In 1 Corinthians 8, Paul teaches on meat sacrificed to idols, urging mature Christians to curtail their freedoms for the sake of weaker brothers and sisters.
Wes
Welcome to the Two Journeys Bible Study Podcast. This podcast is just one of the many resources available to you for free from Two Journeys Ministry. If you’re interested in learning more, just head over to twojourneys.org. Now on to today’s episode. This is episode 10 in our 1 Corinthians Bible Study podcast. This episode is entitled Food Sacrificed to Idols and the Limits of Christian Freedom, where we’ll discuss 1 Corinthians 8:1-13. I’m Wes Treadway, and I’m here with Pastor Andy Davis. Andy, what are we going to see in these verses that we’re looking at today?
Andy
Well, we’re going to begin a three-chapter odyssey on one topic effectively, and that is the question of meat sacrificed to idols, or food sacrificed to idols. And interestingly, it’s an issue that we would think in 21st century America we really don’t need to deal with, but the issue goes much deeper than we think it does. First of all, idolatry is a bigger issue than we could ever possibly imagine, still with ourselves. But beyond that, we’re going to see just the way that we should be interacting with other brothers and sisters in Christ in the context of healthy local church life. And we’re going to come up with a principle, and we’re going to see it especially in chapter nine, but it’s going to be beginning here in chapter eight and carrying on through chapter 10, and that is love limits liberty. That we do have liberty, freedoms, we have rights, but we need to think about how the exercise of those rights might affect someone else.
“Love limits liberty. That we do have liberty, freedoms, we have rights, but we need to think about how the exercise of those rights might affect someone else.”
We shouldn’t be so selfish that we are vaunting ourselves or pushing ourselves forward and exercising our liberties without any consideration of how it might affect someone else. We’re very selfish people; we live in a selfish time. And so, to be able to think more and more like a body, to think like the body of Christ, to think how are my decisions, my freedoms, my choices affecting others is going to be vital. But we’re going to start right away with chapter eight and walk through some of the basic principles of the food sacrificed to idols issue back in ancient Corinth.
Wes
Well, let me go ahead and read 1 Corinthians 8 as we begin that conversation.
Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that ‘all of us possess knowledge.’ 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. 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 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 for 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.
Andy, who is Paul addressing in verses 1-3? And why was the eating or not eating of food sacrificed to idols such a problem in the first century church?
Andy
All right, so Paul is addressing people who have the right doctrine about idols and about meat sacrificed to idols, namely Paul’s doctrine, but they’re not exercising their freedoms properly. And so, they’re so enamored with their own theological knowledge and insights that has now set them free completely in this matter of meat sacrificed to idols that they’re forgetting another dimension, and the other dimension is what is it doing to your brothers who are watching you? And so, they’re so in love with their own theological knowledge, their knowledge is puffing them up into arrogance. They don’t understand that there is a connection between what we know theologically and how we live in love toward others. And so that’s the very thing Paul’s going to be addressing over three chapters, love limits liberty.
So, he’s addressing here individuals who would agree with him from the heart theologically that an idol is nothing, and meat is just meat, and there’s no such thing as a spiritual contagion on actual physical meat. You’re not going to catch a spiritual virus by eating the meat. They know all that, but they’re forgetting there are people watching you, and people are being affected by how you are. So, he’s trying to rein in how much in love they are with their own theological knowledge. Now, in the second part of your question, why was the eating of meat such a problem in the Corinthian church? Idolatry was rampant when Paul came to that city. There were idols everywhere. Just as Paul had seen in Athens, there was a god or an idol to everything, even to an unknown god. And so same thing in Corinth. And so, this was the lifestyle before the gospel came. It was a big issue.
Furthermore, beyond that is the issue of meat itself. We’re used to going to a supermarket and buying meat from the butcher section of a supermarket wrapped up in cellophane, let’s say, and we never saw the thing alive. Back in the day, people often saw things alive and then later ate them- like a chicken walking around or even a cow. But back then, because there was no refrigeration or food delivery systems, if you’re going to eat meat, something as big as a cow, it was going to be a community thing, and it was generally religious. So, there would be meat sacrificed to a god or a goddess, et cetera, in that pagan culture. And then that’s where they could have just the enjoyable pleasure of eating meat. And so, it was all part of the idolatrous and immoral life that they were living before Paul ever came, including sexual immorality with temple prostitutes as we covered back in chapter six. And so, this is an issue. The eating of meat was wrapped up in that lifestyle.
Now that the gospel’s come, and they’re getting some theological instruction on what an idol is and what’s really going on, we’ll talk more about that. Idols are just mute pieces of wood or stone or metal, but behind them there is a reality, and that’s demons, and Paul’s going to get into all of that. However, in and of itself, the idol is nothing and meat sacrificed to the idol that is nothing is still meat. And meat that is just laid at the foot of a stone idol and then later taken away and sold in the marketplace is still just meat. And these individuals knew that theologically, and they were flaunting their freedoms and that was damaging within the body of Christ because there are some people that two weeks ago were immersed in that wicked lifestyle. Now they’ve only freshly come out of it, and they see these more mature individuals basically behaving as they had but with very different convictions on it. And they’re confused. They’re saying, “I thought we were done with that life.” And so, Paul’s saying, “Hey, what’s that doing to others?”
Wes
So that really encapsulates this knowledge that can cause or was causing them to be puffed up. Why is being puffed up so harmful in the body of Christ? And what does Paul mean then that love builds up?
Andy
Okay, that’s a very good image. Knowledge puffs up like a bubble. You could imagine there’s no reality to it ,and really is a picture of pride. They’re puffed up in ego. They think they’re greater than they really are. Paul’s going to really put them in their place with a striking statement. If anyone thinks he knows something, he doesn’t really know as he ought to know. It’s like, well, that’s a statement that shouldn’t be taken absolutely, ’cause there are things we definitely know, but we’ll get to that. The point is arrogance. The point is pride, to be so puffed up with your own ego because you’ve achieved this knowledge. And I think we’ve seen that. Sometimes you see individuals training for ministry or immersing themselves in theology, they become arrogant. The knowledge causes them to become arrogant, but instead they should be humbled by it and thankful for the fact that they’ve been well instructed. So that’s the puffing up.
But instead, we want to see building up or edification, that’s sometimes the translation. There are different images of the body of Christ. There’s one of them, body. So, the verb usually with that would be growth, growth toward maturity. Another image of the church is an architectural image, and there’s a sense of a blueprint and a builder and living stones Peter gives us that are put in place, a foundation laid. And so that’s the building up or edification sense. Or there’s an agricultural sense where you have a field that’s growing to full harvest, et cetera. These are all images. So, this is the architectural sense, and the fact of the matter is this knowledge distracted or detached from Christian maturity just puffs up your ego, makes you think you’re greater than you really are. But the fact of the matter is all knowledge should feed love, and love builds up the brother in Christ, builds up the body of Christ. And so that’s what he’s going to get after on this topic. We need to build each other up toward maturity or toward the full stature of the temple of God.
