Alan Lewis
Elon, North Carolina
April 2024
Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that “We all possess knowledge.” But knowledge puffs up while love builds up. 2 Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know. 3 But whoever loves God is known by God.
4 So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that “An idol is nothing at all in the world” and that “There is no God but one.” 5 For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”), 6 yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.
7 But not everyone possesses this knowledge. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat sacrificial food they think of it as having been sacrificed to a god, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled. 8 But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.
9 Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak. 10 For if someone with a weak conscience sees you, with all your knowledge, eating in an idol’s temple, won’t that person be emboldened to eat what is sacrificed to idols?
11 So this weak brother or sister, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. 12 When you sin against them in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. 13 Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause them to fall. (I Corinthians 8:1-13 NIV)
Today, we are going to talk about the topic of Christian liberty. Paul spends three chapters on that topic (I Corinthians 8-10).
We do not talk about Christian liberty too much today. When was the last time you heard a sermon about Christian liberty? You do not hear about it too much in church, but the Bible has a lot to say about it.
Paul said to the Galatians, “For you, brethren, have been called to LIBERTY” (Galatians 5:13 NIV). He said, “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is LIBERTY” (II Corinthians 3:17 NIV).
He also said, “Stand fast therefore in the LIBERTY by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage” (Galatians 5:1 NIV).
Liberty is something that we have. It is something that God calls us to. It is something that comes from the Holy Spirit. It is found in the Bible.
James calls the Bible, “the perfect law of liberty” (James 1:25). It also sets people free. Jesus said, “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you FREE” (John 8:32 NIV).
Two Extremes
There are two extremes when it comes to Christina liberty. Both sides are wrong. Both can be found in the church.
On one side is LEGALISM. The legalists say God has all of these rules. Christianity is all about obeying the rules. Salvation or spirituality is by rule keeping. It is by obedience. It is by good works.
On the other side is LAWLESSNESS. The theological term is “antinomianism.” You never hear much about sin or repentance in these circles. What you hear is that God is not mad at you, and you can live any way you want.
“All things are lawful” (I Corinthians 6:12). That is not a quote from Paul but from the Corinthians. Many believed that. One man told me that “Christian do not have any commandments to keep as Christians.” That is hyper grace theology.
Of course, we are under grace but there are commandments in the NT, as well as in the OT. Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” (John 14:15)
Dangerous Food
In I Corinthians 8, Paul deals with a topic we all love and that is food. Most of us like to eat. After answering questions about MARRIAGE, Paul answers some questions about MEAT.
Paul deals with a hot-button issue of the day. It was a controversial issue of the day. The issue had to do with food. It deals with food but not just any kind of food.
It deals with “dangerous food.”[1] This is not food that is unhealthy. It is not dealing with food that is bad for your health, like junk food.
Paul was not against health. He told Timothy to drink some wine for his stomach problems and frequent infirmities. That is not what this is talking about.
Paul is not dealing with unhealthy food, but with food that can make you sin. That is not devil’s food cake. Apparently, what you eat can cause you to sin and can cause others to sin.
Paul was not talking about ordinary food. He was talking about religious food. He was talking about idol food or idolatrous food, food that was ritually slaughtered to a pagan deity in an idolatrous temple.
This posed an ethical question for Christians in the first century. It created a moral question. Can Christians eat food offered to idols?
There were all kinds of temples to pagan gods in Corinth. If you go to Asia today, you can still see plenty of temples with Hindu gods on top of them.
In Paul’s day, animals were dedicated to the pagan gods and sacrificed to these gods. The worshippers ate the meat. Is it wrong for a Christian to be involved in that process?
If idols are not real and there is only one God, can you go into a pagan temple and eat food offered to idols?
If that is wrong, is it wrong to buy meat in the market? The meat that sold to markets often came from pagan temples.
The meat that was not used in pagan temples was sold to the market. There was no refrigeration. Food spoiled quickly. It was cheap to buy. You could get it at a discount. Everyone loves a sale. Was it wrong to eat that kind of meat?
What if your non-Christian, pagan neighbor invites you over for a meal and offers you a nice juicy steak? Is it wrong to eat the food that is set before you by a pagan neighbor? Hospitality was a big deal in that day.
