many as we are, we are one Bread, one Body, since we all partake of the one Bread). Look at the rites of Israel. Do not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar? Do I imply, you ask, that 'food offered to an idol has any meaning, or that an idol itself means any thing'? No, what I imply is that anything people sacrifice is sacrificed to daemons, not to God. And I do not want you to participate in daemons! You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and also the cup of daemons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and also of the table of daemons. What! do we intend to rouse the Lord's jealousy? Are we stronger than he is? 'All things are lawful'? Yes, but not all are good for us. 'All things are lawful'? Yes, but not all are edifying. Each of us must consult his neighbour's interests, not his own. Eat any food that has been sold in the market, instead of letting scruples of conscience oblige you to ask any questions about it; the earth and all its contents belong to the Lord. When an unbeliever invites you to dinner and you agree to go, eat whatever is put before you, instead of letting scruples of conscience induce you to ask any questions about it. But if someone tells you, 'This was sacrificial meat,' then do not eat it; you must consider the man who told you, and also take conscience into account ??29 his conscience, I mean, not your own; for why should one's own freedom be called in question by someone else's conscience? If one partakes of food after saying a blessing over it, why should one be denounced for eating what one has given thanks to God for? So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, let it be all done for the glory of God. Put no stumbling-block in the way of Jews or Greeks or the church of God. Such is my own rule, to satisfy all men in all points, aiming not at my own advantage but at the advantage of the greater number ??at their salvation.