WWUTT 1538 If Food Causes My Brother to Stumble (1 Corinthians 8:7-13)

1 Corinthians 8 .8, the Apostle Paul says, Food will not commend us to God.

We neither lack if we do not eat, nor abound if we do eat. So you're not a better person whether you partake or abstain when we understand the text.

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Here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe. Thank you Becky. Picking up today in our study of 1 Corinthians chapter 8 and if we finish chapter 8 today this will be the fastest we've been through a chapter so far in our study of 1

Corinthians. So I'm gonna start reading in verse 4, we'll go through verse 13 out of the

Legacy Standard Bible the Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Corinth. Therefore concerning the eating of things sacrifice to idols we know that an idol is nothing in the world and that there is no

God but one for even if there are so -called gods whether in heaven or on earth as indeed there are many gods and many lords yet for us there is 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 however not all men have this knowledge but some being accustomed to the idol until now eat food as if it were sacrifice to an idol and their conscience being weak is defiled but food will not commend us to God we neither lack if we do not eat nor abound if we do eat but see to it that this authority of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak for if someone sees you who have knowledge dining in an idol's temple will not his conscience if he is weak be built up to eat things sacrifice to idols for through your knowledge he who is weak is ruined the brother for whose sake

Christ died and in that way by sinning against the brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak you sin against Christ therefore if food causes my brother to stumble

I will never eat meat again ever so that I will not cause my brother to stumble now

I'm only just noticing that I skipped verse 5 yesterday we looked at verses 4 through 6

I read verse 4 and I skipped 5 and went right into resolving it in verse 6 but 5 is a pretty easy explanation

I hope you don't feel gypped verse 5 says for even if there are so -called gods whether in heaven or on earth as indeed there are many gods and many lords so Paul is acknowledging that there are many different deities little d right many so -called gods that are worshipped by pagans there could be a god in anything and everything

I remember a friend of mine was doing some missionary work in Nepal and he was saying that of the people that he encountered there in Nepal they thought there were gods in everything that blade of grass has a god there's another god in this other blade of grass that rock over there has a god so it's like everything would have its own

God that's kind of what Paul is referring to here pagans will worship anything and everything so there are many so -called gods whether in heaven or on earth he's not saying that there are spiritual forces that exist in heaven and on earth that's not what he's alluding to he's saying that there's gods in the heavens that the pagans worship sun moon and stars clouds you know whatever else and then there's stuff on earth that they worship as well as indeed there are many gods and many lords that's all that's being said there some will will read into that verse too deeply and and others have taken it to mean well there are spiritual forces in these places that are manipulating things and many and many lords but there's only one

God capital G and that's that's not what Paul is saying is he's saying that pagans worship stuff all over the place so there's many gods but they're not real they're just as empty as the idols that Paul had been describing the previous verse in verse 4 so he's not saying that an idol is nothing but there's gods all over the place he's saying that these so -called gods are just as much nothing as the idols that people worship yet for us there is one

God the one true and living God as he gets to in verse 6 the father and the

Lord Jesus Christ verse 7 however not all men have this knowledge now that can be a little confusing too because he's obviously talking about believers there 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 so the ones that he's referring to as having as not having the knowledge he's saying that there are some even like baby

Christians immature Christians who are not aware and do not know that an idol is nothing and that these many gods and lords that are out there that pagans worship that they're nothing to there's nothing to the these false gods that they worship but not everybody has that knowledge not every

Christian is mature enough to understand that there's nothing to an idol and they do think that because that meat has been sacrificed to an idol or a false

God that it's therefore been defiled by that false God as if there was something to the false

God that could cause the meat the food to be defiled like some sort of spiritual thing has entered into that food and made it an abomination for a

Christian to partake in it in any way and so therefore if I eat that food I have defiled myself because it's as if they think there's something in the idol or in the false

God that is therefore entered the food and when it enters my body it defiles me okay that's what's going on here and not everybody has the knowledge to understand not everybody is mature enough in their knowledge to recognize then an idol is nothing but some being accustomed to the idol until now because we know there were many idol worshipers in Corinth who heard the gospel and repented of their idolatry and came to faith in Jesus Christ I go back to 1st

Corinthians chapter 6 verses 9 and 10 or do you not know that unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God do not be deceived neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters idol worshipers right and that's connected with the sexual immorality here because that was very common in Corinth paganism was connected with sexual immorality so neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters idol worshipers nor adulterers nor effeminate nor homosexuals nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor revilers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God and now verse 11 and such were some of you there were those that were sitting there in the church in Corinth who had previously been idolaters as a matter of fact the vast majority if not all of them had been that they were idol worshipers before they heard the gospel and repented of their idolatry and came to faith in Jesus Christ now there were some among them who were former

Jews so they probably were not idol worshipers in the sense of bowing down to false gods they probably were not that they didn't believe the truth as they did not know the

Messiah they had not yet come to know Jesus Christ but they had not been idol worshipers but the vast majority of them especially the pagans and Gentiles who had repented of that and come to faith in Jesus Christ they were previously idolaters but they have been washed you were sanctified you were justified in the name of the

Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God so there were some among them who had previously been idol worshipers and not yet coming to an understanding that an idol is an empty thing they've become accustomed to the idol until now and they eat food as if it were sacrificed to an idol and their conscience being weak is defiled so they think that there actually is something tainted something rotten about that meat in a spiritual sense and now that I've eaten it

I've defiled my own spirit with that food that had previously been sacrificed to an idol verse 8 but food will not commend us to God we neither lack if we do not eat nor abound if we do eat so this is

Paul saying that if you eat the food you've not defiled yourself before God and if you don't eat the food you've not become someone better before God okay so eating food does not make us better or worse before God abstaining from food does not make us better or worse before God now let's understand plainly that that Christ has declared all foods clean as said in Mark chapter 7 as given to Peter in Acts chapter 10 and Paul talks about it in several places there is no food that is defiled you can eat anything in fact

God even said to Noah this is before we get to the dietary laws in the book of Leviticus after the flood and Noah sacrificed unto the

Lord God said to Noah I give you every animal for food so there was even a time before the law of Moses when those who were descended of Noah and the line of Shem and on down the line even even through Abraham there were many who were eating whatever they wanted to eat and they did not defile themselves before God the dietary laws were a matter of ceremonial cleanliness and Christ who has fulfilled all the law and the prophets has declared all foods clean so there is no food that is unclean to us you can eat it and it does not defile you before God or you can choose to not eat it that doesn't even really make you any better before God because food does not commend us to God we neither lack if we do not eat nor abound if we do eat that's what

Paul is saying here so this is being read in the presence of the whole church there in Corinth he's saying to the

Corinthians you can eat whatever you want but understand that not everybody in Corinth was fully convinced that the word that Paul gave was a word from Christ because as we get to the next letter as we get to 2nd

Corinthians there are some who Paul sarcastically refers to as super apostles who call themselves of greater authority than Paul or they're they're better apostles than Paul is they come with a greater word than even

Peter or Apollos and so Paul you know kind of sarcastically refers to them as super apostles and I'm nothing compared to these guys we want to go off and listen to them so because there were people in Corinth that were not fully convinced that the word that Paul had was a word from Christ even though this letter is being read in their midst and they're hearing that all foods are clean not everybody's going to be convinced of that so even after this letter being read in their midst there's still going to be many who are going to be convinced that food that has been sacrificed to idols is unclean and therefore

I'm not going to eat it I mean there's people that I've attended church with in the past that believe in the dietary laws that they're still in effect

I can't eat pork because I'll defile myself before God so they don't eat pork they don't eat bacon they don't eat sausage poor guys

I mean they're really missing out but they're fully convinced that if they eat that meat they defile themselves before God even though the

Bible explicitly says that Christ has declared all foods clean and even

Peter was commanded to get up and kill and eat and he's not defiling himself by eating foods that were typically known among the pagans to be consumed but not among the

Jews so even though and you know even Christians today there are some that believe that some foods will actually defile them well

I'm not going to eat those foods in their presence if that's the way that they believe I'm not going to cause them to stumble in that way even though you have those statements in the

Bible that God has declared all foods clean there are still people that believe certain foods are defiled they're weak in conscience

Paul calls them weak in conscience but we should not lord ourselves over them because we know they're weak in conscience

I'm better than you are I'm more mature look at what I can eat because I'm not defiling my conscience right we cause a brother or sister to stumble and we cause them to sin before Christ Paul says it would be better for me to not even eat meat again than to cause my brother or sister to stumble so we must be compassionate and considerate toward one another when we consider these things food will not commit us to God we neither lack we do not eat nor abound if we do eat you're not a better Christian because you think that you can eat whatever you want nor are they better Christians because they abstain from certain foods verse 9 but see to it that this authority of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak and you can hear in that statement how that would apply to either camp whether you think you're better because you don't eat or you think you're better because you do eat whatever authority you think you have as given by God by the

Holy Spirit that lives within you don't use this authority of yours to become a stumbling block to those who don't see this issue the same way that you do for if someone sees you who have knowledge dining in an idol's temple will not his conscience if he is weak be built up to eat things sacrifice to idols so in other words he sees you eating stuff sacrifice to idols and he thinks to himself well then

I can do it too he's not yet convinced in his mind that an idol is an empty thing or that there's no other

God but the one true God that there's other gods like this immature

Christian might actually think that there are other gods out there not that he's polytheist because he worships the one true and only

God but he still thinks there might be other entities out there I'm just not gonna worship those entities I'm gonna worship the true

God I'm gonna worship Christ I've met Christians that think this way they probably think that the the other deities that are out there are demonic forces but they do believe that you know there's there's other kinds of gods other kinds of spirits and entities we as Christians though were to worship the one true

God and and no other God can compete with the true God God and his mercy and grace appears to still receive such persons even though they're wrong about how they think about the spiritual forces so there may be those those among the church there in Corinth who well they're they're convinced they see you eating food that has been sacrificed to false

