Imitating Christ (1 Cor. 11:1)

Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.
(1 Corinthians 11:1, NASB)

Jesus Christ suffered and died for our sins. He was buried and then rose from the grave. He appeared to hundreds of people before His ascension into heaven.

And a new faith was begun.

It wasn’t too long before a new term was used: Christian (see Acts 11:26). Out of curiosity, I decided to Google “definition of Christian.” Webster’s simply says, “one who professes belief in the teachings of Jesus Christ.” But that seems too simple. Many people profess to believe in Christ, but belief isn’t enough. After all, “the demons also believe, and shudder” (James 2:19).

Another online dictionary states that a Christian is one who “profess[es] belief in Jesus as Christ or following the religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus” (thefreedictionary.com).

Yet even that seems lacking.

The best definition—for me at least—is Christ-follower or one who strives to live like Christ. Or as Paul writes, one who imitates Christ.

Today, some Christians don’t like the term because the world equates “Christian” with “hypocrite.” And yes, many people have done some really hurtful things in the name of Christianity.

But what if those of us who bear the name of our Savior really did all we could do to live like Christ, to imitate Him?

To love others as ourselves. To be willing to lay down our lives for others. To be gentle and kind and humble.

Then perhaps the term would be revered—even among those who choose not to follow Christ.

A Morning of Joy!

The women rose early that Sunday morning—those who could sleep at all. Yesterday, they’d gathered together to mourn the terrible loss. They’d embraced, holding each other in desperate grief.

It was beyond comprehension. Jesus was dead.

Mary Magdalene, who owed her very life to the Master, assembled the various herbs and oils they’d need to anoint the body. The body of Jesus …

Salome, who’d followed Jesus for months, folded clean linens that would replace Friday evening’s hastily applied wrappings.

Mary, the mother of James, assured Jesus’ own mother they’d take great care of her Son. “Just rest today, Mary. We will come back to you as soon as we can. Just rest.”

They met outside Salome’s home, and quietly made their way to the tomb. Speaking softly. Weeping quietly. Mary Magdalene wondered out loud, “Who will move the stone? Certainly the guards will not help us.”

Around the last bend to the burial site. Bracing themselves to view the body of their Master.

What was this? The stone already rolled away? Who had already been to the grave so early this Sunday morning?

Mary Magdalene stooped to look, and then wailed, “He is gone! Someone has stolen His body.”

Salome and Mary joined in her sobbing.

Then a voice: "Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified He has risen; He is not here; behold, here is the place where they laid Him. But go, tell His disciples and Peter, He is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him, just as He told you.” (Mark 16:6-6)

The women fled, trembling, and rushed back to where Christ’s intimates had gathered. They told Peter and the others what they had been told. Peter and John ran to the tomb, followed closely by Mary Magdalene. As the two men entered the tomb, Mary stood outside weeping. Even with the words she’d heard, she still didn’t understand.

Then a voice just behind her asked, “Woman, why are you weeping?”

She assumed it was the gardener and cried, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him … if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away." (John 20:15)

Then a miracle. The voice, one she finally recognized, said just one word, “Mary!”

She turned. It was the Master! Alive! Just as He’d said.

A night of sorrow and a day of silence, immediately became a morning of joy! The Master lived!

And the world would never be the same.

A Day of Silence

Saturday morning. Those who had followed Jesus woke to silence.

John remembered standing at the foot of the cross, his arm around Mary. Jesus had asked him to look after her as a son would. In silence, he wept as Jesus took His last breath. In silence, he watched as they lowered His broken body. In silence, he followed Joseph of Arimathea, who took Jesus’ body to a tomb. In silence, he watched them roll the stone. In silence, he led the grieving mother back to his own home. And this morning, in silence, he grieved.

Peter remembered Jesus’ prophecy. He would deny his master. How prideful he’d been as he boasted, “Never, Lord! Never will I deny you.” In silence, he now wept bitter tears. In silence, he prayed to Yahweh, begging for forgiveness. In silence, he wished for another chance to unashamedly claim allegiance to Jesus. And this morning, in silence, he grieved.

Thomas remembered Jesus telling them He was going to prepare a place for them, but he didn’t understand what He meant. He thought Jesus would be setting up a kingdom on earth. Now He was dead. In silence, he wondered what would become of him. In silence, he listened for the gait of soldiers coming to arrest him as well. In silence, he questioned all he’d learned. And this morning, in silence, he grieved.

