1 Corinthians 8-11

 

1 Corinthians 8

1 Corinthians 8:1-2 Does knowing Jesus risk getting puffed up - getting an inflated ego? It depends. Do we focus on revelation of spiritual truths we begin to understand, or on love? Is being a Christian a matter of believing correct theology or of experiencing and receiving His essential nature and character?  Synthesize Jesus’ words that His sheep know His voice (John  10:27) with Paul’s words that those who confess Jesus as Lord and believe that He rose from the dead are saved. (Romans 10:9-10) Integrate f naith, obedience,, and experience.

1 Corinthians 8:3-6 Is an idol a real god? Paul seems to say that there are many gods. Apart from graven images, this could be interpreted as meaning there are the fallen angels, the watchers, who set themselves up as supernatural beings to be worshipped as gods. Or he could mean that we have things in our lives that we elevate to the position of deity by worshipping them with our time, devotion, behavior, etc. In either case, Jesus is the one true Lord, our creator, savior, and sustainer. All these other things are counterfeits.

1 Corinthians 8:7-8 It seems a universal human custom to link faith to religious rituals involving meals. The pagans in Corinth did it, and participating would violate the second commandment. (Exodus 20:4-5) But also, in the law of Moses, God gave very specific instructions for kosher food. (Leviticus 11; Deuteronomy 14:1-21) These were instructions to honor God in our eating. And in celebrating the Passover, the pascal lamb symbolized the one true God, the offering of Jesus for our sins. (Exodus 12:1-28; Matthew 26:26-28; Luke 22:19-20) And there are other feasts in the Jewish calendar involving assemblies and food as well. So linking food to religion was certainly not unique to the Greek idolators. But when Paul says that food does not bring us near to God, he clearly is not referring to the Lord’s supper. Rather, he contrasts eating with pagans to partaking in the Lord’s supper, which draws us closer to the Lord.  (10:14-22, 11:17-34)

1 Corinthians 8:9-13 Paul is concerned that if a person who is a believer but struggling with faith sees another believer do something that they think is idolatry, their faith will be damaged. So, for ambiguous cases like this, he says he won’t do something that is not a sin if it might cause another believer to stumble. Whether he became a vegetarian for the sake of others or for his own spiritual health, he was not going to participate even indirectly in pagan rituals that mimicked Old Testament sacrifices, but to false gods.

1 Corinthians 9

1 Corinthians 9:1-2 Paul appeals to their experience with him as proof of his apostolic credentials. He preached and taught and worked to establish the body of believers in Corinth.

1 Corinthians 9:3-10 Paul cites the normal parts of life that God gifts us - food, family, and normal sustenance that results from work. His defense against his accusers is that no one else serves another at his own expense. Soldiers, farmers, and shepherds all reap compensation for their labor. Even farm animals are fed, as Moses commanded. (Deuteronomy 25:4) Of course, this follows from the initial charge to Adam to rule over the animals (Genesis 1:26), but God’s standards of fairness also apply to humans. Workers are to be paid as Moses recorded.  (Leviticus 19:13; Deuteronomy 24:15) 

1 Corinthians 9:11-18 Paul next points out that as an evangelist and preacher, he had a right to receive a salary, some pay for his ministry. Even the Mosaic law commanded  that priests and Levites are to be supported from the peoples’ offerings to the Lord. (Numbers 18) However, Paul did not make use of this kind of provision, working to support himself as a tentmaker, and then preaching, teaching, and evangelizing in time not devoted to a ‘regular’ job. He did this because he was compelled by the call of Christ to preach the gospel. 

1 Corinthians 9:19-23 Paul invokes a strange form of slavery. In order to proclaim the gospel, he made himself like people in different groups in order to share the gospel and appeal to them as a fellow … Jew, Pharisee, gentile, weakling. He did this as a slave to Christ. He viewed it as being a slave other people, to win them if he could.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 Paul uses the metaphor of athletic contests. Athletes compete to win prizes. To do so they must work out. Exercise, diet, and self-discipline are needed for an athlete to be competitive. This is true today, in contests that involve skill as well as strength and endurance. In the case of ministry, there is an additional dimension of self-discipline, which Paul describes as beating his body. He doesn’t say it explicitly, but ministers must be morally above reproach. He simply says this self-discipline is needed to avoid being disqualified. This standard continues to this day, although sadly, it is far too frequently not met, with devastating impacts to both the minister and the ministry he or she worked so hard to build.

We have all this as Paul’s perspective on His life, but how do we perceive what God thinks about this? Probably the best summary is given in Paul’s second letter, when he relates that the Lord told him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9) Paul did not explicitly say what his thorn in the flesh was, but the basic principle applies. Whether we are married or single unto the Lord, whether we are paid or work to support ourselves, His grace is sufficient. Our weakness is an opportunity for the strength of Jesus to be revealed in and through us.

