It appears that Paul himself rigorously applied this principle to his own life. He himself testifies numerous times that he did not break the Jewish law. Although he may have taught that no animal is intrinsically unclean under the New Covenant, he himself did not touch unkosher food! How do we know?

The book of Acts tells of Paul's last journey to Jerusalem in obedience to God. The apostles heard that he had come. They met with him and listened to him tell of the great salvation of God to the Gentiles. They rejoiced with him.

And when they heard it they began glorifying God; and they said to him, "You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed, and they are all zealous for the Law;

And they have been told about you, that you are teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs" (Acts 21:20-21).

The leaders of the Body of Messiah in Jerusalem then offered this proposal, which we paraphrase: "Paul, we know that this accusation against you is not true. But people have been hearing that you tell the Jews to break the Law (probably in reference to passages like Rom. 14 and Col. 2:16). But to prove that this is not true, and that you never taught Jews to break the Mosaic Law, we want you to help these four born-again Jewish brethren of ours to complete the Nazarite vow that they have made according to the Law of Moses. Pay their expenses and go with them."

...And all will know that there is nothing to the things which they have been told about you, but that you yourself also walk orderly, keeping the Law (Acts 21:24).

What a statement! The apostles were telling Paul to prove to everybody that he is a keeper of the Torah (including kosher laws). Some might say, "Well, that's what the apostles thought. But that's not what Paul really did."

However, Paul was never wishy-washy in his walk with God. He never would have deceived the apostles into thinking he did something he really had not done. Besides, Paul then proceeded to carefully follow the instructions of the apostles in order to prove that he did "walk orderly, keeping the Law."

Others might say that Paul made a mistake by going to the Temple. His attempt to prove himself ended in his arrest and ultimately, in his being sent to Rome. Whether he made a mistake is debatable. I do not believe he did, because God told him that he was going to Rome.

But whether or not he made a mistake has nothing to do with the point we are making here: the apostles did not believe Paul was telling Jews to break the Torah. They believed that Paul, a Jew, did not break the Law. Paul then attempted to prove that these two assumptions were true.

Earlier in Acts, he himself had made and kept a similar Nazarite vow. "In Cenchrea he had his hair cut, for he was keeping a vow" (Acts 18:18). He strove to get to Jerusalem in order to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Shavuot (Acts 20:16). Moreover, Paul testified from his own mouth that he was a Jew who kept the Law!

But this I admit to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect I do serve the God of our fathers, believing everything that is in accordance with the Law, and that is written in the Prophets (Acts 24:14).

While Paul said in his own defense, "I have committed no offense either against the Law of the Jews or against the temple or against Caesar" (Acts 25:8).

And it happened that after three days he called together those who were the leading men of the Jews, and when they had come together, he began saying to them, "Brethren, though I had done nothing against our people, or the customs of our fathers, yet I was delivered prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans" (Acts 28:17).

By Paul's own witness, then, we have the "final word" of testimony as to the type of life-style Paul the Jew lived. Committing no offense against the "customs of our fathers" or the "Law of the Jew" would most certainly have included keeping the kosher laws, even though he was called to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles.

From this study, we can conclude that absolutely no Scripture in the New Testament commands Jews to eat unclean animals. What a pity that this misinterpretation of the New Testament may have kept some Jews from seeking salvation through the Messiah, the King of the Jews.

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