Category: Epistles – Is his letter to our church?

Epistle of Paul to the Romans

Epistles ἐπιστολή or Letters

I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read to all the holy brethren.

Paul’s First Letter to the Thessalonians

Don’t miss our recent FEATURED SERIES

JUNE 2024 – 2025 —

1 CORINTHIANS

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Letters – Is he writing to me?
The short answer: YES.

In their epistles or 1st century church letters the Apostles and other men sent out by Jesus build up the saints [small – ‘s’] or members of local first century churches.

A Disciple or other witness of JESUS would write it. Messengers then delivered these church letters to many isolated worshipers.

Followers of Jesus Christ receive these letters as a major encouragement to their personal faith. Then leaders read them to worshipers of their church.

Although the Epistles 0r Letters to the Church were originally written to churches of the first century,

Romans through Jude will seem like letters to your 21st century church.

What do Peter, Paul, John and others tell us we must do?
Is he talking about an issue in your 21st c. church as well?
How does the writer’s advice, warning, or encouragement to the 1st c. believers apply to you as well
Is the writer of this letter talking about something you need to address in your 21st century ‘christian’ life?

Contemporary Application of the Letters (Epistles)

Most New Testament writers take on specific issues confronting faithful followers of Jesus Christ. These same issues continue to confront believers until the Lord’s coming again in these last days.

Certainly Christ our Lord will come again to those God has chosen for eternal life.

Believers currently suffer more than most of you who know Christ in your local church can imagine.

In other lands Christians continue to suffer by the hand of the ungodly.
Go into all the world

A 21st century Common Era church can see and hear nearly any atrocity of man or artificial imagination of sinful man’s mind, yet ‘christians‘ dare not speak of any absolute truth of the Lord God or talk of JESUS CHRIST.

Will YOU comment on Scripture and share the Gospel?

I invite you to read the inspired word of Scripture written in these LETTERS TO THE CHURCH.

YES, He IS writing to YOU.

Beloved brother or sister in Christ Jesus,

Will you read this ‘CHURCH LETTER’ and talk of JESUS through your comment, sharing and email to me about this ‘Letter to you?”

Roger@talkofJesus.com

The Idolatry of Baptism – the Idolatry of Communion
What is Idolatry?

In this section of his first letter to the Corinthians the Apostle Paul has been addressing idolatry.

I speak to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say.

1 Corinthians 10:15 NIV
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For the context of what Paul is about to say about baptism, communion and communion and other feasts take a look beginning at 1 Corinthians 8.
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Idols – Stumbling in Christian Liberty – 1 Corinthians 8
- INSTRUCTION CONCERNING FREEDOM IN CHRIST
Am I not free? Religion 1 Corinthians 9
- ILLUSTRATION CONCERNING OUR FREEDOM IN CHRIST
And now in 1 Corinthians 10 the Apostles warns Christians to avoid the IDOLATRY that CORRUPTS or compromises OUR FREEDOM in Christ Jesus.

Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry.
1 Corinthians 10:14 NIV

So just what is IDOLATRY?

Let’s start with: WHAT IS AN IDOL? (Seems simple enough.)

“You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. – Exodus 20:4 and Deuteronomy 5:8 LSB

But what about this explanation of idolatry given by Samuel to Israel’s first King Saul?

Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft,
and stubbornness as bad as worshiping idols.
So because you have rejected the command of the LORD,
he has rejected you as king.”

1 Samuel 15:23 NLT

Although Saul plead for mercy, the LORD had already judged Saul.

Idolatry of your past

WE remember the golden calf, right?

And they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” – Exodus 32:4b ESV

The Apostle Paul is about to issue a warning of yet another type of idolatry from the exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt.

1 Corinthians 10:

For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. They were all baptized [baptizō] into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.

1 Corinthians 10:1-2 NIV

Baptism

What is baptism?

John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

Gospel of Mark 1:4 LSB
- of John’s baptism, that purification rite by which men on confessing their sins were bound to spiritual reformation, obtained the pardon of their past sins and became qualified for the benefits of the Messiah’s kingdom soon to be set up.
- of Christian baptism; a rite of immersion in water as commanded by Christ, by which one after confessing his sins and professing his faith in Christ, having been born again by the Holy Spirit unto a new life, identifies publicly with the fellowship of Christ and the church.
  - Source: Lexicon :: Strong’s G908 – baptisma
So what is Paul saying here about the Hebrews’ crossing through the sea?

It was a baptism of sorts of those Hebrews who continued to follow Moses.

And how was that also a type of communion?
- They all ate the same spiritual food.
- and drank the same spiritual drink
for they drank from the , and that rock was Christ.

