1 Corinthians 8

A Proper Perspective of Christian Rights

1 Corinthians 8 

Knowledge can become dangerous when it is separated from love. In the pursuit of knowledge, people can begin to see themselves as enlightened and others as merely useful for their own gain. What begins as a search for answers can swell into pride; the belief that because one knows more, one has the right to decide what happens to those who know less. 

This danger has been most prevalent in history in the medial research field. In the 1960s, mentally vulnerable patients at a Jewish Chronic Disease Hospital in Brooklyn were injected with cancer cells without being told what was happening. Researchers told them that the cells were harmless and that the experiment would produce valuable knowledge. Their weakness became an opportunity for research, and many patients suffered irreversible damage to their bodies for the sake of medical knowledge. 

A similar tragedy occurred at Willowbrook State School, where children with mental disabilities were intentionally infected with hepatitis, so researchers could study possible treatment options. In the name of medical progress, children who could not fully defend themselves were used as instruments for discovery. 

These examples show how knowledge can “puff up” the human heart. When pride rules the search for truth, people stop asking, “How can my knowledge serve others?” and begin asking only, “What knowledge can I gain by using others?” Knowledge without humility harms; knowledge guided by love protects, honors, and serves others. 

This morning as we read through 1 Corinthians 8, we’ll see that pride of knowledge is causing some of the mature believers to exercise their knowledge of foods, in a way that is damaging new believers in the church. 

And while Paul agrees the mature believers have the right to eat what they want, they should use their knowledge and rights to build up the church, not to damage the conscious of new believers. They needed a shift in perspective on how they used their rights. 

In chapter 8, we’ll discover A Proper Perspective of Christian Rights 

1.) The aim of knowledge is love. 

2.) We worship one true God. 

3.) Abused rights cause us to sin against Christ and His bride. 

1Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” This “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up. 2 If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. 3 But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.  

4 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.” 5 For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”— 6 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.  

7 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. 8 Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. 9 But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. 10 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? 11 And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. 12 Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. 13 Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.  

PRAYER 

Cultural Context 

Corinth was a melting pot of culture and religion. Not very different from our modern society. 

The Greek and Romans were polytheistic, which means they worshipped many idols or gods. It’s difficult to number just how many different “gods” they worshipped, as they had a god for everything; weather, fertility, war, sun, moon, etc. They would sacrifice to these different gods so they would have good luck in whatever they were doing, and if they weren’t successful, it meant the god was angry with them. They were very superstitious.  

They were also polydemonistic, which meant they believed in many evil spirits. They believe evil spirits could attach themselves to food and enter a person’s body. Meat was sacrificed to gods to gain favor the god but also cleanse the meat from evil spirits.  

A portion of the meat was sacrificed, and the rest was eaten by the family or sold in the market. These sacrifices were a center for worship for these idols and a big part of the social life in Corinth. The wealthy in society could afford to buy this meat regularly, but the poor in society often only ate meat when there was a festival in one of the pagan temples. 

And the Corinthians were asking Paul, hey we can eat this food sacrificed to idols, right? We know these idols aren’t really gods. 

1.) The aim of knowledge is love. 

1Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” This “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up.  

I wish we had the original questions the Corinthians were asking Paul, but we don’t. It would provide more clarity on Paul’s response. 

From Paul’s response alone, we can assume the mature believers in Corinth were buying and eating meat that had been sacrificed to pagan idols. They knew that idols were not real gods, and that meat sacrificed to the idols was just meat. 

That’s what Paul is referring to when he says, “all of us possess knowledge.” Paul along with the other mature believers knew this meat was fine for them to eat, but in Corinth church, some the new believers just coming out of the pagan worship lifestyle were struggling to understand how Christians who worshipped the One true God could eat meat that had been sacrificed to idols. 

And instead of being sensitive to the new believers who were still weaker in faith just coming out of the pagan worship lifestyle, the mature believers were being arrogant or puffed up with their knowledge.  

Their thought was they knew it was ok to eat meat; it was their right, and they didn’t care that it was causing their newer brothers and sisters to stumble. 

The aim of our faith is not knowledge; it is love. Love builds up others; it doesn’t shame them and cut them down. 

2 If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. 

I think this is Paul’s nice way of saying; no one likes a know-it-all. And usually, a know-it-all doesn’t know quite as much as they think they know. They just talk a lot in hopes they can convince you, and themselves, they do know what they are talking about. 

