When Eating is a Sin Gen 3: 6-12 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO

Did you know that eating can be a sin? Absolutely!  There are times when eating is a sin.  God said, “thou shalt not eat of it.”  And yet they ate [see Rom 5:12].  Before we go any further, let me assure you that I know you are ready.  Ready with your –

• Alibis – v.6 – Eve’s alibis were that the tree was good, pleasant, and desirable, therefore, it was irresistible
• Coverings – v.7 – their coverings were fig leaves sewn together, but Prov 28:13 says that he that covereth his sin shall not prosper
• Hiding places – v.8-10 – you can hide in a crowd just like Adam and Eve did in the trees – see Ezek 33:31
• Excuses – v.12 – there are always convenient excuses to explain bad behavior

Nevertheless, we have to get down to business – surely, eating can be a sin – eating unclean meat in Lev 11, eating leavened bread during the feast of unleavened bread, Ex 12, and eating blood, Lev 17:10, were all sins.

You say, “Yeah, but we are in the New Testament” and Paul said, “For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving,” [1 Tim 4:4].  True, but it’s that “every” creature and “nothing to be refused” that we are concerned about.  You remind me of two teenage friends of mine at an all you can eat Chinese buffet.  On their third trip to the buffet, the chef came out hollering, “Sign say, ‘all you can eat’ not ‘eat all!’” And he ran them out of there.

So, what sins can be committed by eating?

The sin of ingratitude – 1 Tim 4:4 – the food is to be received with thanksgiving and most people who eat never bother to thank God for the food – children, before you say “Yuk” to Mom’s vegetables, you better thank God that you have a mother who is concerned enough about your health and nutrition to feed you vegetables and that you have a God who has provided them for you – people may not thank God for their food today, but when they can’t have a plate of food in front of them, they’ll surely curse him then – you’d be better off to thank him now than to curse him later.

The sin of offense – Rom 14:14-21 – we don’t want to offend a brother or make him weak or cause him to stumble – so we have to be careful what we eat – Bro. Roloff was strong in the Lord but for his sake you probably wouldn’t order a chicken fried steak, cream gravy and mashed potatoes followed by cheesecake and a cup of coffee if you were eating out together – you wouldn’t want to offend him – well if you would do that for him, certainly you should do that for a weaker brother – you wouldn’t want to encourage them to sin by your liberty

The sin of doubt – Rom 14:22-23 – whatsoever is not of faith is sin – if you can bow your head over your food and ask God to bless it to the nourishment of your body then eat it – but how many times have you said or heard said, “I know I shouldn’t eat this but…” – there is a lot of food that is consumed simply for the pleasure of eating it without consideration for whether it is something that God would bless in your body

The sin of gluttony – Prov 23:21 – the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty – eating too much is just as much a sin as getting drunk – but you can convince yourself like Eve that the food you eat is so good, so desirable, and so pleasant – the truth is that eating too much is a sin – too much of a good thing is bad – and when a minister is gluttonous, it is even worse because of the terrible detriment to the ministry – according to 1 Cor 9:22-27, gluttony could cause a preacher to be a castaway