“LIVING FREE.” 1 COR. 8: 7-13; 9:19-23, 9: 24-27
PLEASE OPEN YOUR BIBLE TO 1 CORINTHIANS 8.
Living the Christian life is not easy. In spite of some of the impressions I get from religious cable T.V., birds do not follow me singing because Jesus is in my life. Life can still be frustrating—even for the committed follower of Christ.
Traffic still makes us late. Utility companies still send bills. My computer is still inundated with unwanted spam.
We all have days that try to get the best of us. Do we follow the way of the word and give in to the problems around us? Do we blame others for the mess we’re in and simply play the pitiful role of a victim? Or is there another way?
Through Paul’s letters to the five churches, we discover that there is another way to go through life’s challenges. We can be the victors. It would be nice if, at the moment of our salvation, Christ had taken us to be with Him in heaven. Instant victory! Even though Christ chose to leave us there for the moment (to grow us and to be His witnesses). We can go through life no less victorious. Yes, the challenges and struggles will still be there, but we can face them responsibly in the freedom, power, joy, and truth Christ gives us.
Many people feel unable to handle what life brings. They feel overwhelmed by the circumstances of their lives. They see themselves as victims of forces beyond their control. They lack the sense of victory with which the people of faith should live.
Paul said we are more than conquerors over ever circumstance or force. This study focuses on five areas in which Christians should be victors not victims.
Today’s lesson, “Living Free,” is based on 1 Corinthians 8: 7-13 and 9: 19-27. It deals with the responsible use of our freedom in Christ. It is designed to help us exercise our freedom in Christ appropriately.
Some people deny both freedom and responsibility because they believe that freedom is an illusion. They claim that forces beyond our control predetermine our lives. The psychological version of this view is that our behavior is the result of heredity and environment, not of any choices we make. The Political version of this is autocratic rule that stifles individual freedom.
Many people define freedom as the right to do as they please, with few or any limitations. These people consider basic moral and spiritual guidelines to be out-of-date. Each person is free to make his or her own rules.
The biblical view sees life in proper relation to God, others, and self. God has a purpose for each life, but each is free to choose whether to follow God’s will. Therefore, people are accountable to God for their actions.
Christ offers us freedom, but with that freedom comes responsibility. How I live out my freedom as a follower of Christ impacts others. This study will take us into one of the key passages in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, the issue of how we are to exercise our freedom in Christ.
PLEASE READ 1 CORINITHIANS 8: 7-13.
Paul certainly had his hands full in dealing with the church in Corinth! The Corinthian Christians were a group of believers who were close to Paul’s heart, but they were not without their flaws. Throughout his letter to this church, Paul dealt with multiple problems with in the church: divisiveness, sexual immortality, lawsuits, and the abuse of spiritual gifts, to name a few.
Ch. 8, 9 and 10 deal with a problem, which may seem extremely remote to us, but was intensely real to the Christians at Corinth and demanded a solution. It was the problem of whether or not to eat meat, which had been offered to idols.
Before we begin to study these chapters in detail, it will be well to state the problem and the broad lines of the solutions, which Paul offers in the various cases in which it impinged upon life.
Sacrifice to the Gods was an integral part of ancient life. It might be of two kinds, private or public. In neither case was the whole animal consumed upon the altar. Often all that was burned was a mere token part as small as some of the hairs cut from the forehead of the animal.
In private sacrifice the animal, so to speak, was divided into three parts. First, a token part was burned on the altar. Second, the priests received as their rightful portion the ribs, the ham and the left side of the face. Third, the worshipper himself received the rest of the meat. With the meat he gave a banquet. This was specially the case at times like weddings.
Sometimes these feasts were in the house of the host; sometimes they were even in the temple of the god to whom the sacrifice had been made. We have, for instance, a papyrus invitation to a dinner, which runs like this: “Antonius, son of Ptolemaist, invites you to dine with him at the table of the Lord Serapis.” Serapis was the god to whom he had sacrificed.
