Sermon Tex:

We are continuing our series Growing in Grace, working our way passage by passage through 1 Corinthians listening to what God has to say about how the gospel transforms how we should think and live. This morning we come to chapter 8 where Paul is going to address the issue of eating meat that has been offered in sacrifice to idols.

You may recall that believers in Corinth were surrounded by pagan religious practices, including temple sacrifices. In our country we do not often deal with this specific issue, but Paul’s teaching here has tremendous relevance for us because we constantly need to navigate how to balance our freedom in Christ and our concern for others.

Paul’s main point and the main point of the message this morning is knowledge of true doctrine leads to liberty tethered to love. Let me say that again, knowledge of true doctrine leads to liberty tethered to love.

We pick up this morning in verse 1 of chapter 8. If you are using the blue Bible, we provide it is on page XXXX. If you do not own a Bible or have need of one, please take this one as our gift to you.

8 Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” This “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up. ² If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. ³ But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.

You may recall that in this part of the letter Paul is answering questions they had asked him. In ancient times there was obviously no refrigeration or grocery stores. People usually went to the market every day to buy what they needed. Temples were a major source of meat because they would butcher and sell the meat from animals that had been sacrificed to pagan Gods. There was a debate in the church in Corinth as to whether believers could eat this meat that had been offered to false Gods.

Some said since the idols had no power, they were free to eat the meat. Others were concerned that they could be defiled by eating the meat.

Most scholars believe that Paul’s first comment, that “all of us possess knowledge” is Paul quoting certain Corinthians like what we have seen earlier in the letter. It is as if they wrote to him looking for him to correct others based upon what they saw as common knowledge. Paul starts with the argument of these Corinthians asserting their freedom and then provides further clarification.

Interestingly Paul does not disagree with the facts they cited but addresses something that he sees as perhaps even more important, which is how they are using the knowledge they have.

He says yes, we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” But then he goes on to say that this knowledge they have “puffs up” and in contrast, love builds up. There are things they know, but the result of this knowledge has not led to the right result. Instead, it has led to a lack of love.  Paul then says, “² If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know.”

Friends, it is crucial that we understand the flow of Paul’s logic here. He acknowledges they have an accurate grasp of certain facts. A bit later in the chapter he is going to agree with the stronger and more knowledgeable believers in Corinth regarding what is true. Getting certain doctrinal facts correct, however, was not enough. The knowledge they had puffed them up, it did not result in an increase of love and was therefore incomplete.

Therefore, Paul says, that they do not yet know as they ought to know. Did you get that? We can know things in a way that is improper. We can have a correct understanding of certain facts in a way that we ought not to have them. We can possess an accurate understanding of certain biblical truths but in a way that distorts a full and proper understanding of the Scripture.

If we think we have sound doctrine, but it does not lead to humility and a desire to see others built up, we have not properly understood. Love is the criteria for assessing our maturity in doctrinal understanding. Christian doctrines are all connected, and we need not only knowledge of individual facts, but wisdom in how to integrate and apply those facts. The ultimate test of our understanding of doctrine is the fruit it produces.

We need to be especially careful about this, especially in a church like ours that places so much emphasis on truth and doctrine. We can plumb the deepest depths of Puritan or Reformed theology and read thick books brimming with treasures of truth that elevate our mind to the very throne room of the almighty and yet be immature in our thinking.

We may pour ourselves into learning many amazing facts about God but if our learning does not lead to love it is deficient. If we think we know anything about God and it does not move us to compassion and sensitivity for others then whatever we imagine we know, we do not yet know as we ought to know. The apostle John says it this way in 1 John 4:19–21,

¹⁹ We love because he first loved us. ²⁰ If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. ²¹ And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.

These stronger Corinthians had theological knowledge, but the lack of love showed they lacked wisdom. Knowledge and wisdom are related, but they are not the same thing. Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is knowing that you don’t put tomatoes in fruit salad. Paul is saying that we can evaluate our knowledge by what we do with it. Its value is found in what it produces, and true knowledge of God produces love for others.

It is so important that we get this connection. We preach doctrine because we know that it is by the truth that God saves and sanctifies His people. The gospel is a message. It is a doctrinal assertion. It is a truth claim that must be understood and either accepted or rejected. No person will ever be saved by a lie. Truth and knowledge is indispensable.

But we do not preach so that we will be merely better informed with the truth, but so that through the power of the Holy Spirit we will be transformed by the truth. We do not want to be like those people the Bible says are always studying but never coming to the truth. We are seeking not only knowledge, but wisdom.

If we detach any single truth or doctrine from its relationship with all the other truths, we are going to have a distorted knowledge. All false teachers get some things right. Even the pharisees knew many truths but rather than being saved through their knowledge, they were condemned by it. It isn’t enough to know, we want to know as we ought to know. So, what does it look like to know rightly?