The Apostle’s warning

Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.

Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did.

Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written:

“The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.”

Exodus 32:6 [quoted by Paul in 1 Corinthians 10:7 NIV]

We must not indulge in sexual immorality [porneuō] as some of them did,
and twenty-three thousand [23,000] fell in a single day.
1 Corinthians 10:8 NIV
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Remember that Paul has just compared 'the spiritual rock that accompanied them' with Christ.
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Let us not test Christ as some of them did
- and were killed by snakes.
And do not grumble as some of them did
- —and were killed by the destroying angel.
These things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our instruction, on whom the ends of the ages have come. So, whoever thinks he stands must be careful not to fall.

No temptation has come upon you except what is common to humanity. But God is faithful; he will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to bear it.

1 Corinthians 10:13 CSB

‘flee from idolatry’
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Paul presents religious implications and consequences of our own tendency towards idolatry rooted in self rather than our sacrifice of obedience to Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. 
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So then, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. I am speaking as to sensible people. Judge for yourselves what I am saying.

1 Corinthians 10:14-15 CSB

flee from idolatry [εἰδωλολατρία] eidōlolatria –

Pronunciation – i-do-lol-at-ri’-ah
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Sounds similar to adultery, doesn't it? 

In practice idolatry is adultery against the Lord God and our Saviour Christ Jesus! 
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Idolatry – N.T. definition
- worship of false gods
a 21st c. C.E. question:

Are Hindu gods false? Buddha? Moroni? Smith? Mohammed? Mary? Dead Saints of the Church? A Pope, Earth or Heaven? A philosophy or practice of the past?
- idolatry – formal sacrificial feats held in honour of false gods
- of avarice, as a worship of Mammon
No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

Gospel of Matthew 6:24 KJV a caution of our Lord Jesus Christ
- in the plural, the vices springing from idolatry and peculiar to it
  - Source: Blue Letter Bible
NEXT:

a CONTEMPORY look at Communion
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Some 21st c. CE Christian saints will balk at this, but communion has become a stumbling block between the Orthodox, Roman and Protestant divisions (denominations) of Christ. 
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Talk of JESUS . com

Comment on Scripture – Share the Gospel
January 24, 2025
Am I not free? Religion 1 Corinthians 9
Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord?

1 Corinthians 9:1 New Heart English Bible

Freedom and Religion

Eric Kress outlines two main points of application from the previous chapter of 1 Corinthians 8:
- a. The caution concerning your exercise of freedom (v.9-12)
- b. The care you must take when contemplating the use of your freedom (v.13)
Idols – Stumbling in Christian Liberty – 1 Corinthians 8

Paul’s 4 questions intertwined in context and application

Paul’s four-fold point (in the Apostle’s letter without chapter and verse) begins:

οὐκ εἰμὶ ἐλεύθερος

‘Not am I free?’ literally begins the Greek text.

OR the King James begins:

οὐκ εἰμὶ ἐλεύθερος

‘Am I not an apostle?’

1 Corinthians 9:1 Bibles

We won’t want to miss that the Apostle’s pivotal questions follow his concern regarding the idolatry of Corinth and communion between the saints of the Corinthian church with the revelers of the city.
- Am I not free?
- Am I not an apostle?
- Have I not seen Jesus our Lord?
- Are you not the result of my work in the Lord?
  - 1 Corinthians 9:1 NIV
Freedom of religion
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A hypothetical case contemplating the use of our freedom:
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Suppose for a moment that most every Sunday you go to some local church with an identifiable ‘christian‘ NAME like:
- such and such FREE church or
- Our evangelical denomination brand church
- City name Christian church
- Korinthian cathedral and parish?
Won’t most of the people who know you in town also know that:
- you claim to be a saint,
  - part of you so-named christian church
- worshiping some god JESUS
- preached by some Apostle Paul
- AND in this church occasionally inviting YOU
  - (of another sect celebrating other gods)
  - to go gather in community with these worshipers of One JESUS Christ their Lord?
Therefore in Paul’s setting of Corinth around A.D. 55:

Shouldn’t these Corinthian christians come join our religious feasts and live the life of revelry and worship we do with our gods?

Why should they?

As we have learned previously in Paul’s letter, his question is not so much:
- where the Corinthian saints go join in the community as much as
- how they exercise their freedom publically as witnesses of Jesus Christ our Lord.
To the Jews and by the Law food sacrificed to idols would seem to be the unlawful offence against the Lord God. (The Messiah Jesus [Yeshua] after all was hailed as the King of the Jews.)