Wes
Andy, how should we answer someone who might take this too far and assert that all Christian knowledge is bad since it tends to make people arrogant?
Andy
Well, the answer is never. And we hear that all the time, the distinction between head knowledge and heart knowledge. The answer isn’t, “Have less head knowledge.” The answer is to let your head knowledge result in growing faith and transform character resulting in right actions. And that’s how I argue in my book, An Infinite Journey, that’s knowledge, faith, character, action. And so, it starts with factual knowledge. That’s a good thing. The answer, the remedy isn’t I’m going to stop reading my Bible, I’m going to stop reading good Christian books, I’m going to stop listening to good Christian sermons. I have enough head knowledge; I need to now act on what I know. That’s not the answer. The answer is: be faithful to act properly on what you do know. Don’t cut down factual knowledge or head knowledge.
So fundamentally, the idea there is not to turn away from good sound Christian instruction. And we’ve seen movements do that that become really anti-intellectual, anti-theological ’cause they’re really going for a religion of the heart, but then they’re not careful in their exegesis. They don’t really know a lot of theology. They are immature theologically and vulnerable frankly for false teaching. So that’s not the remedy. The remedy is to do what Paul says here, let your head knowledge, your factual knowledge result in a greater love for God and for others.
Wes
Now, you referenced verse two a moment ago that we shouldn’t assume that there’s nothing that we know, but I think there is a powerful work of verse two to humble us. How should verse two humble every Christian on the face of the earth, and how should all true knowledge lead to transformed character as you’ve just been elaborating?
Andy
The verse says, “If anyone thinks he knows anything, he does not yet know as he ought to know.” So, I think fundamentally what he’s saying there is if you’re enamored with all that you know, you don’t know anything, all right? Because we’re supposed to know God. Now, this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God. The fundamental conviction I have in the book I wrote on heaven is that God is an infinite subject that will take an infinite amount of time for us to begin to study. So, I remember years ago there was a movie about Pistol Pete Maravich. And his father was a head coach in real life, the head coach of the LSU Tigers. And he had all these young basketball players on his team, and it was maybe one of the first, if not the first practice of the season. He held up a basketball. He said, “This basketball here represents all there is to know about the game of basketball.”
Then he took a sharpie, and he drew a circle on it about three inches in diameter on the face of the basketball. “This circle represents what I know about the game of basketball.” And then he put a tiny dot in the center of the circle. “This represents what you know.” So, it was humbling, and he’s meaning to humble them. All right, so what basketball would he put for everything there could be known about God? There is no basketball. Even the highest heavens can’t contain Him. And so, if you are so enamored with all that you know, you don’t know God as you ought to know. The more you know, the more you ought to know that you don’t know. I’ll give you another illustration of this. I thought I knew a lot when I was in high school. I got accepted to MIT. When I got to MIT, I started to get a real education on all there was to know. And I didn’t realize whole fields of study in which there are entire departments that I didn’t even know existed.
And then it really came to the fore when I started to do fire extinguisher inspections as a job. And I was taken down to the discard basement of the humanities library, one of something like 16 libraries at MIT. It was as far as the eye could see down there, just books upon books upon books that had been discarded. They weren’t even being used. And that was just in the humanities library and people don’t go to MIT for the humanities, let me tell you right now. They go for technology. At any rate, I picked up a book, it was on some subject I’d never heard of, and it was like 500 pages long, and it wasn’t even being used, it was obsolete. And then I started to realize I don’t know much. So, I think the more we study God, the more you study the Bible, the more you ought to know that you don’t know. So don’t be puffed up with and enamored at your own theological knowledge.
Wes
What does verse three mean, and how does it connect to the verses that we’ve just been discussing?
Andy
The man who loves God is known by God. So, the issue fundamentally is your knowledge should serve your relationship with God, which Jesus defined this way, “Now, this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” Well, you have to have knowledge before you can know God because no one can call on the name of the Lord who’s never heard of Him. And so factual knowledge precedes all relationship. We have to know about God before we can know Him. But if you do, then you’ll love God. And if you know Him and love Him and you’re in a right relationship with God, then fundamentally the knowing is God is knowing you. What’s more important than us knowing all these facts about God is, does God know us? Does God know us?
Because, you can think about on judgment day when Jesus said, “Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name, drive out demons and perform many miracles? And I will tell them plainly, I never knew you.” Or again, the parable of the five wise and five foolish virgins and the five foolish virgins come later having bought oil, but it’s too late, and they’re pounding on the door and He’s saying, “I don’t know, you go away.” And so, the fundamental thing is, does God know you? Does He know you savingly? Does He search us and know us, and do we know that in a relationship with Him? So fundamentally verses 1-3 in chapter eight are don’t be so enamored with your knowledge. It isn’t that big a deal. What really matters is does God know you?
Wes
In verse four, Paul makes the shift to begin talking about food offered to idols. How does Paul’s teaching about idols in verses 4-6 show that knowledge in and of itself is good and desirable?
Andy
Well, we definitely do need to understand some facts, some spiritual facts, and knowledge does feed actions. It does feed a lifestyle. So, the people in Corinth, before Paul came with the gospel, before he was there, they really did believe that the gods and goddesses existed. They really did believe, at least many of them did. I think there were probably some practical atheists back then who said, no, this whole thing’s a scam. But there were other people that really genuinely did believe in the gods and goddesses. And idols are symbols of the gods and goddesses, all right? And demons, who actually do exist, are god and goddess impersonators. They’ll do supernatural things to convince the gullible people that the gods and goddesses do exist.
So then in comes the gospel and the gospel begins to tell the people the truth about all that. Let me tell you what’s really going on here. There is one God and only one God, and there are not many gods and goddesses in reality. Now, there are demons that impersonate them, but the fact of the matter is an idol is nothing. It is a nothing thing. It’s a work of human craftsmanship. As Isaiah lampooned in Isaiah 45 when he talks about the idol maker who takes a length of hardwood, cuts it in half and turns half of it into an idol that he bows down and worships and says, “Save me, you are my God.” And then the other half he uses to bake his bread; he makes a fire with it, and he uses it to cook. It’s Isaiah ridiculing idolatry, but Paul’s just saying straight out, theologically we know that an idol is nothing at all in the world, and that there is no God but One. There is one and only one God, that is theologically true. So, let’s talk about knowledge that’s true and we need to know that.