Paul gives us two answers in these verses. We have already mentioned that one aspect of knowing rightly means that we will love others. In verse 3 we see another outcome of right knowing is that we will love God. God is Truth and God is Love and thus to grow in the truth also leads to a growth in love. In the same way that we cannot more fully into the light of a fire without also experiencing its warmth, we also cannot come closer to the light of the gospel without being warmed in our affections by its fire.

But look carefully at what Paul says, ³ But if anyone loves God, he is known by God. Paul says we will know we are growing in right knowledge if we love God and if we do, he says we are known by God.  That is interesting. Isn’t that an odd thing to say? I expected Paul to say that if we love God, we know God? Instead, he says, if we love God we are known by God. Why would he say it that way?

Listen friends, it is a blessing when you run into this kind of thing! You should look for and celebrate those things that seem to not quite fit what you expected. Those are the places we can really grow. That’s where we can really begin meditating on the Word. When we find those places, it is the Holy Spirit inviting us to really think about the word until He illuminates it for us. That is when we will see the most glorious things. Anyhow, what is Paul talking about?

He says those who love God are known by God. This means that those who are growing in knowledge as they ought and are therefore loving others and are loving God are those known by God. It is one thing for us to know God, but what does it mean for God to know us? Clearly God knows everything and every person perfectly so Paul cannot mean that somehow our love for God causes God to learn anything about us.

He is not talking about general knowledge because God knows all people in this way and yet not all people love Him. What Paul is talking about here is a redemptive knowledge. He is talking about God’s predestining knowledge of His elect people.

The ESV flows nicely but the point is easier to see if we more crudely translate the verb tenses. The first verb is present-active and the second one is perfect-passive. If we highlight that the verse reads, “But if anyone is loving God, he has been known by Him.”

Everyone who loves God, does so because they have been first known by God. This is the kind of knowledge that we see in Romans 8:29–30,

²⁹ For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. ³⁰ And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

This is a knowing that produces a result. It is because He knows them that they come to trust in Jesus. It is an active knowledge, a choosing knowledge. Notice that it is not a knowledge of what people will do. It is not a knowledge of the decisions people will make, but knowledge of the people themselves. This knowledge leads infallibly to salvation. Everyone that is known or foreknown is predestined and everyone who is predestined is called.

This must be an irresistible call, it cannot be a general call because every single one of those who is called is also justified and we know that not every person who hears the general call of the gospel is justified. Then ultimately, those who are justified will all be glorified. So there is an unbreakable connection between this foreknowledge of persons and those who will be justified and glorified.

Paul is telling us is that God’s knowledge of believers is the foundation for our love of Him. We love Him and ultimately love others with godly love because we are known by Him. It is the grace of God that draws us and causes love to flow out of us back to Him and overflowing to others. Our justification, our sanctification, and our glorification are all to the praise of the glory of God. Another way to say this is that our love for God and for others is the evidence of our election.

God Himself is the source of the love found in believers. It does not come from us. When Paul says, ³ But if anyone loves God, he is known by God it is a very compressed way of saying what he says more fully in Ephesians 2:8–10

⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not a result of works, so that no one may boast. ¹⁰ For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

When we know as we ought to know the result are works of love which God has prepared for us to do. So, here is where we are.

Some of the Corinthians were claiming to have a firm grasp on certain theological truths that led them to assert freedom to eat meat offered to idols. There were others, however, who were sensitive to this, and it was a stumbling block for them.

Before he gives any specific instructions, Paul shows them that any knowledge that is disconnected from a desire to build up others is a distorted knowledge. Growing in knowledge of doctrine apart from a transformed heart will not lead to maturity. It is only through the Holy Spirit applying the word that we grow. We must be careful not to take pride in our understanding of doctrine, but rather rejoice as we grow in a knowledge of the Lord that has its source in His love for us and our love for Him.

Having laid that foundation, Paul will now apply that truth to the situation they asked about. In verse 4 he says,

⁴ Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.” ⁵ For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”— ⁶ yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

Paul begins by confirming that these stronger Corinthian believers were correct. Idols are nothing. Although there are many gods and many lords in the sense that there are powerful spiritual beings and powers and principalities of the spiritual world, they are nothing compared to the Almighty God that we worship. The idols of the temple were just useless hunks of metal, wood, and stone.

Psalm 135:15–18 says,

                15 The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of human hands. 16 They have mouths, but do not speak; they have eyes, but do not see; 17 they have ears, but do not hear, nor is there any breath in their mouths. 18 Those who make them become like them, so do all who trust in them.

Sadly, there are still millions of people around the world who are enslaved to this kind of idolatry. I have had several experiences in Asia where I have eaten at places where the first cup of tea or the first fruits were presented as offerings to dead ancestors or placed in a bowl before an idol. I obviously did not participate in the ceremonies, but I have seen them and eaten from the food after they were completed. So, although this is rare here, it is still a concern in many other places.

