I Corinthians 8:7  Howbeit there is not in every man that knowledge: for some with conscience of the idol unto this hour eat it as a thing offered unto an idol; and their conscience being weak is defiled.
8  But meat commendeth us not to God: for neither, if we eat, are we the better; neither, if we eat not, are we the worse.
9  But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumblingblock to them that are weak.
10  For if any man see thee which hast knowledge sit at meat in the idol’s temple, shall not the conscience of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols;
11  And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died?
12  But when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ.
13  Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend.

In verse 7 the apostle Paul made a very important point. Not everyone accepts the fact that there is only One True God. This was a problem in his day and it is a problem today as well. The majority of people who claim to believe in God, demonstrate the reality that their god is not the God of the Bible. This is very important to acknowledge. An imaginary god is no God at all.
In our text, the issue was idolatry. An idol is something that a person puts up, either in his mind or in a statue, that he sets as his authority. Paul was directed by God to warn us that there were people then who had accepted the lie that idols were good and important. No one can deny that there are idols. We noted yesterday that the Catholics are famous for their idolatry. They have them both in their minds and they also have many statues. They teach their people to worship those idols. They have them on the dash of their cars and in their houses, etc. Some hospitals have them there as well. They are anywhere where Catholics have occasion to place them. We also noted that it is not just the Catholics that have idols. There are many people who get a large copy of a picture of their “favourite” movie actor or their “favourite” musician. They wear clothing that reminds them and others of their “favourite” group, etc.
In Canada our government has essentially declared itself to be god. It has promoted the fear mongering of the Wuhan virus and also climate change and they expect all to fall in line with their lies. They have convinced the majority of people to accept their lies in one form or another. Those who do not bow to their wickedness are attacked and marginalized.
Paul stated that those who worship idols have a weak and defiled conscience. Their conscience is weak because they have chosen to believe in lies, rather than in the true God. We have noted that idolatry was quite prevalent in Corinth. Thus, there were people who were getting saved, but they still had the teaching of idolatry in their background. When a person is saved, they are made a new creature in Christ. The saved person now needs to learn how to live as this “new creature”. It is not an automatic thing that the saved person will do everything right. His conscience is awakened and he will have a much keener sense of what is sin and what is not sin. He must be taught that the love of this world is sin.
In the context of this very real sin of idolatry, the apostle Paul was directed by God to address the matter of eating meat. After the fall of man, God commanded man that he could eat meat. We know that eating meat is not sin. God commanded that man was not to eat blood. Meat needs to be properly butchered and the blood drained off. Meat also needs to be properly cooked to destroy any problems that might be left from the remnants of the blood that was in the meat. The point that God made in the Old Testament was that the life is in the blood. That was important to note when it came to eating meat. It is also important to note when it comes to salvation. It is the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ that must be applied to the heart of the repentant sinner to cleanse him/her of that old sin nature. The saved person has been given eternal life through true faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul was not addressing this matter because of physical health concerns. He was directed by God to address this matter because of the spiritual implications.
Spiritually speaking, we can forgo eating meat if we know it has been offered to idols. In our world today there are certain places that advertise the sale of ‘halal’ foods. Halal foods are foods that have been “blessed” by the Muslims. It is food that supposedly meets the approval of ‘allah’. Allah is a false god. Christians should stay away from food that is advertised as ‘halal approved’. KFC recently advertised that they will make their restaurants halal approved.
True saints do not want to suggest that there is any virtue in Islam. This is not a minor issue. The Muslim ideology is to take over the world. It is spreading into our country. Our governments tolerate and even promote this ideology. There are protests in our streets in support of Islam and against Israel. Our governments do nothing to stop those protests.
Those who are truly born again are called upon to testify of the Lord Jesus Christ. Part of that, as we see in our text, is to reject idolatry. That rejection includes not worshipping idols, but it also involves not suggesting it is acceptable to participate in idolatry in subtil ways.