Should you eat the food? Should you be rude and not eat the food put before you? Should you ask where it came from before you eat? Paul answers these questions.
There were two sides to the issue. There were two sides to the debate. Some said that no Christian should ever eat idol meat. It is sinful. It is idolatry.
Others said that Christians can eat anything they want. We have freedom in Christ. All food is a gift from God. One side was you could eat the meat. The other side you could not eat the meat.
Paul’s Answer
What did Paul say about the issue? Which side did he take? Paul said that both sides were wrong. Everything wasn’t black and white.
Some things were wrong, and some things were not wrong. A legalist would say it is always wrong. Paul knew when to be flexible and when not to be. He went through several test cases.
Paul looked at the question theologically. He looks at it practically. He looks at it pastorally. Here we do not see Paul as apostle but Paul as pastor. We see Pastor Paul.
What does Paul say? Let’s summarize what he says and then apply it today. Paul says four things.
1. Don’t eat any food that you know is offered to an idol
But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then DO NOT EAT IT, both for the sake of the one who told you and for the sake of conscience. (I Corinthians 10:28 NIV)
Eating food offered to idols is wrong. It is idolatry. No Christian should eat in a pagan temple or knowingly eat food offered to an idol.
My daughter was offered food offered to an idol in India and did not eat it. Do not eat idol meat in the temple. That is an act of worship.
Paul says that even though there is only one God, and idols are not real (I Corinthians 8:4-6). They are only so-called gods, gods in names only.
Paul says that those who offer sacrifices in pagan temples are offering sacrifices to something.
They are to offering sacrifices to demons (I Corinthians 10:22). False religion is demonic. Don’t have anything to do with it.
2. Eat any food which does not have any connection to idolatry.
EAT ANYTHING sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience, 26 for, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.” 27 If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, EAT WHATEVER IS PUT BEFORE YOU without raising questions of conscience. (I Corinthians 10:25-27 NIV).
3. Don’t eat any food which causes someone else to sin.
Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak. 10 For if someone with a weak conscience sees you, with all your knowledge, eating in an idol’s temple, won’t that person be emboldened to eat what is sacrificed to idols?
11 So this weak brother or sister, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. 12 When you sin against them in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. 13 Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause them to fall (I Corinthians 8:9-13 NIV).
32 Do not cause anyone to STUMBLE, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God— 33 even as I try to please everyone in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved. (I Corinthians 10:32-33 NIV)
Applications for Today
Now, these are not burning issues today in America, but they are still big issues for Christians in other countries. My daughter just came back from two years in India. Christians there still deal with this issue. She had to deal with it while she was there.
Part of her team visited a pagan temple to share Christ. While they were there, they were offered food. They were told, “the food is good. It was just offered to an idol.”
She went to a baby naming ceremony at someone’s home. Food was available. Before it was given out, it was offered to an idol to bless the child.
What about for us? When we go to the grocery store or a restaurant, and order some food, we don’t worry if our meat was dedicated to some pagan idol.
We don’t eat any Zeus burgers. When we walk down the street, we do not see any temples with pagan gods on it.
On the other hand, we have to deal with all kinds of issues that the Corinthians did not have to deal with.
The Corinthians did not deal with men who claim to be women or go into women’s bathrooms pretending to be men or playing women’s sports.
Limitations on Liberty
How does this apply to us? When is Christian liberty biblical and when is it not biblical? When is it right and when is it wrong?
This does not just apply to what we eat but to everything we do. We are going to look at four limitations on Christian liberty.
1) Christian liberty is limited by Scripture
Christian liberty is NOT the ability to do anything we want as Christians, to live any way we want. We have been redeemed.
Someone bought us with His own blood. We are slaves of Christ. We can’t just do anything we want. Just because we have liberty does not mean that we do not have any rules.
Christian liberty does not mean that we have the freedom in Christ to have an affair or live an immoral lifestyle. It does not mean that we have the freedom to live together before we get married.
It does not mean that we have the freedom in Christ to live an alternative lifestyle. It does not mean that we have the liberty to drink until we are drunk as a skunk. What exactly is Christian liberty?
Christian liberty is the freedom to make decisions in your own personal life about things NOT revealed in Scripture. It is the freedom to do whatever you want to do in any matter that the Bible does not address, either directly or indirectly.
