Learning to Live Together Under the Lordship of Christ - 1 Cor 8:7-13 (2)

Conflict does seem to be the characteristic of our world

Isaiah 9:2 “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.”

Matthew using this quote…said 17From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”… Christ came...

Luke 1:79 “to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”” Even to the lowest of the shepherd… the angels declared it...

Luke 2:14 (ESV)“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

So, to the apostle Paul, It must be disheartening how divided the Corinthian church was. The group of representatives, namely Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus (1 Co 16:17) have brought word to Paul pleading with him to help them resolve things.

Luke 9:23 ESV

And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

We have to learn to live together under the Lordship of Christ.

How can we learn to live together under the Lordship of Christ? There are three lessons we have to learn”

Lesson 1: The Law gives clear expectations under the Lordship of Christ

Meat offered to idols would be presented in a few ways.

a cultic meal in a pagan temple, where meat was sacrificed and the participants dined on a portion of the meat as an act of worship

The temples were also used for social events, such as the meetings of various clubs and associations, marriages, and civic meetings. Archeology has uncovered large dining halls at Corinth in the temples of Asclepius and Demeter

Not all sacrificial meat was consumed in the sacred meals. Some was reserved for the priests. After this, the meat found its way to the local meat market.

All of these contexts are going to be addressed… But this is where the conflict came: The pagans of Paul’s day feared what the gods might do to those who neglected to worship them. Some of the Christians in Corinth probably found it a constant struggle to place their trust solely in Christ instead of trying to placate the gods they used to worship.

V7

We wont live together very well if we dont know what the clear expectations of God are!

Knowledge is something to possess

Knowledge something that affects weakness or strength

Not knowing what is expected on either side of this leads to a conscience being defiled.

“Conscience” (4893) suneidesis from sun/syn = with + eido = know) literally means a "knowing with", a co-knowledge with oneself or a being of one's own witness in the sense that one's own conscience "takes the stand" as the chief witness, testifying either to one's innocence or guilt. We have ideas of right and wrong; and when we perceive their truth and claims on us, and will not obey, our souls are at war with themselves and with the law of God. Concsience is that process of thought which distinguishes what it considers morally good or bad, commending the good, condemning the bad, and so prompting to do the former and avoid the latter.

“Sometimes people mistake a bad memory for a clear conscience.” - Unknown

“being weak”- What is a weak conscience? It is a conscience which has been trained by upbringing, background and teaching so as to make one feel sinful or guilty . It is a conscience which needs instruction, training and development to understand both the expectations and the liberties we have.

“The weak brother is not sure whether he himself should eat of the meat. To eat or not to eat for this weaker brother becomes the question. How then is his conscience defiled? He senses he is doing wrong; he feels condemned and guilty when he involves himself in a questionable practice, but at the same time he likes it. His conviction is sincere but he is placed into frustration.

Defiled (3435)(moluno) literally meant to cause something to become dirty as when smeared with dirt, mud, filth. It was used of used of "moral soil" ("smut") that poisons the soul

THomas Watson :”be killing sin or it will be killing you.”

Conscience:

Made right by the blood of Christ: Hebrews 9:14; 10:2-10,22

We should have the approval of Job 27:6; Acts 24:16; Romans 9:1; 14:22

Expectation of Disciples of Christ: Hebrews 13:18; 1 Peter 3:16,211 Timothy 1:19; 3:9 2 Corinthians 4:2

DOnt let it become seared 1 Timothy 4:2… become insensitive.

The commands of Christ are the marching orders of my life. The words of Christ in the Gospels are rooted in the character of God in the Old Testament, and and expanded in the Epistles.

Lesson 1: The Law gives clear expectations under the Lordship of Christ

Lesson 2: Liberty is enabled under the Lordship of Christ -Liberty is cautioned.

