for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.
Paul has just described teachers who forbid marriage and ban certain foods. He answers them with two things — what God has said, and how a believer receives what God gives — so what word does he mean, and what kind of prayer?
What the false teachers got wrong
The ban on foods was not neutral advice. It treated God's own provision as something that defiles.
The Christian's FriendDemons play on man's sense of being defiled. As the cure they suggest avoiding certain foods and marriage — the very things God has provided for His creature's welfare. That makes God the cause of man's lack of godliness. … Nothing that God has provided for His creature is defiling.
"The word of God": God's own grant
Where the ESV says "made holy," older translations say "sanctified" — the word the writers below use. They trace this back to what God said after the flood, when He gave every living thing to man for food.
The Christian's FriendIt is sanctified by the word of God and prayer — that is, by God's grant to Noah (Gen. 9:3-4), and by the receiver's thanksgiving.
Under the law, Israel had lists of clean and unclean animals. Kelly reads this verse as the end of those lists — with one condition attached.
William KellySo the ordinary prohibitions of the law disappear, for in this respect as in others the law made nothing perfect. The gospel … shows that all God's ways are right, in creation as well as in providence. So the Christian, even if the Jew could not, can say that every creature of God is good and none is to be rejected. But there is a condition — "if received with thanksgiving." An ungrateful saint is a contradiction.
The word for "prayer" is unusually warm
The Greek term Paul uses here is not the ordinary word for asking God for things.
William KellyThe word used here goes beyond the ordinary word for prayer. It implies the fellowship with God that redemption has now opened to us. It encourages us in all intercession, because of the access we have into the grace in which we stand. But it is still prayer to God, in a way that is as full as it is free. His love permits this, now that His righteousness has been shown.
Two directions in one verse
The verse joins something that comes down from God with something that rises from us.
J. N. DarbyFor us now, as Christians and in Christ, everything is restored. So the creature is sanctified by the word to me, and prayer goes up from me in response.
This shuts the door on the idea that the Christian may do as he pleases.
William KellyGod's word and intercession guard the use of every creature. This is not blanket permission to do as one pleases. … The receiver showed his faith in "God's word" by answering with his "intercession." Not their will but His word approved the use of every creature good for food.
At the table
The everyday use of this cuts both ways: refusing God's gift, or taking it without thanks.
L. M. GrantEven animals that were unclean for Israel by the law's standard are perfectly fit for us to eat. The word of God sanctifies them, along with the thanksgiving prayer of the person eating. If a person does not thank God for his food, he has no proper right to eat at all. For every creature is God's property, and in receiving it we ought to recognise His rights first of all.
Commentators differ on what we should say over a meal. Some say God has already done the sanctifying, so our part is to give thanks, not to ask:
The Bible TreasuryThe common idea is that we must pray over each meal before we can properly eat it. But the opposite is true. The food is sanctified by the new position the Christian now stands in. … The action Scripture calls for on our part is not prayer but thanksgiving. … So the Christian's meal-table becomes an altar of praise.
Others read the verse as leaving something for the household to do:
A. J. PollockIt is sad if Christian households do not complete this sanctification by prayer as they use the food He has so mercifully provided.
A pair that reaches past food
The two things named here are treated elsewhere as the pattern for handling everything God gives.
Samuel Ridout"The word of God and prayer" are put together as the sanctifying power in the enjoyment of all the natural gifts of God (1 Tim. 4:5).
Summary
- Granted — Food is made holy first by God's own word of grant, going back to what He said to Noah. The old restrictions of the law fall away.
- Good — Every creature of God is good. To refuse His provision for religious reasons insults the Giver instead of honouring Him.
- Received — The gift comes with one condition: receive it with thanks. An ungrateful believer is a contradiction.
- Returned — The word comes down to us; prayer goes up in answer. The word Paul uses means free, confident fellowship with God, not just asking.
- Repeated — Word and prayer together sanctify the enjoyment of every natural gift. So the meal-table becomes an altar of praise.