The stone steps of a small Greek temple at dawn, a thin line of smoke rising from an altar, and cuts of meat laid on a stone table at the foot of the steps.

The Book of

1 Corinthians 8

Meat from the temple, a question in a letter, and a church that thinks it knows. Paul answers with love.

13 verses≈ 3 minBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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Where we are

1–4DivisionsChrist crucified, not rival leaders
5–6A holy peopleDiscipline, lawsuits and the body
7–10Your questionsMarriage, food and freedomChapter 8
11–14Worship togetherThe Supper, gifts and love
15–16Raised with ChristResurrection hope; the collection

Food Sacrificed to Idols

Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that we all have knowledge.

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1 Corinthians 8:1

The one who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. But the one who loves God is known by God.

Reflect

Puffed up or built up?

Paul does not tell the Corinthians to know less. He tells them what knowledge does without love: “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.” Think of a time you were right about something and it made you proud, quick to correct, or slow to listen. Who was built up, and who was left smaller? Write down one person you could build up this week, and how.

So 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.

For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many so-called gods and lords),

yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we exist. And there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we exist.

1 Corinthians 8:6

What we know

Whiteboard

Corinth was full of temples, and its people called many beings “gods” and “lords.” Paul agrees with what the Corinthians knew: an idol is “nothing at all in the world.” Then he sets out what believers confess instead, in words that echo Israel’s daily creed: “one God, the Father,” and “one Lord, Jesus Christ.” The one God is known as Father and Son, and all things came through the Son.

Question

Quick question

Paul takes Israel’s great confession that God is one and shows where Jesus stands in it.

Through whom, says Paul, did “all things” come?

Paul

A narrow stony path at dusk, one large stone lying across it.

So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. By sinning against your brothers in this way and wounding their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.

0:12

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

if what I eat causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again

1 Corinthians 8:13

Pray

For whom Christ died

Thank Jesus that He died for you, and for every believer you will meet this week, the strong and the weak alike. Ask Him to make your freedom serve love, so that nothing you do becomes “a stumbling block to the weak.” Pray for one brother or sister whose faith seems fragile right now, and ask God to show you how to build them up.

You’ve experienced

1 Corinthians 8

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A verse to carry with you

Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.

1 Corinthians 8:1

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