The others—Philip, James, Nathanael, Andrew, Matthew, Bartholomew, Judas [son of James], Simon—each remembered the words of Jesus. In silence, they recalled His miracles. In silence, they feared for their own lives. And this morning, in silence, they grieved.

The hours between Jesus’ death on Friday and Sunday morning are silent for us as well. The Bible doesn’t give even a hint of where His followers went, what they said, what they thought. But we can imagine. We can imagine their thoughts, their fears, their confusion. But the one thing we don’t have to imagine?

In silence, that Saturday, they grieved. Because they didn’t know Sunday morning was coming.

A Night of Sorrow

Today is Good Friday, the day we Christians solemnly recognize the sacrificial death of our Lord and Savior, and I just want to spend a few moments reflecting on what Jesus did for us. I’ve been thinking a lot of the unbelievable suffering and pain our Lord experienced—and not just physically. I’ve been thinking a lot about His last twenty-four hours …

In twenty-four hours …

Jesus washed the feet of His disciples … and then felt the agony of a spike through His own.

He celebrated Passover with twelve men who promised to follow Him no matter what … and then watched as every one of them deserted Him.

He sipped wine with His closest friends … and then vinegar from a sponge.

He reclined with the disciple He loved at His side … and then had a spear through that same side.

He prayed in the garden for deliverance from separation from His Father … and then agonized through that very separation.

Our Lord and Savior felt joy and sorrow, friendship and betrayal, comfort and suffering … all within twenty-four hours.

Just for us.

Each of us is given a certain number of twenty-four hours. Only God knows how many twenty-four hours we have. The question is, what are we going to do with each of our twenty-four hours?

He did so much for us. What are we going to do for Him?

Do All For the Glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31-33)

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.
(1 Corinthians 10:31-33, NASB)

If only we lived this way: Doing everything to the glory of God.

Everything.

What we think. What we say. What we do. All for God’s glory.

Not too long ago, the initials WWJD were wildly popular: What Would Jesus Do? The idea behind it was exactly what verse 31 says. We should live to always bring glory to God.

Loving others. Treating them with gentleness, kindness, and patience. Looking beyond our differences and celebrating the similarities.

Serving God—heart, soul, mind, and strength. Seeking His will. Following His plan.

Praising Him. Worshipping Him.

Glorifying Him.

In everything.

Living For Christ (1 Cor. 10:23-30)

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?
(1 Corinthians 10:23-30, NASB)

God established the law to help His created beings know how to live. As Paul wrote to the church in Rome: “I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COVET’” (7:7, NASB).

But those of us who have accepted the gift of grace and salvation through the sacrificial death and resurrection of our Savior are no longer under the law (see Galatians 3:13; 4:5). Instead of focusing on a list of “do’s” or “do not’s,” we should instead focus on living as Christ did. We should strive to love our God—heart, soul, mind, and strength—and love our neighbors (see Mark 12:30-31).

Think of it: If each of us really focused on living the “fruit” of the Spirit, how different would this world be? If only we were people of “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23a, NKJV). Why? “Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” (5:23b-25).

However, even if we're not under the law, just because we can do something, doesn’t mean we should do something. We’re not all gifted the same way, and each of us is called to serve God in the way He’s called.

Certainly, we need to live righteously, but more importantly, we need to seek God’s will in all things. striving to glorify our Lord.

Right Sacrifices (1 Cor. 10:14-22)

Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak as to wise men; you judge what I say. Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ? Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread. Look at the nation Israel; are not those who eat the sacrifices sharers in the altar? What do I mean then? That a thing sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God; and I do not want you to become sharers in demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? We are not stronger than He, are we?
(1 Corinthians 10:14-22, NASB)

It’s so easy to get caught up with the things of this world … too easy. We’re inundated with images of wealth, beauty, sex. The biggest, fastest car. The grandest house. The designer clothes. The gorgeous celebrities. It’s all so enticing.

And it’s easy to make things and people our idols. We focus on them instead of God. We “sacrifice” to them instead of to the One who created us and then made a way for salvation.

It’s true. We may not literally sacrifice on an altar, but we do sacrifice every day. We sacrifice our time, our money, our God-given skills and talents.

