1 Corinthians 8 - Using Your Freedom to Serve Others!
Concerning Food Sacrificed to Idols
8 Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that “We all possess knowledge.” But knowledge puffs up while love builds up. 2 Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know. 3 But whoever loves God is known by God.
While there was immorality in the Corinthian church, there was also legalism and moralism. Some of the new believers had a prideful attitude about their so called "knowledge". But Paul contrasts religious knowledge that many of the Jews had, with the knowledge of God through the Holy Spirit.
Things offered to idols: The meat offered on pagan altars was usually divided into three portions. One portion was burnt in honor of the god, one portion was given to the worshipper to take home and eat, and the third portion was given to the priest. If the priest didn’t want to eat his portion, he sold it at the temple restaurant or meat market.
The meat served and sold at the temple was generally cheaper. Then, as well as now, people loved a bargain (including Christians). Things offered to idols: The issue raised many questions for the Corinthian Christians: Can we eat meat purchased at the temple meat market? What if we are served meat purchased at the temple meat market when we are guests in someone’s home? Can a Christian eat at the restaurant at the pagan temple?
Rather than arguing about how knowledge we possess, we should focus more on the fact that we are known by God. God stepped out of heaven so that we might be known by Him.
4 So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that “An idol is nothing at all 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 all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.
While some of the Christians were very worried about food sacrificed to idols, it almost gave the idols more power than they deserved. By making such a big deal about idols, it could have taken away the worship of the one, true God. The worship of more than one god is called "pantheism", as opposed to worshipping one God, which is called 'monotheism".
Paul introduces the idea of the Trinity, when he says there is one God, who we call the Father. From the Father all things have been made. He is the Creator God. When we say there is more than one god, there is no clear doctrine of creation. I.e. Did all the gods have a hand in creation? Was there a meeting of the gods to figure it all out? Were they all equal in power? Polytheism is problematic in many ways. It is not only vague but leaves far more questions than answers.
Then, Paul asserts there is also one Lord, Jesus Christ. By using this language, Paul is equating Jesus, the Son, with God the Father. This becomes even more clear when Paul says about Jesus, "Through whom all things have come."
Leon Morris on Lord: “This term could be no more than a polite form of address like our ‘Sir.’ But it could also be used of the deity one worships. The really significant background, though, is its use in the Greek translation of the Old Testament to render the divine name, Yahweh… Christians who used this as their Bible would be familiar with the term as equivalent to deity.”
So someone might argue, "Isn't Christianity polytheism since both the Father and the Son are described as God in this passage?
No, 1 Corinthians 8 does not directly argue for the Trinity; instead, it emphasizes the unity of God and the distinction of Jesus as "one Lord" through whom all things came, which is interpreted by Trinitarians as a framework for the Trinity's economic activity and a support for Jesus' divinity within it. The verse contrasts the "many gods and many lords" of the pagan world with the singular God (the Father) and singular Lord (Jesus Christ) for Christians, but it doesn't explicitly detail a "threeness". "True Christian" Reddit
7 But not everyone possesses this knowledge. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat sacrificial food they think of it as having been sacrificed to a god, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled. 8 But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.
Those with "knowledge" knew that eating food sacrificed to idols was nothing. But there were still some Jewish Christians who felt guilty about eating this meat, since it might have been sacrificed to idols. So, Paul clarifies that since there is no inherent power in meat, and idols have no power, eating meat had no consequence for a believer.
9 Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak. 10 For if someone with a weak conscience sees you, with all your knowledge, eating in an idol’s temple, won’t that person be emboldened to eat what is sacrificed to idols? 11 So this weak brother or sister, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. 12 When you sin against them in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. 13 Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause them to fall.
Paul then offers some teaching, which is of much importance as we live out our lives together as brothers and sisters in the body of Christ. Even though there is nothing inherently immoral or unholy in a piece of meat, if a brother or sister is convicted that it is wrong a fellow believer should abstain from eating it.
Why? Because for this brother or sister it is sin, so you are tempting them to act against what their Christian conscience is calling them to do. Paul concludes that if exercising his rights causes a fellow to sin (if even in his own mind and conscience), he will abstain from ever eating meat again for the sake of them. This is what it means to love one another. Though we have the right to do something, we might deny ourselves that right for the sake of our brother or sister in Christ.
As Jesus gave up his rights to serve us, so we too need to consider our brother or sister's interests as more important than our own. We are free in Christ, but we use our freedom to serve each other!
As Paul says in Galatians 5:13,
"You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love."
Where are the areas in your life that you could use your freedom to serve someone in your church? For instance, if a fellow believer was newly "sober", you might abstain from drinking to support them. Though you were free to drink (in moderation), you might use your freedom to serve them. This has many applications in our life together!
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