Freedom verses Love 1 Cor 8:1-13 Mark Foreman NC3 v The Power and Danger of Knowledge (1-3) Ø (1) Now about food sacrificed to idols (eidolothuton). (Rom 14; Acts 15:20). Here is another topic about which the Corinthians had asked Paul. The Jerusalem Council had advised the Gentiles to abstain from, literally: ceremonial pollutions by idols (exact term: Acts 21:25; 1 Cor 10:19; Rev 2:14,20). In that culture much of the meat would have been consecrated to idols. Christians were not sure where to draw the boundary line. Idolatry and sacrifice were everywhere (sports, business, marketplace, social, civic). Jewish Christians may have still used the kosher line. Gentiles weren t sure. The implications are huge. As we enter society as salt and light, how much do we participate or separate from culture. Some may have gone to vegetarianism (Rom 14), while others completely free. Some were saying no, while others were arguing It s ok, because we know. Some Christians still deal with this issue in parts of the world. But replace food, with another controversial, grey issues, and Paul s advice suddenly has huge modern application: ancestor rites part of culture but origins in paganism, worship that is reminiscent to the worship of their former religion, use of the name Allah. Then there s freemasonry which has distinctive non- Christian rituals. Eucharist of Roman Catholics Meditation and yoga How to treat Sunday or Saturday as Sabbath. Easter eggs, Christmas trees. Cultural things can be vices: drinking, dress, tobacco, cards. Books (Harry Potter); Video games. Internet; cell phones technology.
Music Movies Twelve steps vs. 1 step. So rather than legalism he gives us the tools to deal with such issues. Paul guides us as adults to learn to think and love as rather than giving us a law. Ø We all possess knowledge. Probably a Corinthian slogan, more representative of the stronger. With a tinge of gnostic/enlightened freedom implied by the readers. Knowledge is often confused with opinion. When we say, we know How do we know what we so confidently know. Is it intuition, majority thinking, science, reason, Bible, or spiritual enlightenment? Must of us don t think of our knowledge as opinion. The question was since idols don t really exist, is it ok to eat the meat? if not part of an idolatrous ceremony? Sold in the market? As guests at a wedding, in a home, at a temple banquet? Ø But knowledge puffs up while love builds up Notice: Airy puffing vs. substantive building. Knowledge quickly is tainted with pride. I m proud of what I know, where I ve been, who I know. Or I use it against, to put down others. True knowledge is not a tool for self or against others. Freedom knowledge (without love) leads to selfishness. Ø (2) Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know. The more you truly know, the more you realize you don t know. True knowledge makes you want to learn more. There is a humility that comes with true knowledge. Ø (3) But whoever loves God is known by God. An alternate translation: But whoever loves, has experienced true knowing. Two of the oldest manuscripts (p46 and Clement of Alexandria omit ton qeon and up autou), which may be right! NC3 2
The issue here is not love for God but others (see Thiselton). The primary reading means that ultimate knowledge is God s knowledge even of us not ours. It is what He knows that s amazing not what we know. The grammar in this sentence assumes that this is a present problem in the church at Corinth. The force of the verb tenses in 8:2 suggests a paraphrase: If a person thinks that he has attained to some degree of knowledge, he has not yet reached the stage when he has any knowledge at all in the real sense of the word. Paul is simply saying that if we think we are all knowing, we can be confident that we are not. To truly know God is to discover his love for others. Love is interested in others. So highest knowledge leads to love of others. At issue is what is true knowledge and does it lead to love? Accumulating all the facts about God that one can, will not result in the most realistic knowledge of Him. One must also have and know love. v Knowledge Can Be Freeing (4-6) Ø (4) So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that An idol is nothing at all in the world and that There is no God but one. So here is what we know about meat sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is not really a god. And we know that there is only One true God. Paul returns to the Shema. Ø (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... Even if the surrounding culture thinks that there are gods and lords. Still, the truth, for us, is there is only one God. And what a God he is the Maker and Sustainer. And Jesus is the Maker and Sustainer Clear Christology. v What About People Who Lack That Knowledge? (7-8) Ø (7) But not everyone possesses this knowledge. Some people are still so accustomed since their conscience is weak, it is defiled. Here s the problem. Not everyone knows what we know. NC3 3
