Lesson 17 – 1 Corinthians Chapter 8:7-13
We’re in the middle of chapter 8 with Paul, and in this chapter we’ve come upon the subject of food being sacrificed to idols and false gods. It was interesting to learn that the pagan culture at that time actually believed that spirits and demons could enter into food, and that if someone ate that food they could be possessed by some demonic entity.
The logic was, if they burned the meat as a sacrifice to their gods, the demons would leave, thus making the meat safe to eat. The issue then became, what kind of effect would this have on a Christian if they ate meat that had been sacrificed to idols? Would it offend God? Would they be seen as backslidden if they were seen eating it or buying the sacrificed meat at the market?
The “mature believers” in the Corinthian church saw all this as a non-issue. They realized that the sacrificed meat was harmless, because the idols and gods that this meat was sacrificed to weren’t real in the first place. In verse 4, Paul affirms this truth by saying, “We know that there is no such thing as an idol in the world,” meaning false gods and idols are real only in the unbeliever’s minds.
The problem was pride reared its ugly head with these so-called mature believers, which led them to keep this truth to themselves, leaving the others to fend for themselves and continue to believe in a false truth. Where’s the love in that?
Let’s pick up in verse 7:
1 Cor. 8:7:
“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.”
Verse 7 identifies the crux of the problem, and I think the ones that had struggled the most with this were the Gentile believers. They were the ones who most likely had participated in actual sacrifices in their past, it was part of their personal history.
Not all men have this knowledge…
The word knowledge talked about here is the truth that these idols and false gods really only existed in the minds of these immature believers, it was a very real to them. We can see this even today on cable reality shows. For example, you have a committed group of people who actually believe in ghosts. They’ll go into an abandon building with all their electronic gizmos turned on, flashlights glowing, and someone will say, “Did you hear that?”
But let’s be clear, ghosts are not real, but on the other hand, demons are very real. With that, there are no examples in the Bible about demons possessing any kind of meat, but they can possess people and animals.
But some, being accustomed to the idol until now, eat food as if it were sacrificed to an idol…
Like I mentioned before, these immature believers had been dealing with their past lives. They lived this experience by participating in the sacrifices being made to idols. Basically, it was engraved in their memory banks. The way they saw it, to look back could be detrimental to their growing in Christ, which is really wise when you think about it. It would be similar to the person who got caught up in drug use, alcoholism, or even immoral behaviors, then upon being reminded of those things, it could prove to be damaging to them, bringing them back to a life they wanted to leave behind. So, when it came to eating meat sacrificed to idols, they were probably overly sensitive when it came to these subject matters.
And their conscience being weak is defiled…
Remember, the meat sacrificed to idols was plentiful, and it was served at most public gatherings; it would be unusual if the meat wasn’t accessible.
So, imagine the setting where mature believers and not-so-mature believers are together at the same function, and the top item on the menu is some freshly sacrificed meat. The immature believer sees the mature believer indulge in the tasty buffet, so they decide to partake as well. But when they do this, they begin to think that what they’ve done is somehow wrong… this is when their conscience being weak is defiled… resulting in feelings of guilt.
Romans 14:22-23 (NLT):
“You may believe there’s nothing wrong with what you are doing, but keep it between yourself and God. Blessed are those who don’t feel guilty for doing something they have decided is right. But if you have doubts about whether or not you should eat something, you are sinning if you go ahead and do it. For you are not following your convictions. If you do anything you believe is not right, you are sinning.”
If we cannot do something in good conscience, we shouldn’t do it at all according to what Paul is saying. We’ve entered into disputable matters or gray areas.
How does this apply today? One example may be the tattoo. For one person, a tattoo could be a meaningful gesture of faith in God. I have a tattoo on my arm that says, “John 14:6,” to me, that is a very important Scripture. When I had it done there were no feelings of guilt.
To another person, they might see a tattoo as something that goes against God, for that person to get a tattoo would be a sin. Each one of us stands before Christ on our own in regards to matters of personal conscience or principles. It’s important therefore, to listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.
A defiled conscience is one that has been ignored and violated, and can bring in thoughts of confusion, resentment, and feelings of guilt.
Here’s a question for you… how do you know if what you’re hearing inside yourself is from your conscience or from the Holy Spirit?
The Holy Spirit will always provide a clean conscience, but a clean conscience is not necessarily the product of the Holy Spirit. It’s a balance that is found by cultivating a close relationship with God… and there are no short cuts to this.
Titus 1:15:
“To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled.”
