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Rightly Dividing
the Word of Truth (2 Timothy 2:15)
Established
November 2008 Published weekly on Friday
This
is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to
be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 1Timothy 2:3-4
1 Corinthians (Lesson 24)
Introduction to
Chapter 8
The Corinthian
Believers were called out of idolatry and immorality (1 Corinthians 6:9-11;
8:7; 12:2). It’s highly likely many if
not most of the Gentile converts participated in idolatrous pagan ceremonies
before coming to faith.
During these
ceremonies, animals were sacrificed to pagan gods, afterwards a part of the
animal was given to the priest that officiated, a part was consumed at the
altar, and the principal part became the property of the person who offered
it. This unbelieving person took it
home, as food which had been consecrated or blessed by the idol, or it was
eaten at a feast in the idol’s honor, or it was released for sale in the common
market by the principle owner. Whether
it would be right to eat this “tainted” meat, either when invited to a pagan
friend’s home, or when they purchased it in the market, was a common problem
for a Believer who was unsure how God viewed this activity.
This chapter runs
parallel to Romans 14:1-15. Both these
sections of Scripture deal with the somewhat difficult subject of a how a
Believer in Christ Jesus is to balance their liberty while exercising it along with their responsibility to
cause no others harm.
********
Please
open your Bible at 1 Corinthians chapter 8.
Take Care With Your
Liberty
1 Corinthians 8
1: Now concerning
things sacrificed to idols, we know that we all have knowledge.
Knowledge makes
arrogant, but love edifies.
Now concerning
things (animals)
sacrificed to idols – obviously,
this is another one of the questions the Corinthian church asked Paul in that
“lost letter.” It’s interesting that we
find Paul repeating a phrase that was used to prohibit eating meat offered to
an idol
in
the letter sent to Gentile churches from the Jerusalem Council: “…that
you abstain from things sacrificed to idols and
from blood and from things strangled and from fornication; if you keep
yourselves free from such things, you will do well. Farewell.” (Acts 29: 28-29, 21:25)
These
four items were agreed upon by Paul and James at this historical meeting. The purpose of this agreement was to greatly
reduce the cultural tensions which existed between Jews and Gentiles. The decision of the Jerusalem Council then
was that the gospel, for Jew and Gentile, was salvation as a gift of God’s
Grace, through faith alone, faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ, as
the Messiah who bore all mankind’s sins and judgment, so that they could be
pronounced justified and righteous in God’s sight and have eternal
life (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).
we know that we all
have knowledge
– Paul, once again, uses sarcasm, although mildly, with this declaration. If you’ll recall arrogance and boasting is
the chief problem in this church. It is
the root cause of the divisive activity amongst these Believers, and Paul has spoken
out against this sinful behavior several times since the opening of this letter
(1:11). But here’s the thing, the
Corinthians loved knowledge – they couldn’t get enough of it, but they were slow in developing their Christ-like character
– in this instance, love for their
brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus (1 Corinthians 13).
Knowledge has a tendency to
puff a person up, and the Corinthian saints who satisfied their appetites for
food (the eating of meat specifically) without regard for the spiritual welfare
of others who were in attendance weren’t acting intelligently. Paul is saying knowledge makes (one) arrogant
but Christ-like “charity” or love builds
a person up. Love is always constructive whereas arrogance is always destructive.
In
verses 2-3, Paul continues to rebuke the conceited, opinionated, and
self-confident Corinthian Believer who, puffed up by their knowledge, disregards the spiritual interests of others. These folks may have knowledge but they have overlooked the essential element of true knowledge – true knowledge produces a humble spirit and makes a person humble before
God and others.
1 Corinthians 8
2: If anyone
supposes that he (or
she) knows anything, he (or she) has not
yet known as he (or she) ought
to know;
3: but if anyone
loves God, he (or
she) is known by Him.
In
verse 2 Paul is saying the Corinthians had the head knowledge (Acts 18) but there is a lack of understanding in their
hearts. Permit me to explain:
The
heart and mind do not act independently of one another. A friend can tell you that honey is sweet,
and you can fact-check that by reading up on the subject, storing that
information away in your mind, but if you haven’t tasted honey for yourself, you
only know this with your head and not with your heart. Not until you taste the honey do you
experience its sweetness and then know the truth fully in your heart completing
the connection.
So,
it’s possible to have head knowledge without
having the heart knowledge to go along with it.
But, it’s impossible to know things in our hearts, without the head knowledge.
