Paul continues teaching and explaining from ‘chapter 9’ where he taught the Corinthian holy-people (sanctified-people, Christians, saints, children of God) that they should live their everyday lives to the best of their abilities with and for the only true God. They were to behave just as he was, like running in a race in order that they may take-hold of an incorruptible crown when the Lord Jesus Christ comes to gather all holy-people together with him.
I Corinthians 10:1-5:
10:1For I do not intend you to not-know, brothers, that our fathers all used-to-be under the cloud and all went-through by means of the sea – .2and all used-to-be baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; .3and all ate the spiritual food .4and all drank the spiritual drink – for they used-to-drink out-from (the) spiritual rock following but the rock used-to-be the Christ; .5but God did not consider-it-good in more of them for they were spread-down in the desert-place.
Once again, Paul addresses the Corinthian holy-people as "brothers" thus reminding them that they all, including Paul himself, had the same holy spirit within them, which they received when they first believed what God has given mankind to believe regarding Himself and His son, the Lord Jesus Christ – they were all children of God. Also, the word "fathers" in verse 1 refers to their forefathers who were descendants of Jacob/Israel to whom the promises were passed-along which God had previously made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob/Israel. These promises are now received by every holy-person whether of a Judean/Israeli background or of a Gentile/other-nation background.
Paul writes: in truth, I do not intend/will my brothers to be unknowing (not knowing, ignorant, unaware) that our fathers:
And all of them were baptized (immersed, surrounded) into Moses (from outside-of into the inside-of everything that Moses was for and with God) within the cloud and within the sea. It is only because of all that God via Moses did for them that all of them were able to do all they did at that time.
In truth, they were continuing to drink the water out-from the rock which God gave to them which was following (coming-after them), and this spiritual rock was continuing during that time to be the Christ. This spiritual rock (not a physical rock) was the Messiah, the one they were waiting for to redeem them both physically and spiritually, and today he is the resurrected Christ Jesus, the Lord.
God supplied them with the physical food and water as a type (pattern) to remind them that He would also supply the true spiritual bread and water of whom He had already told them, the rock who was to come after them in time, the rock who could not be moved or removed from his position which God would give him, the spiritual rock – the Christ. They could look forward to his coming and believe what God told them which was that He would, by means of the Messiah, redeem them and give them holy spirit-life, and their promised land, etc.
However, even though all of our fathers shared and enjoyed the privileges which were given to them by God during that time, such as all being under the cloud and all going-through by means of the sea, all being baptized into Moses, and all eating the spiritual food and all drinking the spiritual drink, all drinking from the spiritual rock following who was the Christ – Paul continues reminding the Corinthian holy-people that contrary to God being able to give all of them access to the promised land at that time, God did not consider (not suppose) that it was good/well among the bigger-portion (majority) of them that they would all physically go into the promised land because in truth those who did not do what God said during the everyday living of their lives were spread-down (strewn as corpses) in that desert (desolate) place. The people who died before entering into the promised land did not receive their prize – they did not go into the promised land which they were expecting to go into at the end of their journey at that time.
[Reference: Genesis 32:28, and 35:10; Exodus chapters 13, 14, and 16-17:7; Numbers chapter 14, and 20:2-13; Deuteronomy chapters 8 and 32; Psalm 78:12-32, and 105:39-42; Habakkuk 2:4 (Septuagint); Matthew 3:17, and 16:13-20; John 6:22-40; Romans 9:33, and 10:8-13; Hebrews 3:16-19, and 10:38; II Peter 1:17.]
Verses 6-10:
.6But these-things were caused-to-become types of us with-a-view-for us not to be intense-yearners of bad-things according as those-people-also intensely-yearned; .7neither must you become idolaters according as some of them, wholly-as it was written2, "The people sat-down to eat and to drink and stood-up to play"; .8neither let us fornicate according as some of them fornicated and they fell one day twenty-three thousands; .9neither let us tempt-out the Christ according as some of them tempted-out and they used-to-be destroyed by the snakes; .10neither must you murmur fully-as some of them murmured and they used-to-be destroyed by the destroyer.