A person is morally and spiritually defiled by sin in their heart and mind, not by material things that they handle or eat.
The Holy Spirit is a distinct person of the Trinity, unlike that of the human conscience. The Holy Spirit does not evolve within us. He is the same today as He was when we first received our salvation, and will be with us beyond our last day upon the earth.
The Holy Spirit will never direct us to anything contrary to God or His Word. The conscience, on the other hand, can lead to the glorification of self or the flesh, and if it does, it is not of God.
Gal. 5:22:
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”
So, if what we are hearing within ourselves is anything that moves away from the fruits of the Spirit, it would be something for us to avoid. With this in mind, for a believer to flaunt their freedom in front of a weaker brother or sister, certainly isn’t the fruit of love or kindness, is it?
Acts 24:16:
“In view of this, I also do my best to maintain always a blameless conscience both before God and before men.”
The Holy Spirit will bring conviction into our thinking, things that point to sin… this is the time to listen to the Spirit, and move away from sin.
Adrian Rodgers, in his book “Kingdom Authority,” wrote about his visit to a local restaurant. His waitress was noticeably having a bad day. She delivered his check before her shift was to end and mistakenly overbilled him for an item which he did not order.
Since she had already left, he could not rectify the error in any other way. Notifying the manager could have adversely affected the employment of the waitress. The issue was magnified by the fact that he only brought enough money for the meals he actually ordered.
Instead of protesting about the extra charge, he instructed his wife to stay at the table while he ran home to get additional money to satisfy the bill and an appropriate tip.
His conscience could have deemed correcting the bill with the manager as acceptable. The Holy Spirit, however, enabled him to realize all the possible unfair results from his actions. Even though he was unfairly monetarily penalized for someone else’s mistake, no further harm resulted because of the provision of the Holy Spirit.
The human conscience is rooted upon fairness, not divine grace and mercy. Pastor Rodgers would have been consciously justified by rectifying the error, but the Holy Spirit led him in another direction.
Our mature and knowledgeable Corinthian believers let their pride and personal freedoms get the better of them. I guess we could say that their sensitivities to the leading of the Holy Spirit were out of sync. If they had a close relationship with God, these things might have not taken place.
Col. 1:10:
“So that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;”
The Corinthians were found lacking in their walk with the Lord, they weren’t treating their brothers and sisters with the love of Christ. Evidence of the fruits of the Spirit were in short supply for them.
1 Cor. 8:8:
“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.”
Simply stated, we know that food isn’t an issue with God. As far as God is concerned, food is spiritually neutral. Doing things that are “not” forbidden by God has no significance in our relationship with Him.
Jesus made this point clear when He said, “There is nothing outside the man which can defile him if it goes into him; but the things which proceed out of the man are what defile the man.” (Mark 7:15)
Perhaps you might be thinking, isn’t gluttony a sin? There are no verses that say outright that, “Gluttony is a sin.” However, when we consider what gluttony is and the biblical principles that apply, our conclusion should be that gluttony is indeed a sin. Gluttony is seen as a lack of self-control, and self-control is a quality believers are to pursue.
2 Peter 1:5-7:
“Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love.”
We can see gluttony is a sin because the Bible promotes self-control as one of the characteristics of the Spirit-led life. The reasonable thing to do would be to temper down our physical appetites and not let them control us.
When it comes to food, it’s really a matter of balance and common sense. When things other than the Holy Spirit take control, we should begin to question that very thing.
1 Cor. 8:9:
“But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.”
Liberty… (ex-oo-see’-ah) it means power of choice, liberty of doing as one pleases.
If we look up liberty vs. freedom…
• Freedom is the broader concept of being free to act, think, and speak as one desires.
• Liberty is a form of freedom that is granted and protected by societal laws and structures.
We are indeed free in Christ. We are no longer under the law, but under God’s grace, as Paul says.
But free to do what? What are the limitations? What are the boundaries? What are the restrictions of our freedom in Christ?
We can see that liberty and freedom are closely related, and freedom is a result of knowing the truth. The liberty Paul is talking about is the Corinthians knew that when it came to food being offered up to idols, they had the complete freedom to eat it or not to eat it.
But in the context of our verse, to paraphrase Paul, he is saying, “Yes, you have the liberty to eat whatever you feel like, but do you realize what kind of effect it’s having on those around you?” So, with this in mind, our knowledge needs to be tempered by a higher principle.
become a stumbling block to the weak…
For the Corinthians to just plow ahead in their freedoms and not giving a second thought to their weaker brothers and sisters, is to act in a loveless way toward them.
