1Co 8:2 And if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know.
It is easy for me to get puffed up when I think I know something and have a good grasp on it. Those are the times when visiting with friends, I find myself swelling inside and just dying to get my two cents worth in the conversation because I know so much about the topic! In reality, I don't know anything like I should...and my pride in thinking I do is evidence that I don't know what I should know.
1Co 8:5 For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords),
6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live.
Some teach that there are many gods. Some even teach that man can become a god. But the Bible calls them "so-called gods" meaning they are no gods at all, really. I find it interesting that God the Father and Jesus Christ are shown as equals in this verse. God the Father of whom are all things and Jesus Christ through whom are all things. It really means the same thing. So here we see evidence of the deity of Jesus Christ.
1Co 8:8 But food does not commend us to God; for neither if we eat are we the better, nor if we do not eat are we the worse.
Some religious groups make food a religious issue. You are not very spiritual if you eat this or that, but you are more spiritual if you eat these. They follow the dietary laws of the Old Testament (or at least say they do) and believe it brings them more merit with God if they do. Others just restrict certain types of drinks and it's believed you are more worthy of God's favor if you do this.
But the Bible says it doesn't matter. Avoiding certain foods or eating certain foods won't gain us any merit or favor with God at all.
1Co 8:13 Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.
Here's the kicker though. We as Christians are not to selfishly live for ourselves. We are to take into account that some Christian's consciences are still bound by the restrictions they had before they were saved by God. It takes time to shake these things off and in the mean time, they may stumble in their Christian faith if we selfishly "shock" them with our liberty to do things that they still feel are wrong. We are to be sensitive to them and not do what will hurt them spiritually when we are with them.
A good example of this is when I got married, Rick saw nothing wrong with going to the theaters to see a movie. However, I believed going to the theater was wrong. So, out of respect for my belief, my husband did not push the issue to go see a movie in the theater. As time has passed, I've thought through the reasons why I thought it was wrong to see a movie in the theater and realize there is really no basis for them. Occasionally, I will go to the theater with my family.
1 comment:
This is a nice post.
God bless you!!!
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