The church is struggling against the libertarian, and also struggling against the legalist, who will discover the letter of law and in his excitment about it… he will beat the daylights out of everybody. (Water is a good thing, your body needs it, so here let me ram this firehouse down your throat, and give you life!) You may not realize when you fall into these categories, because it was motivated by zeal for God. But you end up tracing everything down to the salt that was sold to the pagan temple. After all they are supplying them… its time to boycott the salt mines. The grave no longer has a hold on me… sin no longer dominates me. I have been liberated. I will not be enslaved again…

Liberty (1849) exousia from éxesti = it is permitted, it is lawful) means the power to do something and was a technical term used in the law courts, of a legal right. "Authority or right is the dominant meaning (of exousia) in the New Testament." (Vincent) Exousía refers to delegated authority and combines the idea of the "right and the might", these attributes having been granted to someone. Exousia in this passage in 1 Cor 8:9 is used with the idea of  freedom of choice, right to act, decide, etc. (Compare this nuance in Jn 10:18; Acts 5:4; Ro 9:21; 1Cor 9:4-6, 1Cor 12; 2 Th 3:9; Heb 13:10 ; Rev 13:5; Rev 22:14)

Note that exousia becomes a "key word" in the Corinthian letters. - 1 Co. 7:37; 1 Co. 8:9; 1 Co. 9:4; 1 Co. 9:5; 1 Co. 9:6; 1 Co. 9:12; 1 Co. 9:18; 1 Co. 11:10; 1 Co. 15:24; 2 Co. 10:8;

Stumbling block (4348)(proskomma from prós = to, against + kopto = cut, strike) can describe literal or figurative stumbling. It is something a person trips over. Thus proskomma can be an obstacle in the way which if one strikes his foot against he stumbles or falls or figuratively it can describe that over which a soul stumble

Spurgeon’s Example- “Do you not think, dear friends, that though it may be quite proper for you to take a glass of wine or a glass of beer, and there is no sin in the thing at all, your example may be injurious to somebody to whom it would be a sin to take it? Perhaps some persons cannot take a glass without taking two, three, four, five, or six glasses. You can stop, you know; but if your example leads them to start, and they cannot stop, is it right to set them going? Though you have a clear head, and can stand in a dangerous place, I would not recommend you to go there if somebody else would thus be placed in danger. If I were walking by the cliffs of Dover, and I happened to have a very fine cool head, yet, if I had my sons with me, and I knew that they had ordinary kinds of heads, I should not like to go and stand just on a jutting piece of crag so as to induce them to try the same position. No; I should feel, "Though I can stand here, you cannot; and if I stand here, perhaps you will attempt it, and fall, and I shall be guilty of your blood." Let us treat men as we would treat our sons; and let us be weak to their weakness, and deny ourselves for their sakes. Is not that good and proper reasoning? It seems to me that it is. If it is not good reasoning, it is safe. I never have asked God to forgive me for my sin in going without strong drink. I have never seen any commandment in Scripture showing that I am bound to take it. I feel free to do as I like about abstaining; but especially free when for the good of others I prefer to abstain altogether.”

Love compels us under the Lordship of Christ. -Love is demanded

In Corinth The “weaker” brother is not someone who simply objects to a certain practice, but one who is in danger of falling into sin. Its as if there are 2 guys in corinth…

He has taught them that eating meat offered to an idol is not actually immoral, because “an idol is nothing at all.” An idol is an inanimate object. and besides this, “Food,” he says, “does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.”

Remember Jesus said, Matt 15:11 “it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.”” Its issues of the heart… the internal man...

The meat itself is amoral. BUT…(all the “buts” in the Bible)

There is something more to consider: the brother with a weak conscience. Some believers, especially those with a background of idol worship, were still very sensitive concerning this issue and considered it morally wrong to eat meat sacrificed to idols. NEVER should a believer encourage another believer to violate his conscience. To the pure, all things are pure (Titus 1:15), but to one with a weak conscience, meat taken from pagan temples was spiritually defiled. Paul said…it would be better never to eat meat again than to cause a believer to sin against his conscience.