Community feasts and festivals were, after all, organized by Jews (a small minority in the city), Roman citizens, Hellenists or perhaps adherents of some other foreign religion.
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In a Common Era context, (perhaps Orthodox or Latin Catholic) religious communions and idolic festivals resemble that of the larger communities of like A.D. first century Roman Corinth.
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Authority of an Apostle

4 Have we no right to eat and to drink?

5 Have we no right to take along a wife who is a believer, even as the rest of the apostles, and the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas?

8 Do I say these things according to human authority?

Or does not the Law also say the same thing?
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Paul then quotes the Law of Moses. 

And without getting into technical reasons why, the more authoritative KJV begins with Paul's apostleship. It then proceeds to freedom. And ALL of Paul's four questions lead us to his authority in personal witness of the risen Christ and the Apostle's ultimate authority over those gathered as the saints of the Corinthian church.
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Paul’s Deuteronomic illustration of the muzzled ox begs the question:

.. Is God merely concerned about oxen?

Or is He speaking altogether for our sake?

Yes, for our sake it was written, because the plowman ought to plow in hope, and the thresher to thresh in hope of sharing the crops.

If we sowed spiritual things in you, is it too much if we reap material things from you?

1 Corinthians 9:11 LSB [context vs. 9-14]

Paul’s Humble Witness of Christ

If others share this authority over you, do we not more?

Nevertheless, we did not use this authority, but we endure all things so that we will cause no hindrance to the gospel of Christ.

1 Corinthians 9:12

NO MAN IS FREE OF AUTHORITY.

Paul points out that he and Barnabas, as apostles of the risen Jesus Christ, do NOT impose their true authority over the church for their own gain.

Apostles of the Lord all take on the humility of Jesus for Christ’s sake.

And Paul points out that community leaders who do have authority over feasts, festivals and cities must not see these ‘CHRISTIANS‘ as a hindrance to Christ — a Korinthian christian who becomes a stumbling block to true faith.

14 So also the Lord directed those who proclaim the gospel to get their living from the gospel… For woe is me if I do not proclaim the gospel.

The Religion of Paul’s saints
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Many of Paul's questions are rhetorical, designed to make us think through the logic connecting theology and religion,

our knowledge of God with our witness of faith. 
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Everyone practices religion. A Korinthian will get up early, stretch their mind and muscles, breathe in the life-giving air of mother self — and then go worship her at some celebration of community occasion of feasts in the name of some god of their passions.

The Apostle knew the religion of Roman sailors and Corinthian guides to the temples of debauchery! So he cautions the saints of Corinth to abstain from such religion in all cases for the sake of Christ.

Religion defined and maligned

Men will write for religion, fight for It, die for it; anything but live for it.

W. Cotton Commentary on James 1:26-27

But NOT the Apostle Paul.
- I make myself a slave to everyone – 1 Cor 9:19b
- To the Jews I became like a Jew v.20
- To the weak I became weak -v.22
Nor James, half-brother of Jesus and leader of the Jerusalem Church (perhaps referencing the traditional religious practices of some Jews).

Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless.

James 1:26 NIV

Even James writes warnings against hypocrisy; not against the Jews but the Hellenists of every town.

And like James, the Apostle Paul cautions the saints of Corinth against getting caught up in an inclusiveness of the local religious practices of other religions.

Adherents of Christian religion are NOT free to practice any anti-Christ religion in order to win someone to Biblical freedom of religion.

Why is religion most maligned in the name of freedom by preachers from other churches freely claiming Christ?

Roger@talkofJesus.com

Definition of Religion – θρησκεία
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I urge you, brothers and sisters, saints of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, to drill down into thoughtful application of the definition of religion below. - RH 
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Strong’s G2356 – thrēskeia – feminine noun, From a derivative of θρησκός (G2357), adjective, from θροέω (G2360), verb
θρησκεία – Religion, Worshipping –
- religious worship
  
  esp. external, that which consists of ceremonies
  
  religious discipline, religion
Definition of Religious θρησκός

Strong’s G2357 – thrēskos adjective, (Probably from the base of θροέω (G2360): to cry aloud, make a noise by outcry

religious (apparently from τρέω to tremble; hence, properly, trembling, fearful

fearing or worshipping God

to tremble, trembling, fearful
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Religious fear and worship such as this appears throughout the Bible.  (Today however we will not examine several religious encounters with the LORD from Old Testament.) 
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An Apostle claiming Corinthian saints for Christ
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Returning to Paul's first letter to the Corinthians: 
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Paul the Servant to All

19 Though I am free of obligation to anyone, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.
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Imagine that! -- an Apostle and witness of the risen Christ Jesus -- a man with complete religious authority over the church, especially those saints who belong to Christ in places like Corinth to whom the Apostle writes his epistle. 
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23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings.