God so therefore I can eat it too but they're yeah they're not yet fully convinced that that idol is an empty thing and that there really is no other

God but the one true God so their conscience is weak is built up to eat sacrifice to idols so then they go eat the food and then recognize

I've just eaten food that was sacrificed to a false God I've eaten food that the false

God has entered or that false spirit is it has entered that food which has now entered my body and now

I'm defiled now I've done something pagan and there may be people that would even fall into despair over that well there it is

I've I've lost my faith God's gonna strike me down now because I've done something that I did in my in my former depravity am

I really saved now because I'm going after the stuff that I went after before I became a Christian and their conscience is weak is and is defiled and all of this you know this domino effect that could happen because of the person who's weak in conscience now

Paul does not celebrate the weak conscience nor would he even allow a person to remain weak in conscience we all must grow up in our faith he's been telling the

Corinthians that over the course of this letter as you can't stay in your immaturity I had to address you as infants in faith because you are not yet ready to receive deeper spiritual truths you need to grow up and later on he's gonna get to this in chapter 13 when he says when

I was a child I thought like a child I acted like a child I behave like a child but when I became a man

I put childish ways behind me so Paul had to grow up in his faith you need to grow up in yours you can't continue as a child in the faith so Paul here is not celebrating the weak conscience he's not saying that a person with a weak conscience should continue to have a weak conscience but while they are in that state of immaturity while they don't yet know don't become a stumbling block to them that would even cause them to fall into a place where they despair their faith they they think it's impossible now to maintain this faith there's nothing that I can do to be a

Christian and be good in the eyes of God and so they just abandon it altogether don't put a person in that position be kind and consider it merciful toward them for through your knowledge he who is weak is ruined the brother for whose sake

Christ died verse 11 now in verse 12 and in that way by sinning against the brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak you sin against Christ if you sin against your brothers you cause your brother to stumble it's the same as if you sin against Christ therefore if food causes my brother to stumble

I will never eat meat again ever so that I will not cause my brother to stumble now that seems pretty extreme but it demonstrates the lengths that Paul is willing to go to for the benefit of his brother or sister in Christ and so we should be willing to do the same we should be willing to give up whatever we need to give up for the sake of a brother or sister in the

Lord now having said that I have heard these passages used to bully

Christians into taking the kovat vaccine and that a person who is not vaccinated should want to get vaccinated for the sake of their brother or sister's conscience their brother or sister is weak they think that you're sinning by not getting the vaccine so you should get the vaccine to not cause your brother or sister to stumble but that's actually the opposite of the principle that Paul is laying down here in 1st

Corinthians 8 he's saying I would abstain from putting something in my body so not to cause my brother or sister to stumble he's talking about abstinence here he's not talking about participation there's nothing in 1st

Corinthians 8 that says hey for the sake of your brother or sister's conscience go into those pagan temples and eat up that's never the instruction but rather that we would abstain from it so that we not cause a brother or sister to stumble so those who are trying to bully fellow

Christians into getting the vaccine and using chapter 8 in order to do that are actually twisting this scripture they're not using it in a proper way this is a matter of opinion when it comes to the kovat vaccine when it comes to wearing masks whatever it might happen to be these are opinions and as Paul said in Romans chapter 14 that we need to not quarrel over opinions but welcome one another if you're convinced that you need to get the vaccine then get it but if you're convinced that you should not get the vaccine then don't get it and that person is gonna have to stand before God one way or the other they're accountable before the

Lord that's what Paul says in Romans chapter 14 where he talks there also about food that is clean and food that is unclean so in any of these things no matter what whether it comes to how we feel about mass how we feel about vaccinations how we feel about foods how we feel about certain clothing how we feel about TV shows we watch movies music we listen to there's a lot of different things that you could fit into this category of food sacrifice to idols may we commend ourselves before the

Lord may we do all things for his glory and his honor for his Paul is going to finish up this section saying when he get when we get to the end of chapter 10 whether you eat or drink or whatever you do do it to the glory of God and let us consider one another's hearts in the midst of this as well and be an encouragement to each other not quarreling over these things not finding a way to better our brother and sister in the best argument that we can come up with but we are mindful and considerate of one another and building each other up in the

Lord according to his word holding fast to the promises of Christ who is going to deliver us from these mortal bodies in which we have these discussions about the mortality in which we exist and he will transform our lowly bodies to be like his glorious body by the power that enables him to subject all things to himself it says in Philippians chapter 3 let us commend ourselves to Christ let us seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all the things we need in this body will be added to us as well heavenly father thank you for this good word that we have been given and I pray that we know how to apply it in a proper way and in a right context in a way that is worshipful unto the

Lord and is considerate of our brothers and sisters in the Lord it's in Jesus' name that we pray, amen.

You've been listening to when we understand the text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. Monday Tuesday and Wednesday Gabe will be going through a

New Testament study then on Thursday we look at an Old Testament book. On Friday we take questions from the listeners and viewers.