This past weekend at Eastbrook, we continued our preaching series entitled “God’s Grace for an Imperfect Church: 1 Corinthians.” In this message from 1 Corinthians 8, I sought to bring us through Paul’s discussion of food sacrificed to idols to what I see as the center of this part of the letter: forgoing our rights in Christian freedom in order to live for the good of others and God’s glory.
You can find the message outline and video below. You can access the entire series here. Join us for weekend worship in-person or remotely via Eastbrook at Home.
“Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that ‘We all possess knowledge.’
But knowledge puffs up while love builds up.” (1 Corinthians 8:1)
The Situation in Corinth
Misunderstanding the gospel of the crucified Jesus
Super-spiritualizing their faith and disembodying discipleship
Misinterpreting Christian freedom as permission to do anything
Confused about their ‘knowledge’ (gnosis) and believe they had “arrived” spiritually
Inequity developed within the community (the ‘weak’ and the ‘strong’)
All this relates to food sacrificed to idols in chapter 8
The Priority of Love
‘Knowledge’ puffs up but love builds up (8:1)
Thinking you know something when you do not know what you ought to know (8:2)
Loving God and being known by God (8:3)
The Importance of Building Others Up in Love
An aside about idols:
- Idols are no-things (8:4-5)
- There is only one God, the source of all, and Jesus, the originator and sustainer (8:6)
Knowing that we’re not all in the same place (8:7-8)
Exercising Christian freedom calls for discernment (8:9)
We can lead others astray through our supposed ‘knowledge’ and ‘freedom’ (8:10-11)
We can damage those Christ died for and sin against Christ at the same time (8:12)
Therefore, my exercise of Christian freedom is curbed by love and building others up (8:13)
Three Guiding Statements
Loving what you know is empty without knowing how to love
The great center of the Christian life is God’s love in us overflowing in our love for others
Christ makes us free from much so we can be free to make much of Christ
Dig Deeper
This week dig deeper in one or more of the following ways:
- Memorize the final phrase of 1 Corinthians 8:1, “knowledge puffs up while love builds up.”
- While eating food sacrificed to idols may seem far-removed from our lives, take some time to consider what other issues that you face might be an opportunity to meaningfully let go of freedom in order love someone else in your life. Pray about it.
- Explore these additional resources:
- Timothy Keller, The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness
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Matthew Erickson 
Such a beautiful message, it built to a wind gust of the Spirit and brought tears.