1 Corinthians 8:1-3 says,...
Today's verses are 1 Corinthians 8:1-3, which read,
v.1 - Now concerning things sacrificed to idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge makes arrogant, but love edifies.
Paul has moved onto a new subject, the things that have been sacrificed to idols. The subject is given but Paul is going to give an overarching principle to guide his thoughts before speaking of it.
The Corinthians believed in many gods. Much meat was sacrificed to these false gods to appease them. The thought was that if you eat meat sacrificed to these false gods then the spirit of the false god could enter you and attach themselves to you. Like the issue of sexual sin being rampant in the culture that the Christians in Corinth lived in, so was the focus on false gods. They were saturated in it, they were everywhere.
Mature Christians would have knowledge that these things were false. The god was false. The meat sacrificed to that false god did not contain the spirit of the false god. The Spirit of the living God lived in them and so no false god or spirit of a false god could take His place. The mature Christian took comfort in that knowledge in the midst of this false god saturated culture.
Paul brings up that knowledge can not only comfort but it can also make one arrogant. Knowledge can have a dark side. Knowledge can be used as a weapon against others if it is not coupled with love. "The truth will set you free" is the phrase we use but what is the truth is the question. The truth is Jesus Christ, He is the only one who can set you free. How did He do it? By coming down from heaven, sent by a heavenly Father who loves you. There we see knowledge coupled with love. "Speak the truth in love" is another Biblical phrase that couples knowledge with the aspect of love. Knowledge left alone will make the one who has the knowledge to become arrogant of others. This arrogant position can be held by those Christians who are holding the knowledge that those gods are false and the meat sacrificed to them contains no power whatsoever. We can get ugly to others with the knowledge that we have if it is not connected to the love that we have and that has been given to us through Jesus Christ.
v.2,3 - If anyone supposes that he knows anything, he has not yet known as he ought to know; but if anyone loves God, he is known by Him.
If you have lived long enough this principle has come into play. You used to know everything but now you realize that you didn't know anything at that stage of your life. As a Christian you came to realize when you came in contact with the all-knowing God of love that your knowledge was nothing compared to His. He turned you around in such a direction that you could look back and say, "What was I thinking; did I say that; did I do that?" What is now important to you is not what you know but that you know God and that God knows you. I love the God of all knowledge and I rest on His knowledge above my own.
Now that I rest in the arms of a loving God, I must exercise love when I speak of the knowledge of God. I must think and also engage my heart before I speak. I must think of Him and also the other because I am to love God with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength and my neighbor as myself. I can not separate the two, knowledge and love. I will get myself in trouble if I do. The message that I do have, no matter how true it is, if it doesn't come from a heart of love that is motivated by the love that God has given me will show up as an arrogant person and not a person motivated to edify the other in the name of a loving God.
"Lord, Your knowledge and the knowledge of You, we are to take to the world and they and we so desperately need it. We are to take that knowledge with a heart of love for You and for the world. May we not forget to check our hearts before we speak some important Biblical concepts that we are to follow. Amen."
Pastor Adam
v.1 - Now concerning things sacrificed to idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge makes arrogant, but love edifies.
Paul has moved onto a new subject, the things that have been sacrificed to idols. The subject is given but Paul is going to give an overarching principle to guide his thoughts before speaking of it.
The Corinthians believed in many gods. Much meat was sacrificed to these false gods to appease them. The thought was that if you eat meat sacrificed to these false gods then the spirit of the false god could enter you and attach themselves to you. Like the issue of sexual sin being rampant in the culture that the Christians in Corinth lived in, so was the focus on false gods. They were saturated in it, they were everywhere.
Mature Christians would have knowledge that these things were false. The god was false. The meat sacrificed to that false god did not contain the spirit of the false god. The Spirit of the living God lived in them and so no false god or spirit of a false god could take His place. The mature Christian took comfort in that knowledge in the midst of this false god saturated culture.
Paul brings up that knowledge can not only comfort but it can also make one arrogant. Knowledge can have a dark side. Knowledge can be used as a weapon against others if it is not coupled with love. "The truth will set you free" is the phrase we use but what is the truth is the question. The truth is Jesus Christ, He is the only one who can set you free. How did He do it? By coming down from heaven, sent by a heavenly Father who loves you. There we see knowledge coupled with love. "Speak the truth in love" is another Biblical phrase that couples knowledge with the aspect of love. Knowledge left alone will make the one who has the knowledge to become arrogant of others. This arrogant position can be held by those Christians who are holding the knowledge that those gods are false and the meat sacrificed to them contains no power whatsoever. We can get ugly to others with the knowledge that we have if it is not connected to the love that we have and that has been given to us through Jesus Christ.
v.2,3 - If anyone supposes that he knows anything, he has not yet known as he ought to know; but if anyone loves God, he is known by Him.
If you have lived long enough this principle has come into play. You used to know everything but now you realize that you didn't know anything at that stage of your life. As a Christian you came to realize when you came in contact with the all-knowing God of love that your knowledge was nothing compared to His. He turned you around in such a direction that you could look back and say, "What was I thinking; did I say that; did I do that?" What is now important to you is not what you know but that you know God and that God knows you. I love the God of all knowledge and I rest on His knowledge above my own.
Now that I rest in the arms of a loving God, I must exercise love when I speak of the knowledge of God. I must think and also engage my heart before I speak. I must think of Him and also the other because I am to love God with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength and my neighbor as myself. I can not separate the two, knowledge and love. I will get myself in trouble if I do. The message that I do have, no matter how true it is, if it doesn't come from a heart of love that is motivated by the love that God has given me will show up as an arrogant person and not a person motivated to edify the other in the name of a loving God.
"Lord, Your knowledge and the knowledge of You, we are to take to the world and they and we so desperately need it. We are to take that knowledge with a heart of love for You and for the world. May we not forget to check our hearts before we speak some important Biblical concepts that we are to follow. Amen."
Pastor Adam
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