So, he wants the weak brother and sister to read that. He wants the weak, struggling, recently converted person to say, hey, look, what you are thinking is true. This whole idolatry system is not real. There are no gods and goddesses behind them. We want you to know that there is only one God, the creator of all things. For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth as indeed there are many so-called gods and many so-called lords. Yet for us we know there is only 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. And so that’s Trinitarian theology, God the Father created all things through Christ the Son by the power of the Spirit. That’s good sound theology, and that’s going to be the basis of his teaching on meat sacrificed to idols, so we’ve got to start there.
Wes
Now, Andy, I want to zero in on verse four. What does that verse say about idols and what is the relationship between the gods of the pagans and demons? How could we understand that better?
Andy
Well, he doesn’t mention demons here, but he will mention them later, and he says, “Look, we can’t partake in those pagan sacrifice because they’re offered to demons, and demons are real.” So, we need to understand there aren’t gods and goddesses, but there are definitely demons, fallen angels and they’re very intelligent. And they hide, they masquerade, they hide behind things just like Satan hid behind the serpent in the garden of Eden. And so, I do believe that there are supernatural origins to false religions. I think that demons do speak to cult leaders and do miracles, and we know at the end of the world the Antichrist will do false miracles. That he will do actual miracles but lead in a false direction toward a false god. And so fundamentally, we need to understand the great Artemis of the Ephesians, her image fell from heaven. Something happened there that caused the people to think, hey, this is real. Something’s real.
And I think God, for His own purposes, allows demons some latitude to do supernatural things. And so, religions like Islam in which some supernatural beings I think did speak to Muhammad in the cave, or Mormonism where I believe some supernatural being did in fact speak to or affect Joseph Smith and began that false religion. I think there are supernatural origins to these religions, and so it is with these god and goddesses which are impersonated by demons.
Wes
Having unfolded this truth about idols and differentiating between these so-called gods and the one true God in verses 4-6, Paul turns to the issue of conscience in verses seven and eight. What is a weak or defiled conscience? How can someone be healed from such a conscience? And how should other Christians treat a person with a weak or defiled conscience?
Andy
So, let’s look at the link between verse six and verse seven. 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. And that idols are nothing, and the gods and goddesses are really nothing, verse seven, but not everyone knows this. Now who’s everyone in this? Well, certainly not every human knows this. That’s why we need to share the gospel with people. But even the Christians in that church, they didn’t know it as they should. They’re still having some doubts. Still some old habits of thinking. They might still have some superstitions and some fears and some anxieties about the gods and goddesses. Is it okay what I’m doing now that I’m following Jesus? Maybe Jesus is just one God among the gods. And they’re struggling. They’re new Christians, they believe Jesus is Lord, but they haven’t fully worked out the implications yet. So that’s verse seven, not everyone knows this.
Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat food, they think of it that way. They think there is something real that it’s been offered to, and this is going to affect me if I eat it. I’m going to be drawn back into that lifestyle again. And their conscience is weak, so in other words, their mind, thoughts, are weak, their conscience might be strong in its weakness. It might chide them for having not kept certain patterns of paganism in light of the gospel. Maybe their conscience is wanting to, I don’t know, split the difference and do some syncretism thing, et cetera. So, the conscience needs to be buttressed by truth, and then see all the conscience is doing is telling the individual do the right thing, but it doesn’t tell them what the right thing is. It’s theology, it’s doctrine that tells you what the right thing is, and then the conscience then gets strong in a good way.
The weak or defiled conscience here is the innate drive do the right thing tied to a murky theology that’s not been worked out yet. So that’s what I think by the weaker brother or the weak conscience, they haven’t worked through clearly and sharply their theology yet, and so they’re struggling.
Wes
How does verse eight limit the eating of meat, and what point does verse eight make in Paul’s train of thought?
Andy
Basically, it’s like you don’t have to eat. Paul says, “I’d rather not eat meat. And unlike you, oh, strong brother.” To come to that conclusion that you’re not going to be at any disadvantage if you limit your liberty and don’t eat meat. There’s going to be some circumstances in which you’re going to, I’m hoping, choose, like I do, not to eat meat, not to eat the food. And you’re going to do that for the sake of your brother. It’s not going to hurt you. He says plainly in verse eight, “Food doesn’t commend us or bring us near to God.” We’re no worse off if we don’t eat and no better off if we do it. Both of those, by the way, both halves of that statement tend in the same direction, don’t eat it. It doesn’t help you. And so, he’s urging them fundamentally to say no. Now also he’s speaking to the weak brother. If your eating doesn’t come from faith, don’t do it. Don’t do it.
So, stay away from the meat until you can figure out what’s really going on there, and you can understand the truth that I’ve just given you, that there is one and only one God and that idols are nothing, and that you then can with great confidence to eat meat no problem. If you’re surrounded by nothing but strong, well-established brothers and sisters in Christ, enjoy the meat. Meats taste good. Paul would be like that. But if you’ve got anyone in the room who might be damaged by it, now that’s what we’re dealing with here. So, he’s saying, “Look, abstain if you need to.” That’s what he’s saying.
Wes
So, this really does address also that question of how Christians should treat others with a weak or defiled conscience. There should be a sense of care and a desire to serve and consider the interests of that brother or sister in such a case.
Andy
Exactly.
Wes
Andy, what is a stumbling block? And how could someone who totally accepts Paul’s argument about idols in verses 4-6 and eats whatever he chooses whenever he chooses do spiritual harm to a weaker brother or sister?
Andy
Well, a stumbling block is something that causes somebody offense. In this particular way, I think it brings them to sin. They stumble into sin. Like James says, “We all stumble in many ways.” James means we stumble into sin. And so, the idea is your exercise of freedom causes someone else to stumble and fall into the muck pit. And what is that muck pit? Well, violating your conscience through very recently changed habits that are still not firmly understood theologically. A person’s not mature in their thinking, and they have very strong history of going to the temple and eating that meat and then maybe having sex with a prostitute. It was just what they do on Friday nights. They’d take some of their hard-earned money, and they’d go down there and have a good time. And now the gospel came and you’re starting to learn you can’t do that anymore. But then they’re struggling, and they see a brother eating the meat, and they’re like, well, wait a minute, maybe he’s doing it. He’s one of the leaders in the church.
And so, at that point, your freedom, the exercise of your freedom causes that individual to do what? To violate their conscience. “For if anyone with a weak conscience sees you who have this knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, he will be emboldened to eat what’s been sacrificed to idols.” And so, he’s drawn back in to his old lifestyle that he’s only been out of for a month or two or a few weeks. Now he’s doing the same things that he broke away from and that’s the whole thing. In 1 Thessalonians 1, Paul talks about how the gospel came and made a radical transformation in the Thessalonians lifestyle. They turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God. It was a radical change in their lifestyle. So, they didn’t go do that anymore. Very alluring, very attractive to the flesh. Why do you think that the Jews struggled so much with the Canaanite religions? It’s because they appealed to the sensual drives, good meat, sexual pleasure, all of that stuff.