Paul
speaks more about this in verse 3:
…but if anyone loves
God, he (or
she) is known by Him - First
things first; note Paul’s emphasis is on love
and not spiritual knowledge. God didn’t send His one and only Son to
die on the cross so that we would just have knowledge. Jesus Christ’s
final words from that cross, “It is finished,” (Tetelestai) means His work was “completed.” One of these works was satisfying God’s sin
debt, so in that sense He could have also said, “Paid in full.” Those who believe the gospel will be known by Him (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).
There’s
a difference between knowing God and “being
known by Him” wouldn’t you say, having His special interest and attention, for
we are His adopted children by way of Faith in Jesus Christ (Romans 8:16-16; Galatians
4:9). Knowledge about God is no substitute for a personal relationship
with God through His Son (for even the demons believe that God exist – James
2:19), but if the relationship is true the Believer will be prompted by the
Spirit of God to love others,
especially those who are in Christ Jesus, seeking their “highest good”
(Galatians 4:6; 2 Timothy 2:19; 1 John 4:19).
Let’s
move on to verses 4-6.
1 Corinthians 8
4: Therefore
concerning the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we know that
there is no such thing as an idol in the world, and that there is no God
but one.
5: For even if
there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are
many gods and many lords,
6: yet for us there
is but one God, the Father, from whom
are all things and we exist for Him;
and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.
Breaking
away from his discussion on the superiority of love over knowledge, Paul
argues against idols and states a
profound truth concerning God (v6).
Without the “lost letter” it’s hard to say for certain but it’s likely
the phrases “there is no such thing as
an idol” and “there is no God but
one” (v4) are excuses the Corinthians offered to justify their behavior of
eating meat that had been sacrificed to an idol. Paul agrees with what they’re saying, in
part, but corrects them to show them how they have distorted these ideas.
In
verse 5 he explains that even though these are
so-called gods, existing only in the minds of people, they still worship
them. Paul then goes on to say there is
only one God worthy of our worship and that would be God the Father and the
Lord Jesus Christ who died for all, and the way he does this clearly indicates
the deity of Jesus Christ and oneness with the Father (Philippians 2:11).
In
doing this Paul is saying in the same way that the Godhead is one, we Believers
should seek to be one, for we are all members of the Body of Christ. This requires spiritual knowledge, of course, but more importantly this requires
understanding that love is more
important than liberty because we
are our brother’s keeper (Genesis
4:1-9).
Genesis
4:1-9 teaches us that while no one is the absolute “keeper” of others in that
we are responsible for every single person’s safety or welfare when we are
absent, every individual is his or her brother’s
keeper in the respect that we are not to commit violent acts against them or allow others to do so if we are in a
position to prevent it. This sort of
“keeping” is something God rightfully demands of everyone on the grounds of love and justice.
Believers
are not to commit acts of violence
against one another. This includes inflicting
damage by using the tongue in the form of gossip, quarreling, and slander,
jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, arrogance, and general disorder. Instead, we are to exhibit love toward our brothers and sisters in
Christ Jesus with a tender heart and
a humble mind (1 Peter 3:8; James
3:1-12).
But,
as our Apostle Paul points out in the verses 8-13, not everyone’s knowledge is as it should be…
1 Corinthians 8
7: However not all men have this knowledge; but
some, being accustomed to the idol until now, eat food as if it were sacrificed to an idol; and their conscience
being weak is defiled.
8: But food will
not commend us to God; we are neither the worse if we do not eat, nor the
better if we do eat.
9: But take care
that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the
weak.
As
I understand the proceedings at the altar of false worship, after the pagan
priest received his share of the animal being offered to the idol, the rest of
the carcass was divided up. Some of this
meat was sold to the meat shops (1 Corinthians 10:25), or served at a dining
area at the temple itself (8:10). In
both of these cases, the profits went to the temple. Usually, the healthiest beasts were reserved
for the idol sacrifices, which meant when this meat found its way to the common
market it was the best that could be purchased.
Today it would be identified as “USDA Prime.” Thus, many Believers, knowing that “an idol is nothing,” purchased this meat
for their own consumption.
But,
as verse 7 indicates, not every Believer had a clear understanding of the
things Paul has been discussing so far.
To these folks eating this meat was an insult to the one true living God,
i.e. a sin. To the others, instead of
strengthening and supporting their weaker
brother and sister, helping them by building them up in the Word, they weakened them even further by dining
with them, causing them to participate in an act they believed to be wrong, defiling them and ruining their walk
with the Lord.
To
this Paul says:
8: But food will not commend us to God; we are neither the
worse if we do not eat, nor the better if we do eat.
