Brotherly Love and Liberty Applied: Part 2
The Church of Corinth; Struggling to be in the world but not of the world • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 52:30
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My dad was saved in his early twenties by hearing the gospel from a baptist pastor after my dad attended a gospel singing at his church. Some of his early growth in his faith came from WCRV 640 AM radio and the preaching programs that were aired on that channel. He learned from men like RC Sproul, John Macarthur and Charles Stanley. As a young boy riding in my dads work truck, I was bored listening to talk radio. Now I am thankful the Lord has resources on radio of faithful preachers who helped grow my dad’s faith from afar.
One particular program that I remember listening to was the Bible Answer Man, Hank Hanigraff. Although Hank has now joined the Eastern Orthodox faith and is no longer sound in his theology, back then his program was very helpful to the church. Callers would call in and Hank would diligently field their questions about the Bible and give very thorough and pastoral responses. Although Hank was not the pastor of these callers, I believe he no doubt was used by God in my dad’s life to grow in his walk with Christ as he drove around from one electrical job to another.
The book of 1 Corinthians is Paul’s version of Bible Answer Man. He is fielding these questions from the Corinthians and addressing some others concerns on his own. We looked last week at one particular issue that the Corinthians seemed interested in writing to Paul to get answers. They wanted to know how Christians in that time of history, in places like Corinth should deal with meat offered to idols. We will look more into that subject matter today, but first Paul needed to address the attitude of their hearts that lingered behind their question. Paul sensed an arrogance from the Corinthians for they believed they had arrived “in knowledge” because of their new life in Christ. Paul in turn had to give them a lesson on love
1. A Lesson on Love
1. A Lesson on Love
Look again with me in v 1-3
1 Now concerning things sacrificed to idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge makes arrogant, but love edifies. 2 If anyone supposes that he knows anything, he has not yet known as he ought to know; 3 but if anyone loves God, he is known by Him.
Paul appealed to their new life in Christ and declared that if they were truly known by the Lord in an electing relationship, then they would not be arrogant towards their brothers and sisters, but instead they would display Christ like love.
Paul says “knowledge puffs up, but love edifies.” He wants them to understand the importance of the sacrificial love of Christ, which plays a bigger role in the Christian life than merely just knowledge of the Christian walk. For them to truly be growing in Christ, they would demonstrate a love for their brothers and sisters in such a way that they would seek the interests of others more important than themselves.
If Christians are to have unity in the church, then there must be a measure of sacrificial love that is displayed toward one another. There is no room for arrogance and conceit in the family of Christ and therefore to stomp out arrogance. We must put on a love that is seeking the interests of others. This is the way that Christ displayed love and giving his life as a sacrifice for sin and this is the way that you and I must walk in brotherly unity.
2. A Lesson on Maturity
2. A Lesson on Maturity
Now we will spend the remaining part of our time looking at the remaining verses of chapter 8. The remaining verses in this chapter break up as follows, versus four through eight we will look at a lesson of knowledge and nine through 13 we will look at a lesson of liberty.
In chapters 4 through eight poll returns to the question, therefore, concerning the eating of things, sacrificed to idols and his purpose in these verses, after dealing with their attitude of arrogance, will now focus on the theological understanding that they had in their newfound faith in Christ. He hast to address this knowledge that they arrogantly had clung tightly that was informing their liberty in Christ. As we observed last week in Paul's writings, he often quotes the question off of his audience. In verse one chapter 8 he stated there statement of arrogance "we all have knowledge" and we will see this once again in verses four.
The statements that the Corinthians made regarding idols and the meat offered to them, were in regards to their monotheistic beliefs christianity. Monotheism is the belief in one god mono meaning one theism meaning the belief in God. Many of these Gentiles who were saved in Christ left the world of polytheism which is the belief and worship of many gods.
Therefore their statement to Paul in verse four is not incorrect for they truly believe rightly that there is no such thing as an idol in the world and that there is no God, but one. Both of those statements seem to be the statements from the Corinthians to Paul regarding their liberty to eat meat that was once offered to idols we can follow this grammatical clue with the phrase we know that Paul used in verse one, and now again in verse four. Their quotation from their correspondence follows the statement "we know.”
But Paul has to help them grow in maturity and their maturation not only must grow in love, but they must see how their knowledge was even weak. Their weakness was found in the connection of who God is and how we relate to him. As I stated last week, they thought they knew about God but they actually didn't know what they thought they knew.
THE MATURE IN FAITH ARE TRINITARIAN MONOTHEISTS
Paul agrees with this monotheistic belief of the Corinthians for the God of the Bible is most emphatically the One True God. He is does not share His glory with any other deity or created being. He has existed as One God in three persons in eternity past, before any all of his creation was made by him. He was completely independent and transcendent in his existence before he choose to make the first atom, molecule, chunk of dirt, human tissue, or glorious redwood tree.
A W PINK writes that before “in the beginning” ...