In any case, Paul agrees that eating this food poses no danger to us. Demons and other spirits have no power to defile a believer through us eating food offered to them and therefore those who know this have freedom in this area. Paul says, those with this view are correct in their understanding. But then he continues in verse 7,

⁷ However, not all possess this knowledge. But some, through former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. ⁸ Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do.

Here we have this interesting observation about the conscience. If someone believes that what they are doing is sinful then for them it is sin. It is true that we are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do, but if someone does not know this and they act against their own convictions they are guilty of sin.

A sin is not only found in what we do. We sin if we commit an act we believe to be evil even if that act in itself is not sinful. Romans 14:23 says “Whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.” That means that our motivation is just as important as are our actions.

For example, if a person is taught and comes to believe that wearing makeup is a sin and then wears makeup, that person is sinning. The sin comes not from the makeup itself but from the intent to violate what one believes God has commanded. A willingness to be disobedient renders any action sinful. We must guard our hearts so that we do not sin in this way, and we must also be careful that we do not use our liberty to draw others into sinning in this way. Listen to what Paul says next,

⁹ But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. ¹⁰ For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? ¹¹ And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died.

Those with a stronger doctrinal understanding are right about the idols and the meat, but it is wrong for them to use their liberty in a way that will become a burden to those whose consciences are sensitive regarding this issue. The Lord would have us not only consider the facts and our individual rights, but the impact that our actions have on others. The Lord teaches us and gifts us so that we would build others up and so to use that strength that God provides in a way that discourages or condemns our brothers and sisters is itself a distortion of the truth.

The answer is to use our knowledge to build others up rather than to maximize our liberty. That brings us back to our main point, knowledge of true doctrine leads to liberty tethered to love. The truth will set us free and but if we cause harm to our brothers that is also sin and nothing in the word gives us the liberty to sin. Look at verse 12,

¹² Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. ¹³ Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.

As believers we are called to give up our liberties and privileges to serve those who are weaker. That is what it means to follow Christ? Every single one of us was in bondage to sin and weakness. We were not seeking to honor God and so nothing we did was done with a motive to glorify God and we were not pure in the sight of God. We were all deceived by the enemy and in darkness and ignorance. Seeing that our situation was hopeless, the Father sent Jesus, God the Son, to come to earth in the weakness of flesh.

Jesus left the glory of heaven to become weak, even weak unto the point of death to save others. He emptied Himself of pursuing His rights so that He could show love for others. He could have demanded we pay our debts. He could have called 12 legions of angels to impose His righteous rule upon us. If He did, we would be destroyed but instead, the lawgiver submitted Himself to the law as a man. He lived a life of perfect righteousness through which He earned all the covenant promises of God but out of love He exchanged that righteousness for the sins of all those who would put their faith in Him. Jesus took the penalty for our sin and gave us the rewards of His perfect life.

He was crucified, died, and was buried but three days later He rose again. This demonstrates His victory over sin and death and is proof that He is the Lord and will keep His promises to us. He bridged the gap between us and the Father to bring us to God. All we need to do is accept Him as our substitute and we receive adoption as sons and daughters of God.

Believers are called to share the same love that was shown to us. We are called to be like Jesus who gave everything for the sake of others. For my sake and for yours. How can we who have received so much mercy and patience not be willing to bear with our weaker brothers and sisters like our savior did. If His Spirit is at work in us we will because increasingly like Him. We can have confidence that we can live this way because our ability to do so rests not in us but in the Father and he realization of it was purchased by the blood of Jesus. If anyone is loving God, he has been known by Him and if he foreknew us, then He has called us and Galatians 5:13–14 tells us,

¹³ For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. ¹⁴ For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

As we leave here today, we are not likely to meet anyone struggling with the issue of eating meat sacrificed to idols but surely it is not difficult to think of examples of where an insistence on our liberty and rights could be a hinderance to other believers. Just a few such issues that come to my mind are the use of alcohol and tobacco, homeschooling, COVID vaccines, contraceptives, movies, music, types of dress.

We may have freedom in all these things, but we are not free to use this freedom in ways that causes others to stumble. We have no support from Scripture in feeling in any way superior because we know more Bible facts than others. If our knowledge does not result in compassion and tenderness for others we do not yet know as much as we think we know. We do not live a life of faith as isolated individuals, but as the family of God. We are to be like a team of mountain climbers. The strong ones don’t race up to the top by themselves, they use their strength and knowledge to ensure those who are weaker make it also.

I would like to finish this morning with Paul’s words from Philippians 2:4–11 

⁴ Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. ⁵ Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷ but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. ⁸ And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. ⁹ Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰ so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Amen