An emphasis on health is common amongst most religions, including promotions for supernatural healings in some. The following verses will help to give the Christian position.
1. Acts 10:9-17, Acts 11:5-10 'Unclean' food is clean now. Strict health rules can hinder our effectiveness in fellowshipping with people of other cultures. We come across as being self-righteous if we refuse to eat what is offered to us by others.
2. Matthew 15:11-20, Mark 7:18 What goes into your mouth does not make you evil. Health rules have nothing to do with spirituality. They can make us healthy, but what God is most interested in is our spirit.
3. 1 Corinthians 10:25, 1 Corinthians 6:12-13 We can eat anything. Unhealthy food won't keep us out of heaven. In fact, it may get us there sooner!
4. Romans 8:23 Our physical bodies are not redeemed yet. This verse refutes the Pentecostal teaching that Jesus died so that our physical bodies could be perfectly healthy. That will not happen until Jesus returns and we are given immortal bodies.
5. Luke 11:29-32, Matthew 12:39, Matthew 16:4 Evil people want miracles. God occasionally does miracles for special purposes, but real faith will obey God, with or without miracles.
6. James 4:3 Selfish prayers won't be granted. Asking for healing or miracles is not the same as asking for God's will. We all want to be healthy, but often God can teach us more through suffering. Asking for something "in Jesus' name" means asking for it in his behalf. If he didn't tell you to ask for it, then you may be taking his name in vain by asking for it "in his name".
7. John 9:2-3 It is not a sin to be sick. This verse reminds us that God often uses pain and suffering to teach us important lessons.
8. Matthew 11:19, Luke 7:34 Jesus was called an alcoholic and a glutton. Obviously, Jesus did not just drink grape juice! He was more concerned with relating to the people than he was with his health.
9. Mark 16:17-18 We can drink deadly things in faith. Unhealthy food/drink is often a worry when doing missionary work. But God is able to protect us from such things if we are eating and drinking in love.
10. Matthew 10:7-8, Luke 10:1, Luke 10:9 Heal the sick. Nothing says we have to do miracles; but we can do practical things like bandaging wounds or teaching hygiene.
11. Luke 10:33-35 The Good Samaritan's healing ministry. He "laid hands" on the man, and "anointed him with oil". These are practical, non-miraculous ways of assisting God's natural healing processes.
12. James 5:14 James' instructions on healing. We are told to pray and imitate the Good Samaritan if someone in our community is sick. Nursing care is a way of showing practical love.
13. Matthew 5:29-30, Matthew 18:8-9, Mark 9:43-47 Poke out your eye if it offends you. Although surgery did not exist then, Jesus shows that there is a place for cutting out an infected part of the body in order to protect the rest of the body.
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