1 Corinthians 8:1-13

If you're looking at the new Bible, that is page 956.

We are resuming our series in 1 Corinthians after taking a short break around Easter time.

But we'll be plowing ahead, entering into the second half of this book.

So let's read together 1 Corinthians chapter 8, reading the whole chapter this morning.

1 Corinthians 8 · chapter mention

Now concerning food offered to idols.

We know that all of us possess knowledge.

This knowledge pops up, but love builds up.

If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know.

But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.

Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that an idol has no real existence

and that there is no God but one.

For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords.

Yet for us, there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist.

And one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

However, not all possess this knowledge.

But some, through former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol,

and their conscience being weak is defiled.

Food will not commend us to God.

We are no worse off if we do not eat and no better off if we do.

But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.

For if anyone who sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol's temple,

will he not be encouraged if his conscience is weak to eat food offered to idols?

And so by your knowledge, this weak person is destroyed.

The brother from whom Christ died.

Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ.

Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.

Well, the topic of today's sermon is food sacrificed to idols.

At least that's the headache of the ESV.

If you were raised in a Western culture, that topic might seem completely irrelevant.

You might wonder, why does Paul spend the next three chapters discussing this issue?

What, if anything, does this have to do with me?

You know, a few years ago, somebody actually admitted to me that they had looked at the sermon card

and read the passage that we were going to be preaching on

and decided that it just wasn't worth coming to church that day.

So I'm glad you didn't do that.

I'm wondering for you, don't tune out.

Here's a couple reasons why this passage is relevant.

At first, the issue of food offered to idols is still relevant in many cultures.

Recently, I was talking to another pastor who had preached for 1 Corinthians to his church.

And the members of his church were mostly African and Caribbean immigrants.

And he said, you know, a whole section about sex and marriage, chapters 6 and 7.

I thought that could be controversial, but pretty much everyone seemed to agree,

in principle at least, with what Paul was saying.

But then we got the food offered to idols.

And this was the most controversial section of the whole book.

One person said, whenever I go home and my mom puts a meal,

she'll pour out some of the food on an image that sits in our front yard

as a way of warding off evil spirits.

Or maybe you're from an Asian culture.

What about the traditional meals eaten in honor of ancestors?

Or is it in worship of ancestors?

Are they harmless cultural traditions?

Are they pagan religious rituals?

Should Christians not make a big deal out of them?

Or should Christians completely refrain from participating in them?

You know, if you go into most of the Thai restaurants in New Haven,

you may notice that in the entryway, there's often a little statue of the Buddha.

And there's often a little food placed right in front of you.

So for some of you, these may be very real issues

that have potential to cause a lot of tension in your family

or among your close friends who follow a different religious tradition.

And the question there is, how do I remain loyal to Christ

without unnecessarily offending people who are close to me?

Where do I draw the line between cultural expressions and religious practices?

How do I show respect to people who I love

without endorsing practices that don't reflect God's will?

So we'll try to address some of those questions over the next few weeks,

especially when we get to chapter 10.

But before we go on, let me just point out

that in every culture there are some biblical teachings

that deeply resonate with our intuitions.

They make total sense to us.

And we say, that's true wisdom.

That's beautiful.

There are other biblical teachings that sound strange and countercultural

and we inherently tend to resist them.

Now from the Bible's perspective, that makes sense

because we're all created in the image of God

and yet we're all deeply flawed and corrupted by sin.

But since every culture and every person is different,

the parts of the Bible that you most struggle with

that seem most implausible to you

may be the parts that are most obviously true

and uncontroversial and make intuitive sense

from someone else's perspective or someone else's culture.

You know, it's helpful to realize this.

Your own doubts and questions are largely determined

by your cultural background

and the historical moment in which you live.

That doesn't mean you should simply dismiss them or ignore them.

But it does mean you shouldn't see them as absolute,

unchangeable objections which every reasonable person would share.

If you're really struggling with any biblical teaching,

it's helpful to ask,

what is it that I'm assuming

that makes it so hard for me

to accept what the Bible says in this particular area?

Well, so food offered to idols is a concern for many Christians today.