John MacArthur says, “We should never influence a fellow Christian to do anything that the Holy Spirit, through that person’s conscience, is protecting him from.”
A stumbling block… is that over which a soul stumbles i.e., by that which is caused to sin.
Remember Romans 14 pointed out, “If you do anything you believe is not right, you are sinning.”
What’s happening here is the ones who flaunted their liberties in front of weaker believers, caused the weaker ones to sin in their own minds. It’s easy to see how this would never be pleasing to God. The bottom line is, what we do and say in front of others matters. Be careful your actions don’t cause another to stumble.
1 Cor. 8:10:
“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?
If I, in my freedom in Christ, feel comfortable to go to “Brothers Grill & Tavern” to have a bacon-cheeseburger, that is totally permissible for me, as far as God is concerned. But on the other hand, if I decide to bring my friend who doesn’t approve of eating any pork products for spiritual reasons, to have lunch with me, and knowing that he looks up to me as a Christian pastor, my actions could do him harm, spiritually speaking. Like Paul, let’s be all things to all people.
1 Cor. 8:11:
“For through your knowledge he who is weak is ruined, the brother for whose sake Christ died.”
There is a real comfort for those who understand God’s precepts and principles, and to live by them accordingly, but as a mature believer, it’s our duty to be aware of those around us. Jesus died and rose from the grave for all who would believe. In this knowledge, believers should have love, kindness, and respect for those who are “weaker” in the faith. Surely, we could put off eating a bacon-cheeseburger for another day.
John 15:13:
“Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.”
Not that we can compare laying down our life to our eating habits, but it speaks of being willing to make personal sacrifices when it comes to others. Willing to sacrifice of our liberties for someone else is a sign of love.
1 Cor. 8:12:
“And so, by sinning against the brethren and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ.”
Pastor Jon Courson puts this into perspective quite nicely…
“Not only can a weak conscience become defiled, but it can become wounded. That is, a weaker brother can be shocked or saddened by observing my liberty. And when we so wound a weaker brother, we sin against Christ. Why? Because Jesus cares about even His weakest children. Yes, they might be spiritual babies, spoiled brats, scared children… but they’re all His, nonetheless. And He cares about them so much that He died for them. Therefore, before I say, “I’ll do what I want, go where I want, eat what I want,” I must realize that if flaunting my liberty and boasting of my maturity, I knowingly cause my weaker brother to stumble, I sin not only against him but against Christ.”
1 Cor. 8:13:
“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 is reiterating the principle he’s been presenting to us so far, and when things are repeated in God’s Word, it’s important to pay close attention.
When it comes to living out our Christian walk, I found a list of wise values to go by:
• Excess. Is the activity or habit necessary, or is it merely an extra that is really not important? Is it perhaps only an encumbrance that we should willingly give up?
Hebrews 12:1:
“Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,”
• Expediency. “All things are lawful for me,” Paul says, “but not all things are profitable,” or expedient (1 Cor. 6:12). Is what I want to do helpful and useful, or only desirable to me?
• Emulation. “The one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked” (1 John 2:6). If what we are doing is what Christ would do, our actions are not only permissible but good and right as well. (WWDJ)
• Example. Are we setting the right examples for others, especially for weaker brothers and sisters? If we emulate Christ, others will be able to emulate us, to follow our example.
1 Tim. 4:12:
“Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe.”
• Evangelism. Is my testimony going to be helped or hindered? Will unbelievers be drawn to Christ or turned away from Him by what I am doing? Will it help me conduct myself “with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity” (Col. 4:5)?
• Edification. Will I be built up and matured in Christ; will I become spiritually stronger? “All things are lawful, but not all things edify” (1 Cor. 10:23).
And lastly…
• Exaltation. Will the Lord be lifted up and glorified in what I do? God’s glory and exaltation should be the supreme purpose behind everything we do. “Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31).
God’s Word teaches us to be kind to one another, to care about our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. We’re one big happy family, at least we should be. It’s important that we fully understand how free we really are, now that we’re born-again.
We’ll close with this…
Chapter 8 has been an excellent teaching on how to live in this world and not to be of this world. To insist on personal liberties can have some very negative connotations.
Jesus freed us from the penalty of sin, making us a friend of God. With this knowledge, our hearts should be turning to God every day, desiring to live lives pleasing to Him, by being a living and holy sacrifice. If we emulate Jesus, we can’t help but show His love to those around us.