1 Corinthians 10

1 Corinthians 10:1-5 Paul now turns to warnings from Israel’s history. During the Exodus, they were led by the cloud and through the sea. (Exodus 13:21, 14:21-24) They were supernaturally fed with manna and given water to drink in the desert out of a rock. (Exodus 16:13-18, 17:1-6) Despite all these miracles, they refused to go to the promised land, and died in the wilderness. (Numbers 14:29) 

1 Corinthians 10:6-13 Paul continues by describing Israel’s rebellion in the wilderness. They sat down to eat and stood up to have a sex party. (Exodus 32:6) Many were killed. (Exodus 32:28) Later in they whined, grumbled, and complained and were killed for their ingratitude. (Numbers 16:41, 21:6-7) These are recorded for us as examples and warnings.  The warning: do not set your heart on forbidden things; the consequences are fatal. The trials of life are a test; God is faithful in limiting the testing to what we are able to endure. Our ultimate goal should go beyond enduring the test, to realizing and achieving whatever He is doing, whether it is for us to grow in faith and obedience, and/or for Him and His kingdom to be glorified. This is not to say that God sends the test, but He allows it, and turns the trials of life to His purposes in us and in the world. (Job 42:1-6)

1 Corinthians 10:14-22 Turning to the Lord’s Supper, we (all believers) become united in His body when we partake partake of His body and blood. (Matthew 26:26) The priests and Levites are commanded to partake of the meat offered as sacrifices to God. (Numbers 18) This cannot be mixed with or contaminated by the idolatry of partaking of meat sacrificed to idols. Even though idols are nothing (lifeless stone), the evil spirits that they symbolize are a risk to believers who invite their participation. Do not, under any circumstances, open this door to demons!

1 Corinthians 10:23-24 Our rights end at the point where the lives or faith of others is damaged. Pointing back to his discussion in chapter 6 about lawsuits, our rights before God are limited by the implications of cause and effect, and the directions He has given us to avoid the ill effects of actions that do not promote the good of others. We should rather be impelled by the Holy Spirit to actively seek others’ good. That is the opposite of asserting our “rights”.

1 Corinthians 10:25-26 Quoting David, Paul recognizes that all food was originally created by God and belongs to Him. (Psalm 24:1) Therefore, meat sold in the meat market can be eaten without compunction.

1 Corinthians 10:27-33 Eating a meal with pagans is not a problem, unless they specifically challenge your faith by telling you meat was offered to an idol. In that case, it is not your conscience that is on trial, but theirs. The world is watching Christians, but with limited understanding of eternal truths. Can pagans be won to the Lord by seeing us act legalistically? Unlikely, but we do want them to see that we live our lives in fellowship with the Lord, and to honor Him because of our love for Him and His love for us. Everything we do should be done to bring glory to God. The key element of this is presenting the gospel, in which Paul is trying to please the Lord, not men. Even when we are not presenting the gospel, we must behave in such a way to honor God, in our eating, our handling of money, and our sexual behavior.

1 Corinthians 11

1 Corinthians 11:1-16 What do we make of hair length and hats? It is partly cultural (as in prostitutes shaving their heads) but it is the attitude of the heart that the hair symbolizes that matters. Samson had very long hair because of his nazarite vow, but it was unto the Lord. (Judges 16:17) Absalom had long hair that made him attractive, a symbol of the ego (self-centered glory) that led him to rebel against his father, but ultimately led to his death. (2 Samuel 14:25-26, 18:9) Paul does not talk here about soldiers’ helmets, but clearly they are an element in the full armor that a is needed for effective warfare; in our case the helmet of salvation is needed to protect our mind from the enemy. (Isaiah 59:17; Ephesians 6:17)

In this chapter hair and hats are symbols of authority and submission, which is reflected in marriage as well as in church. Hence, there is a spiritual reality behind the physical symbol. Jesus is to be Lord over our life - if He is not Lord of all, He is not Lord at all. Nature may teach us about hair length, but life ultimately teaches us about the unseen spiritual realm and how our actions and choices reveal the light of Jesus’ lordship (or not). When Paul said that some sleep (11:30), this was a somber reminder that decisions have consequences in the moral realm. When he said that the wife is the glory of her husband, it is both a call to women on how to see their role, and also a reminder that her life is a picture of how the church reflects the glory of Christ. 

1 Corinthians 11:17-22 Regardless of social status or income, regardless of religious denomination, the Lord’s supper should build the unity of the body of believers in the body of Christ. It is the infiltration of the enemy that doctrines about the communion elements divide those who identify with Him. We honor the person of Christ, not the cracker or the ritual. It is His presence that makes it a sacred meal. 

1 Corinthians 11:23-26 Paul repeats verbatim the words Jesus spoke at the Last Supper, also recorded in the gospels. (Matthew 26:26-28; Luke 22:17-20) Perhaps the Corinthians did not have these documents. Paul’s point is that the ritual of repeating Jesus’ words is more than a ritual. It is a visual and physical proclamation of the victory that Christ won over sin and death on the cross, and a spiritual reality as well. It is a reminder that the blood never loses its power. 

1 Corinthians 11:27-32 Rejecting unity with other believers brings self-judgment. If we do not discern correctly, we will be disciplined by the Lord, in order to avoid the even greater tragedy of being judged and condemned with unbelievers. Discernment can take many forms, but participation in this symbolic ritual has a spiritual reality we must not neglect. Weakness, sickness, even death can result from treating something that is holy as common.

1 Corinthians 11:33-34 Paul closes with a practical admonition for the local collection of believers. Enjoy eating together, but if your eating in public will cause division, eat at home first so that you can exercise self control when with fellow believers.