EXAMPLE: Both are former idolaters, now saved by faith in Christ. One shuns everything to do with his old way of life, including the meat sold in the marketplace, because, for him, eating such meat would constitute a return to paganism. (He might not even support the butchers that do this, or the meat wagons that deliver it, or the knife makers that sell to the temple. Or the people who sold the cattle, or the people who sold the feed to all of them… he’s boycotting everything.)

The other avoids the temple and refuses to participate in the pagan festivals, but he has no problem eating the meat from the market. He understands (correctly) that an idol has no power to corrupt good meat, and, for him, eating such meat is a non-issue.

Then one day, as both men are in the marketplace, The first guy sees the second guy eating meat that was sacrificed to idols - HE IS OUTRAGED, but the other guy… encourages him to eat some, too. he drips his defenses… and eats the meat.

Paul is saying...you both sinned. ONE sinned by violating the conscience of a fellow believer. THE OTHER sinned in violating his own conscience.

without love, You Cause a weaker brother to sin. In 1 Corinthians 8:4-13, Paul clarifies the teaching on this subject. First, he says that eating meat offered to an idol is not immoral, because “an idol is nothing at all.” An idol is an inanimate object. “Food,” he says, “does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.” The meat itself is amoral. However, there is more to consider, namely the brother with a weak conscience. Some believers, especially those with a background of idol worship, were still very sensitive concerning this issue and considered it morally wrong to eat meat sacrificed to idols. Under no circumstances, Paul says, should a believer encourage another believer to violate his conscience.

If you do,

You sin against the brother v12 What does that look like?

already said you defile the brother v8

you ruin the brother v11

the brother is ruined (622)  Apollumi then has the basic meaning of describing that which is ruined and is no longer usable for its intended purpose. (Warrens sceen on iphone)

Wuest is somewhat closer, paraphrasing it as "being ruined [in his Christian life]." When we were saved Paul gives one of the purposes for which we were saved, explaining that "we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them." (Eph 2:10+) This weaker brother was saved for "good works," but now in the "ruined state" is unable to accomplish the works for which he was saved!

the brother is wounded v 12a (Lit.to inflict a blow, to beat with the resulting wound)

You sin against Christ v 12b ...the brother for whom Christ died v11

What is he saying to the mature: Your knowledge has led to your brothers sin, Your liberty has led to your sin. All because, the knowledge, and liberty were not governed by love. That is the Lordship of Christ. This is the only way we will ever live together in harmony!

Ephesians 4:2-3 “with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

Phil 2:2 “complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.”

MacArthur points out that "During the past several generations some of the strongest debate among fundamentalists and evangelicals has centered around questionable practices—practices that many believers feel to be wrong but that are not specifically forbidden in Scripture. Some of the key issues have been drinking alcoholic beverages, smoking, card playing, etc... Sunday sports, styles of music...One reason Christians have spent so much time arguing those issues is that the Bible does not “specifically” [address them]... .

But here is the issue he says: “Our rights end when another person is offended or weakened.” -- John MacArthur

If we dont learn these lessons, we will never get out of the cycle of death we have found ourselves in....

“The best way to keep a prisoner from escaping is to make sure he never knows he's in prison.” -Fyodor Dostoevsky

Conclusion:

I heard the bells on Christmas Day...

https://www.whatsaiththescripture.com/Fellowship/Edit_I.Heard.the.Bells.html

I heard the bells on Christmas day Their old familiar carols play And mild and sweet their songs repeat Of peace on Earth, good will to men

And in despair I bowed my head "There is no peace on Earth, " I said For hate is strong and mocks the song Of peace on Earth, good will to men

Then rang the bells more loud and deep God is not dead, nor doth He sleep The wrong shall fail, the right prevail With peace on Earth, good will to men

Then ringing, singing on its way The world revolved from night to day A voice, a chime, a chant sublime Of peace on Earth, good will to men