Paul
is addressing the Believer who is exercising their liberty to eat saying, and
I’m paraphrasing, “While there is no
reason for you not to exercise your liberty in eating or not to eat meat
sacrificed to idols, by the same token, there was no compelling reason for you
to eat it.”
Eating
or not eating food has zero spiritual significance in itself. Neither act will commend us to God (bring us nearer) or make us approved by
Him. Paul’s point is that doing things
“not forbidden” by God has no significance in our relationship to God. They are what you might say, spiritually neutral.
Gluttony
is harmful and eating foods you know you’re allergic to will cause a great deal
of harm. No sensible, mature person does
these things. But God has shown us in
His Word that eating or not eating certain foods has absolutely no spiritual
significance.
Jesus
Christ said: “There
is nothing outside the man which going into him can defile him; but the things
which proceed out of the man are what defile the man” (Mark 7:15). Later, the Lord’s command to Peter to “kill
and eat” was both figurative, referring to accepting Gentiles as brothers and
sisters in Christ, and literal, referring to eating food previously considered
ceremonially unclean (Acts 10). Then
later our Apostle Paul instructed Timothy to receive all food with thankfulness (1Timothy 4:4).
With
this in mind we go to verses 10-12.
10: For if someone (who’s weak in
spiritual knowledge) sees you, who have (spiritual)
knowledge, dining in an idol’s
temple, will not his conscience, if he is weak, be strengthened to eat things
sacrificed to idols?
11: For through your
knowledge he (or
she) who is weak is ruined, the
brother (or sister) for whose sake
Christ died.
12: And so, by
sinning against the brethren and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you
sin against Christ.
Obviously,
although some Corinthian Believer’s possessed the same liberty as these others who were eating “freely,” they lacked
understanding about their freedom (v10).
However,
if a weak Believer sees a mature
Believer eating in the temple, the weak Believer
is probably going to be tempted to go against his own conscience and eat in the temple as well. This could be detrimental, said Paul. For
through your knowledge he (or she) who
is weak is ruined for whose sake Christ died.
The word ruined conveys
the idea of “to come to sin.” The mature
Believer has caused the weak Believer
to sin by leading them into a situation they cannot handle.
Therefore
it is never right to influence another Believer to violate their
conscience. To do so runs the risk of ruining a Believer for whose sake Christ died (Acts 20:28; 1 Peter 1:18-19). The voice of a Believer’s conscience is the
Holy Spirit. Their conscience can be
compared to a “door-keeper” permitting them access to certain places but
barring entry to others where they may be harmed or ruined. As they mature,
their conscience allows them access to more places and to more activities
because they have gained more spiritual knowledge
and are able to make wise choices.
A
small child is not allowed near a hot stove or to play with sharp
instruments. You do not permit them to
run into the street or to play with electrical appliances for good reason. These restrictions are gradually lessened or removed
as they mature and learn what is dangerous and what is not. In like fashion, God confines His children by
their conscience. As they grow in
knowledge and maturity the limits of their conscience are expanded. Other Believers should never encourage,
either directly or indirectly, anyone to move beyond the limits of their
conscience. Concerning this Paul
said: by sinning against the brethren and wounding their conscience
when it is weak, you sin against Christ.
Causing another Believer to stumble is more than a wrongful action against
them; it is an offense against our Lord.
13: Therefore, if
food causes my brother (or sister) to
stumble, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause my brother (or
sister) to stumble.
Food
is just that, food, and a mature Believer knows there is no harm in eating it
in an idol’s temple, at a community event, or at some pagan’s home. He or she does not accept the pagan beliefs
or participate in their pagan practices.
This individual can associate with pagan people because they possess
spiritual knowledge which makes them
spiritually strong, at least in one respect.
But it’s also true that we should be eager to limit our liberty at any time and to any degree
in order to help a fellow Believer who is not as mature as we are in the faith;
a person whom we are to love and a
precious soul for whom Jesus Christ died.
I
haven’t encountered any “meat” sacrificed to Idols lately in my coming and
going’s, but we Believer’s are not to be arrogant
and inconsiderate toward many Believers in the body who are struggling
daily with their personal addictions to alcohol, drugs, food, gambling, the
internet, shopping, video games, etc. These
are stumbling blocks to those who
have prayerfully given them to God to manage for an addiction never truly goes
away, hence the word “addiction.”
(To be continued)
©
Copyright 2011
GJ
Heitzman’s Ministry
All
Rights Reserved
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