“There was no heaven, where His glory is now particularly manifested. There was no earth to engage His attention. There were no angels to hymn His praises; no universe to be upheld by the word of His power. There was nothing, no one, but God; and that, not for a day, a year, or an age, but “from everlasting.” During eternity past, God was alone: self-contained, self-sufficient, self-satisfied; in need of nothing.”
Pink, Arthur W.. The Attributes of God (Kindle Locations 69-70). Kindle Edition.
When God entered into covenant with Israel, he declared from the outset that a covenant with their Creator required they believe that He alone was God and no other god should be worshipped in His presence. Since God dwells omnipresently in all places, then there is no place God’s people can go where gods can be worshipped safely.
1 Then God spoke all these words, saying, 2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 3 “You shall have no other gods before Me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.
Now in Exodus, when gods are mentioned, it is referring to the false gods that were the worship of pagan nations. The question we must ask are, “what are the little g gods?” Paul calls them “so-called gods” in verse 5 and we can understand that the mere mention of “gods” in Exodus does not mean that lesser gods exists in reality. Paul calls them so-called because of people’s belief in them, not in their true reality. In other words, someone’s faith in something does not conjur that something up to become reality.
Paul will later give a fuller explanation in 10:20. Look with me there,
20 No, but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God; and I do not want you to become sharers in demons.
Look also with me at Deut 32:17-21
17 “They sacrificed to demons who were not God, To gods whom they have not known, New gods who came lately, Whom your fathers did not dread. 18 “You neglected the Rock who begot you, And forgot the God who gave you birth. 19 “The Lord saw this, and spurned them Because of the provocation of His sons and daughters. 20 “Then He said, ‘I will hide My face from them, I will see what their end shall be; For they are a perverse generation, Sons in whom is no faithfulness. 21 ‘They have made Me jealous with what is not God; They have provoked Me to anger with their idols. So I will make them jealous with those who are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation,
Notice that the Lord states that pagan gods, false gods, are “NO GOD” and instead he identifies false gods as simply demons who work evil in the world to thwart the true worship of YHWH. Therefore the pantheon of Roman and Greek gods are simply a work of demons to propose alternatives to the worshipped reserved for YHWH alone.
So then, what the Corinthians who were weak in their faith came to believe is that the meat offered to false gods, actually contained demons. Before their faith in Christ, eating that meat was worship but in their new found faith in Christ, they believed it was blasphemy because demons possessed that meat.
Paul reminds the Corinthians in verse 5,
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.
Notice Paul helping them mature with this creedal statement that affirms the Trinity and our relationship with the Godhead.
The Father, Creator of all things_we exist for Him
This is such a powerful statement by Paul and no doubt was the foundation of the early church creeds. The first person of the Trinity is the Father, distinct from the Son and Spirit, who we are told is responsible for the creation of all things. We are from His creative power and we exist for HIs glory. All creation is for the glory of God.
The Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, Agent of Creation, and we exist through him.
The second person of the Trinity, the Lord Jesus is the Mediator between God and man, the agent to which God the Father created all things. Therefore, as the Father was the source of creation, the Lord Jesus and the Spirit acted in creation to bring it into existence.
Notice again the phrase “for Him.” When we consider that we are for God’s purposes, then we understand that God’s people are called to reflect the attributes of God that he has communicated to us, that we reflect. To be known by Him means that we share in His love and demonstrate his love to others in the world. We reflect the love of God to the world and the church.
now look at verse 7 and Paul’s argument about knowledge in the body of Christ,
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.
Paul acknowledges that knowledge is limited in all of us. Some are weaker in that knowledge and the weak need the love of the mature to flourish in the church. The mature cannot look down upon the weak, disdain the weak, or ignore the weak. As Paul said last week, we must edify, so the mature in Christ build up the weak in Christ until the weak become the mature and there are more weak believers who come along. With the mature, there are always more mature in the faith and so there is a perpetual growing in Christ for all believers until the very end of our lives.
Let this be a challenge to all of us regarding knowledge. Are we always trying to mature more than we are, learning more from people more mature in Christ than we are. That starts with acknowledging our weakness and then seeking out someone else who we can learn and grow with together in Christ. This is the heart of discipleship…God builds up his church by pairing up the weak with strong in Christ. These discipleship relationships learn together and grow together in love, unity and a commitment to maturity.
2 Older men are to be temperate, dignified, sensible, sound in faith, in love, in perseverance. 3 Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, 4 so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, 5 to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored. 6 Likewise urge the young men to be sensible;
3. A Lesson on Liberty
3. A Lesson on Liberty
The third lesson that Paul teaches is on Christian liberty. With knowledge and maturity in Christ, Paul now has to deal with the concern of the Corinthians-liberty in Christ. These believers understood that the meat offered to idols was not a danger to them. Their belief in the One True God ensured that meat was simply mean. It was gluten free and demon-free! This freedom in Christ released them from the bondage of being afraid to enjoy the pleasures of life that God has established.