Second, the second reason why this is relevant

is Paul's primary concern in this section

is not actually just whether you should eat food offered to idols.

If that was Paul's only concern,

he could have skipped chapter 8, chapter 9,

most of chapter 10 and gone right to chapter 10,

verse 21 and 25 and 27,

where he finally answers that question.

And if you want to know Paul's answer,

should you eat food sacrificed offered to idols,

his answer is this.

Number one, don't participate in religious feasts

which involve idol worship.

That's 1021.

But second, if you're in the marketplace

or you're at somebody's house,

you can eat whatever you want

as long as it's not explicitly associated

with promoting idolatry.

As long as by eating you're not actively promoting it.

Now, we'll get to untangling that in a couple of weeks.

So for Paul, eating food offered to idols,

in the context of pagan religious feasts,

it's not actually simply a matter of opinion

over which Christians may differ.

Sometimes people think that this passage

is talking about the same thing as Romans 14,

which talks about opinions or disputable matters.

There's actually a difference.

Romans 14 does not mention food offered to idols.

It's talking more about flea and unclean foods,

which is sort of a different issue.

And so Paul agrees with Acts 15,

the decree of the Jerusalem Council,

and Revelation 2,

where the Apostle John warns against Christians

eating food offered to idols.

So the New Testament is actually consistent

on this issue,

which is something I didn't always realize.

But that's, I think,

the best way to put things together.

Now, if that's the answer,

why does Paul spend three whole chapters on this topic?

And the reason is Paul's more concerned

with a bunch of bigger issues that are related.

So three of the issues Paul's concerned with

in these chapters are,

one, how should the Christian church

relate to the outside unbelieving world?

Second, how should Christians

with different social backgrounds

and different opinions

relate to one another?

Third, how does your freedom in Christ

relate to your responsibility

to other people in the body of Christ?

So these are three of the issues

that Paul will be dealing with

in these next three chapters.

He doesn't just want to draw the boundaries

and say you can do this,

you can't do that.

He wants to address this at the level

of our motivations and our identity.

Say, who are you?

Who do you belong to?

You know, a lot of Christian answers

to ethical questions only make sense

if you start with, who are you?

Who do you belong to?

You're a human being created in God's image

or someone who's called to belong to Jesus Christ.

A lot of Christian ethical answers

only make sense in the context

of the Christian worldview.

So that's what Paul's doing all along

in 1 Corinthians.

He's addressing all kinds of different issues

by bringing them back to the message

of Christ crucified and risen.

Now before we jump into chapter 8,

take out your bulletin

and look at the insert.

We're about halfway through 1 Corinthians,

so I wanted to do a little bit

of a big picture

where we come from,

where we're going.

And particularly,

I just want to point out

some patterns in 1 Corinthians.

1 Corinthians is not just sort of

a random assortment of issues

that Paul's dealing with one by one.

There's actually some patterns

in how he addresses each issue

in light of the gospel of Christ.

And particularly,

he begins by warning against

divisions and pride in section 1,

against sexual immorality and greed

in section 2,

which we just finished.

And here against idolatry

and selfishness.

All of those things destroy the church.

But he follows the warnings

with a positive vision

of what it looks like,

practically speaking,

to build up the church

to display the glory of God

in this world.

In chapter 3, verse 16,

Paul said,

you are the temple of God.

God's dwelling place on earth,

the visible display of God's glory

in this broken world.

So he says,

live in such a way

as to build up that temple.

That language of building up

is very,

you'll see a lot

in the next half of 1 Corinthians,

especially 12 through 14.

But building up on another.

The image Paul has in mind

that the church is God's temple,

God's dwelling place

where His presence and glory dwell

in this world.

And Paul says,

build up that temple.

Don't tear it down.

And don't hurt

the parts of the building

that are weak.

Rather,

come alongside them

and strengthen them.

chapter 8 through 10,

there's a pattern.

Same as 12 through 14,

he begins with some general principles,

which we'll look at today.

Chapter 8,

he then seems to digress.

He seems to address

a different topic.

Chapter 9 doesn't mention

food offered titles at all.

And Paul seems to go

a totally different direction,

but actually,

that's the heart of Paul's message.

And then he comes back

to food offered titles,

chapter 10.