These verses give us understanding of why the majority of the children of Israel died in the desert and therefore did not go into the promised land. Paul writes that these things, which happened and were recorded in the old covenant writings, were caused to become types (marks, impressions or patterns the same way as an old typewriter would impress the shapes of the required letters on a piece of paper) pertaining to/for all holy-people, and thus it is available for us to behave ourselves in a similar manner as they did towards God. But the purpose for us knowing what they did is so that all of us holy-people are not to be intense yearners (people who fix or attach strong-desires upon certain objects other than God and the things of God, people who lust) after bad-things as also the descendants of Israel intensely-yearned.
Neither must you holy-people become idolaters (you must not cause yourselves to become people who practice rites and rituals of worship and service to so-called 'gods' instead of only worshipping and serving the one-and-only true God Who is the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ). Idols may be devil/demon spirits, statues, wood-carvings, icons, people, computers, the web, and everything else which is not the only true God.
Neither must you become idolaters according as some of the descendants of Israel/Jacob did, wholly as it is written that the people collectively sat down to eat and to drink and stood-up to play. This refers to the fact that they used to eat and drink and get up and dance and sing and perform activities in honor of their idols, instead of believing and obeying what God had given them to believe and obey regarding Himself and the promised Christ to come! They should have been doing whatever God told them to do in worship and service to/for Him.
Let us read a few verses regarding this in the Book of Exodus.
Exodus 32:4-8:
And he [Aaron] received them [golden earrings] at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord.
And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.
And the Lord said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves:
They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
While Moses was on Mount Sinai receiving information from God, the rest of the children of Israel were making idols for themselves and worshipped them instead of worshipping the only true God as God had instructed them to do. They rebelled against God's Word and put their man-made idols and words, etc, in God's place in their minds and in their everyday living!
Paul continues: neither should we holy-people commit fornication (physically – wrongful sexual activity/relations; commit pornographic actions; spiritually – being intimate with the devil and the things of the devil) as some of the descendants of Israel fornicated and as a result 23,000 of them fell, were killed, during the time of a single day (this number does not include those who were hung previously as recorded in Numbers 25:4 and 5). This is a reference when the children of Israel began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab who were devil-worshippers, and they joined in sacrifices and eating and bowing-down to devil-gods.
Neither should we holy-people tempt-out the Christ ([some Greek texts have the word "Lord" instead of "Christ"] - intensely tempt, make trial-of or try-out, in the bad sense of putting to the test with evil and ill-intent enticing, provoking and endeavoring to force Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed-one to do something) to see if what God said regarding His son, the Lord Jesus Christ, is true or not, according as some of the children of Israel tempted-out God regarding the Christ, and so those people who refused to look believingly towards the salvation and redemption which the Messiah would make available to them were being destroyed (utterly-ruined or lost from being among God's people – they were killed) by the snakes.
This is a reference to what occurred as recorded in Numbers 21:5-9 where the children of Israel spoke against God and Moses, against their deliverance from Egypt, and against the bread which God had given to them for their sustenance to keep their physical bodies healthy, and they also accused God of not supplying them with any water to keep the life in their bodies (both the bread and the water were necessary). They were against God and against the Christ whom they were to look forward to because he was to be their true spiritual bread and water, their future means of supply of new bodies which would not be liable to death, and their means of supply of the life of their new bodies which would be holy spirit life and it would not be taken away from them.
Neither must you holy-people murmur (grumble discontent and complaints) fully-as some of the descendants of Israel murmured, and so caused themselves to be destroyed by the destroyer (the one who ruins and slays, causes disaster with death) which is the devil/satan. Instead of remaining within God's protection by believing and obeying what He said and gave to them to believe and obey, they chose to remove themselves from God and the things of God and thus they opened themselves up to the devil's destroying and ruining power causing them to be lost from among God's people and to lose everything including their lives.
[Reference: Exodus chapters 16, 17 and 32; Numbers chapters 11, 14, 16, 21, and 25; Deuteronomy Psalm 78:18 and 19, and Psalm 106; Matthew 4:7; Acts 15:20; Hebrews 11:28.]
