First Corinthians 8:1-13
Paul now moves on to another subject as he continues teaching the
Corinthian holy-people (the sanctified-people, Christians, saints,
children of the only true God).
I Corinthians 8:1-3:
8:1But concerning idol-sacrifices we knew2
that we all have knowledge - but knowledge puffs-up but love1
edifies: .2if someone considers to have known2
not-yet did he know according as it is necessary to know, .3but
if someone loves1 this-person was known2.
Paul writes: we (you Corinthian holy-people and I) knew and we still know
(perceive, see) that all of us have knowledge (a personal knowing,
knowledgeable information) about idol-sacrifices.
Sacrifices which are offered to idols are in direct contradiction to
that-which God has given mankind to believe regarding Himself and His
son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Why? Because Christ was sacrificed on our
behalf and the only true God accepted that sacrifice and so God accepts
us (holy-people who have received His gift of holy spirit) within the
Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore any other sacrifice which is offered by
mankind to God, or offering sacrifices to idols, is a rejection of the
Christ. Idols are those-things which some people put in the place of the
only true God, for example - themselves, statues, pictures, icons,
computer-related programs, devil-spirits, the sun, moon or stars, a
famous man or woman, the environment, television, etc! Some people were
and are doing this in order to gain favor with that idol which they may
have called "god" but this is contrary to the only true God. They are
being influenced by the devil (satan himself), or by one or more of his
devil-spirits (demons). In truth people who do this are sacrificing to
the devil to gain the devil's favor - whether knowingly or unknowingly!
Paul and those to whom he was writing this letter, the church of God in
Corinth, knew that they all had knowledge concerning idol-sacrifices –
nobody could claim ignorance because it was so rampant in the city of
Corinth at that time. Many of them had partaken in it before they
believed what God has given to be believed regarding Himself and His
son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and thereby became children of God by
receiving holy spirit-life.
However, Paul adds that this
knowledge (from the past lifestyle concerning idol-sacrifices) actively
puffs-up, it inflates a person's thinking and attitude which affects
his/her walk during the everyday living of life (things which are
puffed-up or inflated are not truly made bigger but they can be burst
like a bubble and reduced to almost nothing). But on the other hand,
Godly-love builds-up, it edifies holy-people as a house is built up
bit-by-bit and layer-by-layer. Things which are built-up or edified are
truly made bigger and that solid building or house cannot be burst
because it is firm from the foundation upwards.
The word "love1" or the verb "to love1" comes from
the Greek word agape which is God's kind of love. To love with
His love means to love the same way as God loves, to manifest God's love
towards another, whether it is towards God Himself, the Lord Jesus
Christ, yourself, your Christian neighbor, or towards anyone else. God
tells His children today (all who have the spirit of Christ within us)
how to Godly-love by means of His previously-revealed written Word and
also via our holy spirit-life whereby we receive information from Him
regarding how to love in different specific situations. It is the
carrying out of God's commandments, His Word, which is the correct usage
or way to manifest God's kind of love according to His will (refer to I
Corinthians chapter 13 and I John 5:1-3). It is not the same as the
brotherly or friendly kind of love, nor is it the same as the
emotional/feelings/sexual kind of love.
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.
Paul wrote: But concerning idol-sacrifices we knew and continue to know
that we all have knowledge - but knowledge puffs-up but love1
edifies. Next he continues to explain what he means:
- if some holy-person supposes that he already has personal knowledge,
that he knows everything about this subject – in reality he has not yet
personally known concerning this subject according as he ought to
personally know. Why not? Because this person who thinks that he already
knows has just stopped himself from learning and gaining more knowledge
which in truth would be a greater knowledge regarding the subject, and
so he will continue to lack and be in need of the knowledge which is
available to be known;
- but, if some holy-person manifests Godly-love during the everyday living
of his life – in reality this person was and continues to be personally
known and therefore receives more personal knowledge from God; this
person does not limit his knowledge but instead, by manifesting God's
love, he allows himself to continue to learn and gain God's knowledge
regarding this subject.
[Reference: Acts 15:20 and 29; I Corinthians 13:2, 4, and 8-13; Galatians
4:8 and 9.]
