1 Corinthians 8

Highs and Lows

Recap

We are at a spot in 1st Corinthians where the Corinthians are kind of asking Paul questions. Chapters 6 and 7 related to questions they had about relationships and marriage, where chapter 8 will be relating to eating food from sacrifices.

We already discussed that Corinth is in Greece and has a lot of other “gods” that have a large influence on the culture. These are the traditional greek or roman mythology gods you have probably heard of at one point or another. The Corinthians would sacrifice animals to their gods similar to how the Jews would before Christ, BUT there were a few pretty large differences.

One difference was that they would only really give their gods the less desirable parts of the animal, where as Jews had to pick out the best animal they could find and sacrifice the whole thing. The Corinthians would take the desirable parts of the animals, (the good to eat or expensive parts), and either eat them at a feast/party, or sell them at the market.

This was a large part of the Corinthian culture and happened at the Corinthian temples often. The question that was asked of paul was whether or not it was acceptable of Christians in Corinth to eat these animals that were part of a sacrifice.

I want to start with a question:

Is knowledge a good thing? ok..

Is love a good thing? ok…

Do love and knowledge have to be present together for them to be good, or can they be good without each other?

basically, is it ok to just know things or does that knowledge have to be fueled by love for it to be a good thing?

Paul is going to show the Corinthians that just knowing things about their religion isn't enough. His point is that knowledge without both a love for God and for the people around you is not true knowledge.

Verses 1-3 say:

The New King James Version Chapter 8

Now concerning things offered to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. 2 And if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know. 3 But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him.

In verses 1 - 3 we see Paul really talking about knowledge and how it relates to love in the walk of a Christian. He kind of quotes/mocks a saying that the Corinthians had adopted when he says “We know that we all have knowledge”. The Corinthians assumed that they all knew the same things, especially when it came to their walks with the Lord. They kind of just assumed that they all had the same thoughts and ideas on scripture and what things were right and wrong. Paul points out to them that this “knowledge” is empty because it is not fueled by love.

What knowledge are we talking about here?

just guess based off of what we have been talking about

We are talking about the knowledge of “good and bad” when it comes to eating the animals sacrificed in the temple.

Verses 4-6 say:

The New King James Version Chapter 8

4 Therefore concerning the eating of things offered to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God but one. 5 For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords), 6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live.

Here Paul is saying that idols have no power and are not real deities. He talks about how there are plenty of “gods” and things that can be worshipped, but none of them are real. As Christians, we only have one God who created all things and all things are through Jesus Christ.

Would any of you say that all Christians have the same knowledge of right and wrong, or even the same personal convictions?

No - they don’t. Everyone’s walk is personal and will differ a little bit.

Verses 7 and 8 say:

The New King James Version Chapter 8

However, there is not in everyone that knowledge; for some, with consciousness of the idol, until now eat it as a thing offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. 8 But food does not commend us to God; for neither if we eat are we the better, nor if we do not eat are we the worse.

Here Paul is addressing the statement the Corinthians made that everyone has knowledge. Most Christians in Corinth had at one time worshipped these idols. The assumed knowledge we are talking about here is that these idols have no power, and because they believe there is only one true God, it doesn't matter if they eat the meat from the sacrifices or not. Paul tells them it doesn’t matter if they eat it or not, the idols have no power and there is only one God. Some of the Christians knew that it didn’t matter if they ate it, but some of the Christians could not do it with a clear conscience. It was a matter of personal conviction for them, and they did not feel right eating the sacrifice.

This is a great example of personal convictions. In your walk with God, there will sometimes be things that you feel you should or should not do that are not explicitly stated in scripture. This might be something like not listening to secular music, or having a set time to pray, or something like that. These things are not right or wrong because they are personal. If you feel the pull to do something and don’t do it, it would be wrong. Just because you have a certain personal conviction doesnt mean that others are wrong for not following your personal conviction.

With that being said, Paul is also going to show us in verses 9-13 that we should respect other people’s personal convictions and not cause them to stumble

Verses 9-13 say:

The New King James Version Chapter 8

9 But beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak. 10 For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will not the conscience of him who is weak be emboldened to eat those things offered to idols? 11 And because of your knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died? 12 But when you thus sin against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. 13 Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.

Paul kind of wraps this up by saying to look out for your fellow believers and what their personal convictions are. In Christ, we have the freedom to do all kind of things, but if it goes against a fellow believer’s convictions, we should abstain from those things when around them. Basically Paul was saying “yes, some of you know that you can eat the meat from sacrifices and it doesn’t matter. Some of your fellow believers, however, are convicted by this and would rather not. Don’t do this around them or in front of them tempting them to sin against their convictions and do it anyways”. Paul says if you do this, you have actually sinned against Christ, and finishes by saying that if meat is a stumbling block for his fellow believers, he will never eat meat again.

What does this look like practically?

If someone tells me they are trying to stop listening to secular music because they feel like it is too worldly, I would make sure that when I am around them or I am riding in the car with them, I don’t play secular music.

This also shows a theme of not flirting with sin. This is a theme that is shown throughout scripture, basically saying don’t do or associate with anything that might cause you to sin.

A passage showing this similar idea is Mathew 5:30:

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 5

29 If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.