I Corinthians 10:11 and 12:
.11But these-things came-together typically to those-people but it was written towards our admonition into whom the completions of the ages came-down2, .12so-that the (holy-person) considering to have stood2 must observe (that) he may not fall.
These-things – which the children of Israel used to do (sometimes in agreement with what God said to them, but sometimes against what God said to them) – were continuing to happen coming-together typically (as marks, impressions, patterns) to/for/with those people during that time-period as they awaited the coming of the Christ whom God had promised them. What happened to them during the everyday living of their lives came together as the impress of an old typewriter on a piece of paper and therefore remains unchanged to be seen by others. By whom? It was written for the purpose of our (holy-people's) admonition, to put these things in our minds so that we could learn from them and therefore understand that we ought to behave ourselves living our lives in agreement with what God has given us to believe.
We – all holy-people (everyone who receives holy spirit-life today) – are the people into whom (from the outside into the inside or the interior of us) the completions of the ages has come down and continues come down. The completions of the ages is plural – all the completed things, completely issued, the ending-things, the fulfillment of all that God has promised to the children of Israel and to all of mankind by means of the Christ throughout all of the durations of life, the lifetimes. All of what God has completed through the Messiah has arrived and is still here resulting in us – the holy-people who are the children of God Himself! God by means of the Lord Jesus Christ has made holy spirit-life available to all of mankind, not only to the children of Israel, since the day of Pentecost (Acts chapter 2). The gift of holy spirit is now available to any man or any woman who believes what God says about Himself and His son, the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 10:8-13).
The necessary result and logical consequence to what Paul has just taught here in this letter is that the Christian who considers (supposes) him/herself to have stood on God's Word and to be continuing standing on God's Word in the walk/behavior category must observe (be mentally-aware and contemplate even though nothing may be physically seen with our physical eyes) to the end that each one of us may not fall down from doing what God says and cause ourselves not to receive the benefits in the walk/behavior category, even though we cannot lose our holy spirit-life. We must observe and watch that we are not sidetracked off of that-which God has given us to believe (to have faith in, to trust), but we should remain standing firm upon God's Word during the everyday living of our lives.
[Reference: Acts chapter 2; Romans 6:22 and 23, and 15:4; I Corinthians 9:10; Galatians 5:1; Ephesians 1:3 and 6:4; II Thessalonians 2:15.]
.13A temptation has not taken2 you except a manly (temptation) – but God (is) believable Who will not let you to be tempted over that-which you are able but He will make together with the temptation even the way-out-from (it for you) to be able to bear-up.
Paul continues teaching to help the Corinthian holy-people not to fall from walking in alignment and agreement with the truth of the good-message. What is it that may cause a holy-person not to stand firm on God's Word? A temptation. But Paul explains: a temptation (a trial or putting to the test in the bad sense of enticing to do wrong) has not in the past and still does not at the present time actively take hold of you (as though receiving you in its hand) except or unless it was/is a temptation pertaining-to mankind. Our holy spirit-life, which is the spirit of Christ in us, will not and cannot go against God's will, therefore it is only in the manly or human realm that temptation is possible and has the possibility to be yielded-to by any holy-person in that same manly or human realm. The only true God does not tempt anyone to go against His Word. It is the devil (satan) who tempts with evil – the first occurrence of mankind being tempted to go against what God says is recorded in Genesis chapter 3 (you may read my study of Appendix to Romans for information regarding this).
But, even though any one of us may be tempted to say or do something which is contrary to what God says and asks us to do, God Himself was and is and will continue to be believable – He is faithful – He is trustworthy! We can rely on the words that God, Who is our Father, speaks and we can rely on whatever He does. There should be no doubting of God's words which He gives us to believe because He is believable. God has fulfilled His promise which He spoke and is recorded in Genesis 3:15 regarding the coming of the seed: Christ, plus God is believable to continue to fulfill today and to completely fulfill the whole of this promise in the future by means of the Lord Jesus Christ.
