Is Clam Chowder Sinful?

Leviticus 11:12, Matthew 11:28, Colossians 2:16-17

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Do you like clam chowder? I do, but am I sinning when I eat it? Because in the Old Testament, God clearly commands the Israelites not to eat shellfish. Leviticus 11:12 says,

Every creature in the water that does not have fins or scales is detestable to you. (Leviticus 11:12)

So does God just not like clam chowder or oyster stew? And what if I do? That’s a question, an objection sometimes that has been raised by a number of people. They say we Christians are being inconsistent because we’re keeping some of God’s laws, but others like to abstain from shellfish, we’re not following. And it’s a fair question. We want to be consistent in following God’s law. Thankfully, it’s also a question that has a clear answer in Scripture.

See, in the Old Testament, God gave many laws to the Israelites, and some of these were civil laws that regulated the government of Israel. And these help to set apart Israel as God’s holy chosen nation. They also were given ceremonial laws which would have regulated their worship life and would have included things like sacrifices or festivals or dietary restrictions. These also set them apart from the nations of the world, set them apart as God’s holy chosen nation. At the same time, they pointed ahead to the coming Christ to Jesus.

Think about the sacrifices of sheep or other animals. They were to point ahead to the Lamb of God. They were also to show that blood must be shed, that there must be death to pay for sin. Think about the commandment to keep the Sabbath day, to remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. There were to take Saturday as a day of rest. This was to point ahead to the one who would say,

Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28)

These laws were fulfilled when Christ then came. He came in fulfillment of these laws. And that’s shown to us in Colossians 2, where Paul writes.

Therefore, do not let anyone judge you in regard to food or drink, or in regard to a festival or a New Moon or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were coming, but the body belongs to Christ. (Colossians 2:16-17)

The other laws that were given to the Israelites were God’s moral law, and these are summarized in the Ten Commandments. This is God’s will for his people for all time. And these are reiterated in the New Testament by Jesus. Thankfully, Jesus also came in fulfillment of the moral law. He fulfilled it for us. He lived a perfect life, always following his father’s will. He lived a perfect life of love towards his Heavenly father and towards all those around him. And then, as the Lamb of God, he gave up his life on the cross as the sacrifice needed for the sins of the world. And in so doing, he paid for your sins, my sins, and all the sins of the world. You are forgiven. Through faith in Jesus, you’re credited with his perfect fulfillment of God’s law, and God sees you as his own dear child, as an heir of eternal life in heaven.

So now the question is, how can we thank God for his sacrifice? Well, there’s no need to keep his ceremonial law or his civil law. Remember, that’s fulfilled in Jesus. But we do still have his will for how we live and love towards him and those around us. That’s summarized in the Ten Commandments. That’s the moral law. As those who know how Jesus fulfilled the law for us, won heaven for us. It’s our privilege, it’s our joy to live lives of thanks by living according to his will, by showing love to him and to all those around us, so that they might know the hope, the fulfillment of the law that we have in Jesus.

May God bless us as we live in the love that we know. Amen.