Paul has already stated clearly:

For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to proclaim the gospel, not in wisdom of word, so that the cross of Christ will not be made empty.

1 Corinthians 1:17 LSB

In the opening of his epistle Paul continues:

For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.
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Consider that many who CLAIM "FREEDOM OF religion" truly argue for FREEDOM FROM RELIGION, which, of course, is "foolishness," since ALL men and women are religious about certain religious routines of   life and mortal limbs of dust. 
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.. you would not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.

Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me.

1 Corinthians 4:15b-16 LSB

Paul exerts his Apostolic authority as a loving father and exhorts his children of Christ’s Church religiously by his humble example.

Paul’s RELIGION is RELIGIOUS DISCIPLINE in the FREEDOM of the Gospel of Christ.

The Apostle claims the loyal saints of the Corinthian church for himself as their personal, loving father of the faith in Jesus Christ.

If others share this authority over you, do we not more?

Nevertheless, we did not use this authority, but we endure all things so that we will cause no hindrance to the gospel of Christ.

1 Corinthians 9:12 LSB

Are YOU a Korinthian falling down in your faith?

What is your city of Corinth, with its festivals so licentious that that they call you Korinthian for your sins — what is the life here in Corinth like?

And where does a saint of Christ Jesus fit into the milieu of these gods and your festivals?

HOW WILL YOU ever reach the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ when the Lord calls to Himself all of His saints?

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize?

Run in such a way as to take the prize.

Everyone who competes in the games trains with strict discipline.

They do it for a crown that is perishable, but we do it for a crown that is imperishable.
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The Apostle, father of the Corinthian saints once again makes an example of his own religion and faith:
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Therefore I do not run aimlessly;

I do not fight like I am beating the air.

27 No, I discipline my body

and make it my slave,

so that after I have preached to others,
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(And here is Paul's warning of our own witness to our community, neighbors, friends and family..) 
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I myself will not be disqualified.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 Berean Standard Bible

And NEXT, the Apostle to the Gentiles will once again warn the Jews who have come to Christ AND again the local Greeks of the Corinthian Church.

Comment on Scripture – Share the Gospel
January 17, 2025
Idols – Stumbling in Christian Liberty – 1 Corinthians 8
The Problem of Idols

.. we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God but one.

1 Corinthians 8:4b NKJV

Cultural Clashes of Early Christians

False religions: idols as gods in the image of man.

In his first letter to the saints of the church at Corinth the Apostle instructs these new believers in cultural freedom and expected behavior of Christ followers as witness to the community in which we live.

Paul has already addressed a need for church unity between the Jews and Hellenists, as well as their obligation of humility modeling Christ our Lord.

He has just addressed the rampant immorality of church members and guidelines concerning marriage and singleness.

Now Paul will take on the general celebratory festive culture of the city where many feasts and pilgrimages provide indulgence of the flesh at temples of idols for which Corinth is famous.
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Some Bible translations begin this 3-chapter section with helpful headings pointing to a question the Apostle received from a saint in Corinth to which the Apostle responds in his letter to Corinth:
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- Concerning Food Offered to Idols
- Food Sacrificed to Idols
- Be Sensitive to Conscience
- Take Care with Your Liberty
The problem is not that of food or festivals, but the question of celebrating idolatry as saints identified with Christ.

1 Corinthians 8:

About food offered to idols: We know that “we all have knowledge.”

Knowledge inflates with pride, but love builds up.

If anyone thinks he knows anything, he does not yet know it as he ought to know it. But if anyone loves God, he is known by Him.

One God, NO idols

Paul immediately states true doctrine as their measure of response:

For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”—

yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist,

and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

1 Corinthians 8:5-6 ESV

God and idolatry
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From the Commandments of YHWH which the Hebrew believers are bound to obey:
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5:7 לֹא יִהְיֶה־לְךָ אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים עַל־פָּנָיַ׃

“‘You shall have no other gods before me.

Deuteronomy 5:7

You shall not bow down to them or serve them;

for I the LORD your God am a jealous God..

Deuteronomy 5:9a ESV

The Apostle Paul, Hebrew of Hebrews as he sometimes describes himself, must also address social behaviors of the Hellenist (Greek and Roman) believers about how their Gospel grace intersects with the Law and Commandments of Almighty God.
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'But we are free to go to their festivals and feasts, their homes and their parties.. aren't we?' 