Next, Paul writes some knowledge that he has of God's viewpoint regarding
idols, idol-sacrifices, etc, thereby making it available for these
holy-people to learn and so they will personally know this information.
Verses 4-6:
.4Therefore concerning the eating of
idol-sacrifices we knew2 that (there is) not-one
idol in (the) world, and that (there is) not-one God
except one: .5for even since-indeed there are (people,
spirits, things) being said (as) gods whether in heaven
or on earth wholly-as there are many gods and many lords, .6for
us (there is) one God, the Father, out-from Whom (are)
all-things and we (are) into Him, and (there is) one
Lord Jesus Christ by means of whom (are) all-things and we
(are) by means of him.
Referring back to verse 1 where Paul wrote that he and the Corinthian
holy-people had knowledge concerning idol-sacrifices, he continues:
therefore concerning the act of eating the food of the idol-sacrifices
(the food which is offered in sacrifice to idols) we know (perceive)
that there does not exist any idol within the world which is truly
usurping God's place, and that there does not exist any true God except
one, and He is not limited to this world.
In fact, even though there are people, spirits, and things being spoken
by others as "gods" whether these so-called gods operate within the
sphere of action of heaven or proceeding from earth - just-as or fully
in comparison to the way that there are many gods and many lords
operating in this world (here "gods" is referring to men/women who
either represent the only true God or the false-gods, and "lords" is
referring to masters, employers of other men/women) - the truth
for/with/to us, holy-people, is that:
- there is only one true God (one – not many) Who is our Father and it is
out-from Him, being the source, proceed or emanate all things which He
gives us, and therefore we are directed-to and proceed into Him; and
- there is only one Lord (Master) Jesus Christ (one – not many) by means
of (through) whom we
holy-people receive all things from God, and we are, who-we-are
spiritually proceeding into God, by means of (through) the Lord Jesus
Christ.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the one who made it all possible because he
carried-out God's will by sacrificing himself in order to make
redemption and salvation available to/for all. He is the agency by way
of which the initiated progress passed-through in order to reach the
resulting accomplishment of God making us what we are – God’s sons.
[Reference: Genesis 1:1; Exodus 7:1, 20:1-6, 21:6, and 22:8, 9 and 28;
Deuteronomy 4:35, 39, and 6:4-17; Psalm 82:1-8, and 136:2 and 3; Isaiah
41:23 and 24; John 10:34-36; Acts 2:36, and 14:15; Romans 3:30, and
11:33-36; Ephesians 4:4-6; Colossians 1:12-22; I Timothy 2:5 and 6;
Hebrews 9:11-10:26.]
Verses 7 and 8:
.7But the knowledge (is) not among
all-people; but some-people with custom-together until now of the
idol eat as an idol-sacrifice and their conscience weakening is
soiled - .8but food will not present us to God, neither
if-ever we may not eat are we caused-to-lack, nor if-ever we may eat
do we exceed.
But contrary to Paul and those to whom he is writing having knowledge of
what Paul has just written - all of the holy-people do not have this
personal knowledge. For example, some holy-people (perhaps those who
have only recently become Christians and do not know a great amount of
God's Word yet, or those from outside of Corinth) who have put together
a custom for themselves (they have collected by their previous lifestyle
their own ethical thinking consisting of manners, customs, habits,
character, etc, their own familiarity) continuing up to this moment
pertaining-to the idol (how to ‘worship’ and ‘serve’ an idol in order to
‘gain favor’ with/from it), these holy-people are still eating food in
comparison to the way that sacrifices are offered and eaten to idols
attempting to gain favor from that particular idol.
Some holy-people do not personally know that there is a definite
difference between eating food offered to idols as they did during their
previous lifestyle - and eating or not-eating food having become
holy-people. Therefore by eating as though eating an idol-sacrifice
their conscience weakening (presently getting weaker, lacking strength,
being feeble) is caused to be soiled (made filthy or muddy as a dirty
garment). The word “conscience” means: a person’s knowing-awareness, the
perception of what is right which he 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).