Now, you’re not supposed to do that? Yeah, you’re not supposed to do that anymore. But now he sees you the strong brother not indulging with the prostitutes, but you’re eating meat because an idol is nothing in the world and there are no gods and goddesses, just the one God and I can eat anything I want. But you don’t get a conversation with that guy; he’s like, “Oh, he’s there. I guess maybe all that’s all right after all.” Then he goes in, but he doesn’t feel good about it. The indwelling spirit tells him this isn’t right because he is indulging in sexual immorality. He is doing some other things. He’s bowing down to the idol like he used to do to get the meat. He’s doing some different things and now he’s destroyed. So, Paul says, don’t do it.
Wes
So, in this verse, and really the rest of the chapter, Paul then is turning to this limiting of Christian freedom based on a love for brothers and sisters in Christ and for God ultimately as we walk together. What possible damage does Paul imagine that a free, bold Christian could do to a weak Christian if that free Christian eats meat in a temple? What does Paul mean by saying that the weaker brother is destroyed by that free brother’s actions?
Andy
That’s a very strong word. I think we would have to imagine at least possible he means ultimately lost. His faith is destroyed. The individual makes a shipwreck of their faith. Their faith in Jesus is not strong enough to resist the lure back into the old pagan lifestyle. And now they are renouncing Christ and just living the same pagan life they were living in before Paul ever came to town. That’s destroyed. And so the idea is you’ve got to fight the good fight, finish the race, keep the faith. Jesus said, “He who stands firm to the end will be saved.” And so, they need to lay aside every sin that hinders and so easily entangles and run the race with endurance. We can’t run half the race and then say that was enough. We have to keep going, and so that’s what destroyed means. The danger is hell. The danger is apostasy, turning back again to those old things that they used to do. They’re doing it all because they misunderstood you, the strong brother who’s flaunting his freedoms.
“They need to lay aside every sin that hinders and so easily entangles and run the race with endurance. We can’t run half the race and then say that was enough. We have to keep going.”
So then Paul’s turning very clearly to the strong brother saying, “Don’t do that. You make certain that the people watching you could not possibly misunderstand what you’re doing.” And so, it would cause a limitation of freedoms. You might be able to walk right through a temple area and not sin and pick up some meat on the way, and it wouldn’t bother you at all, but who’s watching you? Who’s watching you? And so fundamentally, you ought to have enough concern for Christ because this brother in Christ for whom Christ died, is destroyed. Now, in that way, I think we shouldn’t mess up our theology saying that Jesus can die for people who end up in hell. That’s impossible. There is no sense in which Jesus ever sheds his blood for anyone who ends up in hell. But the point is there’s a dynamic race to be run here, and he’s saying Jesus died for him. You need to care enough for him to limit your freedoms.
Wes
And this really overflows into verses 12 and 13. What strong statement does Paul make in verse 12? And what resolution does this lead Paul to in verse 13?
Andy
Right, well, think how significant the sheep and the goats teaching is, “I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you invited me in.” Well, let’s take the same idea here. I was struggling in my conscience, and you buttressed and supported me and built me up to full maturity – versus in this particular passage, I was struggling, and you led me straight to destruction. “Don’t do that,” that’s what Paul’s saying. He’s very negative. This brother for whom Christ died is destroyed by your freedom. And when you sin against your brothers in this way, and they wound their weak conscience, you draw them into violating their conscience, you’re sinning directly against Christ. That’s what he’s saying. So, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I’m not going to eat meat again. He said, “I’m going to limit my own liberty.” And that leads him right into chapter nine, where he’s going to talk about himself. But we’ll get to that in the future. God willing.
Wes
Andy, a question that might arise for some is how to faithfully obey this passage while at the same time not living in constant worry about pleasing other people. How does Paul’s resolution here in verse 13 connect with his earlier statement in verse eight? And what practical advice do you have for our listeners as we seek to be faithful to this text?
Andy
Right. Well, very few of us are going to actually literally be dealing with meat sacrificed to idols. I think it more just comes with Christian freedoms. So, what would be those freedoms? It might be an alcohol issue. I personally don’t drink any alcohol, but that’s my own decision. I know that other Christians do feel the freedom to drink alcohol, but you could well imagine somebody for whom alcoholism was a major part of their non-Christian life and only recently have they come out of it. Imagine inviting that individual to a party and then just serving alcohol freely. That might be an example of limiting your liberty. Others, it might have to do with programs you watch, movies you watch. We should, none of us be defiling our consciences by watching wicked things, but there’s some people, for myself, I would say something I’ve struggled with is how much time to spend on spectator sports.
When I was a non-Christian, I was immersed in spectator sports. I was from a city, Boston, that had a lot of big-time sports teams, and I spent a lot of time on that. And I remember making commitments to just break away from that. And again, that’s my own conviction, it’s not an evil thing, but it’s just the way we influence each other. I could imagine somebody inviting me, “Hey, we’re going to watch the Super Bowl. Do you want to come?” And it’s like, there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s just, think about the effect that your decisions would have on someone else. It might also have to do with the way that, let’s say women dress, and how I have the freedom to wear what I want, but you ought to think about what it might do to your brother Christians. Don’t say, “Well, you shouldn’t look.” When you make choices about your garments and about how you present yourself, think about what effect this might have on the conscience of someone else. Anyway, these are different ways we can live this out in our lives.
Wes
Andy, what does all of this teach us about genuine Christian love and what final thoughts do you have for us today?
Andy
Fundamentally genuine Christian love is recognizing we are in one body in Christ. And if anything that I do to my brother or sister in Christ helps them toward final perfection in Christ, that glorifies God and is much in line with the purpose of Christ the Savior. Conversely, anything I do that damages that process is being weeded out by this specific chapter, we need to cut that out. Love means I want what’s best for you. I’m delighted in what’s best for you. What will be most for your glory and your perfection and your fruitfulness on judgment day and for all eternity, that’s what I want to do. Who you are, what’s happening with you, how you’re living your life matters to me, and I’m going to do everything I can to bless you rather than selfishly eating meat or any freedom that I have just because it makes me happy.
