1 CORINTHIANS

Chapter 8, Verses 1-13

“If I Feel It’s Right Does That Give Me The Right?”

[4-10-22]

 

Review: “Marriage During Times Of Persecution!”

1 Corinthians 7:38-40) [NAS] So then both he who gives his own virgin daughter in marriage does well, and he who does not give her in marriage will do better.

Regarding “acting unbecomingly toward his virgin daugher,”

“Acts unbecomingly, either by throwing temptation in the daughter’s way by constraining her to remain unmarried, or by exposing her to the disgrace which was supposed to attach to the unmarried state. But Paul, in his preceding words, has regarded the latter consideration as set aside by the peculiar circumstances of the time” [Vincent].

QUESTION: Should a father give his virgin daughter in marriage?

ANSWER: If he does he “does well;” if he does not he does “better.”

NOTE: Again, Paul is giving this counsel in the face of persecution.

39) A wife is bound as long as her husband lives; but if her husband is dead, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord.

40) But in my opinion she is happier if she remains as she is; and I think that I also have the Spirit of God.

QUESTION: What does verse 39 tell us?

ANSWER: The bondage of verse 15 is explained in verse 39. A Christian is not bound by their wedding vows when their unsaved mate divorces them. I personally believe Paul is teaching that such an individual is free to remarry.

NOTE: There are three reasons someone can remarry while their “ex” is still living: 1) he/she was unfaithful; 2) he/she deserted him/her; 3) it happened when he/she was still unsaved.

 

This Week’s Lesson: “If I Feel It’s Right Does That Give Me The Right?”

1 Corinthians 8:1-13) [NAS] Now concerning things sacrificed to idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge makes arrogant, but love edifies.

NOTE: Paul means that everyone on both sides of the issue think they’re right. They believe that their perceptions are facts, and therefore, that their opinion is the right one. That attitude will lead us to arrogance.

QUESTION: What is a better attitude to have?

ANSWER: We should have an attitude that causes us to want to do what’s beneficial for others, because we love them in Christ. Note the Contemporary English Version’s rendering:

(CEV) In your letter you asked me about food offered to idols. All of us know something about this subject. But knowledge makes us proud of ourselves, while love makes us helpful to others.

2) If anyone supposes that he knows anything, he has not yet known as he ought to know;

NOTE: Paul will enlarge on this thought a few chapters later:

1 Corinthians 13:2) And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.

QUESTION: What is Paul getting at here?

ANSWER: Verse 2 is explaining the end of verse 1: “Love edifies.” Any “knowledge” that we have that trumps Christian love isn’t true knowledge.

3) but if anyone loves God, he is known by Him.

1 John 4:21) And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.

QUESTION: Why does Paul go from the thought of our loving others to the thought of our loving God?

ANSWER: In Paul’s mind, as in John’s, loving others is inclusive in loving God.

QUESTION: Then what’s his point is in verse 3?

ANSWER: Your loving God is seen in your loving others; then you are “known by Him.”

4) 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.

5) For even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords,

6) 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.

NOTE: Those who were perfectly comfortable eating meat that had been previously offered in idol worship were those who understood that there is no God but the Jewish/Christian God. They understood that the idol that the meat had been offered to was merely a figment of someone’s imagination. It didn’t exist; therefore, it had no power to taint the meat.

**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.

NOTE: Those who didn’t think it proper to eat meat that had been offered to an idol came from a background of idol worship. Having been saved out of idol worship they were still sensitive to the idea that the meat had been defiled by its usage in idol worship.

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.

9) But take care lest this liberty of yours somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.

NOTE: He is now speaking to the first group. He agrees with them that the meat they were eating that had been offered to a god who did not exist will neither improve nor worsen their relationship with God. They were at liberty to eat the meat!

NOTE: However, their liberty must not trump the welfare of their fellow believers whose conscience wouldn’t allow them to eat the meat. They must not create a “stumbling block to the weak.”

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?

[ERV] You understand that it’s all right to eat anything, so you can eat even in an idol’s temple. But someone who has doubts might see you eating there, and this might encourage them to eat meat sacrificed to idols too. But they really think it is wrong.

Romans 14:23) [ERV] But anyone who eats something without being sure it is right is doing wrong. That is because they did not believe it was right. And if you do anything that you believe is not right, it is sin.

11) For through your knowledge he who is weak is ruined, the brother for whose sake Christ died.

12) And thus, by sinning against the brethren and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ.

QUESTION: What is Paul saying here?

ANSWER: There are Christian liberties that you have that you must exercise care as to when to enjoy those liberties. If someone whose conscience is weak sees you enter a facility where you will eat the meat in question; or, in our case, enter a facility where you will engage in an activity that they deem unclean/sinful, you could do them spiritual harm. Your activity might entice them to follow in suit, only to find that they have sinned against their conscience.

QUESTION: What facilities in our day might I be referring to in the above answer?

ANSWER: A few examples would be: movie theaters, casinos, places that serve alcohol [which includes sports’ stadiums and most grocery stores], dance clubs, haunted houses, etc.

13) Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, that I might not cause my brother to stumble.

QUESTION: Does Paul mean literally that he would “never eat meat again”?

ANSWER: If never eating meat offered to idols again was the only way to make certain he didn’t place a stumbling block in front of a Christian with a weaker conscience than his, then he would literally never eat such meat again. However, he is probably referring back to verse 10 where he said, “if someone sees you” doing it.

NOTE: If you’re going to go to movies, go; but if you have Christian friends who believe movie theaters to be off limit then don’t go to them at a location where they might see you entering such a facility. Enjoy the movie, but not at the expense of the weaker brother/sister. DON’T FLAUNT YOUR LIBERTIES, BUT ALWAYS EXERCISE CARE! Your Christian liberty is never to trump the love you must have for your Christian brothers and sisters.