Corinth was a city of many gods, and it was quite common in this polytheistic culture for items to be offered to the various gods as an act of worship. The context for the problem Paul was addressing was the dedication of slaughtered meat to these pagan gods. For many people, the act of eating the dedicated meat was an act of worship to that deity.
The problem, which confronted the Christian, was, “Could he take part in such a feast? Could he possibly take upon his lips meats that had been offered to an idol?” If he could not, then obviously he was going to cut himself off almost entirely from social occasions. A man never knew when he might be eating meat that had formed part of a sacrifice to an idol.
Paul taught in vs. 4 that, “an idol is nothing in the world.” If there is no power in these pagan gods, if they are not really gods at all, then what does it hurt to eat the meat offered to them. Paul assured us that there is no harm in the meat or in the act of eating it.
In the Corinthian church many believers understood the theological principle that Christ is Lord over all. Regardless of what words people say over a piece of meat, Christ is still “Lord over all.” We are not defiled or harmed by the idolatrous practices of others. Some of the Christians in Corinth were insisting that they had the right to eat meat, even if it had been offered to pagan idols. However, not all Christians in Corinth held this view. Many of the believers were saved out of these pagan practices, and when they ate meat that had been offered to idols, they felt like they were stepping back into their former lifestyle.
In vs. 1-8 Paul conceded that they had a right; but he did it in such a way that his words warned against exercising this right. Now in vs. 9 he issued a clear warning. Look at it in context with vs. 8: “Food will not make us acceptable to God. We are not inferior if we don’t eat, and we are not better is we do eat. But be careful that this right of yours in no way becomes a stumbling block to the weak.”
In this context, Paul dealt with the theological issue of the Christian’s freedom in Christ. But instead of laying the burden on the less-mature Christian to “get over it,” he placed the greater responsibility on the believer who had the right knowledge in the matter.
Paul gave a word to the enlightened: be careful. Christians had the right to eat the meat, meaning they had an allowance, privilege, and even the authority to do so. But this personal liberty and granted authority is never to be exercised without regard for how it affects others. We are free in Christ, but our freedom is never in isolation from other people: the exercise of our freedom should be done so as not to do harm to others. To assert my freedom above all else becomes a stumbling block to the weak. A stumbling block can be anything that entraps a person, slowing down or completely stopping his or her progress.
Paul explained in vs. 10 how a mature Christian could act as a stumbling block. A mature Christian was invited to a meal in an idol’s temple. Because the meal was at a certain idol’s temple, at least in name that meal was under the patronage of that idol. A sacrifice or a toast in the idol’s honor might have inaugurated some of these meals. At the invitation of a friend, a mature Christian might have gone and dined there with out participating in any cultic practices that might have taken place. Dining normally carried the idea of reclining at a table, which would indicate this was more of a leisurely meal.
The mature Christian could feel free to eat with his friend, accepting his friend without participating in his idol practices. The problem was when the one with the week conscience observed this, he was not weak intellectually, but he was not yet persuaded in his own mind that this was a proper action. Nevertheless, he saw the mature Christian engaging in this act so he reasoned to himself, “If he is doing it, it must be OK.” Thus the weaker Christian was encouraged to eat food offered to idols. But in his mind, he was not just eating meat; he was eating meat offered to idols. This weaker brother was led back into sin through a practice associated with his old life.
The result? The weaker Christian “defiled his conscience and he was ruined.” The person was not ruined in the sense of eternal damnation (we are talking about the brother for whom Christ died), but his spiritual growth and usefulness were stunted.
Vs. 10 may echo the claim of the man who goes to idol feasts. He might defend himself by claiming that this would help, not hurt, the weaker brother by bringing him the same liberating knowledge that he had. The man eating in the temple might be saying, “If I set a good example by publicly taking part in an idolatrous feast, knowing that the food is just food and nothing more, our less advanced Christian brother will be encouraged, built up, edified, to do the same thing.