Some Christians who see meat offered to idols can t eat it because that is sharing in worship to another god. The weak Christians in Corinth felt it was a sin to eat meat sacrificed to idols. Because of their upbringing, earlier habits, or former lifestyle, the weak still believed that they were participating in idol worship by eating the meat. The Bible suggests that some in Corinth could not shake their past Paul acknowledges that we have liberty in Christ. Christian liberty is one of the central truths of the New Testament (John 8:31-32, 36; 2 Cor 3:17; Gal 5:1). Ø (8) But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do. Advanced knowledge would say it doesn t matter knowledge has freed him or her from the fear of such a thing. v So Be Free But Love Others (9-13) Ø (9) Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak. Here s where we need to be careful. We know one more thing love! My freedom could stumble someone with a weak conscience. Ø (10) For if someone with a weak conscience sees you, with all your knowledge, eating in an idol s temple, won t that person be emboldened to eat what is sacrificed to idols? Or they may go backwards into paganism. Ø (11) So this weak brother or sister, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. These words are powerful brother or sister, for whom Christ died. There is something bigger that being right: Love and Christ s death. potentially ruin my brother. Not ultimate spiritual destruction, but stunting his Christian life and usefulness, or perhaps causing him to return to paganism. Ø (12) When you sin against them in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. you sin against Christ an issue over which I was right, became an issue I was wrong about. NC3 4
It is now not just my brother or sister but Christ himself who is involved. This both Paul s teaching about the Body, but also Jesus teaching from Mat 25. Love becomes more powerful becoming the knowledge that trumps other forms. Ø (13) Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause them to fall. Paul concludes this chapter by using himself as an example. The point being: We need to remember that there is something more important than our freedom to do as we please. That something is the spiritual development of other people. In 8:13, Paul writes, Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause my brother to stumble Radical freedom is balanced by love: not just your freedom, but theirs. The origin of a thing is balanced by the intent of the person. But like many possessions in life, its greatest use comes when it is given away. What is the highest use you make of your income? It is not the paying of bills or the saving of some or the investing of some. The Bible places the burden on the strong. The sin is not in exercise of your liberty, but in exercising your liberty at the expense of fellow believers. If somebody else might be hurt spiritually, a strong Christian should give up the freedom to participate. The highest principle governing my choice in disputable matters is love for a fellow believer who might disagree with me on that issue There are two extremes when it comes to nonessential issues. One extreme is license: If the Bible does not prohibit a practice then there is freedom under grace to participate. The other extreme is legalism: A judgmental certainty about these issues that demands total abstinence.53 We must educate younger and older believers in the body of Christ so that they can learn what true Christian liberty is. We must also train believers to not cause other brothers and sisters to stumble Giving up my freedoms sounds like I live a boring, joyless life I may never enjoy my liberties in Christ because somebody might be hurt. Paul s teaching requires that I defer to those who may be close by or to those who may see my actions and be hurt by them. If I deferred to all Christians everywhere, I probably would not even get out of bed in the morning! On every doubtful issue there is a weak Christian NC3 5
somewhere who believes my actions or ideas are sinful. It is unlikely that they all attend my church or are in my circle of acquaintances. My responsibility is to love those nearby who disagree with me and to respect the consciences of other Christians with whom I come in contact. Freedom and discipline have come to be regarded as mutually exclusive, when in fact freedom is not at all the opposite, but the final reward of discipline. It is to be bought with a high price, not merely claimed... The [professional] skater and [race] horse are free to perform as they do only because they have been subjected to countless hours of grueling work, rigidly prescribed, faithfully carried out. Men are free to soar into space because they have willingly confined themselves in a tiny capsule designed and produced by highly trained scientists and craftsmen, have meticulously followed instructions, and submitted themselves to rules which others defined Perhaps you are thinking, Aren t there some Christians who just sit on the sidelines taking potshots at other Christians, trying to find some fault? Yes, there are. In fact, I know some, even in this church. Do you mean that I have to limit my liberty for legalists like that? No. Paul is talking about an action which might cause a weaker brother to stumble, not just make a pharisaical Christian frown. If we governed our entire lives by the frowns we receive from legalistic Christians, we d be living in straightjackets indeed v Thinking It Through Ø How much knowledge do you possess? How has it set you free? Ø How do you use your knowledge around others? Ø Are you sensitive to not hurting others who think differently or do you just say that s their own problem? Ø How do you balance love for others and personal freedom? NC3 6