In verse 9 we are warned of using our Christian liberty as a stumblingblock to those who are weak. The danger here is to assume I am strong, when I may be one of the weak ones. How do we determine whether we are strong or weak? The strong Christian is the one who humbly submits to God’s Word and believes what God says, regardless of its popularity. The apostle Paul was a strong saint. He had been saved out of a life of sin. He was a proud promoter of “Pharisaism”. He persecuted of true saints. He was saved and came to understand that he had been wrong. He became a target of the Pharisees, rather than a promoter of their heresies. He did not try to look for the “good” in his former religion. He rejected it and taught the truth.
In verses 10-11 we see that just having the knowledge that idolatry is nothing, and thus flaunting this “liberty” to eat meat offered to idols, is wrong. This is not Christian liberty. It is arrogance and a lack of love for the “weaker” brother. The weak person is the one who has been saved but still has some of the residue of his past infecting his thinking. The weak saint needs to get passed that, but he will not get passed that when other saints who are supposed to be strong, are indulging in sinful activities.
Paul warned that taking “liberty” can cause the weak brother to perish. Jesus Christ died for all. Every born again Christian begins his Christian walk as a weak brother. That weak brother may stumble due to your carelessness. That carelessness is not just carelessness, it is also defiance against God. As Paul has already stated, we can forgo eating meat and still live. We do not need to go into a restaurant that is run by a Casino or a bar. They may have “good food” and their prices might be “reasonable”; however, the eternal cost of going there is much higher than you will want to receive.
In verse 12 God directed Paul to remind us that this is sin. Those who are saved and choose to live in defiance against God, are sinning against the weak brother, but ultimately they are sinning against Christ. That is not a good thing. No saved person wants to sin against the One Who suffered and died on the cross of Calvary for their sins.
In verse 13 Paul was directed to the only right conclusion on this matter. If meat would offend his weak brother, he would eat no flesh as long as the world stands. He would eat other things rather than be seen by a weaker brother, to be eating things offered to an idol. True saints are called upon to exalt God, not the flesh. True saints have the love of God within them and thus they desire to please their God and Saviour.
We need to keep in mind that God directed Paul to write these things to a church that was carnal. He has already exposed several issues that identified them as carnal. Their striving over leadership was wrong. Their condoning immorality was wrong. Their corrupt views on marriage were wrong. We will see more things that were wrong in this church. Sadly, today there are many religions that choose the pattern of carnality as the way of superiority rather than something that needs to be rejected and exposed as sin.
Those who are truly born again, need to examine everything we believe and make sure it is truly in accordance with God’s sure Word. It is not complicated to know the truth, for those who are truly born again. It is the world that is on the broad way. The true child of God is on the narrow way. The narrow way is the way of blessing. We need to keep that in mind in all things, if we are saved. Nothing of value is missing on the narrow way. Paul was directed to remind us that even forgoing eating meat was not going to harm him. It is important that we understand that the context is eating of meat offered to idols. The principle here can and should be applied to all of life, for the saint. God created meat for our benefit. He also created man for His glory. Man does not glorify Him when he sins. Jesus Christ came to save sinners. The Pharisees assumed they were righteous and needed nothing. Jesus showed them that their false religion was empty. They rejected true holiness and put on robes and made fancy speeches to convince the gullible that they were super spiritual. Jesus showed them they were “whited sepulchres”. They stunk!
The apostle Paul was addressing saints who were trying to behave like stinking sepulchres, yet they were saved. They were trying to adopt a way of life that is foreign to true saints. Their way could not stand. God directed the apostle Paul to write this letter to show them and us that true saints cannot live as carnal saints. That must be stopped. The true child of God aligns himself with truth, not with compromise.
If you are a true child of God, be sure to follow what God says, not what the “smooth talkers” want you to believe. They do not have your well-being in mind. They are in pursuit of power and wealth. Follow the truth and be truly at liberty.
Pastor Bartel