It's the same thing,

12, 13, 14,

with spiritual gifts

and then love.

Right?

That chapter gets read

at weddings all the time.

It's not just about marriage,

it's not primarily about marriage,

it's about love

for your brothers and sisters

in the church.

And why that's the key

to understanding

spiritual gifts.

The key to understanding

spiritual gifts

is understanding

what it means to love

as Christ has loved us.

And the key to understanding

food offered to idols

is understanding

what it means to

be willing to lay down

our rights

and our freedoms

and our privileges

for the good

of others.

Alright,

so that's a little bit

of where we're going.

Let's dive in.

Chapter 8, verse 1.

Now concerning food

offered to idols.

If you look back

at chapter 7, verse 1,

Paul uses the same phrase.

Now concerning the matters

about which you wrote.

So the Corinthians

had written to Paul,

we don't have a copy

of their letter,

but they had written

a letter to Paul,

probably asking his advice

on certain matters.

Most likely,

this was one of them.

In verse 1 and verse 4,

Paul seems to be quoting,

perhaps from their letter,

that they sent him.

Now the ESV puts

those things in quotes.

All of us possess knowledge.

An idol has no real existence.

There is no God but one.

So it seems like,

if you look at the context

of these chapters,

it seems like here's what

the Corinthians wrote to Paul.

Dear Paul,

some members of our church

have become upset

because others have accepted

invitations to dinners

held in idol temples

and freely eat food

that has been offered

to idols.

But all of us possess knowledge

that an idol has no real existence

and that there is no God but one.

So there is no such thing

as idol food,

just food.

But these weak people

are frightened.

They think we are promoting

idolatry.

They question our right

to eat whatever we want.

We are trying to build them up

so they too can enjoy

freedom in Christ

and eat any food.

That's probably something like

what the Corinthians wrote

to Paul.

If you want to understand

how I came up with that,

I'm happy to explain

more later.

But this is,

I think this will make sense

of what we're reading

in chapter 8.

Now, what we'll see here

is Paul doesn't immediately

take sides.

He doesn't immediately say,

I agree with you,

I disagree with you.

He takes a step back

and addresses some

bigger picture issues.

And in this chapter

in particular,

he focuses on knowledge

and love.

He says,

you know, you're saying

you know all these things.

Well, let's talk about knowledge.

And let's also talk about love.

What does it mean

to love one another

in the body of Christ?

So there are three paragraphs.

In chapter 8,

we'll take them in turn.

Paragraph 1,

verse 1 through 3,

how knowledge relates to love.

Paragraph 2,

verse 4 through 6,

what we know as Christians.

And paragraph 3,

how Christians should love.

Verse 7 through 13.

So first,

knowledge and love,

how they relate together.

What Paul does in verse 1 through 3,

is he points out

the dangers of knowledge

and the priority of love.

He says,

this knowledge

puffs up,

but love

builds up.

If anyone imagines

that he knows something,

he does not yet know

as he ought to know.

Now,

we should rip that verse

out of context.

Paul is not against

knowledge.

Paul himself

was very well educated.

Paul also wasn't

a radical skeptic.

he wasn't saying

the only thing

we can ever know

is that we don't

know anything.

What Paul was saying

is that there's

an inherent danger

in accumulating

knowledge.

Particularly when

that knowledge

is limited

or distorted.

And he's concerned

that some of the

Corinthian Christians

were falling

into this trap.

Their knowledge

was puffing them up

with pride

and arrogance.

They were very

confident in their

knowledge,

but they were

using their knowledge

as a weapon

to defend themselves

rather than

as a tool

to build up

the community.

But they perhaps

didn't even realize

that they were

doing this.

I don't think

they were out

to,

I don't think

they were malicious

people

that Paul was

writing to

who were out

to hurt the weak

in their community.

They were simply

very confident

in their knowledge,

blind about

some of their,

the ways that

they were affecting

other people

and not realizing

the harm

they were causing them.

And so Paul's

trying to help them.

And he's trying

to help us

get our priorities

straight.

So he wants to say

true knowledge

of God

and of ourselves

should express itself

in love for God

and love for Naaman.