God, Who is believable, will not let (not permit) you holy-people to be tempted by anyone or anything over (beyond, in excess of, above) that-which you are able (capable, have the able-power) to deal with. Contrary to you not being able to bear-up under the pressure of any temptation, emphatically God will actively make or produce in conjunction with whatever temptation may be offered to you at any time (by the devil and/or his cohorts whether devil-spirits or people working for the devil) the way of going out from that temptation, for the purpose that you are presently able to bear-up (you are capable, have the able-power to carry the weighty-pressure of the temptation from underneath). God will not leave you all alone without any help from Him but instead He will give you support and sustain you so that you can get out from underneath the influence of that temptation. But of course, it is up to each individual whether he/she accepts God's help or not! Praise God that He always gives His children a way of going out from under any temptation no matter who or what it comes from and thus we have the availability not to be squashed underneath it.
[Reference: Deuteronomy 7:9; Romans chapter 8; I Corinthians 1:9; Colossians 1:27; I Thessalonians 5:24; Hebrews 10:23; James 1:13 and 14; II Peter 2:9; I John 1:5-9.]
Verses 14-17:
.14Indeed-on-which-account, my loved-people1, you must flee away-from idolatry. .15As to thoughtful-people I say (that) you must judge that-which I say: .16the cup of blessing which we bless, it is a sharing-in-common of the blood of Christ, isn't it? – (yes) – the bread which we break, it is a sharing-in-common of the body of Christ, isn't it? – (yes) – .17because we (being) many-people are one bread, one body – for we all (of us holy-people) share out-from one bread.
Now Paul lets the Corinthian holy-people know that they are his loved-people1 (this word comes from the Greek word agape which is God's kind of love). He loves them with God's love and is manifesting this love towards them while he is writing this letter teaching them emphatically that it is for the reason of what he has already written that they must flee (put themselves in flight) away from idolatry (practicing rites and rituals of worship and service to so-called 'gods,' instead of only worshipping and serving the one-and-only true God Who is the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ) in their thinking and actions during their everyday living.
Teaching about those times during which we holy-people gather-together with one another in celebration of all that God has already done and continues to do for/to/with us by means of our Lord Jesus Christ, Paul writes: I am laying this out for you in comparison to laying it out to people who have thoughts in their minds (people who are sensible and intellectual) – you Corinthian holy-people must judge (make your decision) regarding that-which I bring to light to you here:
…the cup of blessing (a ‘cup’ is literally a physical drinking-vessel but here it is figuratively referring to our allotted-portion which consists-of blessing to/for/with us; literally the drink itself is wine but figuratively the contents of the cup is blessing, it encompasses all the words that God spoke and speaks which are well/good – the cup of blessing) which we holy-people bless before we literally drink, it is representative-of and signifies our sharing-in-common of the blood of Christ (our partaking of/in/with the same-thing, participation with one-another of what is common to all which is the accomplishments accomplished by/in/with the Lord Jesus Christ's sacrificial death by the shedding of his blood)….
The verb “to bless” means that the one speaking speaks words that are well/good. When we bless the cup of blessing we should include asking God to bless or speak well of the whole situation including the wine or food that we are about to drink or eat, because whom/what God speaks well of receives the blessing, it comes to pass for the recipient, what is spoken by God happens to the recipient which is good for him/her/the-situation. The word "blessing" is a singular noun meaning: what is spoken which is good, good-wording, speech that is well. God has caused the good wording that He has spoken (the good thing that He said He would do) relative-to the spirit category to come to pass to/for/in all holy-people; we have received God's blessing.
The cup of blessing which we bless, it is a sharing-in-common of the blood of Christ, isn't it? The answer which must be given to Paul's question according to the Greek word-construction must be: yes. Yes, the Corinthian holy-people knew that the cup of blessing, which we bless, is a sharing-in-common of the blood of Christ. The blessing of the blood of Christ is the remission (dismissal) of sins, for without the shedding of blood there could not be any remission of sins. Our blessing is that we share the blood of Christ in common – our sins are dismissed. God raised Jesus Christ from the dead and now he is the resurrected Christ who is righteous having received holy spirit-life, the life of his new spiritual body. Spiritually we are as righteous as the resurrected Christ because we have believed what God has said and thus He gave us the gift of holy spirit by means of the Lord Jesus Christ. We now have holy spirit-life within us and it does not sin against God.
