Now regarding your question about food that has been offered to idols. Yes, we know that “we all have knowledge” about this issue. But while knowledge makes us feel important, it is love that strengthens the church. Anyone who claims to know all the answers doesn't really know very much. But the person who loves God is the one whom God recognizes. (I Corinthians 8:1-3 NLT)
So, what about eating meat that has been offered to idols? Well, we all know that an idol is not really a god and that there is only one God. There may be so-called gods both in heaven and on earth, and some people actually worship many gods and many lords. But we know that there is only one God, the Father, who created everything, and we live for him. And there is only one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom God made everything and through whom we have been given life. (I Corinthians 8:4-6 NLT)
Before we go any further, we all have to make sure that we believe this with our whole being. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. (Deuteronomy 6:5) There is only one God, the Father, who created everything, and we live for him! There is only one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom God made everything and through whom we have been given life! "He said: ‘You shall have no other gods before Me.'" (Deuteronomy 5:4,7; Exodus 20:1,3) Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." (John 14:6)
If we aren't sure that we believe there is only one God, and that His Son, Christ Jesus is the only way to have a relationship with Him, nothing else we believe or do matters. This Truth has to be rooted and grounded in our hearts! However, not all believers know this. Some are accustomed to thinking of idols as being real, so when they eat food that has been offered to idols, they think of it as the worship of real gods, and their weak consciences are violated. It’s true that we can’t win God’s approval by what we eat. We don’t lose anything if we don’t eat it, and we don’t gain anything if we do. (I Corinthians 8:7-8 NLT)
We must keep in mind while studying this letter to the church in Corinth that the Christians there are mostly Gentiles, and their former religious customs were idolatry. Paul made that observation when he was in Athens. Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to idols. Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you: “God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth,... "(Acts 17:16, 22-24)
For any of the Gentiles to accept Christianity is a miracle of God, but they, just as we do today, still had former ways of thinking and believing that they had to overcome. In their mind, Some are accustomed to thinking of idols as being real, so when they eat food that has been offered to idols, they think of it as the worship of real gods, and their weak consciences are violated. Most of us know that ...God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good; (Genesis 1:31) That Foods for the stomach and the stomach for foods, but God will destroy both it and them; (I Corinthians 6:13) That ...He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks. (Romans 14:6)
But you must be careful so that your freedom does not cause others with a weaker conscience to stumble. For if others see you—with your “superior knowledge”—eating in the temple of an idol, won’t they be encouraged to violate their conscience by eating food that has been offered to an idol? So because of your superior knowledge, a weak believer for whom Christ died will be destroyed. And when you sin against other believers by encouraging them to do something they believe is wrong, you are sinning against Christ. (I Corinthians 8:9-12 NLT)
In other words, "Am I my brother’s keeper?” (Genesis 4:9) Yes we are! We have to learn to love one another more than being right, for it is love that strengthens the church. Freedom doesn't mean being able to do whatever we want; freedom means not being forced to do what everyone else does. The believer with a weaker conscience would eat the meat offered to idols, and their weak consciences are violated; but they don't want to feel left out, so they do it anyway. They don't operate in the full freedom that we have in Christ Jesus. The believer with your “superior knowledge” would eat the meat offered to idols and not worry about it, because we don’t lose anything if we don’t eat it, and we don’t gain anything if we do.
But you must be careful so that your freedom does not cause others with a weaker conscience to stumble. All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. (I Corinthians 6:12) This is True Freedom! So if what I eat causes another believer to sin, I will never eat meat again as long as I live—for I don’t want to cause another believer to stumble. (I Corinthians 8:13 NLT)
Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:29-31) Notice the commandments emphasize first our love for God and then our love for others, not ourselves. We are to love others as we love ourselves.
The freedom Christians have is to sacrifice the temporary satisfaction of what we want for the long term benefit of others. That is True Love! Yes, we can eat whatever we want, and for that matter we can do whatever we want. BUT, we are our brother's keeper! “But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me [those with a weaker conscience] to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea. For everyone will be seasoned with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt. Salt is good, but if the salt loses its flavor, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another.” (Mark 9:42, 49-50) If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. (Romans 12:18) And don't cause them to stumble!
No comments:
Post a Comment