This freedom is important for all of us to understand in the church as we face a new world when our faith is realized. New life in Christ affords the new believer with decisions about how to live in light of Christ in the world. The subject of Christian liberty is how does a Christian live holy, reflecting God’s glory in a world with sin. This leads to questions for the Christian that need God’s direction and leading.
But as we wrestle with Christian liberty, we also see that not every scenario that a Christian faces in the world is addressed specifically in Scripture. So when decisions need to be made in regards to our freedom in Christ, we must first ask:
1. Does the Bible speak directly or indirectly about this?
What this means is the Christian must investigate how does the Bible forbid or allow such a thing and how is that prohibition or allowance detailed. For example: drinking alcohol is not forbidden in Scripture but drunkeness is forbidden. Drunkenness reflects a lack of control and our lives as believers are meant to reflect the authority and control of God’s Spirit in us.
The Bible can also speak indirectly about a subject. So the Bible does not forbid investing your money in stocks or bonds in financial markets. Is this wrong? While the explicit mention of these financial activiites is not mentioned, there are principles like “avoiding greed” and a life that “hastens to be rich”(Pr 28:20) that ends in judgment and not blessing from the lord. Therefore the principle of Scripture or the direct teaching of Scripture should be our guide.
2. Consider our Christian Neighbor
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.
Paul concludes his argument in chapter 8 with looking out for the interests of the brother or sister in Christ.
a. The reality of the weakness of faith
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.
The point that Paul is making is that the weaker brother is still struggling in his new faith and although that meat is just meat, demon-free, that knowledge has not been gained by your brother. It is still a struggle to feast on that steak while disconnecting the previous worship of pagan gods that was once enjoyed.
The Paul will appeal to the conscience, that internal alarm system that the Lord has given each man that alerts the person to things which offend their ethics. Ethics are molded by God’s word (or in the world merely subjective truth) but for the believer, the conscience is educated by God’s spirit. A new believer is having his conscience overhauled in their new faith in Christ because it was once informed by error and yet it is now informed by truth of GOd’s word. The heart is transformed immediately in our salvation, but the mind (and conscience) is a gradual transformative work in Christ.
2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
Therefore the new Christian undergoing a renewal of conscience will still struggle with the past vices and struggles.
Be careful with a reaction such as “they should know better” because knowledge comes with in growth but it must come with love. Paul is commanding the church in Christian love to realize the varied levels of maturity in the church so that unity is accomplished and love is displayed between the immature and maturing believers in the body of Christ.
b. the responsibility with Christian freedom
9 But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. 10 For if someone sees you, who have 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 who is weak is ruined, the brother for whose sake Christ died.
Paul calls it a stumbling block for the weaker Christian seeing you indulge in eating meat offered to idols, this may lead them to stumble in their faith and return back to eating that meat thinking it was an offering to their former focus of worship. Paul’s command is to “look out” for your liberty that it might not be a stumbling block. We might think of a contemporary stumbling block as your kids lego that you step on as you walk across your den. Whatever you were going to accomplish, has not been redirected to the immense pain in your foot as you pry that plastic block of death from your flesh.
The point is that you cannot control how long the conscience of other believers takes to learn and grow. That is on the Spirit of God to do that work. Our role is to display a love that watches out for the weak family of faith that need extra care and love shown as they grow. We cut up food for our children because both the sharp knife and the large chunks of food that they consume are a danger to them. We don’t say to our kids…you should know better because they have to learn such things in maturity.
If we fail to look out for the weakness of our brothers and we express our liberty in such a way that it causes others to stumble, Paul actually calls this a sin against Christ because it offends parts of the body of Christ.
12 And so, by sinning against the brethren and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ.
This is a glorious passage about the unity of the body of Christ with its head, who is Christ so that when sin occurs in its midst, it is a sin against the Lord himself. This goes to show us all that while we have liberty in Christ, it is not absolute freedom to do what we wish. It still requires us to put on love and operate that freedom under the leadership and headship of our Lord. Therefore, freedom in Christ is not a license to do whatever we want, but to do what Christ desires for he is our liberator from sin and death.
13 Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause my brother to stumble.
Paul concludes with love and liberty applied. The greatest expression of love by any follower of Christ is love seasoned with sacrifice. Husbands sacrifice for wives in love. Parents sacrifice for their children in love. Pastors sacrifice for their sheep in love. Brothers and sisters in Christ sacrifice for each other in love. Paul states that he would refrain from ever eating meat again instead of offending his brother. This abstinence is conviction of Paul informed by his love for the brethren. Its not out of the realm of possibility.
Let me close with a personal illustration. I grew up on gluten filled foods. I don’t have a gluten allergy and I enjoy foods with gluten. But gluten causes my family to be ill and so I fight my own selfishness for the foods I love in order to keep my family safe. I am not still growing in that way but it is necessary for their health and so if I need to rid gluten from my home for their health, I will do so. Don’t quote me on that!
My point is that we will do whatever it takes for the physical health of the people we love. The Lord calls us to think in similar terms with regards to spiritual health of our brothers and sisters in Christ.