And Paul continues regarding those times when we holy-people gather-together with one another in celebration of all that God has already done and continues to do for/to/with us by means of our Lord Jesus Christ:
The answer which must be given to Paul's question according to the Greek word-construction must be: yes. Yes, the Corinthian holy-people knew that the bread which we break, it is a sharing-in-common of the body of Christ. God raised Jesus Christ from the dead and now he is the resurrected Christ who is righteous in his new spiritual body. Jesus Christ's physical body was killed – but now he has his spiritual body and he cannot and will not die again. We spiritually share the body of Christ in common because we have believed what God has said and thus God gave us the gift of holy spirit by means of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are limbs of his spiritual body. Spiritually we have received the deposit which is our holy spirit-life which cannot and will not die which is our guarantee that we will receive spiritual bodies which can never die. We will receive our new spiritual bodies when Christ comes to gather us all together with him.
The cup of blessing which we bless, it is a sharing-in-common of the blood of Christ, and the bread which we break, it is a sharing-in-common of the body of Christ. Why? Because we – all of us many holy-people – are one bread, we are one body. In truth, all of us share out-from one bread, the one true bread in the spirit category. We partake in association with one another of the object, which is the one bread who is Christ. Christ is the one who sustains and maintains us. Christ himself is the bread which he gave to us so that we all share equally and fully of his spiritual body. We are all limbs of his body, and this is all available now because of what his death, resurrection, ascension into heaven, etc, accomplished. Christ is our life (we have his holy spirit life) and our body (we are limbs of his spiritual body) – we cannot be separated in the spirit category.
[Reference: Leviticus 17:11, 24:7; Matthew 2:11, 26:26-28; Acts chapter 2, and 3:26; Romans 12:5; II Corinthians 2:14 and 15; Ephesians 1:3 and 17-23; Philippians 3:21; Colossians 1:27 and 3:5; Hebrews chapter 9; I Peter 4:1-4; I John 5:21.]
Verses 18-22:
.18You must observe Israel according to (the) flesh: the (people) eating the sacrifices are sharers-in-common of the sacrificial-altar, aren't they? – (yes.) .19Therefore what do I say, that that is an idol-sacrifice? – .20but that the-things-which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to devils and not to God. But I do not intend you to become sharers-in-common of devils; .21you are not able to drink (the) cup of (the) Lord and (the) cup of devils, you are not able to share of (the) table of (the) Lord and of (the) table of devils. .22Or do we cause the Lord to-be-jealous? We are not stronger-than him, are we? – (no.)
You holy-people must observe Israel (be mentally-aware and contemplate even though nothing may be physically seen with your physical eyes, see in your mind's eye what has been written in the old covenant writings regarding Israel) in accordance with the flesh category: the people who eat the things offered in sacrifices on the sacrificial-altar are sharers in common of the sacrificial altar (the Israelites and the sacrificial altar are partakers of/with/in the same things which are the sacrifices; the people and the altar are sharers, participants, partners sharing what would be common to both parties, because both the people and the altar share the food which is offered on the altar), aren’t they? Looking at it from the fleshly viewpoint: yes, the Israelites and the sacrificial-altar are sharers-in-common (they are partners, both partaking of the same sacrifices; these sacrifices are common to both).
Following on logically, what am I bringing to light – is it that that-thing which they do is a sacrifice offered to an idol just because it is on top of an altar? Is that what God told them to do? No, definitely not. Because the children of Israel wanted to offer sacrifices, God in His graciousness told them how to offer sacrifices properly as a type, a pattern to them of the coming Christ. These sacrifices were to constantly remind them that their Messiah was going to come and save them and then there would be no more need for any more sacrifices to be offered. When they offered sacrifices according to what God said, which was to believe that the promised seed, the Christ, would come at a future time in accordance with what God said, then they were doing God's will.
