Learning to live and grow in the gospel is learning to align our lives with Jesus, who gave up His life for us. We mature in the Lord as we continually look to the cross where we see Jesus dying because of His deep love for us, and we allow His sacrifice to draw us close to Him so we can live out that same love toward others.
As we move into chapter 8, we will see the continuation of the theme of laying down our rights for the sake of others and the gospel. Let's read:
"Now regarding your question about food that has been offered to idols. Yes, we know that "we all have knowledge" about this issue. But while knowledge makes us feel important, it is love that strengthens the church. 2 Anyone who claims to know all the answers doesn't really know very much. 3 But the person who loves God is the one whom God recognizes."
1 Corinthians 8:1-3 NLT
Question 1. What two things is Paul contrasting in 1 Corinthians 8:1 NLT?
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Corinth was a very religious city with many temples to Greek gods such as Apollo, Aphrodite, and more. Animal sacrifices were common in these temples, and the temple priests would sell the meat from the sacrifices in the marketplace. Desiring to understand the application of their faith in Jesus to their daily life, the Corinthians had written Paul asking if it was appropriate for Christians to eat food sacrificed to idols. There are hints that they had communicated to Paul their "knowledge" about this issue, which had convinced them that they had every right to eat any food, no matter where it originated. Paul affirms their understanding, but first, he corrects their approach to the topic.
Paul taught that believers evidence love and point to the cross when they give up their rights out of love for other people. We evidence spiritual immaturity when we demand or even seek to retain our rights and freedoms at the expense of others.
The Corinthians were very knowledgeable people, but their knowledge did not always serve them well. They frequently used their knowledge to exercise their freedom to do certain things (in this case, eat food sacrificed to idols). Similarly, today, people consume their chosen media and convince themselves that they know more about a particular issue. And maybe they do, but knowledge itself only puffs us up, making us think how important we are because we know something other people don't know.
Paul contrasts knowledge, which puffs us up, with love, which builds us up. In essence, he is asking the Corinthian church: "do you want to keep your special knowledge, which makes you feel like someone with a big brain, or do you want to build up the church like someone with a big heart would do?"
Paul concludes this short section by saying, "Anyone who claims to know all the answers doesn't really know very much. 3 But the person who loves God is the one whom God recognizes" (1 Corinthians 8:2-3).
People who claim to know something but don't display loving sacrifice for others don't really know as they should. They have wrongly elevated their knowledge of issues above love for other humans for whom Christ died.
But the one who loves God, and in context, will surrender their rights to bless other people, is the one whom God knows and recognizes. It is as if God looks at that person and says, "I know that person! They look just like my Son!"
Question 2. Do you see how the gospel teaches that knowledge of any particular issue should give way to love for others? Please share your thoughts:
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