Wes
Well, this has been episode 10 in our 1 Corinthians Bible Study Podcast. We want to invite you to join us next time for episode 11 entitled The Rights of a Gospel Minister, where we’ll discuss 1 Corinthians chapter 9:1-14. Thank you for listening to the Two Journeys podcast and may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
Wes
Welcome to the Two Journeys Bible Study Podcast. This podcast is just one of the many resources available to you for free from Two Journeys Ministry. If you’re interested in learning more, just head over to twojourneys.org. Now on to today’s episode. This is episode 10 in our 1 Corinthians Bible Study podcast. This episode is entitled Food Sacrificed to Idols and the Limits of Christian Freedom, where we’ll discuss 1 Corinthians 8:1-13. I’m Wes Treadway, and I’m here with Pastor Andy Davis. Andy, what are we going to see in these verses that we’re looking at today?
Andy
Well, we’re going to begin a three-chapter odyssey on one topic effectively, and that is the question of meat sacrificed to idols, or food sacrificed to idols. And interestingly, it’s an issue that we would think in 21st century America we really don’t need to deal with, but the issue goes much deeper than we think it does. First of all, idolatry is a bigger issue than we could ever possibly imagine, still with ourselves. But beyond that, we’re going to see just the way that we should be interacting with other brothers and sisters in Christ in the context of healthy local church life. And we’re going to come up with a principle, and we’re going to see it especially in chapter nine, but it’s going to be beginning here in chapter eight and carrying on through chapter 10, and that is love limits liberty. That we do have liberty, freedoms, we have rights, but we need to think about how the exercise of those rights might affect someone else.
“Love limits liberty. That we do have liberty, freedoms, we have rights, but we need to think about how the exercise of those rights might affect someone else.”
We shouldn’t be so selfish that we are vaunting ourselves or pushing ourselves forward and exercising our liberties without any consideration of how it might affect someone else. We’re very selfish people; we live in a selfish time. And so, to be able to think more and more like a body, to think like the body of Christ, to think how are my decisions, my freedoms, my choices affecting others is going to be vital. But we’re going to start right away with chapter eight and walk through some of the basic principles of the food sacrificed to idols issue back in ancient Corinth.
Wes
Well, let me go ahead and read 1 Corinthians 8 as we begin that conversation.
Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that ‘all of us possess knowledge.’ 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. 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 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 for 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.
Andy, who is Paul addressing in verses 1-3? And why was the eating or not eating of food sacrificed to idols such a problem in the first century church?
Andy
All right, so Paul is addressing people who have the right doctrine about idols and about meat sacrificed to idols, namely Paul’s doctrine, but they’re not exercising their freedoms properly. And so, they’re so enamored with their own theological knowledge and insights that has now set them free completely in this matter of meat sacrificed to idols that they’re forgetting another dimension, and the other dimension is what is it doing to your brothers who are watching you? And so, they’re so in love with their own theological knowledge, their knowledge is puffing them up into arrogance. They don’t understand that there is a connection between what we know theologically and how we live in love toward others. And so that’s the very thing Paul’s going to be addressing over three chapters, love limits liberty.
So, he’s addressing here individuals who would agree with him from the heart theologically that an idol is nothing, and meat is just meat, and there’s no such thing as a spiritual contagion on actual physical meat. You’re not going to catch a spiritual virus by eating the meat. They know all that, but they’re forgetting there are people watching you, and people are being affected by how you are. So, he’s trying to rein in how much in love they are with their own theological knowledge. Now, in the second part of your question, why was the eating of meat such a problem in the Corinthian church? Idolatry was rampant when Paul came to that city. There were idols everywhere. Just as Paul had seen in Athens, there was a god or an idol to everything, even to an unknown god. And so same thing in Corinth. And so, this was the lifestyle before the gospel came. It was a big issue.
Furthermore, beyond that is the issue of meat itself. We’re used to going to a supermarket and buying meat from the butcher section of a supermarket wrapped up in cellophane, let’s say, and we never saw the thing alive. Back in the day, people often saw things alive and then later ate them- like a chicken walking around or even a cow. But back then, because there was no refrigeration or food delivery systems, if you’re going to eat meat, something as big as a cow, it was going to be a community thing, and it was generally religious. So, there would be meat sacrificed to a god or a goddess, et cetera, in that pagan culture. And then that’s where they could have just the enjoyable pleasure of eating meat. And so, it was all part of the idolatrous and immoral life that they were living before Paul ever came, including sexual immorality with temple prostitutes as we covered back in chapter six. And so, this is an issue. The eating of meat was wrapped up in that lifestyle.
Now that the gospel’s come, and they’re getting some theological instruction on what an idol is and what’s really going on, we’ll talk more about that. Idols are just mute pieces of wood or stone or metal, but behind them there is a reality, and that’s demons, and Paul’s going to get into all of that. However, in and of itself, the idol is nothing and meat sacrificed to the idol that is nothing is still meat. And meat that is just laid at the foot of a stone idol and then later taken away and sold in the marketplace is still just meat. And these individuals knew that theologically, and they were flaunting their freedoms and that was damaging within the body of Christ because there are some people that two weeks ago were immersed in that wicked lifestyle. Now they’ve only freshly come out of it, and they see these more mature individuals basically behaving as they had but with very different convictions on it. And they’re confused. They’re saying, “I thought we were done with that life.” And so, Paul’s saying, “Hey, what’s that doing to others?”
Wes
So that really encapsulates this knowledge that can cause or was causing them to be puffed up. Why is being puffed up so harmful in the body of Christ? And what does Paul mean then that love builds up?
Andy
Okay, that’s a very good image. Knowledge puffs up like a bubble. You could imagine there’s no reality to it ,and really is a picture of pride. They’re puffed up in ego. They think they’re greater than they really are. Paul’s going to really put them in their place with a striking statement. If anyone thinks he knows something, he doesn’t really know as he ought to know. It’s like, well, that’s a statement that shouldn’t be taken absolutely, ’cause there are things we definitely know, but we’ll get to that. The point is arrogance. The point is pride, to be so puffed up with your own ego because you’ve achieved this knowledge. And I think we’ve seen that. Sometimes you see individuals training for ministry or immersing themselves in theology, they become arrogant. The knowledge causes them to become arrogant, but instead they should be humbled by it and thankful for the fact that they’ve been well instructed. So that’s the puffing up.
But instead, we want to see building up or edification, that’s sometimes the translation. There are different images of the body of Christ. There’s one of them, body. So, the verb usually with that would be growth, growth toward maturity. Another image of the church is an architectural image, and there’s a sense of a blueprint and a builder and living stones Peter gives us that are put in place, a foundation laid. And so that’s the building up or edification sense. Or there’s an agricultural sense where you have a field that’s growing to full harvest, et cetera. These are all images. So, this is the architectural sense, and the fact of the matter is this knowledge distracted or detached from Christian maturity just puffs up your ego, makes you think you’re greater than you really are. But the fact of the matter is all knowledge should feed love, and love builds up the brother in Christ, builds up the body of Christ. And so that’s what he’s going to get after on this topic. We need to build each other up toward maturity or toward the full stature of the temple of God.