But contrary to offering sacrifices as God allowed Israel to do it as a type of the coming redeemer, the things which the Gentiles (the people belonging to nations other-than Israel) offer in their sacrifices on an altar are sacrificed to devil-spirits - not to the only true God!
The word translated "devils" in verse 20 is the Greek word daimonion, which was used in Greek mythology/falsehoods to describe supernatural intermediary beings between false-gods and men. In reality, these are the lower-ranking demons, evil spirits, like 'privates,' which take their direction from the higher-ranking evil spirits (daimon) in the devil's "army" which take their orders and direction from the chief or top-ranking devil-spirit himself who is the devil/satan.
The true sacrificial offering (the shedding of Jesus’ blood and the death of his body), which was necessary to redeem mankind back to God away from the power of the devil, was and is the Lord Jesus Christ, so that there cannot be any other sacrifice towards the only true God.
Continuing, Paul writes: but I do not intend/will you holy-people to cause yourselves to become sharers in common of the devil-spirits (partakers, partners) in the walk/behavior category, since the spiritual truth is that…
Paul has already explained regarding all holy-people in the spirit category: "the cup of blessing which we bless, it is a sharing-in-common of the blood of Christ, isn't it? – (yes) – the bread which we break, it is a sharing-in-common of the body of Christ, isn't it? – (yes) – because we (being) many-people are one bread, one body – for we all (of us holy-people) share out-from one bread." This is what we are doing when we drink and eat together. Even if a holy-person does in the flesh category what the Gentiles do in their idol-sacrifices and thus sacrificing to devils, that holy-person is not able to spiritually drink the cup of devils or share of the table of devils because the holy spirit-life inside of that holy-person is the spirit of Christ in him/her and we are all limbs of his one spiritual body.
In today's society, sacrifices and offerings to devils are done in the form of celebrating, eating and drinking in the name of different "gods," whatever name may be put on that "god." It is even done in the name of God as if Christ had to be sacrificed all over again! Some people pray and sacrifice and eat and drink to people who are now dead and they invoke the power of the devil to have devil-spirits do "magical" things to tell them the future about their job-careers, relationships, country, devilish so-called reincarnation, etc. Some people take the information from astrology and endeavor to live their lives in accordance with the devil's corruption of what the only true God had made for our benefit to help people know God's Word. Some people sacrifice and eat and drink in the name of mankind's body or individual parts of it. Some people sacrifice and eat and drink in the name of this present earth and the environment which will be destroyed by fire no matter what mankind may do in sacrifice to it or for it to endeavor to make it a "better place"!
Now Paul asks a question, including himself in it: do we – all of us holy-people together – provoke our Lord Jesus Christ to jealousy – is that what we do when we eat and drink together during our assemblies? We are not stronger with our physical strength than he is, are we? The answer which must be given according to the Greek construction is: no! The flesh category is not stronger than the Lord Jesus Christ who now has his spiritual body, the life of which is holy spirit, and who has given the same holy spirit-life to all of us holy-people and we are all limbs of his one spiritual body. We all together are one bread, one body – for we all share out-from one bread who is the resurrected Christ Jesus, our Lord. Nothing done in the flesh category can change this truth regarding all holy-people.
[Reference: Genesis chapter 3; Exodus chapter 20; Leviticus chapters 7 and 17; Matthew 26:26-29; Acts 15:29; Romans 12:4 and 5; I Corinthians 3:16 and 17, 6:19 and 20; II Corinthians 6:14-18; Ephesians 4:4 and 16.]
Verses 23 and 24:
.23All-things are permitted but not all-things contribute; all-things are permitted but not all-things edify. .24Not-one-person must seek-after the-thing of himself but the-thing of the different-person.