Jesus said

that's the first

and greatest commandment.

What we read

from Deuteronomy,

to love the Lord

your God

is all your heart

and soul

and mind

and strength.

The second is like it

to love your neighbor

as yourself.

Paul says

knowledge pops up.

It's like a balloon.

You know,

kids are always excited

when they get balloons,

aren't they?

Right?

But the balloon

never lasts

more than a few days.

It deflates.

It shrivels up.

It doesn't last

in a church

that's built

on knowledge

and pride

but lacks

love and humility.

It's like balloon.

It may look

very impressive

for a while

and elevated

and large

but it can fall apart

just as quickly.

But Paul says

love

builds up.

Love creates

something

substantial

and enduring

and solid

that can't be

quickly blown away

by the wind.

When a Christian community

is characterized

by steadfast

enduring

love

it can withstand

all kinds

of external pressures

and stresses

without falling apart.

That's why Proverbs

says love covers

over a multitude

of sins.

Love is

very important.

Now of course

love for God

and love for one another

matures

through growing knowledge.

Philippians 1

Paul prays

it is my prayer

that your love

may abound

in knowledge

and with all discernment

so that you may

prove what is excellent

and be pure

and plainly.

So Paul's not saying

knowledge is unimportant.

He's saying

our knowledge

needs to be rooted

in love

and it needs to be

expressed

in love.

Now verse 3

right

if that's the main

point of the paragraph

we might expect

Paul to say

if anyone

loves God

that person

is the one

who truly knows God

right

because if you

truly know God

then you'll

have love

for God

but interestingly

Paul gives us

a little surprise

he says

if anyone

loves God

he is known

by God.

