THE SIGNIFICANT DISREGARD FOR FELLOW CHURCH MEMBERS

THE SIGNIFICANT DISREGARD FOR FELLOW CHURCH MEMBERS

 

Chs. 8-10

 

 

 

lb. These chapters deal with the misuse and abuse of Christian liberty. It is wonderful how the Christian faith liberated the believer from all the do's and don'ts of relig­ion, whether pagan or Jewish. United to Christ we are made free from all these things because we are saved by grace. But this freedom can be misused so that it affects our spirituality, our service, and our salvation. In that order Paul deals with this matter.

2b. In ch. 8 he seeks to make it clear that spirit­uality is set forth by our concern for the weak brother. There are two kinds of Christians in the church - the strong and the weak. The strong are those who have knowledge and understanding of the word of God. The weak are those who do not have clear understanding of these things. They are weak morally.

In this respect they are meticulous, but they lack a clear understanding of how to conduct themselves. Eating meat that was offered to idols was the occasion for the misuse of Christian liberty.

The strong ate the meat as meat, for an idol was nothing and did not change the meat. But the weak brother could not divest himself of the idea that an idol was something, and eating the meat took on religious meaning. For the strong to eat the meat, and thus embolden the weak brother to eat as to an idol, and thus to push him back into paganism was sin. It could lead to repudiation of Christ and loss of salvation. Therefore a strong Christian ought to determine even though he had the right to eat the meat, he would not do so for the sake of the weak Christian (1 Cor. 8:13).

3b. Chapter 9 deals with Christian liberty and the service of the believer. Though one may have authority to represent Christ and preach His word, he can lose that place of privilege and authority by misusing Christian liberty. He can eat meat offered to idols without hurt to himself, for an idol is nothing? But in the eyes of a weak brother he has retreated from Christianity to paganism, and from this point on he will have no place of authority in the proclamation of Christ with this brother. He will be laid on the shelf and ushered out of service. To Paul this filled him with horror.

His place of service was more important to him than anything else. Therefore he kept under his body lest he should be a castaway, laid on the shelf. (1 Cor. 9:27).

4b. Chapter 10 zeros in on the very salvation of the strong believer. Playing with that which is associated with idols and demons can be the entering wedge for spiritual deterioration. And spiritual deterioration can lead to re­pudiation of Christ. The Israelites were a redeemed people. But in the wilderness they consorted with the pagans in their false and licentious worship and they fell. One motive should characterize the life of the true believer, and that is to do everything to the glory of God. Idolatry was demon worship, and therefore believers ought to flee idolatry, not flirt with it. This meant that eating meat offered to idols ought to be shunned, even for the sake of self. But in so doing one would not give offense to Jew, Gentile, nor the Church of God (1 Cor. 10:20-22, 31-32, ch. 14).

Within this context there was an amazing delinquency on the part of the Corinthian church. It centered in the meaning and practice of the Communion service.