1 Corinthians 8:1-6

1 Corinthians 8:1-6

And regarding food sacrificed to idols, we have known that all of us have knowledge.  Knowledge makes us haughty.  But love builds up.  If anyone thinks to have known anything, he did not yet know just as it is necessary to know.  But if anyone loves God, this one has been known by Him.  Therefore, regarding the eating of food sacrificed to idols, we have known that no idol is in the world and that there is no God except one.  For if after all there even are some while being called gods – whether in heaven or whether being upon the earth, just as there are many gods and many lords – but for us there is one God the Father.  Out of whom are all things and we are in Him.  And there is one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and we are through Him. 

Thoughts for Today

First Thought

All of us have knowledge.  But look at the warning that Paul gives to us.  The increase of knowledge makes us arrogant and haughty.  Don’t get me wrong.  It is good to increase our understanding about spiritual matters.  It is good to study scripture.  But our knowledge is no reason to have any arrogance.  After all, is it our knowledge that saves us?  Is it our knowledge that redeems our sin?  It is our intellect that drew God to relationship with us?  No.  What saves us is God’s love.  What redeems us is God’s love.  If we think we know, we are wrong.  But if we remember that what matters is love, we are in a good position to hear God and be obedient to Him.

What do you seek more: love or knowledge?  Are either bad?  Which is better?

Second Thought:

Out of this understanding comes a very interesting understanding.  It is one thing to know doctrine; it is another thing to know God.  We can know God in that we can be in relationship with Him.  But at the same time we cannot fully know God on this side of death and resurrection.  This is a very important point.  There are many people who seek to know everything about God.  They quest to study incessantly and increase their knowledge beyond what is truly necessary.  But the true spiritual person seeks to live a life that embraces valuable knowledge yet while living humbly in the understanding that we cannot understand God.  Again, knowledge makes us arrogant, love makes us humble.  When we seek to know all doctrine, we become arrogant in our own understanding.  But when we realize our place in love, we are humbled that God would desire relationship with us in spite of our inability to truly know His depth.

Are you a person who seeks to know everything?  How can this actually be a hindrance?  What does this kind of thinking have to do with the realization that information is useless unless with imitate the life of Christ and innovate such a lifestyle into our own calling from God?

Third Thought:

In order to set up the coming thoughts in the rest of the chapter, we need to also remember the confession here.  There are many so-called gods in this world and in the heavens.  There are plenty of other deities that people around the world still worship.  There are plenty of things in creation that people worship.  There are even plenty of things of human origin that people worship.  There are many gods in this world.  But for Christians, there is only one God.  We come into relationship with that one God only through Jesus Christ.  While there are indeed many things people worship, God the Father needs to be the only one on our list.

Is the Father the focus of your worship?  Is the Father the focus of your life?  How might this understanding affect how you think about idols and how you interact with things other people worship?

Passage for Tomorrow: 1 Corinthians 8:7-13