What Paul

wants to leave us

with in this paragraph

is the most

important kind

of knowledge

is not any

knowledge that you

have

it's that

God

knows

you

and when the

Bible talks

about God

knowing

us

it doesn't

just mean

he knows

about us

just like

he knows

about everything

else in the rest

of the world

and everything

else there is

to know

when the Bible

says God

knows you

that refers to him

choosing us

to be his own

before the foundation

of the world

uniting himself

to us

intimately

in covenant

faithfulness

through Christ

when we're

known by God

it means we're

loved by God

it means

we're

wrapped

in his

embrace

it means

we respond

by knowing

and loving

him in return

it means

we're drawn

in

to the

Father

Son

and Holy

Spirit

in that

community

of love

and knowledge

now before

we go on

to the next

section

the next

paragraph

let me give

a few brief

applications

about the

dangers

of knowledge

and the

priority

of love

first

college

students

and this

applies

to high

school

and middle

school

students

but you

live in

an environment

that's oriented

around increasing

your technical

knowledge

and critical

thinking skills

and those

skills can be

very valuable

and very

worthwhile

but beware

the tendency

of knowledge

to puff

you up

with pride

I mean

it's pretty

easy

if you go

to Yale

it's easy

right

it's pretty

easy

to look

around

and find

somebody

else

that seems

to be

pumped up

with all

their knowledge

but the

false question

is

look at

ourselves

is that

happening

to us

too

and second

we're

supposed to

pursue

love

with as

much

diligence

and energy

as you

pursue

knowledge

and by

love

I don't

mean

romance

necessarily

by love

I mean

things like

learning to

listen

well

learning to

be a good

friend

regardless

of whether

you're a good

networker

learning to

relate to

people who

are very

different than

you

or who

seem to

have nothing

to offer

you

learning to

speak the

truth in

love to

people who

have offended

or wronged

you

learning to

forgive as

God has

forgiven you

this is the

kind of love

that our

world desperately

needs

resolve to

pursue love

and harness

your knowledge

toward the

end of

loving others

more effectively

it takes

time to

develop

that kind

of love

it's not

something that

comes naturally

to us

Paul says

it's a fruit

of the

Holy Spirit

working in

us

so if

your student

resolves

to pursue

love

with as

much

diligence

and energy

as you

are pursuing

knowledge

second

if you're

in divinity

school

or thinking

about going

to seminary

or divinity

school

one of the

major spiritual

dangers of

enrolling

full time

especially in

seminary or

div school

is that your

knowledge about

God and

the Bible and

theology and

church history

is almost

always growing

faster than

your love

for God

and for

your name

and so many

people don't

realize this

but seminary

or div

school can

be as

much of a

spiritual

battlefield

as anywhere

else in the

world

some people

think it will

be a spiritual

paradise

I can just

go and learn

about the

Bible for

two or

three years

it's not

just that

because the

dangers are

more hidden

if you're a

div school

student you

need the

broader body

of Christ

the local

church not

just the

div school

community and

not just the

div school

chapel

because being

part of the

larger body

of Christ

will constantly

challenge you

to love

people who

are different

than you

people who

haven't read

any of the

books you're

reading and

might not

really care

about them

it'll push

you to

consider how

the material

you're learning

actually applies

to people

in their

real daily

lives

it will

humble you

and you

probably need

that

on a regular

basis

okay third

group

I've been in

all these

groups by the

way

okay

third group

if you're

really into

reform theology

okay maybe

you came to

Trinity

because you

found us on

9 March

and the

gospel coalition

and you

read our

recommended

book list

on the

website

and you

thought this

is the

church for

me

some of you

are like I

don't even

know what

any of those

things are

that's fine

okay there's a

danger of

being pumped up

with reform

theology

just as much

as any other

kind of

college

but think

about what

reform theology

says

it says this

it says God

doesn't owe

you anything

because he's

sovereign over

everything he

chose you in

Christ before

the world

began you

had nothing

to do with

that and

your salvation

is by grace

alone not by

your good

works not by

your intellect

and not because

you have your

theology all

right so if

you really

understand that

the harder

performed theology

you'll become

increasingly humble

and willing and

even wanting to

receive correction

from others in

the body of

Christ whether

or not they

understand what

performed theology

is or call

themselves

performed or

don't know or

don't care

and you will

become increasingly

grateful and

generous and

joyful and

reverent that's

the kind of love

that understanding

the biblical gospel

produces

and finally the

knowledge we

should treasure

more than

anything else

as I said is

the knowledge

that God

knows us

that he has

loved us and

received us

through Christ

that he knows

us better than

we know ourselves

and yet he loves

us through and

through

he's called us

by name

you know there's

an amazing promise

in Revelation 2

17

Jesus says to

the one who

overcomes that

is the one who

perseveres in

faith I will

give you a

white stone

with a new

name written

on the stone

that no one

knows except

the one who

receives it