There are a lot of topics like that. We call them gray areas. They are not black and white. They deal with non-moral issues. Some things are morally neutral. Paul said so.
But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do. (I Corinthians 8:8 NIV)
Donald Grey Barnhouse was a famous bible teacher. He was the first radio preacher to broadcast coast-to-coast in the 1930s.
Once, he spoke “at a conference where a large number of Christians were gathered. Some of the older ladies in the conference became very upset because the younger ladies were not wearing stockings. They came to him and let him know they were upset and wanted him to get up and rebuke the younger ladies.
He said he looked at them and said, “Did you know that the Virgin Mary never wore stockings?” They gasped, “She didn’t?” He said, “No, as far as we know they were unknown in those days. As best we can figure out stockings were first worn in the 15th century by prostitutes in Italy.”[2] The point is that stockings are morally neutral.
Christian liberty deals with the gray areas of the Christian life. It deals with issues that the Bible does not address. These are issues that Christians argue and debate.
They argue about styles of music. Some Christians love old hymns. That is the only music you hear in some churches. Other churches are loud. They sound like a rock concert.
Christians argue about entertainment and movies. They argue whether they can send their kids to public school or have to homeschool their kids.
They argue about politics. Some are Democrats. Some are Republicans. They argue about vaccines, and masks. There is no Bible verse for either view. Those are areas of Christian liberty.
2) Christian liberty is limited by conscience
I am convinced, being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for that person it is unclean. (Romans 14:14 NIV)
But if a person has doubts and still eats, he is condemned because he didn’t act in faith. Anything that is not done in faith is sin. (Romans 14:23 GWT)
Liberty is not just limited by Scripture but by our own conscience. Scripture may give you freedom to do something.
It may give you the freedom to drink alcohol. Jesus drank it but if anything bothers your conscience, if you think it is wrong, you shouldn’t drink.
We should follow the dictate of our own conscience, but we should also let our conscience be informed by Scripture.
3) Christian liberty is limited by love
That is the point that Paul makes in I Corinthians 8. Love limits liberty. There are some things that you have the right to do and can do that you should not do, because it can cause some people to sin.
It is bad enough if something causes you to sin. it is worse when you cause another person to sin. What is safe for you may not be safe for someone else. Paul says that a sin against a brother is a sin against Christ Himself.
Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak. 10 For if someone with a weak conscience sees you, with all your knowledge, eating in an idol’s temple, won’t that person be emboldened to eat what is sacrificed to idols?
11 So this weak brother or sister, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. 12 When you sin against them in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause them to fall. (I Corinthians 8:9-13 NIV)
Three Types of Christians
There are three types of Christians – the strong, the weak and the mature. Which are you? What is the difference?
Weak Christians
Weak Christians say certain things are wrong that God does not say are wrong. They are not as enlightened. They do not know the Scriptures as much.
They are stricter. They are more legalistic. They have more rules and most of their rules are not even found in the Bible. They are church rules based on tradition.
Strong Christians
Strong Christians know the Word. They know what the Scriptures teach. They look down on Christians who do not know as much as they do and are not as enlightened as they are.
They are less legalistic. They are less into rules. They understand freedom in Christ. The understand the difference between biblical law and biblical freedom.
Unfortunately, strong Christians are not always the most spiritual. Just because you know the Word does not mean that you apply the Word. Just because you have knowledge does not mean that you have compassion for people.
Mature Christians
Mature Christians use their knowledge and freedom to help others. They are not focused on themselves, their own freedom and their own rights, but on others.
Knowledge alone is not enough. Truth alone is not enough. The goal of our knowledge should be love.
Knowledge can build up or tear down depending on how you use it. A mature Christian knows how to use it.
Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know. (I Corinthians 8:2 NIV). One preacher said that you should put that verse on every diploma.
If you really love God, you will love people. You will love believers. You will not try to hurt them.
Why type of Christian are you? Are you strong Christian or are you a weak Christian? Do you ever limit your liberty? Are you ever a stumbling block to another Christian?
[1] This term is taken from Peter D. Gooch’s article, “Dangerous Food: 1 Corinthians 8-10 in Its Context” (Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2006).
[2] Donald Grey Barnhouse, Romans, “God’s Glory,” 4.