Psychologists refer to this as the Dunning-Kruger effect. It is a cognitive bias where people with low knowledge about a subject overestimate their competence, while highly skilled individuals may underestimate theirs. 

I had this issue with parenting. Before I had children, I thought I had the absolute best parenting advice for everyone.  

I mean, how hard could parenting be? I always liked to point out to Maren where parents were failing in their parenting and what the correct approach should be. I heard a podcast about parenting, I was pretty much an expert. 

Then I had my own children. Now I am more qualified to give parenting advice, but I realize how little I actually know about parenting. I no longer think I’m an expert. 

Knowledge on its own leads to pride and arrogance.  

I was arrogant in my so-called parenting knowledge, because I had never parented. 

I didn’t much care about helping other parents or serving them; I cared about being right. 

3 But if anyone loves God, he is known by God. 

Paul addresses here the root of the issue of knowledge without love. They were misunderstanding how to apply the Gospel. 

The mature believers are saying we know idols are not real, so we can eat the meat sacrificed to them. God is the only real God. 

And while that knowledge is necessary and good, they emphasized knowledge and not love. 

Listen, the most important thing in your life is not what you know, but who you know! 

If we know and love God, that should be reflected in our lives by how we love our brothers and sisters in Christ. 

Jesus says that the greatest commandment is to Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” 

The more we know and love God, the more we love others. 

That is the signature a mark of a Christian life! 

If we know all about God but do not love others, then we should question our depth of knowledge of our God. If you spend more time judging others for their immaturity in their faith rather than helping them understand the freedom we have in the Gospel and understanding God’s word and lovingly walking with them; stop it. 

If we are God’s children through belief in Jesus Christ, we love God and we are known by God. 

We are known by our Creator! How amazing is that. 

Our love for God and love for other is evidence that we are known by one true God. 

2.) We worship one true God. 

After rabbit trailing momentarily on loving others well, just how God love us; Paul jumps back to the question in subject. 

4 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.”  

Paul confirms they are correct in the knowledge that you can eat food offered to idols, as they are not real gods, and there is not God, but one. 

The Corinthians were correct in both of those statements, and Paul affirms that.  

But they missed an important aspect of what was happening in the worship of idols, the new believers were still wrestling with the concept of one God. This is new information for them. 

5 For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”—  

Paul’s saying here the pagan worshipers truly believe they are worshiping a deity, whether in heaven or on earth.   

The Roman and Greek culture would often time elevate human leaders to the position of gods. Rulers were often referred to as gods and they were worshiped.  

Paul also recognizes that there are spiritual beings that exist. We know them as angels and demons. 

Demons would often use idols as a tool to lead people away from the one true God. And demonic worship was often given people’s full devotion, even though they are not true deities.  

So some idols are completely fake; others were manifestations of demons. Neither of which are the one true God. 

This all leads up to one of the most beautiful utterances of the one true God, deity of Christ in scripture, and the Trinity in one swoop. 

6 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. 

Paul affirms Deuteronomy 6:4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 

The Lord, that is Jehovah, “the self-existing one” the proper name of the one true God, and God, that is Elohim, the Supreme God, is the one true God! 

Friends this is the supreme affirmation of monotheism: GOD is GOD and He is the only GOD! 

It was from God that all things were created, nothing exists outside of Him. And it is for God that all things are created, everything exists for Him! 

If God created everything, there can’t any other deities that exist outside of Him. 

And if everything exists for God, then we shouldn’t worship anything other than Him. 

PAUSE 

Paul affirms here that Jesus is God, by repeating the same message about our Lord Jesus Christ. We exist for Christ and through Christ. 

I love the phrase “yet for us,” it ties directly back to The Lord OUR God in Deuteronomy.  

God is not some distant misunderstood being...He’s our Father! He created us in His image. We are all image bearers of God! 

He’s the Father that loved us so much that He sent Jesus, His Son to earth to die to pay the debt that we owed! 

Jesus justifies us through HIs righteous work when we believe in Him and repent of our sins. 

And God sent the Holy Spirit to dwell in us and help us! 

One God in essence, three in persons. 

Why would you worship a fraud, when the Creator, the one true God has given us access to worship Him? 

The only reason I can think of is that you just don’t know about Him yet. 

Which is what Paul concludes as well. 

3.) Abused rights cause us to sin against Christ and His bride. 

7 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. 

Paul's saying not everyone has heard the good news of the Gospel. Not everyone knows about the one true God. 