Wes
Andy, how should we answer someone who might take this too far and assert that all Christian knowledge is bad since it tends to make people arrogant?
Andy
Well, the answer is never. And we hear that all the time, the distinction between head knowledge and heart knowledge. The answer isn’t, “Have less head knowledge.” The answer is to let your head knowledge result in growing faith and transform character resulting in right actions. And that’s how I argue in my book, An Infinite Journey, that’s knowledge, faith, character, action. And so, it starts with factual knowledge. That’s a good thing. The answer, the remedy isn’t I’m going to stop reading my Bible, I’m going to stop reading good Christian books, I’m going to stop listening to good Christian sermons. I have enough head knowledge; I need to now act on what I know. That’s not the answer. The answer is: be faithful to act properly on what you do know. Don’t cut down factual knowledge or head knowledge.
So fundamentally, the idea there is not to turn away from good sound Christian instruction. And we’ve seen movements do that that become really anti-intellectual, anti-theological ’cause they’re really going for a religion of the heart, but then they’re not careful in their exegesis. They don’t really know a lot of theology. They are immature theologically and vulnerable frankly for false teaching. So that’s not the remedy. The remedy is to do what Paul says here, let your head knowledge, your factual knowledge result in a greater love for God and for others.
Wes
Now, you referenced verse two a moment ago that we shouldn’t assume that there’s nothing that we know, but I think there is a powerful work of verse two to humble us. How should verse two humble every Christian on the face of the earth, and how should all true knowledge lead to transformed character as you’ve just been elaborating?
Andy
The verse says, “If anyone thinks he knows anything, he does not yet know as he ought to know.” So, I think fundamentally what he’s saying there is if you’re enamored with all that you know, you don’t know anything, all right? Because we’re supposed to know God. Now, this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God. The fundamental conviction I have in the book I wrote on heaven is that God is an infinite subject that will take an infinite amount of time for us to begin to study. So, I remember years ago there was a movie about Pistol Pete Maravich. And his father was a head coach in real life, the head coach of the LSU Tigers. And he had all these young basketball players on his team, and it was maybe one of the first, if not the first practice of the season. He held up a basketball. He said, “This basketball here represents all there is to know about the game of basketball.”
Then he took a sharpie, and he drew a circle on it about three inches in diameter on the face of the basketball. “This circle represents what I know about the game of basketball.” And then he put a tiny dot in the center of the circle. “This represents what you know.” So, it was humbling, and he’s meaning to humble them. All right, so what basketball would he put for everything there could be known about God? There is no basketball. Even the highest heavens can’t contain Him. And so, if you are so enamored with all that you know, you don’t know God as you ought to know. The more you know, the more you ought to know that you don’t know. I’ll give you another illustration of this. I thought I knew a lot when I was in high school. I got accepted to MIT. When I got to MIT, I started to get a real education on all there was to know. And I didn’t realize whole fields of study in which there are entire departments that I didn’t even know existed.
And then it really came to the fore when I started to do fire extinguisher inspections as a job. And I was taken down to the discard basement of the humanities library, one of something like 16 libraries at MIT. It was as far as the eye could see down there, just books upon books upon books that had been discarded. They weren’t even being used. And that was just in the humanities library and people don’t go to MIT for the humanities, let me tell you right now. They go for technology. At any rate, I picked up a book, it was on some subject I’d never heard of, and it was like 500 pages long, and it wasn’t even being used, it was obsolete. And then I started to realize I don’t know much. So, I think the more we study God, the more you study the Bible, the more you ought to know that you don’t know. So don’t be puffed up with and enamored at your own theological knowledge.
Wes
What does verse three mean, and how does it connect to the verses that we’ve just been discussing?
Andy
The man who loves God is known by God. So, the issue fundamentally is your knowledge should serve your relationship with God, which Jesus defined this way, “Now, this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” Well, you have to have knowledge before you can know God because no one can call on the name of the Lord who’s never heard of Him. And so factual knowledge precedes all relationship. We have to know about God before we can know Him. But if you do, then you’ll love God. And if you know Him and love Him and you’re in a right relationship with God, then fundamentally the knowing is God is knowing you. What’s more important than us knowing all these facts about God is, does God know us? Does God know us?
Because, you can think about on judgment day when Jesus said, “Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name, drive out demons and perform many miracles? And I will tell them plainly, I never knew you.” Or again, the parable of the five wise and five foolish virgins and the five foolish virgins come later having bought oil, but it’s too late, and they’re pounding on the door and He’s saying, “I don’t know, you go away.” And so, the fundamental thing is, does God know you? Does He know you savingly? Does He search us and know us, and do we know that in a relationship with Him? So fundamentally verses 1-3 in chapter eight are don’t be so enamored with your knowledge. It isn’t that big a deal. What really matters is does God know you?
Wes
In verse four, Paul makes the shift to begin talking about food offered to idols. How does Paul’s teaching about idols in verses 4-6 show that knowledge in and of itself is good and desirable?
Andy
Well, we definitely do need to understand some facts, some spiritual facts, and knowledge does feed actions. It does feed a lifestyle. So, the people in Corinth, before Paul came with the gospel, before he was there, they really did believe that the gods and goddesses existed. They really did believe, at least many of them did. I think there were probably some practical atheists back then who said, no, this whole thing’s a scam. But there were other people that really genuinely did believe in the gods and goddesses. And idols are symbols of the gods and goddesses, all right? And demons, who actually do exist, are god and goddess impersonators. They’ll do supernatural things to convince the gullible people that the gods and goddesses do exist.
So then in comes the gospel and the gospel begins to tell the people the truth about all that. Let me tell you what’s really going on here. There is one God and only one God, and there are not many gods and goddesses in reality. Now, there are demons that impersonate them, but the fact of the matter is an idol is nothing. It is a nothing thing. It’s a work of human craftsmanship. As Isaiah lampooned in Isaiah 45 when he talks about the idol maker who takes a length of hardwood, cuts it in half and turns half of it into an idol that he bows down and worships and says, “Save me, you are my God.” And then the other half he uses to bake his bread; he makes a fire with it, and he uses it to cook. It’s Isaiah ridiculing idolatry, but Paul’s just saying straight out, theologically we know that an idol is nothing at all in the world, and that there is no God but One. There is one and only one God, that is theologically true. So, let’s talk about knowledge that’s true and we need to know that.
