This sermon explores how believers should use their Christian liberty, emphasizing that all actions—eating, drinking, or anything else—must be done for the glory of God. It calls for choices that are spiritually profitable and edifying to others, especially in avoiding any appearance of idolatry or self-serving behavior.
Transcript
If you will open your Bible to First Corinthians chapter 10. We’re going to begin to pick up on verse 23 in the study that we’ve been going through for the past several weeks. God’s Word.
Back in chapter 8, Paul took up the topic that was given to them in the correspondence of the Corinthians concerning things sacrificed to idols. That’s been the subject for these three chapters. The topic hasn’t changed. It began in 8:1 concerning food sacrificed to idols. And then it has that secondary question of how do we handle the liberty that we’ve been given as Christians?
And then in chapter 9, Paul continues that same argument by giving his personal example of sacrificing his rights as an apostle, out of love for the Corinthians, as a minister to them. Then he begins chapter 10 on the same topic, with a warning about how Israel in the past fell into idolatry, as an example to the Corinthians, who wanted them to not take pride in their position and feel like they were invulnerable when people who have also received such grace fell away. And so, he gives them that warning.
So, I’m going to begin reading in verse 23, and this is a conclusion of the section. As we read this, and as we begin to talk about this today, there will be a little bit of repetition from things that you’ve heard before, but I think that’s necessary for this to be clear. So, beginning in verse 23, this is the holy Word of God, God’s inerrant, infallible Word.
All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify. Let no one seek his own good, but that of his neighbor. Eat anything that is sold in the meat market without asking questions for conscience’s sake. For the earth is the Lord’s and all that it contains. If one of the unbelievers invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat anything that is set before you without asking questions for conscience’s sake. But if anyone says to you, ‘This is meat sacrificed to idols,’ do not eat it for the sake of the one who informed you and for conscience’s sake. Now, I mean not your own conscience, but the other’s. For why is my freedom judged by another’s conscience? For if I partake with thankfulness, why am I slandered concerning that for which I give thanks? Whether then you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense, either to the Jews or the Greeks or to the church of God, just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of the many, so that they may be saved.
Let’s look to the Lord and ask for His grace as we consider this passage. Father, as we approach this passage, we pray, Father, for the guidance of Your Holy Spirit and that You would keep us in truth. I pray, Father, for each one who hears Your Word this morning that You would open each of our hearts to receive it and to be corrected from the things that we learn from this passage. And so, this I ask. We ask, Father, for Your blessing on this day in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Living with Liberty
Sometimes the Bible is like a mystery novel. It’s not exactly evident when we first read it. Now, we teach and believe the perspicuity of scripture. We believe that the scripture is clear and that it’s accessible to everyone. And yet, we compare it to like a love letter. And you would read such a letter with great care. And that’s what we have in our hands when we pick up our Bible, a love letter from God to us. But it was a love letter that was written not first to us, but to another group of people, to us, a people who lived in a different culture, who spoke a different language. So, there are times when in scripture, when though the scripture is perfectly clear, it takes a little work on our part to be able to understand it and interpret it properly.
That idea of interpreting the Bible, the idea of hermeneutics, we use the same approach that pretty much every conservative Christian church uses, which is a historical-grammatical approach. We look at the grammar of the scripture. And we also seek to put it in its historical context. And when we do both of those things, that is greatly helpful to us in being able to comprehend and understand what God’s Word says. Though we say that we believe the historical-grammatical approach, sometimes we don’t do it all. And when we fail to do it all, I think then we can be led astray. This passage, beginning in chapter 8 and fully all the way through chapter 10 and verse 33, is a passage of scripture that falls into a historical context. And if I took this passage and just read the words that are here and translated it from the Greek and studied it and parsed the grammar, I would come to a different conclusion if that was all I did than if I fitted it into the historical context which was true at the time that Paul wrote these words. And so, that’s one of the things that I’ve emphasized as we’ve approached this passage. That historical context is really important. Scripture interprets scripture. And things come in a historical context that informs the meaning.
Historical Context: Idolatry’s Danger
The historical part of the historical context that has to do with this particular passage, happened is given to us in the book of Acts in chapter 15, the Jerusalem Council. To quickly summarize the Jerusalem Council, a problem arose as the Apostle Paul was preaching the scripture to Gentile converts. And there were some who came among them who taught them that they needed to be circumcised, that they needed to keep the holy days of Israel, that they needed to keep the dietary laws of Israel, if they were going to be actually saved and people of God. And so, there was a great dispute. Paul took this up. And as a result, they came to Jerusalem, to the apostles, and they held a council to decide it. And as they considered all of these things, as they considered this, the answer was came with great freedom for the people of God. It was an answer that has to do with liberty, with freedom. The new believers in Jesus Christ were not free to not hold to all of the ceremonial laws of Israel. They were free to not have to be bound to the dietary laws or to keep all the holy days. There was only a couple of things that they mentioned that they were, and they said,