Instead of spending time in prayer, we watch television. Instead of focusing on God’s word, we focus on the latest gossip or bestselling novel. Instead of giving to our church, we take the vacation of a lifetime.

I’m not saying these things are bad in themselves. I watch television. I read novels. I love to travel. But I try very hard to make these things significantly lower on the priority scale than my time with God.

We can’t sacrifice to the world and equally sacrifice to God. One or the other will come out on top.

The question is: Which is more important? Where are we investing the majority of our time, treasures, and talents?

Enduring Temptation and Trial (1 Cor. 10:11-13)

Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall. No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.
(1 Corinthians 10:11-13, NASB)

Sometimes I reread a verse I’ve read many times before, and I’m struck again by how God blesses His children.

Many Christ-followers are familiar with verse 13: No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it. And it gives me both peace and confidence.

Peace because I know God is faithful in all things, even in times of temptation or trial.

I do have to make a clarification here: I used to work with a woman who insisted that temptation meant exactly that and those who paraphrased the verse as “God will not allow you to experience trials beyond what you are able to bear” were wrong. However, when you look at the word “tempted” and cross-reference with at least one other reference using the root word (see 2 Peter 2:9), you find it does also mean trial. The Amplified Bible helps clarify even further:

For no temptation (no trial regarded as enticing to sin), [no matter how it comes or where it leads] has overtaken you and laid hold on you that is not common to man [that is, no temptation or trial has come to you that is beyond human resistance and that is not adjusted and adapted and belonging to human experience, and such as man can bear]. But God is faithful [to His Word and to His compassionate nature], and He [can be trusted] not to let you be tempted and tried and assayed beyond your ability and strength of resistance and power to endure, but with the temptation He will [always] also provide the way out (the means of escape to a landing place), that you may be capable and strong and powerful to bear up under it patiently.

And so, I can be confident that not only will God not give me anything more than I can endure, but He’ll also give me the strength to endure it.

Trials will come. Since the fall in the garden, they’re just a part of life. But we can be confident that our faithful God will see us through.

Praise Him!

Some "Do Nots" (1 Cor. 10:6-10)

Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they also craved. Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written, “THE PEOPLE SAT DOWN TO EAT AND DRINK, AND STOOD UP TO PLAY.” Nor let us act immorally, as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in one day. Nor let us try the Lord, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the serpents. Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer.
(1 Corinthians 10:6-10, NASB)

In these verses, Paul gives us several “Do nots.”

Do not be idolaters. Some of us think of idolatry as worshipping an image of some other god, and yes this is true. But idolatry is more than that. We Christians can be idolaters. If we put anything—things, hobbies, work, relationships—ahead of God, then they become idols in our lives. I quoted Susanna Wesley a while ago when I wrote about sin, but I think her words speak to this idea of idolatry as well:

Whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, takes off your relish for spiritual things, whatever increases the authority of the body over the mind, that thing is sin to you, however innocent it may seem in itself.

We need to make absolutely certain God is number one priority in our lives.

Do not act immorally. When we do anything that goes against God’s moral code, we sin. We are to keep ourselves pure and abstain from sin of any kind: sexual, spiritual, mental, emotional. We should strive to dwell on those things that are good and lovely and edifying (see Philippians 4:8). We should “Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart” (1 Timothy 2:22, NKJV).

Do not try the Lord. While many of us go to the story of Gideon and his testing of God with the fleeces, we need to trust God and His plan. We need to focus on Him and spend time in His word and in prayer. We need to love Him fully—heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Do not grumble. Of all these “do nots,” this may be the hardest for some of us! We tend to be a discontented lot. We have been blessed so much, yet we want more. God promises to supply our needs—not our wants—and, for many of us, He has done so abundantly. God miraculously brought the Israelites out of slavery, and provided food and water, and yet they grumbled. God provided for their needs. yet they complained time and time again (see Exodus 15:24; 16:2; 17:3). Our needs have also been provided for, and yet, we, like the Israelites, we grumble and complain. We must not to do so.

God, and our relationships with Him, must be our first priority. We must live to please Him by not living immorally or testing Him or grumbling.

Because one day, we’ll stand before Him. And I don’t know about you, but I long to hear, "You are a good and faithful servant … Come and share in my happiness!" (Matthew 25:23, CEV).

