Devotional Questions:
1 Corinthians 8:1-4
- What kind of person gets puffed up because he has knowledge? Or, why would knowledge (which is a good thing) cause some to be puffed up?
- Reflect on the contrast between knowledge that puffs up and love that builds up. Have I been pursuing things that add value to my ego in some way, or have I been pursuing love that focuses on others? What would it look like for a Christian to pursue knowledge in love?
1 Corinthians 8:9-13
“The ‘weak conscience’ was not a poorly developed sense of morality or propriety, as modern use of the expression might often imply, but rather the over-scrupulous restrictions they placed on believers’ freedom in Christ. Their inner thoughts unnecessarily accused them and led to feelings of guilt or defilement.”[1]
- Apostle Paul urges the Corinthians not to behave in ways that cause fellow Christians to sin. What are some ways that the “exercise of [my] freedom” can “become a stumbling block to the weak?”
- What are some ways in which Christians of today can be dull toward the sensitivities of those who are from different backgrounds, or who have specific areas of brokenness?
- What are some ways I can limit myself in order to love others (cf. Galatians 5:13-14)?
- How seriously did Apostle Paul take the issue of sinning against fellow believers?
- To what length am I prepared to go in order to not cause others to sin?
[1] Craig Blomberg, 1 Corinthians, The NIV Application Commentary Series (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1994) 162.
Commentary:
Introduction:
“There was some controversy among the Corinthian Christians whether it was permissible to eat meat from animals used in pagan sacrifices. We might expect Paul to give a simple and clear-cut answer to this problem, for elsewhere in the New Testament there is a flat prohibition against eating such idol meat [Acts 15:28-29]… Paul does not render a simple judgment; instead he launches into a long and complex argument.”[1]
“A full understanding of the principles and applications of chapter 8 must await the completion of Paul’s argument in chapters 9-10. By then it will be clear that an evangelistic principle of behaving in ways most likely to lead to other’s salvation is foundational to all that Paul says in these three chapters. But substantial initial progress can be made here. Three timeless principles dominate this chapter: what is safe for one Christian may not be for another; true discernment always requires love as well as knowledge; and believers have no right to demand certain freedoms if they in turn prove detrimental to those around them… 1 Corinthians 8 speaks to the gray areas of Christian living.”[2]
v.1 “Rather than taking sides in the dispute, Paul seizes the occasion to challenge those with ‘knowledge’ to reconsider their actions on the basis of very different standards. He provisionally accepts the slogan that all have knowledge (v.1; but see v.7); nevertheless, he immediately suggests that knowledge is defective if it fails to build up the community in love. Knowledge ‘puffs up.’ […] Here in 8:1 the cause of this prideful puffing up is stated explicitly for the first time: gnosis can lead to arrogance.”[3]
v.3 “The initiative in salvation comes from God, not from us. It is God who loves first, God who elects us and delivers us from the power of sin and death. Therefore what counts is not so much our knowledge of God as God’s knowledge of us. That is the syntax of salvation. The dominance of this syntax in Paul’s thought is shown in Galatians 4:9, when he commits an error of theological grammar and stops to correct himself in mid-sentence: ‘Now, however, that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God.’ Anyone who understands that the logic of the gospel depends on God’s initiative will not become puffed up by the possession of knowledge.”[4]
v.8 “The matter is indifferent. So, Paul thinks it is all right but not better if some, with clear moral consciousness, eat meat offered to idols; and it is all right, yes, even necessary, if others, with what he calls ‘weak conscience or consciousness,’ abstain.”[5]
v.9-13 “[…]Christians should not behave in ways that lead each other into sin. Verse 9 provides the thesis statement for the paragraph. ‘Stumbling block’ and that which ‘causes [one] to fall into sin’ (v.13) are synonyms and help to explain each other. ‘The exercise of your freedom’ reads more literally ‘your authority’ or ‘your right.’ In short, verse 9 urges Christians not to demand their rights in ways that cause fellow Christians to sin.”[6]
v.12 “Verse 12b gives the third reason for abstinence: to avoid sinning against Christ. As in Matthew 10:42 and 25:40, treatment of fellow Christians equals treatment of their Lord[…] When there is good reason to believe that exercising one’s freedom in amoral areas will actually lead a fellow Christian into sin, restraint is always right.”[7]
v.13 “Paul concludes the chapter by encouraging each of the auditors to model his care, his love for others. But ingredient to the chapter is also a call to the stronger-in-faith believers to take their obligations as models more seriously. Modern believers should be more self-conscious about setting a good example in each and every decision and choice and action. Even if it had no effect on others, it would surely enrich our own faithful response to God. And who knows what use God might make of it in the eyes of someone who observes us?”[8]
“How can we live up to the expectations of every weak conscience? We can’t. But Paul wants us to be sensitive to others. He was frustrated with his Corinthian opponents who trampled on the consciences of the weak. He wants us to be sympathetic to those whose faith might be hindered or destroyed by our freewheeling behavior.”[9]
[1] Richard B. Hays, “1 Corinthians,” Interpretation (Louisville, KY: John Knox Press, 1997) 134.
[2] Craig Blomberg, 1 Corinthians, The NIV Application Commentary Series (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1994) 163-164.
[3] Richard B. Hays, “1 Corinthians,” Interpretation (Louisville, KY: John Knox Press, 1997) 137.
[4] Richard B. Hays, “1 Corinthians,” Interpretation (Louisville, KY: John Knox Press, 1997) 138.
[5] Paul J. Sampley, “The First Letter to the Corinthians,” The New Interpreter’s Bible, Vol. X (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2002) 899.
[6] Craig Blomberg, 1 Corinthians, The NIV Application Commentary Series (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1994) 162-163.
[7] Craig Blomberg, 1 Corinthians, The NIV Application Commentary Series (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1994) 163.
[8] Paul J. Sampley, “The First Letter to the Corinthians,” The New Interpreter’s Bible, Vol. X (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2002) 902.
[9] Quest Study Bible, study notes (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1994) 1640.