Food will not present us to the only true God (what we eat will not cause
us holy-people to stand beside, place us near God) – neither if we
should not-eat any food at all are we caused to lack (made to be in
want, deficient, fall-short or behind), nor if we should eat all kinds
of food do we exceed (abound, be over and above a certain number or
measure) – relative to what? – being in God's presence!
Verses 9-13:
.9But you must observe lest-somehow this
authority of yours may become a stumbling(-block)
to the weak-people – .10for if-ever someone may see the
(person) having knowledge lying-down in an idol-temple, his
conscience being weak will be built with-a-view to eat the
idol-sacrifices, won't it? – (yes)
– .11for the (person) weakening is destroyed in
your knowledge, the brother because-of whom Christ died! –
.12and thus sinning into the brothers and beating their
conscience you sin into Christ! .13Indeed-on-which-account
since food offends my brother, I may
never eat meat into the age in order that I may not offend my
brother.
Even though we know that food will not present us to God, Paul writes:
you holy-people must observe (mentally contemplate, look-at what you are
doing) so that in no way this authoritative-power or right which you
have regarding eating or not-eating (because you know what God and the
Lord Jesus Christ have accomplished to/for us) may come to pass to be a
stumbling-block (the actual thing against-which people would strike
themselves) to the holy-people who are weak in their knowledge of all
that has been accomplished on their behalf by God by means of the Lord
Jesus Christ.
Explaining further, Paul continues: for should someone see (perceive,
know) the Christian, who has personal knowledge regarding all that
Christ has done for all holy-people, lying-down (being in the
reclining-position at a table in the oriental manner) in a temple which
is devoted to idols - won't this someone's conscience (all of his
knowing-awareness, the perception of what is right which he put together
for himself in his mind as a result of all that he has already been
taught and learned) which is without-strength be built-up (edified) in
the future for the purpose of eating the sacrifices offered to idols?
This sentence is constructed in such a manner in Greek that the answer
must be "yes" – that is what would happen – as building a house in the
wrong location which will eventually be destroyed because it is not a
building/edifice based on the accuracy of God's Word! This
holy-person/Christian will not lose his holy spirit-life, but in the
walk/behavior category his conscience would not be built-up to come to a
greater and more-accurate knowledge of God's Word and all that has been
graciously given to him by God because of the accepted sacrifice of the
Lord Jesus Christ.
Following on from this, the holy-person who is lacking-strength is
destroyed (caused to be utterly-ruined or lost) in or within the
knowledge which each one of you individually and emphatically has – you
know what you are doing – and the one who is destroyed in this area of
his walk/behavior which ought to align with God's will is your brother
in the spirit category because you all have the same holy spirit-life
within you, and it was also on account of this brother that the
resurrected Christ had died!
It is in this manner (doing what I have just described above) that:
- all
of you collectively who are presently and actively sinning into,
directed-to or against the brothers who do not know as much as you do,
and
- all
of you collectively who are thereby beating their conscience (as
striking it with a stick)
…from God's viewpoint you are sinning into, directed-to or against the
resurrected Christ! You are missing the mark, swerving from the truth,
and so you are sinning against the Christ who was the only true
sacrifice being killed for all mankind, the sacrifice that God has
accepted so that all who believe that-which God gives to believe
regarding Himself and His son, the Lord Jesus Christ, can receive God's
gift of holy spirit and become heirs of God and heirs together with
Christ.
Next, Paul again gives himself as their example to follow in this kind of
situation: it is definitely on account of what I have just explained
that since it is happening that the food that I eat offends my brother
(causes my brother in Christ to stumble, it is a trap-stick as when bait
is attached and if he strikes or hits against it, it springs the trap
and he gets caught, he stumbles from the truth), then I may not at any
time eat meat (dead-flesh) while reclining in an idol-temple for the
duration of my life, for the purpose and result that I may not offend my
brother (that I would not be the cause of my brother stumbling off of
the truth of God's Word).
What a wonderful example Paul was to the Corinthian holy-people of how to
live manifesting God's love!
[Reference: Romans 8:9-17, 10:8-13, and 14:13-23; I Corinthians 10:28-33.
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.]