Paul strongly disagreed about the effect of such an encounter. Such knowledge without love could destroy the weak brother. How would it destroy him? Paul used the word wound to describe the seriousness of the harm done. Wound is a strong word that means, “to smite with fist, “to beat,” or “to whip.” A wounded conscience is so damaged that it will not function, as it should. People who go against their conscience are like a person who follows someone who runs a flashing red light at a railroad crossing with no apparent harm. So he becomes less sensitive to the flashing red light of conscience. This could have disastrous results.
Conscience is a key word. It literally means, “seeing together” and refers to one’s insight into oneself. Consciences can be influenced. The consciences of one group saw nothing wrong in eating the meat. They wanted to convince others to think the same way as they did. The first group wanted the weak to become strong enough to eat meat sacrificed to idols without feeling guilty.
In vs. 11 Paul used powerful words to describe the damage to the weaker brothers and sisters of being tempted to go against their consciences. He called it a stumbling block. Doing this was sin not only against the brethren but also against Christ. Paul told the people who ate meat sacrificed to idols before their brothers. “Then the week person, the brother for whom Christ died, is ruined by your knowledge.”
Paul lays down the principle that however safe the strong and enlightened Christian my feel from the infection of heathen idols and even if he believes that an idol is the symbol of something which does not exist at all, he must do nothing which will hurt or bewilder a brother whose conscience is neither so enlightened nor so strong as his.
We need to distinguish things such as eating meat sacrificed to idols from true moral issues such as those listed in 1 Corinthians 6: 9-11. Eating meat was a debatable issue that became a moral issue when it led to pride and insensitivity to others. Sexual immorality is always wrong.
Paul stated his own commitment in vs. 13. Although he knew that eating meat sacrificed to idols did not harm him personally, he also realized that it would do great harm to those who felt it was wrong. Therefore, he testified that he would “eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend.” He stated the same thing in Rom. 14: 21: “it is a noble thing not to eat meat, or drink wine, or do anything that makes your brother stumble.” This is true Christian liberty coupled with brotherly care.
This biblical principle can be applied to total abstinence from alcoholic drinks. One reason to refrain from consumption of alcohol is the danger to me personally. Another reason is the influence of my actions on others. Even if I knew---which I don’t---that drinking would not harm me, my drinking would embolden those who know me to drink. I don’t want to set such a poor example for my family, friends, and others who know me.
The first 10 of the amendments to the Constitution are called “the Bill of Rights.” They state our basic rights or freedoms. We must always remember that all freedom brings with it responsibilities.
PLEASE TURN TO 1 CORINTHIANS CH. 9.
PLEASE READ 1 CORINTIANS 9: 19-23.
In 1 Cor. 9: 1-14 Paul sets forth a number of things to which he as an apostle is privileged but which he does not claim. At first glance this ch. 9 seems disconnected from Ch. 8 but in fact it is not. Paul seemed to have changed subjects, however, when the chapters are studied in light of 8: 1 to 11: 1, we can see how the entire section hangs together.
In 9: 1-14 Paul spent some time establishing the fact that as a minister he had a right to financial support. Then in vs. 15-18 he explained how and why he had chosen not to assert that right. Basically he believed that by not asserting his right, he had advanced rather than hindered the cause of Christ in Corinth. He emphasized that he wasn’t saying this as a plea for pay. Instead, His purpose was to use this as an example of a Christian voluntarily giving up a legitimate right or freedom for a higher purpose.
He is well aware of Christian freedom, but equally aware of Christian responsibility.
In vs. 19 Paul said, “I am not concerned about what men think of me, but I have deliberately and of my own volition made myself to be the servant of men.” What doe he mean by that? Simply this, “I am the servant of Christ, but Christ has sent me to minister His Word, and I seek to do so in such a way as best to reach men in their need, and in this sense I put myself under bondage to men in order that I may make the gospel clear to men.”
“To the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews.”
When he preached to the Jews, you will find instance after instance in the book of Acts where he turned them back to the O.T., to their Jewish ceremonies and laws, and based everything upon the Jews’ hope of the Messiah, showing how all has been fulfilled in Christ.