Jesus knows

you better than

you know yourself

and one day in

heaven he's going

to give you a

new name

and apparently

he's just going

to be he knows

you so intimately

and personally

and individually

that no one

will know that

name except

him and you

and maybe you

can share with

everybody else

because I guess

we'll have a

complete knowledge

in heaven I

don't know how

that all works

but the point

is he knows

your name

and he has

called you by

name and he

has a name

that he's going

to give you

because he knows

you so well

and sees all

that he's going

to do in you

that's an amazing

promise

alright so that's

the first thing

priority of love

and the dangers

of knowledge

second thing

what we should

know as Christians

this is verse 4

through 6

again Paul's

not putting

down knowledge

that's why he

talks about it

in verse 4

through 6

Paul goes back

to some of

the Corinthian

slogans

an idol has

no real existence

there's no God

but one

this is a reference

to what we read

earlier in Deuteronomy

it's called the

Shema

it's the confession

of faith

that the Jewish

people have

recited for centuries

the Lord our God

the Lord is one

you shall love

the Lord your God

with all your heart

with all your soul

and with all your might

now some of the

people in the

Corinthian church

were saying

well idols aren't

real

it's only one

through God

so we can just

go into pagan

temples

and eat meat

offered to idols

it doesn't really

matter

idols just aren't

real

we just know

it's all a charade

they might believe

it's real

but as long as

you know it's

fake

then it doesn't

matter

well let's

challenge that

attitude

because at one

level there was

a self-serving

attitude

the primary

reason people

would have been

motivated to go

into idol temples

and eat food

offered to idols

is because that

is where a lot

of the more

socially prominent

Corinthians often

gathered

for both religious

rituals as well

as social occasions

and so if you

got an invitation

to dine at the

temple of Asclepion

there was a

potential social

cost to refusing

it

or to showing

up and abstaining

from some of the

foods that the

host provided

and so Paul has

a challenge

their attitude

and sort of their

desire for social

advancement at all

costs

but Paul does this

first by saying

remember what we

know as Christians

again Paul's

stepping back

he doesn't just

say yes

no

he doesn't just

get right in their

face right away

but he steps back

and says think

about knowledge

and think about

love and then

think about what

we know as

Christians

verse 6

for us there is

one God the

Father from whom

are all things

and for whom we

exist and one

Lord Jesus Christ

through whom are

all things and

through whom we

live

now notice what

Paul points out

Paul points out

three things in

that simple verse

three things beyond

there is no God

beyond a simple

affirmation of

monotheistic faith

so first he points

out we exist for

God

one God for whom

we exist

in other words

you don't exist

for yourselves

God is not only

the origin of

everything he's

also the purpose

and end for which

we were created

and as Paul

will get into

this later on

one of the major

problems is that

some of the

Corinthian Christians

were being selfish

and self-promoting

and they were

acting as if

God exists

so that we can

do what we want

and Paul says

oh no

we exist for God

that's a fundamental

truth

from him and for him

we have to start

there

second

we come to God

the Father

through Jesus

Christ

it says

through whom

are all things

and through

who we exist

now

that last phrase

is literally

it says

the ESV

translated

through who

we exist

which is very

legitimate translation

but it literally

just says

we through him

it says

from whom

are all things

and we for him

and then one more

Jesus Christ

through whom

are all things

and we through him

so I think

the end of the verse

is not just saying

we exist

because of Jesus Christ

but it's saying

that it's through

Jesus Christ

that we

achieve the end

for which we were

created

it's through

Jesus Christ

that we realize

our purpose

and destiny

as human beings

and it's through

Jesus in particular

who came

and died

on the cross

that we're

reconciled to God

we can know

God as our Father

again

Paul just mentions

these theological

truths here

but these are the

truths

that he's going

to really dig into

because even later

in this chapter

he's going to say

your brother

is the one

for whom

Christ died

it is through

the sacrificial

death of Christ

that you

and your brother

and your sister

can come freely

before God

so again

Paul's sort of

laying the groundwork

for what he's going

to dig into

deeper

later on

third thing

Paul says

Jesus Christ

is Lord

and God

now this is a side note

but if you take

a New Testament

class

at a secular

university

or if you watch

a PBS special

on early Christianity

you may hear

people say

the earliest

followers of Jesus

did not actually

worship him

or proclaim

his divinity

this belief

developed gradually

and later on

just like the

larger than life

legends

that develop

around great

historical figures

long after they're

gone

the problem

with that view

well this verse

among many other

things

creates a problem

for that view

because 1 Corinthians

is one of the

earliest pieces

of Christian literature

that we have

written only 20 years

after Jesus' death

and resurrection

and when Paul says

Jesus Christ

is not only

the Messiah

but also

the one

Lord

Paul's identifying

Jesus with

the one God

that Jews

had worshipped

for centuries

it's a strong

statement

of the deity