The Hydrox cookie was a delicious and popular cookie in 1908. A family feud between two brothers split the company, and years later the new company released the Oreo. Everyone who tasted both said the Hydrox was better, but Nabisco was determined to outsell the Hydrox. 

They spent huge amounts of money on marketing and distribution for Oreo, and after 100 years of marketing, the Hydrox finally was pulled from the assortment.  

If you don’t know about the one true God, you’ll settle for worshiping fakes, just as people now settle for the Oreo, even though the Hydrox was better. 

Some of the Corinthians were just discovering the Gospel, and they were coming out of a life of worship of these idols, so they still assumed those idols were real and eating food sacrificed to the idols would defile them.  

They didn’t yet know these idols were fake, like the more mature believers. 

They thought eating meat sacrificed like some of the more mature believers would defile them, so their consciences were being made to feel guilty. Eating sacrificed meats would harm their spiritual status with God. 

8 Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do.  

Paul says food is just food. We are not worse off spiritually if you eat certain types of food or if you don’t eat certain types of food. 

This was old news to the mature believers but would have been new knowledge for the new believers, or weak mentioned here. 

God said in Acts 10, What God has made clean, do not call common, or unclean.  

Eating or not eating certain type of food will not draw us closer to God or drive us away from God. 

The mature believers had this knowledge, but they missed the point of using knowledge to love and build up their brothers. 

When we went to Vietnam, every place we entered had a little shrine with incense and food offerings placed on them.  

A lot of time it was Oreos. And I really wanted to swipe an Oreo off the shrine and eat it. It was really hard for me not to, but I knew it would ruin any chance I had to have a gospel conversation, so I didn’t do it. 

9 But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.10 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?  

Paul says I know you have the right to eat meat sacrificed to idols, but if that right is going to cause a brother in Christ to stumble back into sin; out of love don’t abuse your right. Think about how it would harm the spiritual growth of the new believer. 

The weaker Corinthians would see some of the more mature believers eating meat sacrificed to idols; some of the mature believers were even eating at the temple festivals. 

If a weaker brother saw this, they would begin to think that worshiping idols was ok for a Christian and begin to fall back into old sins. They still didn’t have the knowledge that those idols were not real gods. 

So mature believers are to protect their weaker brothers by setting aside their rights, for the sake of the spiritual well-being of others. 

1 Cor 10:23 All things are lawful, but not all things are helpful. And when things are not helpful, even when they are your right, it’s best not to do them. 

Some examples of that in our society of what Paul is talking about is drinking alcohol, watching certain types of entertainment, listening to certain types of music, social media, gossip, or legal drugs. 

If a new Christian has a past of struggling with one of these areas and sees a mature believer participating in one of them, they may think it’s fine and end up falling back into addiction and sin. 

As we mature as believers, we need to live in a way that is above reproach, a model of Christ for other to follow.   That’s what our knowledge should be used for. 

11 And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. 12 Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. 13 Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble. 

Paul ends his thoughts about food offered to idols with a stern warning for the church. 

The mature believers misguided knowledge of their rights, could cause a weaker believer to stumble back into sin, back into idol worship, and be destroyed.  

That showed a lack of care and concern for those who Christ died for, and that is a sin. 

Our sin against a brother is a sin against Christ and shamefully disregards His work on the cross. 

Christ’s body was brutally beaten, muscle tissue ripped from His body. He was nailed to a cross where His blood was shed, the payment for the sin of mankind.  

Jesus was God! He had a right to stay in His divine nature, but His immense love for us drove Him to set aside His right, to take on flesh and die for broken and lost sinners like you and me. 

He didn’t have to do that. He could have left us under the eternal wrath of God that we deserve for our sin, that was His right to choose. 

But He chose to love us and die in our place. 

So, if Jesus chose to die for us, we should choose to set aside the rights that we can exercise that would cause a brother to stumble. 

Closing 

I want to leave you with one all-encompassing application this morning. 

Our unity in the church is meant to reflect the unity and love of the Godhead. 

We serve the one true God, Jehovah! 

God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. 

All things were made through God and exist for God. 

Because of God’s great love for us, His image bearers...He sent Jesus to earth to die for your sin...for my sin. 

Jesus had every right to say no, but He set aside His rights, took on human form and became the perfect sacrificial lamb. 

Think about that...the most entitled person to ever walk this earth, gave up all of His rights for us. 

Imagine what our church would look like if we did the same. 

Prayer