So, he wants the weak brother and sister to read that. He wants the weak, struggling, recently converted person to say, hey, look, what you are thinking is true. This whole idolatry system is not real. There are no gods and goddesses behind them. We want you to know that there is only one God, the creator of all things. For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth as indeed there are many so-called gods and many so-called lords. Yet for us we know there is only 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. And so that’s Trinitarian theology, God the Father created all things through Christ the Son by the power of the Spirit. That’s good sound theology, and that’s going to be the basis of his teaching on meat sacrificed to idols, so we’ve got to start there.
Wes
Now, Andy, I want to zero in on verse four. What does that verse say about idols and what is the relationship between the gods of the pagans and demons? How could we understand that better?
Andy
Well, he doesn’t mention demons here, but he will mention them later, and he says, “Look, we can’t partake in those pagan sacrifice because they’re offered to demons, and demons are real.” So, we need to understand there aren’t gods and goddesses, but there are definitely demons, fallen angels and they’re very intelligent. And they hide, they masquerade, they hide behind things just like Satan hid behind the serpent in the garden of Eden. And so, I do believe that there are supernatural origins to false religions. I think that demons do speak to cult leaders and do miracles, and we know at the end of the world the Antichrist will do false miracles. That he will do actual miracles but lead in a false direction toward a false god. And so fundamentally, we need to understand the great Artemis of the Ephesians, her image fell from heaven. Something happened there that caused the people to think, hey, this is real. Something’s real.
And I think God, for His own purposes, allows demons some latitude to do supernatural things. And so, religions like Islam in which some supernatural beings I think did speak to Muhammad in the cave, or Mormonism where I believe some supernatural being did in fact speak to or affect Joseph Smith and began that false religion. I think there are supernatural origins to these religions, and so it is with these god and goddesses which are impersonated by demons.
Wes
Having unfolded this truth about idols and differentiating between these so-called gods and the one true God in verses 4-6, Paul turns to the issue of conscience in verses seven and eight. What is a weak or defiled conscience? How can someone be healed from such a conscience? And how should other Christians treat a person with a weak or defiled conscience?
Andy
So, let’s look at the link between verse six and verse seven. 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. And that idols are nothing, and the gods and goddesses are really nothing, verse seven, but not everyone knows this. Now who’s everyone in this? Well, certainly not every human knows this. That’s why we need to share the gospel with people. But even the Christians in that church, they didn’t know it as they should. They’re still having some doubts. Still some old habits of thinking. They might still have some superstitions and some fears and some anxieties about the gods and goddesses. Is it okay what I’m doing now that I’m following Jesus? Maybe Jesus is just one God among the gods. And they’re struggling. They’re new Christians, they believe Jesus is Lord, but they haven’t fully worked out the implications yet. So that’s verse seven, not everyone knows this.
Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat food, they think of it that way. They think there is something real that it’s been offered to, and this is going to affect me if I eat it. I’m going to be drawn back into that lifestyle again. And their conscience is weak, so in other words, their mind, thoughts, are weak, their conscience might be strong in its weakness. It might chide them for having not kept certain patterns of paganism in light of the gospel. Maybe their conscience is wanting to, I don’t know, split the difference and do some syncretism thing, et cetera. So, the conscience needs to be buttressed by truth, and then see all the conscience is doing is telling the individual do the right thing, but it doesn’t tell them what the right thing is. It’s theology, it’s doctrine that tells you what the right thing is, and then the conscience then gets strong in a good way.
The weak or defiled conscience here is the innate drive do the right thing tied to a murky theology that’s not been worked out yet. So that’s what I think by the weaker brother or the weak conscience, they haven’t worked through clearly and sharply their theology yet, and so they’re struggling.
Wes
How does verse eight limit the eating of meat, and what point does verse eight make in Paul’s train of thought?
Andy
Basically, it’s like you don’t have to eat. Paul says, “I’d rather not eat meat. And unlike you, oh, strong brother.” To come to that conclusion that you’re not going to be at any disadvantage if you limit your liberty and don’t eat meat. There’s going to be some circumstances in which you’re going to, I’m hoping, choose, like I do, not to eat meat, not to eat the food. And you’re going to do that for the sake of your brother. It’s not going to hurt you. He says plainly in verse eight, “Food doesn’t commend us or bring us near to God.” We’re no worse off if we don’t eat and no better off if we do it. Both of those, by the way, both halves of that statement tend in the same direction, don’t eat it. It doesn’t help you. And so, he’s urging them fundamentally to say no. Now also he’s speaking to the weak brother. If your eating doesn’t come from faith, don’t do it. Don’t do it.
So, stay away from the meat until you can figure out what’s really going on there, and you can understand the truth that I’ve just given you, that there is one and only one God and that idols are nothing, and that you then can with great confidence to eat meat no problem. If you’re surrounded by nothing but strong, well-established brothers and sisters in Christ, enjoy the meat. Meats taste good. Paul would be like that. But if you’ve got anyone in the room who might be damaged by it, now that’s what we’re dealing with here. So, he’s saying, “Look, abstain if you need to.” That’s what he’s saying.
Wes
So, this really does address also that question of how Christians should treat others with a weak or defiled conscience. There should be a sense of care and a desire to serve and consider the interests of that brother or sister in such a case.
Andy
Exactly.
Wes
Andy, what is a stumbling block? And how could someone who totally accepts Paul’s argument about idols in verses 4-6 and eats whatever he chooses whenever he chooses do spiritual harm to a weaker brother or sister?
Andy
Well, a stumbling block is something that causes somebody offense. In this particular way, I think it brings them to sin. They stumble into sin. Like James says, “We all stumble in many ways.” James means we stumble into sin. And so, the idea is your exercise of freedom causes someone else to stumble and fall into the muck pit. And what is that muck pit? Well, violating your conscience through very recently changed habits that are still not firmly understood theologically. A person’s not mature in their thinking, and they have very strong history of going to the temple and eating that meat and then maybe having sex with a prostitute. It was just what they do on Friday nights. They’d take some of their hard-earned money, and they’d go down there and have a good time. And now the gospel came and you’re starting to learn you can’t do that anymore. But then they’re struggling, and they see a brother eating the meat, and they’re like, well, wait a minute, maybe he’s doing it. He’s one of the leaders in the church.
And so, at that point, your freedom, the exercise of your freedom causes that individual to do what? To violate their conscience. “For if anyone with a weak conscience sees you who have this knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, he will be emboldened to eat what’s been sacrificed to idols.” And so, he’s drawn back in to his old lifestyle that he’s only been out of for a month or two or a few weeks. Now he’s doing the same things that he broke away from and that’s the whole thing. In 1 Thessalonians 1, Paul talks about how the gospel came and made a radical transformation in the Thessalonians lifestyle. They turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God. It was a radical change in their lifestyle. So, they didn’t go do that anymore. Very alluring, very attractive to the flesh. Why do you think that the Jews struggled so much with the Canaanite religions? It’s because they appealed to the sensual drives, good meat, sexual pleasure, all of that stuff.