On the other hand, when speaking to the Gentiles, men who did not know the Law of Moses, he put himself on a level with those to whom he spoke. He talked of God, the Creator of all things, who gives us “rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness” (Acts 14:17). The God who does all this cannot be an image, an idol made with man’s hands. He created the heavens and the earth. And then he undertakes to show how God has sent His Son to save men who have sinned against Him; he puts the gospel in a way that the Gentiles may understand it.
Vs. 21 is very interesting. Here we have two classes of men. There are those who are under the law, they are the Jews or, in our day, any to whom the law of God has come. But here is the other class, “To them that are without law, as without law,” that is, the Gentile nations, the pagan nations. They have never heard the law of God. If Paul himself were under the law, as some Christians think a believer is, he would not say, “I became as under the law.”
Where was Paul? He was not under the law nor was he without law. He was neither subject to some legal ritual nor was he lawless. Where did he stand? Between the two, ‘Being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ.”
Do you see where we are? Neither under law nor without law, but legitimately subject to Christ. And where has Christ expressed His mind for me? In the four Gospels and in the Epistles. Let us be careful that we do not teach otherwise than in accordance with the words of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is He who shows us how a Christian should live.
Paul said, “To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak.” That is, in ministering the Word of God Paul delighted to enter into the circumstances of the people to whom he spoke. He had the needs of men before him and he preached the Word. As a minister of Christ Paul’s great object was to get to the hearts of men and give them the Word as they needed it.
He said, ‘I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.” This should be the object of all gospel testimony. We have been commissioned to “go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.”
PLEASE READ 1 Corinthians 9: 24-27.
There are two lines of truth running parallel through the Word of God; salvation, which is by grace alone, and reward for devoted service. Salvation is not a reward for anything that you or I may do, nor is heaven a reward for a life of faithfulness here on earth.
Salvation is a free gift, eternal life is a free gift, and heaven is the home of all the redeemed, open to every one who puts his or her trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.
We cannot pay for a place in heaven; we cannot earn it by tears, by sacrifices, by our gifts or by anything that we can do. The confession of every saved soul must be: “By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.” (Eph. 2: 8)
But while salvation, eternal life, a place in heaven, are all set before us as God’s free gifts to believing sinners, the Word of God has a great deal to say about the importance of service and about rewards for faithfulness. “Behold, I come quickly,” says our blessed Lord in Rev. 22: 12, “and My reward is with Me, to give every man according as his work shall be.”
Manifestly, the reward is not a place with Him in heaven, but it is the special expression of His satisfaction in the believer because of devotedness, because of faithfulness in this life. The importance of this is brought out in 1 Cor. 9: 24-27.
The apostle Paul has the racecourse in mind. There is a great deal in the Bible about athletics. One can scarcely help coming to the conclusion that Saul of Tarsus was a thoroughly red-blooded young man, interested in games and sports and in everything that would challenge a normal, clean, decent young fellow such as he evidently was even before he was converted.
What he saw in the games made a deep impression on his mind, and the Holy Spirit used all this in after years to give us some very striking and remarkable illustrations, one of which we have here.
“Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize?” What is the prize at the end of the race? For a young Greek it would not be citizenship. It was a law with the Greeks that no young man could contend in the games unless he could prove that he was of pure Greek parentage; that had to be settled before he became a contestant. As the people watched the races they knew that those young men were already Greeks by birth. They were Greek citizens running a race. For what? To obtain honor, to obtain glory, to obtain a prize. And so the apostle here pictures those who are saved as running a race. We are already heavenly citizens. Of every Christian it is written in Phil. 3: 20-21; “Our citizenship is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who shall transform our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body.”
Our citizenship is settled if we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. We are not born Christians, but we are born-again Christians. John 3: 6-7 says, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again.”
