1 Corinthians 10:23 - 11:1
About the Text
(23) What did Paul mean by "everything is permissible"? He meant that God's boundaries for the Christian life allows for much freedom. Christians are still bound by divine laws such as the Ten Commandments and great commandment to love God and neighbor. But unlike the Jews, we believe we are no longer bound by the seemingly endless ceremonial laws (like annual feasts), food laws (like avoiding pork), Israelite social laws (like executing adulterers), and human traditions (like limiting one's travel to 1/4 mile on the last day of the week). Therefore, for the Christian, there is comparatively much freedom. But Paul here makes his final point about why shouldn't use our freedom to simply do whatever we desire. His point, which he began since chapter 8, is that many of the activities that God's law permits us to enjoy, are not always constructive to others all the time. In other words, the Corinthian Christians played by the rules, but weren't winning the game. It was like basketball players standing still on the court - they're within the boundaries, but not making any baskets. In short, Paul's point in the following verses is that Christians should use their God-given freedom to do good to others (that's how we serve God), and not to simply gratify our own selfish pleasures. Thus, he leads into one of God's supreme principles for Christian conduct in verse 24: "Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others."
(25) Meat market? What in the world does that mean? Paul was referring to what he wrote in 1 Cor. 8:4-6. There, he affirmed the Corinthian Christians, who were formerly non-believing pagans, that God's law permits one to eat meat that has been used in a pagan religious ritual, as long as he doesn't get involved in the ritual itself. Such meat was perfectly good, and it was regularly sold in the market after the ritual was over. Many Jews, however, thought it unlawful to eat such meat, and often went to great lengths to research the background of any meat they bought at the market. If they found it was used in a pagan sacrifice, they wouldn't buy it. Paul, however, says that to God it doesn't matter. Meat is meat. It's all from God. Therefore, give thanks, and eat it.
(28) If God's law allows believers to eat meat that was formerly used in pagan sacrifice, then why did Paul command Christians to refrain from eating it if the host speaks up about where it came from? Because it would injure that host's conscience. In other words, Paul said that if an unbelieving host of the party warned you, a Christian, that the meat was formerly used in a pagan sacrifice, out of moral concern for you, then you should not eat it, even though it would be permissible in God's eyes. If you did eat of it, the unbelieving host might think that you are sinning (v. 30) and then conclude that God permits Christians to sin, which, of course, He does not. The Christian must be careful to maintain a godly reputation in order to better share the gospel of Jesus Christ to unbelievers, and to keep from leading young believers into sin.
(31) What does it mean to "do all to the glory of God"? Glory, in the Old Testament, was the bright light of God, like a million-watt spotlight. God possesses glory of such magnitude, that when Christ comes back He will light up the sky so that the whole world would see (Matt. 24:27). Also, God said that no one can see God and live - probably because the brightness of God is too intense for man to take. And when Moses saw the glory of God, God had to specially shield him by placing him in a cleft in a rock, and covering him with His hand until He had passed by (Ex. 33:12-23).
The bright light of God is fueled by His perfect goodness, supreme authority, and divine majesty (Ex. 33:19). There are certain attributes, or characteristics, of God that only He possesses, such as omnipresence and ultimate power. These attributes is what makes God give off a supernatural luminance.
By "doing all to the glory of God," we are to make Him "shine." That is, we are to live our lives in such a way that it reveals God's goodness to the world. This is the Christian's ultimate goal in life.
Insights
The Bottom Line
Do all to the glory of God. God's goodness is clear: He sent Jesus Christ to die for the sins of the world, that whoever believes in Him are assured of their eternal life, the complete forgiveness of their sins, the gift of the Holy Spirit, and all love, joy, hope, and peace in life. This is the gift of salvation to all who believe in the story of Jesus Christ. Now that we believe, how then should we live to express our gratitude for our salvation? Paul describes in these verses that the Christian life does not consist of simply adding new rules and new restrictions to our present way of living. Rather, our entire lives must be changed by a radically different principle of living. In other words, we don't need a few new musicians to fix the orchestra; we need a new conductor. In today's passage, Paul gives us such a "conductor." It's found in a conducting life principle: do all to the glory of God.