Clean vs. Unclean
Under the Mosaic Law, "clean" and "unclean" describe ritual (not moral) purity - certain foods, conditions, and contacts made a person temporarily unfit to participate in worship until purified, a system the New Testament describes as fulfilled and set aside in Christ.
Point by Point
Clean
Unclean
Nature of the distinction
Ritual fitness to approach God in worship and community life.
Ritual unfitness, often temporary, from specific foods, skin conditions, bodily discharges, or contact with death.
How it was resolved
Restored through washing, waiting periods, or specific offerings.
Uncleanness itself wasn't sin, but left unaddressed, it barred someone from full participation in worship.
New Testament shift
Peter's vision declares 'what God hath cleansed, that call not thou common' (Acts 10:15).
Signals the Old Testament food laws are no longer the boundary marker they once were.
Scripture References
Clean and Unclean Animals
Leviticus 11:1-31 And the LORD spake unto Moses and to Aaron, saying unto them, 2 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, These are the beasts which ye shall eat among all the beasts that are on the earth. 3 Whatsoever parteth the hoof, and is clovenfooted, and cheweth the cud, among the beasts, that shall ye eat.
Establishes the dietary clean/unclean distinctions under the Law.
What God Hath Cleansed
Acts 10:14-1514 But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean. 15 And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.
Peter's vision marks a turning point where the old dietary boundary is declared no longer binding.
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