It is a great moment in the soul’s victory when he awakes to realize that by nature and practice he is an alien. Col. 1: 21 says we were “alienated and enemies in our mind by wicked works.” This means that we did not belong to the family of God; that ere we could belong to the family of God a change had to take place, a change which we cannot effect, but which God brings about by His sovereign power. In James 1: 18 James says, “Of His own will begat He us by the word of truth.” Notice, it is through the Word that we are begotten of God.
Peter says in 1 Peter 1: 23-25, “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away, but the Word of the Lord endureth forever. And this is the word (not the whole Bible as such) which by the gospel is preached unto you.” Believing the gospel we are born into the family of God.
And now, as in the family of God, we are running a race, not to get to heaven for, as far as that is concerned Rom. 9: 16 says, “It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy”, but we are running a race for reward for Christian service, Christian responsibility, and if we run our race well, there is a reward at the end. If we fail in the race, we fail in the reward.
We do not fail of heaven, of salvation, because our work is not all it ought to be or all we would like it to be. I Cor. 3: 15 says, “If any mans work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire”, provided he is a Christian.
So the apostle says in I Cor. 9: 24 “Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.” But beware, 2 Tim. 2: 5 says, “If a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.” The 1911 Version of the Bible translates it, “If a man contend in the games yet is he not crowned if he hath not observed the rules.”
God has given us instruction in the Word concerning how we are to serve, how we are to run, what we are to do, and we will be rewarded if we go in accordance with the Book.
Now notice the prize the Greek athlete disciplined himself to win; a laurel wreath that would fade away in a few hours, and yet how much young men were willing to endure to win that crown, to have it placed upon their brow by the judge among the plaudits of the people. “They do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible crown, and shall we be less consistent, less self-denying, shall we show less self-control than they?
Paul in I Thess. 2: 19 asked, “What is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming?” What is the crown of rejoicing? That is the soul winner’s crown. What a crown, what a reward that will be!
Think what it will mean for Billy Graham when surrounded by all his thousands of converts, he comes before the Lord and says, “Behold I and the children whom Thou has given me.”
Receiving the imperishable crown does not come easily. Paul did not sugarcoat the issue. It takes discipline to run the race of the Christian life. We not only are to avoid sin, but we should lay aside even those “good” things that keep us from the better things. Because Paul knew the great worth of his goal, he did not run like on who runs aimlessly. His objective was clear: Christ was his goal.
The gift of righteousness is ours by faith. I John 3:3 says, “Every man that hath this hope set on Him purifieth himself even as He is pure.” In James and in the Book of Revelation we have another term used. In Rev., 2:10 we read, “Be thou unto death and I will give thee a crown of life.” And James 1: 12 says, “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him”
Eternal life is ours by faith. Rom. 6: 23 says, “The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” John 3: 36 says, “ He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.”But the crown of life is earned by patient suffering, by enduring trial and temptation, taking it all as from the hand of God Himself, even unto death if need be rather than to deny the name of Jesus.
I Peter 5: 1-4 says, “And when the Chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.” I like that, a crown of glory! Every believer will be glorified. Rom. 8: 30 says, “Whom He justified, them He also glorified” but the crown of glory is the reward for feeding the sheep and the lambs.
Paul said if I become careless and self-indulgent I bring dishonor upon the name of the Lord and become a castaway. Castaway means “disapproved. To be set aside when they are giving out the crowns! God grant that you and I may not have to endure this great disappointment.
The last part of vs. 27 is seen by many as Paul’s fear of being lost in the end. Leon Morris made this helpful comment: “Castaway is too strong and interpretation. The word means “which has not stood the test,” and in this context refers to disqualification.”
Paul’s fear was not that he might lose his salvation, but that he might lose his crown through failing to satisfy his Lord. A Christian can throw away a life of good influence for the Lord in one weak moment. It happens often enough that we all should follow Paul’s example in practicing discipline and self-control.
NEXT WEEK WE LEARN THAT WE CAN WIN THE BATTLE IN OUR DAILY STRUGGLES BY USING THE PRINCIPLES OF SPIRITUAL WARFARE AS SET FORTH IN EPHESIANS 6: 10-20. <altav@swbell.net>