AND what IF I can get them to come to our Sunday gathering to grow our church (here in Corinth)?
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Pushback! Whether AD 55 or AD 2025, modeling religious freedom in a community all-inclusive of every idol and practically every sin challenges cultural perceptions concerning our witness of Jesus Christ.

So what advice does the Apostle offer?

Paul provides examples of most of the people we meet both in the worship community of the Church and community gatherings where we live.
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In other words he instructs us to look at those around us, for all are not alike.
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- 7 But this knowledge is not in all.
  - And some, by habit of the idol until now, eat as of a thing sacrificed to an idol; and their conscience being weak, it is defiled.
    
    8 But food will not commend us to God;
    
    neither if we should eat do we come short,
    
    nor if we should not eat, do we have an advantage.
But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumblingblock to them that are weak.

1 Corinthians 8:9 KJV
- 9 But be careful, lest somehow this right of yours becomes an occasion of stumbling to those being weak.
WHY?
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Prepositions: 
he & brothers also applies to she and sisters (in Christ)
 *in the AD 1st century men only addressed other men, husbands addressed only their own wife, who could address other women. 
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- 10 For if anyone sees you, having knowledge,
  - eating in an idol’s temple,
  - will not *his conscience,
  - being weak,
  - be built up so as to eat the things sacrificed to idols?
- 11 For the one being weak is destroyed through your knowledge—the brother for whom Christ died.
  - 12And thus sinning against the brothers
  - and wounding their being weak conscience,
  - you sin against Christ.
1 Corinthians 8:7-12 Berean Literal Bible
- What is my witness?
- Are any of us wounding a weak conscience of someone seeking Christ?
Take Heed – βλέπω – Strong’s G991 – blepō

The leader of your local Sunday gathering receives and reads a letter from the very founder of your church.

Do your ears perk up? Is the Apostle’s coming exhortation and instruction something important? Could Paul’s examples point to some you know well?

metaph. to see with the mind’s eye
- to have (the power of) understanding
- to discern mentally, observe, perceive, discover, understand
- to turn the thoughts or direct the mind to a thing, to consider, contemplate, to look at, to weigh carefully, examine
‘You with eyes to see and ears to hear,’ Jesus would say.

NOT everyone worshiping with you will see or hear the Spirit speak to what is right and what is true.

Paul has already introduced this watchful humility of self to the Corinthians in working out their salvation in daily life.

For consider G991 your calling, brothers, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble.

According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful G991 how he builds on it.

The Apostle is laying a foundation here in Corinth not simply for a second letter which Paul will send, but more importantly for other reliable church leaders, specifically Timothy who Paul will mention later.

the Stumbling Blocks of culture

But see to it that this authority of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.

1 Corinthians 8:9 LSB

Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.

1 Corinthians 10:12 LSB

Is YOUR authority in FREEDOM in Christ a STUMBLING BLOCK to other weaker believers?

For if someone sees you, who have knowledge, dining in an idol’s temple, will not his conscience, if he is weak, be built up to eat things sacrificed to idols?

1 Corinthians 8:10 LSB

And because of your knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died?

But when you thus sin against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.

1 Corinthians 8:12 NKJV

Strong exhortation against a free attitude toward idolatry!

And Paul’s clear conscience and brief conclusion to this one instance of food sacrificed to idols:

“Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.

Comment on Scripture – Share the Gospel
January 2, 2025

Category: Epistles – Is his letter to our church?

Epistles ἐπιστολή or Letters

Don’t miss our recent FEATURED SERIES

Contemporary Application of the Letters (Epistles)

YES, He IS writing to YOU.

The Idolatry of Baptism – the Idolatry of Communion

What is Idolatry?

So just what is IDOLATRY?

Idolatry of your past

1 Corinthians 10:

Baptism

And how was that also a type of communion?

The Apostle’s warning

‘flee from idolatry’

Idolatry – N.T. definition

NEXT:

Talk of JESUS . com

Am I not free? Religion 1 Corinthians 9

Freedom and Religion

Paul’s 4 questions intertwined in context and application

Freedom of religion

Why should they?

Authority of an Apostle

Paul’s Humble Witness of Christ

The Religion of Paul’s saints

Religion defined and maligned

Definition of Religion – θρησκεία

An Apostle claiming Corinthian saints for Christ

Are YOU a Korinthian falling down in your faith?

Idols – Stumbling in Christian Liberty – 1 Corinthians 8

The Problem of Idols

Cultural Clashes of Early Christians

1 Corinthians 8:

One God, NO idols

God and idolatry

Take Heed – βλέπω – Strong’s G991 – blepō

the Stumbling Blocks of culture