Free Bible Commentary
“1 Corinthians 10:23-33”
Categories: 1 Corinthians“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’ sake; FOR THE EARTH IS THE LORD’S, AND ALL IT CONTAINS. If one of the unbelievers invites you and you want to go, eat anything that is set before you without asking questions for conscience’ 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’ sake; I mean not your own conscience, but the other man’s; for why is my freedom judged by another’s conscience? 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 Jews or to 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.”
---End of Scripture verses---
“Let no one seek his own good, but that of his neighbor” (verse 24). Paul spells things out for the brethren in today’s verses about eating meat from animals that had been sacrificed to idols. The long and the short of it is that eating the meat is perfectly alright, as long as it doesn’t violate your own conscience (verse 25), and it doesn’t give the wrong impression to someone else (verse 28). All that a Christian does in his life of devotion to God and love for neighbor should be to glorify his Creator (verse 31) and to edify his fellowman.
“Eat anything that is sold in the meat market without asking questions for conscience’ sake” (verse 25). They were not under obligation to investigate whether the meat had been used in sacrifices when they bought it in the agora. They didn’t need to trouble their consciences because food was just food, and a heathen ritual didn’t change the nature of the meat. Every good thing in the world was made by God for the people He created in His own image to receive freely and with “thankfulness” (verses 26, 30). If they were to buy something at the “store” and take it home to eat, that would not mean that they were worshiping the idol.
“If one of the unbelievers invites you and you want to go, eat anything that is set before you without asking questions for conscience’ sake” (verse 27). It was okay to buy meat and take it home and eat it, and it was okay to go over to a friend’s house if invited and eat meat as well. Notice here that it is perfectly acceptable to the Lord for Christians to “socialize” with “unbelievers”, even idolaters. The command to “not associate with” applies to a “so-called” brother in Christ who has been “marked” as unfaithful and living a life of sinfulness (1 Corinthians 5:9-12). We do this, however, with the understanding that “bad company corrupts good morals” (1 Corinthians 15:33). We don’t want to spend the preponderance of our “leisure” time with immoral people for fear that their bad habits will “rub off on us”.
“But if anyone says to you, ‘This is meat sacrificed to idols,’ do not eat it” (verse 28); because it obviously has special significance to him. If an “unbeliever” volunteered that information then he associated it with the idol and it was more than just a meal to him. In a case as that it would not have been good to appear to condone such a practice. If a Christian brought up the idol then he likely had a “weak” conscience and didn’t understand that the idol was nothing. In that case it was not good for a “strong” Christian to risk emboldening a “weak” Christian to violate his own conscience.
Boiling this down to one sentence, meat is not just meat when someone gives it greater significance than it deserves or when eating it in the presence of other people who do. A parallel today might be eating “trick-or-treat” candy around a person who thinks that Halloween is sinful or satanic. Candy is just candy, unless someone thinks it is associated with something demonic. In cases where that would violate our own conscience or “offend” someone else’s, it would be better to avoid eating the sweet stuff all together. But hey, candy is unhealthy to eat anyway! ;^)
Food and our privilege to exercise our “rights” are both insignificant in the long run. The only things that truly matter, in view of eternity, is that we glorify God and help people with their salvation (verse 33)!
We will “cover” 1 Corinthians 11:1-16 for tomorrow, Lord willing!
Have a blessed day!
- Louie Taylor
