1 Corinthians 8

About the Text

(1) Why was Paul so concerned about "food sacrificed to idols"? It was popular in the days of ancient history to kill and sacrifice animals to pagan gods. Many ruins of ancient temples still have the altars and eating areas where pagan priests performed their rituals. The Corinthian Christians, being formerly pagan, were used to these pagan festivals, sacrificing, and feasting throughout their lives. It was the "party" of the year that the whole Roman world attended and which these Christians still looked forward to also. For these Christians in Corinth, it was hard to stop. Not only were they used to the feasting and festivities, but the meat was perfectly good and of relatively low cost. So these Christians had decided to go ahead and eat such meat, as long as they didn't actually participate in and believe in the pagan rituals themselves. The apostle Paul, in this chapter, agreed with their reason for eating such meat, but now introduces new reasons for stopping the practice. The rest of the chapter indicates that there were new Christians who were actually participating in the pagan sacrifices because they saw other Christians eating the meat. These new Christians thought, "If my leader eats this meat sacrificed to idols, then it must be okay for me to practice this pagan religion too." Because new Christians were thinking this way, and falling back into idolatry, Paul told the older Christians to stop the practice.

(2) What did Paul mean by "knowledge puffs up"? He meant that the Christian life must not consist of knowledge alone. Rather, it must serve to produce more love in the Christian's heart. Theological knowledge must strengthen one's love for God, otherwise it is useless. A Christian may have read thousands of Christian books, and have memorized whole books of the Bible, but if he has not love toward God nor his neighbor, that knowledge is worthless. Knowledge, when not accompanied by love, makes one arrogant, boastful, and self-centered. But when your knowledge about God and the Bible is used with love, it serves to build up your brothers and sisters in Christ.

(9) Who are the "weak" referred to here? It is referring to those Christians, who, after years of conditioning prior to their conversion, associate such meat with the practice of idolatry, even though it's just a piece of meat. As a result, when they see other Christians eating such meat, they assume then that it's permissible to practice idolatry. Today, many Christians rightfully recognize their right to drink alcohol (as long as they don't get drunk), dance at nightclubs, listen to secular rock music, use certain four letter words, and drive an expensive sports car. But if these practices cause another Christian to sin, then the man who practices it should stop. For example, I know a missionary who enjoyed making and drinking his own wine. But when working among Native Americans who were prone to alcoholism, he voluntarily stopped drinking wine. In this way, he would not cause a brother to stumble. His brother in Christ was much more important to him than drinking. This describes the "stumbling block" principle that governs a Christian's freedom. God's law allows much freedom in the Christian life, but we must curb that freedom if what we do causes another to sin. See also Romans 14 for Paul's further explanation of this principle.

The Bottom Line

Sometimes, set aside your rights for the sake of another. The love that Christ wants us to have for one another sometimes demands that we curb our freedom to do what we want to do. Christ did that. He had the divine right and the authority to call down angels to rescue Him from being hung on a cross. Though He was God, He didn't exercise that right. Instead, He made Himself a lowly man, and took upon Himself the punishment that we deserved for our sins by dying on a cross. Then He promised that those who believe will not perish but have eternal life. His dying for our sins was done out of His extreme love for us, that He would set aside His divine rights, so that we could have salvation. If you are a believer and know you're saved, then live for Him by sometimes setting aside your rights out of love for one another.