Question on the relation between the Noahic Covenant and Acts 15

There are differences between the Jewish Noahide laws and the laws given in Acts 15. Acts 15's commands to not eat blood or strangled animals has been replaced by the command not to take a bite out of a living creature. Now, I'm pretty sure to take a bite out of a living creature is not in the Torah, but instead there are instructions on how to properly slaughter an animal. The point is, not to eat blood or things that have died of themselves is in the Torah.

That being said, Acts was written in part to cover for Paul, because in Romans 14 and 1 Cor. 8 and 10, Paul says you can eat food sacrificed to idols. Acts 15 says Paul agreed that you can't. Paul got in trouble for teaching the Jews they don't have to follow the law. It's in Acts 21. James or Jacob says we've heard about you Paul that you teach the Jews to forsake Moses. So Jacob refuses Paul's money and tells him to spend it on people who are taking a Nazarite vow. Paul goes to the temple with a Greek and the people from Asia recognize him and get people to try to kill him. Paul has to be saved by the Romans. You can read Paul's writings for yourself, he was violating Deuteronomy 13. Acts paints him as falsely accused.

But people don't read Acts that way. The mainstream churches use Acts 15 as a ticket for lawlessness and ignore Acts 21. They accept Paul as an apostle. People will in one breath say the Torah was set aside in Acts 15 and I can eat blood if I want, since Jesus declared all foods clean in Mark 7 and Matthew 15. Modern Christians also shouldn't have a problem with eating food sacrificed to idols if they follow Paul's words. The only thing they keep, or at least used to keep, they don't anymore, is the commandment against sexual immorality, and that is because Paul also taught against sexual immorality as being a thing of the flesh, which was dirty, as opposed to the spirit. Yes, Paul was very dualistic, if that's the right word. He had the Hellenized Greek view that there was a spiritual realm and a physical realm, and these two are almost at war with each other and the spiritual realm is of God. But Judaism is much more physical. God is God of the living, not the dead. The mainstream church did move away from Paul when it came to the spiritual-physical divide, but not when it came to his lawlessness.

/r/messianic Thread