Free Bible Commentary
“1 Corinthians 8:1-13”
Categories: 1 Corinthians“Now concerning things sacrificed to idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge makes arrogant, but love edifies. If anyone supposes that he knows anything, he has not yet known as he ought to know; but if anyone loves God, he is known by Him.
“Therefore concerning the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we know that there is no such thing as an idol in the world, and that there is no God but one. For even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords, 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.
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. 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. But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. 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? For through your knowledge he who is weak is ruined, the brother for whose sake Christ died. And so, by sinning against the brethren and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause my brother to stumble.”
---End of Scripture verses---
Some problems can’t be solved by “knowledge” alone. Knowledge “puffs up”, but love “builds up” (verse 1). Knowledge without love is merely academic, is not wisdom, is harmful and even destructive (1 Corinthians 13:1-8). Most of the brethren in the church at Corinth knew, “that there is no such thing as an idol in the world, and that there is no God but one” (verse 4). But obviously not all of them had this knowledge (verse 7). Even though Christians had (and still have) the “liberty” to eat meat sacrificed to an idol, a child of God is called to forgo his rights in order to help a “weak” brother to keep from stumbling.
“Food will not commend us to God; we are neither the worse if we do not eat, nor the better if we do eat” (verse 8). Food does not affect our relationship with God. “For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude” (1 Timothy 4:4). Food is really a neutral subject. Unless a brother or sister violates their own conscience by eating something that they associate with a sinful activity, such as idolatry. Then, eating food becomes a sin. It would be a real shame for a “strong” Christian to eat something or do something that is purely neutral that would tempt a “weak” Christian to follow their example and violate their own conscience.
Paul is going to elaborate more on this issue of eating meat sacrificed to idols in chapter 10. But today’s passage is really all about giving up our rights in order to help our “weak” brothers and sisters stay faithful to the Lord. We learn from verse 10 at least one aspect that defines the “weak” Christian written about today’s verses. He is a “follower”. He is someone who would be tempted to do a thing that he has a problem with, just because he saw a “strong” Christian do it. He is a convert who does not realize the full implications of Christianity. But he can demonstrate “strong” faith in Christ by avoiding things that he thinks are wrong or about which he is uncertain or doubtful.
There is a twofold warning here for us to all take heed of. Since very few people think that they are actually the “weak” Christian, we all need to be careful to guard our words and actions. First of all, we must be careful to not do anything that will violate our own conscience, even if everybody else is convinced that a thing is okay to do. Secondly, and of equal importance, we all must be careful to not place a “stumbling block” in the path of a brother or sister in Christ (verse 13). If we know that a Christian believes a thing to be sinful, even if we know that it is not, we should forgo our “right” to do it in his presence. We want to take great pains to avoid the risk of “ruining” a brother by helping him to violate his own conscience and commit a sin (verses 11). That would ruin us as well since we would be “sinning against the brethren” (verse 12).
Please read 1 Corinthians 9:1-14 for tomorrow.
Have a blessed day!
- Louie Taylor
