‘I know, and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean of itself, except that to him who accounts anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.'

Paul states his own position quite clearly. He knows in his heart, and is persuaded as a result of his experience with the LORD, Jesus, that there is nothing that is ritually unclean of itself. On the other hand he stresses that where someone does believe in ritual uncleanness, then to him such things as he ‘believes are unclean', are unclean. In other words they are such that if he ate of them he would be sinning, simply because he would be doing what he saw as wrong.

‘And am persuaded in (by) the Lord Jesus.' Paul may here have in mind the teaching of Jesus as recorded in Mark 7:14. On the other hand he may simply be indicating that in consequence of his closeness to the LORD Jesus he had become convinced of it.

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