of Jesus Christ

and Paul states

this as if

everyone knows

this

this is one of

the few statements

in 1 Corinthians

that it's not

at all controversial

the Corinthians

got this right

Jesus Christ

is God

they knew it

Paul agreed

with them

he didn't have

to convince them

there's all kinds

of other things

he was trying

to convince them

of

but this was

already established

it's even

possible

that Paul

was quoting

an early

Christian

pre

an early

Christian

summary of the

faith

confession of faith

that was based

on the Jewish

confession of faith

in Deuteronomy

but expanded

to explain

that we not only

believe in one God

but we believe

in the one Lord

Jesus Christ

our Savior

so it's simply

not the case

that the deity

of Jesus Christ

is a belief

that appears

more prominently

in later

Christian writings

it's right there

from the start

and it's crystal

clear

and for Paul

and the Corinthians

that wasn't

even controversial

so that's

what Christians

should know

third section

of how we're

called to love

verse 7

to 13

now the main

point of this

paragraph

is verse 9

and the reason

I can say

it's the main

point is because

it's the only

command

in this passage

and actually

in the whole

chapter

verse 9

is really the

message

the takeaway

that Paul

wants us to

go away with

take care

that this

right of yours

does not

somehow become

a stumbling

block

through to

the week

for the week

so in this

paragraph

Paul's addressing

the people

who claim

to possess

knowledge

and who claim

that because

they have this

knowledge

we should all

feel free to

eat any food

we want

anytime we

want

and who are

sort of

probably

complaining to

Paul

saying these

weak people

who still

think that

isles are

real are

preventing us

from living

out our

freedom in

Christ

and Paul

says wait

a minute

he says

consider how

the display

of your

knowledge

and Paul

is using

knowledge

a bit

ironically

in this

whole chapter

but anyway

he says

consider how

the display

of your

knowledge

will affect

your brothers

and sisters

in Christ

those whom

you consider

weak

verse 8

he says

food won't

commend us

to God

well they

would have

agreed with

him

so yeah

food doesn't

matter

that's not

how you're

made right

with God

so therefore

we should be

able to eat

anything we

want

whatever we

want

and Paul

says

but we're

no worse

off if we

don't eat

and no

better off

if we

do

he actually

says the

opposite of

what they

want

they want

him to

say

we're

no worse

off if

we eat

and no

better off

if we

don't

Paul says

if you don't

eat the

food

you'll be

just fine

with the

end

and if

you do

eat

it doesn't

get you

any closer

to God

you already

have everything

you need

in Christ

Christ

died for

you to

bring you

to God

so you're

not only

free to

partake

you're also

free to

abstain

you see

having

freedom

in Christ

to eat

all foods

as long

as they're

received

with

thanksgiving

which at

one level

Paul doesn't

agree with

doesn't mean

you are

compelled to

eat all

foods to

prove how

free you

are

Paul doesn't

want them

eating food

in the context

of a

pagan

idolatrous

feast

because he

doesn't want

them promoting

idolatry

we'll look

up to that

chapter 10

jumping ahead

Paul's saying

to have

freedom

doesn't mean

you have

to indulge

you can

have freedom

to drink

alcohol in

moderation

and you

can choose

for various

reasons

that you

don't want

to do

that

and you're

still free

in Christ

that's one

expression of

freedom in

Christ

so in this

circumstance

Paul argues

you need to

prioritize love

for your weak

brothers and

sisters in

Christ over

your own

rights to

eat and drink

whatever you

want whenever

you want

so he says

take care

you know

think about

what if one of

your brothers

or sisters in

Christ used to

worship at the

temple of

Aphrodite

and they

hear that

you're going

to the

festival there

and you're

going to

pick out

and you're

just going

to have a

great time

and that's

where they

used to

worship idols

and commit

sexual immorality

do all kinds

of things that

they're just

trying to

move away

from

because they've

just come to

faith in

Christ

how will that

affect them

if you're

publicly going

and saying

hey why

don't we get

a roof

from the

church

to go

along

Paul says

their conscience

will be

defiled

that is

they'll be

persuaded

to do

something

that they

are convinced

is a

compromise

of their

loyalty to

Jesus

and Paul

says that's

never a

good pattern

to be

urging a

fellow believer

to do

something

that they

are convinced

for biblical

reasons

is displeasing

to God

now

there are

other places

in scripture

especially

Romans 14

where Paul

sometimes

challenges

some of

the weak

people

right

who are

Paul's

concerned

some of

these

weak

people

are

becoming

actually

legalistic

and sort

of wanting

to add

all these

rules

and enforce

them on

everybody

else

in the

Christian

community

and in

that case

Paul says

no

you can't

do that

you can't

add rules

that aren't

in the

Bible

but here

Paul's

focus is

on the

quote unquote

strong

people who

think hey

we can do

whatever we

want

Paul challenges

them here

verse 11

Paul has

some very

strong words

by your

knowledge

which you

boast about

so much

this weak

person is

being

destroyed

that is

not just

personally

offended

but spiritually

torn apart

led into

sin by

you

and this

weak person

is the

brother or

sister for

whom Christ

died

Christ laid

down his

life for

him and

you're not

even willing

to give

up a meal

for his

or her

good

verse 12