Paul explains that all-things are presently and actively permitted during the everyday living of life – they are available to be done by people, people can physically do them without hindrance, they are possible to people. Why? Because from the very instant that God by means of the Lord Jesus Christ first made it available for a person to receive the gift of holy spirit (Acts 2:1-4) until the very instant when Christ will come to gather the church of holy-people (I Thessalonians 4:13-18), this time-period is the age of blessing and grace whereby God does not recompense that-which is due to the Christian or the non-Christian, to the person who loves God or who hates God, the good angels of God or the bad angels (devil-spirits/demons who take their direction from the devil, including the devil himself). The time of wrath will begin as soon as Christ gathers all the holy-people together with him taking us away-from the earth.
But contrary to doing and being party-to everything that is available in this present world, NOT all-things contribute - they all do not bring-together with the other parts to make one whole-unit, a unifying collection. Not all-things confer help and benefit. Not all-things are conducive to any holy-person's well-being and therefore are not all contributing to the whole church's well-being in our walk with and for God while living in this world.
All-things are permitted – but not all-things build (they all do not edify people, as a house is built up bit-by-bit and layer-by-layer) in the things of the only true God. No-one, nobody, must seek after (look for) that-which belongs to himself, his own building-up or edification only, but contrary to exclusively seeking after his/her own thing, a person ought to seek after (look for) that-which belongs to the different-person, giving edification to the other person, look to build-up that other person's well-being, contribute towards the other person's edification. We holy-people should seek to build up (edify) one-another in the things of God – even when partaking of food and drink.
[Interestingly, there is a Greek word, oikos, from which many other Greek words come. These words, which all come from the same root-word, may be translated into English as: house, to build a house, household, householders, to build, building, to dwell, dwelling, to inhabit, habitation, to edify, edification, plus many other words in the English language, but we ought to understand that when reading any one of these words they all relate to each other even though in English it is difficult to consistently use the same basic word in every rendering of it to communicate the meaning. Also, it is used figuratively referring to the action or process of building upwards and establishing.]
[Reference: Romans 14:19, and 15:2; I Corinthians 6:12; Philippians 2:4.]
Verses 25-31:
.25Everything being sold in (the) market you must eat judging-up nothing because-of conscience, .26for "the earth (is) of the Lord and the fullness of it." .27If someone of the unbelievers calls you and you intend to journey, everything being put-beside you you must eat judging-up nothing because-of conscience – .28but if-ever someone may say to you, "This is a sacred-sacrifice," you must not eat because-of that-person – .29but I say "conscience," not the (conscience) of himself but the (conscience) of the different-person, for in-order-for-that is my freedom judged by another conscience! .30If I share with thanks, why am I blasphemed on behalf of which I express-thanks? .31Therefore whether you eat or you drink or you do something – all-things (must be) with-a-view-to God's glory.
You must eat everything which is being traded in the market that sells different kinds of meats and other foods, and while you are eating it you must not be judging it up (examining it carefully or investigated it) on account of conscience (all of a person's knowing awareness, the perception of what is right which that person put together for himself in his mind as a result of all that he has already been taught and learned in relation to the one whom he recognizes as his ruler, the one who has authority, ultimately this authority should be the only true God). Why not? In truth, the earth and its fullness (filling, the result of the action of filling, the full-contents of it, the fulfillment, including what it produces for food and drink) proceeds-from and belongs-to the Lord. This is a reference to Psalm 24.
Psalm 24:1:
The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.
There is no particular kind of food or drink which will or can of itself be "for" or "against" God or Christ. If any of the people who do not believe what God says (and therefore does not have holy spirit-life within him/her) calls or invites you holy-people to eat with him and you will to go to his table to eat and drink, you must eat everything which is placed before you, whatever he puts on the table to eat and/or drink, and while you are eating and drinking you must not be judging anything up (not examining every piece of food and/or drink carefully and investigating where he purchased such and such a piece of meat, how it was prepared, what was said before it arrived on the table, etc). Why? On account of conscience.
Paul next makes a parenthesis clarifying that should someone say to you regarding what is set on the table before you to eat and/or drink that it is a sacred-sacrifice (an offering in sacrifice which is consecrated and devoted to a "god" or "idol" – really to devils) then you now know this and therefore you must not eat or drink any of it on account of that person. The sacrifice which was necessary to redeem mankind from the power of the devil, of which people can partake of if they so desire, was and is the Lord Jesus Christ, so that there cannot be any other towards the only true God.