Now, you’re not supposed to do that? Yeah, you’re not supposed to do that anymore. But now he sees you the strong brother not indulging with the prostitutes, but you’re eating meat because an idol is nothing in the world and there are no gods and goddesses, just the one God and I can eat anything I want. But you don’t get a conversation with that guy; he’s like, “Oh, he’s there. I guess maybe all that’s all right after all.” Then he goes in, but he doesn’t feel good about it. The indwelling spirit tells him this isn’t right because he is indulging in sexual immorality. He is doing some other things. He’s bowing down to the idol like he used to do to get the meat. He’s doing some different things and now he’s destroyed. So, Paul says, don’t do it.
Wes
So, in this verse, and really the rest of the chapter, Paul then is turning to this limiting of Christian freedom based on a love for brothers and sisters in Christ and for God ultimately as we walk together. What possible damage does Paul imagine that a free, bold Christian could do to a weak Christian if that free Christian eats meat in a temple? What does Paul mean by saying that the weaker brother is destroyed by that free brother’s actions?
Andy
That’s a very strong word. I think we would have to imagine at least possible he means ultimately lost. His faith is destroyed. The individual makes a shipwreck of their faith. Their faith in Jesus is not strong enough to resist the lure back into the old pagan lifestyle. And now they are renouncing Christ and just living the same pagan life they were living in before Paul ever came to town. That’s destroyed. And so the idea is you’ve got to fight the good fight, finish the race, keep the faith. Jesus said, “He who stands firm to the end will be saved.” And so, they need to lay aside every sin that hinders and so easily entangles and run the race with endurance. We can’t run half the race and then say that was enough. We have to keep going, and so that’s what destroyed means. The danger is hell. The danger is apostasy, turning back again to those old things that they used to do. They’re doing it all because they misunderstood you, the strong brother who’s flaunting his freedoms.
“They need to lay aside every sin that hinders and so easily entangles and run the race with endurance. We can’t run half the race and then say that was enough. We have to keep going.”
So then Paul’s turning very clearly to the strong brother saying, “Don’t do that. You make certain that the people watching you could not possibly misunderstand what you’re doing.” And so, it would cause a limitation of freedoms. You might be able to walk right through a temple area and not sin and pick up some meat on the way, and it wouldn’t bother you at all, but who’s watching you? Who’s watching you? And so fundamentally, you ought to have enough concern for Christ because this brother in Christ for whom Christ died, is destroyed. Now, in that way, I think we shouldn’t mess up our theology saying that Jesus can die for people who end up in hell. That’s impossible. There is no sense in which Jesus ever sheds his blood for anyone who ends up in hell. But the point is there’s a dynamic race to be run here, and he’s saying Jesus died for him. You need to care enough for him to limit your freedoms.
Wes
And this really overflows into verses 12 and 13. What strong statement does Paul make in verse 12? And what resolution does this lead Paul to in verse 13?
Andy
Right, well, think how significant the sheep and the goats teaching is, “I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you invited me in.” Well, let’s take the same idea here. I was struggling in my conscience, and you buttressed and supported me and built me up to full maturity – versus in this particular passage, I was struggling, and you led me straight to destruction. “Don’t do that,” that’s what Paul’s saying. He’s very negative. This brother for whom Christ died is destroyed by your freedom. And when you sin against your brothers in this way, and they wound their weak conscience, you draw them into violating their conscience, you’re sinning directly against Christ. That’s what he’s saying. So, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I’m not going to eat meat again. He said, “I’m going to limit my own liberty.” And that leads him right into chapter nine, where he’s going to talk about himself. But we’ll get to that in the future. God willing.
Wes
Andy, a question that might arise for some is how to faithfully obey this passage while at the same time not living in constant worry about pleasing other people. How does Paul’s resolution here in verse 13 connect with his earlier statement in verse eight? And what practical advice do you have for our listeners as we seek to be faithful to this text?
Andy
Right. Well, very few of us are going to actually literally be dealing with meat sacrificed to idols. I think it more just comes with Christian freedoms. So, what would be those freedoms? It might be an alcohol issue. I personally don’t drink any alcohol, but that’s my own decision. I know that other Christians do feel the freedom to drink alcohol, but you could well imagine somebody for whom alcoholism was a major part of their non-Christian life and only recently have they come out of it. Imagine inviting that individual to a party and then just serving alcohol freely. That might be an example of limiting your liberty. Others, it might have to do with programs you watch, movies you watch. We should, none of us be defiling our consciences by watching wicked things, but there’s some people, for myself, I would say something I’ve struggled with is how much time to spend on spectator sports.
When I was a non-Christian, I was immersed in spectator sports. I was from a city, Boston, that had a lot of big-time sports teams, and I spent a lot of time on that. And I remember making commitments to just break away from that. And again, that’s my own conviction, it’s not an evil thing, but it’s just the way we influence each other. I could imagine somebody inviting me, “Hey, we’re going to watch the Super Bowl. Do you want to come?” And it’s like, there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s just, think about the effect that your decisions would have on someone else. It might also have to do with the way that, let’s say women dress, and how I have the freedom to wear what I want, but you ought to think about what it might do to your brother Christians. Don’t say, “Well, you shouldn’t look.” When you make choices about your garments and about how you present yourself, think about what effect this might have on the conscience of someone else. Anyway, these are different ways we can live this out in our lives.
Wes
Andy, what does all of this teach us about genuine Christian love and what final thoughts do you have for us today?
Andy
Fundamentally genuine Christian love is recognizing we are in one body in Christ. And if anything that I do to my brother or sister in Christ helps them toward final perfection in Christ, that glorifies God and is much in line with the purpose of Christ the Savior. Conversely, anything I do that damages that process is being weeded out by this specific chapter, we need to cut that out. Love means I want what’s best for you. I’m delighted in what’s best for you. What will be most for your glory and your perfection and your fruitfulness on judgment day and for all eternity, that’s what I want to do. Who you are, what’s happening with you, how you’re living your life matters to me, and I’m going to do everything I can to bless you rather than selfishly eating meat or any freedom that I have just because it makes me happy.
Wes
Well, this has been episode 10 in our 1 Corinthians Bible Study Podcast. We want to invite you to join us next time for episode 11 entitled The Rights of a Gospel Minister, where we’ll discuss 1 Corinthians chapter 9:1-14. Thank you for listening to the Two Journeys podcast and may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