Now Paul returns to what he was previously saying in verses 25-27 and explains that when he says "conscience" here he is not referring to the conscience of the holy-person who was invited to the meal or feast and so not focusing only on your own conscience, but on the contrary, he is referring to the conscience of the different-person – that person who made the invitation but who does not have the same conscience as you regarding God and the things of God.
And to emphasize this, Paul continues: in truth, it is for that resulting purpose that my freedom is being judged (that a decision is made regarding it) by another conscience! Paul's freedom in Christ (which he has written about above regarding eating and drinking, seeing that all holy-people share-in-common of the blood of Christ and the body of Christ because all of us are one bread, one body in the spirit category – for we all share out-from one bread – our Lord Jesus Christ) is decided-on in the walk/behavior category by the power of someone else's conscience, what somebody else has put together in his mind being his own perception of right and wrong but who does not yet believe what God says - we ought to help them to believe the truth of God's Word!
And Paul asks: if I share with thanks (if I partake, while I am being thankful to God, in association with another person of an object, such as) of foods and/or drinks, then why am I blasphemed (evilly spoken-of, treated with lack of Godly reverential respect, calumniated) on behalf of that-which I express my gratitude for it towards God? Of course Paul should not be blasphemed by someone else when he has thanked God for His graciousness in providing the food and drink because he knows that the earth is the Lord's and the fullness of it proceeds from and belongs to God!
What is Paul's solution to these concerns? Following on logically from what he has already taught in this letter, whether you eat or whether you drink or whatever you do, all these things must be with a view to the glory of the only true God! You holy-people must behave yourselves while you are eating and drinking and doing things in such a manner as to give the importance, splendor, and renown to God Who is our Father. All-things must be directed-to God's glory. God is the One Who is to get the glory – not you, nor anyone else, nor anything else!
"Therefore whether you eat or you drink or you do something – all-things (must be) with-a-view-to God's glory."
[Reference: Acts 7:2, chapter 10, 12:23, and 27:35; Romans 4:20, 11:36, chapter 14, and 16:27; I Corinthians 8:9-12; Colossians 3:17; I Timothy 4:1-4.]
I Corinthians 10:32 and 33:
.32You must become un-stumbling-people both to Judeans and to Greeks and to the church of God, .33according as I also please all-people (regarding) all-things, not seeking-after the contribution of myself but the (contribution) of many-people in order that they may be saved.
You must cause yourselves to become un-stumbling people (people who do not stumble off of the accuracy of God's Word that you already know, in the state of not having stumbled, not having beaten or struck against the truth of what God says), with equal emphasis being given to the following three:
This is so that we will not cause other people to stumble from the truth of what God says and wants all people to hear and believe regarding Himself and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul continues: even as I, Paul (again he gives himself as the example to follow), am pleasing (agreeable, acceptable and gratifying) from God's point of view to/with all people regarding all the things of God. I do not seek-after (look-for) a contribution pertaining to myself (my own contribution), but contrary to being self-centered, I please all-people regarding all-things seeking-after the contribution of many people. A ‘contribution’ is something that is brought together with other parts to make one whole-unit, a unifying collection. It confers help and benefit. It is conducive to any person's well-being.
You must become un-stumbling-people both to Judeans and to Greeks and to the church of God, according as I also please all-people regarding all-things, not seeking-after the contribution of myself. Why not? For the purpose and result that they may be saved, receiving holy spirit-life just the same as I and every other holy-person have received, and thus they would become limbs of the one body of Christ, members of the church of God.
Paul next writes: you must become imitators of me according as I also am of Christ – but this has been put into the next chapter by those who divided up Paul's letter, and so we will study this in "chapter 11" remembering that it is a continuation.
[Reference: Acts chapter 2; Romans 10:8-13, 14:13, and 15:2; I Corinthians 1:2; Galatians 6:3; Philippians 3:16 and 17. Note: verbs with a superscript 2 (2) immediately following them indicate the "perfect" tense - details are provided in the "Relevant Notes" link of this study.]