Learning from History (1 Cor. 10:1-5)

For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea; and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and all ate the same spiritual food; and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased; for they were laid low in the wilderness.
(1 Corinthians 10:1-5, NASB)

What’s that old saying? Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it (something like that). It’s true for us Christians as well.

We are so tremendously blessed. Tremendously blessed. We have been blessed with provision and protection. Our needs are met. We are blessed with friends and family. Most of all, we are blessed by God’s grace, both at the moment of our salvation and then throughout our lives.

God’s chosen people were equally blessed. They were supernaturally released from slavery in Egypt. They were miraculously brought through the Red Sea. They were given food and water in the middle of the desert. They were promised a land flowing with milk and honey.

They were tremendously blessed.

And yet, they doubted. They whined. They complained. They built false idols. They promised to serve God, and yet they turned away time and time again. And because of their sin and lack of faith, an entire generation didn’t enter that promised land.

Have we learned from their mistakes?

Or do we forget how God has blessed us and try to do things our own way? Do we build our own idols? Do we look to the world for gratification?

We can learn from history. We can do things differently than those who came before us.

Or we can be doomed to repeat their mistakes.

Win the Race (1 Cor. 9:24-27)

Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.
(1 Corinthians 9:24-27, NASB)

We are running a race towards an amazing, mind-boggling finish line. And despite what Paul writes, each of us can win the prize. Each of us who follows Christ will one day receive what Peter calls a “crown of glory” (1 Peter 5:4). We don’t know what these crowns will be like, but it appears our crowns are being—for lack of a better word—designed based on how we serve God and others while we’re here on earth (see Matthew 6:1-7; Luke 6:23; Luke 6:35; Hebrews 2:2; 2 John 1:8).

Our reward will be imperishable, eternal.

As I was meditating over these verses, something struck me … We’re not racing against anyone else. We’re not competing against anyone else. We don’t have to be concerned about where anyone else is as he runs his own race.

We can, instead, celebrate how everyone is running. And we can focus on making certain we’re running our own races with discipline and self-control. We can seek God’s will and follow His unique plan.

And we can know that, if we run well, if we serve God—heart, soul, mind, and strength—we’ll win the race … and receive the crown of glory.

Being All Things to All Men (1 Cor. 9:19-23)

For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may win more. To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law though not being myself under the Law, so that I might win those who are under the Law; to those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the law of God but under the law of Christ, so that I might win those who are without law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some. I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it.
(1 Corinthians 9:19-23, NASB)

How often do we really try to “walk in the shoes” of another? Instead of looking for what’s different, how often do we look for similarities?

Too often, we point fingers and judge rather than just love and being Christ.

Paul knew that caring for others and being “all things to all men” was important to attract unbelievers to Christ:

Though he would transgress no laws of Christ, to please any man, yet he would accommodate himself to all men, where he might do it lawfully, to gain some. Doing good was the study and business of his life; and, that he might reach this end, he did not stand on privileges. We must carefully watch against extremes, and against relying on anything but trust in Christ alone. We must not allow errors or faults, so as to hurt others, or disgrace the gospel. (Matthew Henry Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible)

We need to go where unbelievers are and love them. And if you think about it, isn’t that exactly what Jesus Himself did? Didn’t He eat with prostitutes and touch lepers’ wounds?

Just as He did, just as Paul did, we can love others so they can find the truth of the gospel.

Changing Lives for God (1 Cor. 9:15-18)

But I have used none of these things. And I am not writing these things so that it will be done so in my case; for it would be better for me to die than have any man make my boast an empty one. For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion; for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel. For if I do this voluntarily, I have a reward; but if against my will, I have a stewardship entrusted to me. What then is my reward? That, when I preach the gospel, I may offer the gospel without charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.
(1 Corinthians 9:15-18, NASB)

Yesterday, we looked at how we who are not called to full time ministry can support those who are. However, in today’s verses, Paul reminds those who are in full time ministry to not expect a monetary reward. Their reward is knowing that God is using them to reach the unsaved or equip the saints.

They should preach or teach or share the gospel because they just can’t do anything else. It’s a compulsion, or as Webster’s Dictionary says, “an irresistible persistent impulse to perform an act.” Serving God is life and breath to them.

However, full time ministers and missionaries do need to eat and drink, and they need roofs over their heads. So while they should have no expectations of monetary rewards, we are expected to support them financially.

It’s a wonderful symbiosis: They can do what God calls them to do, and we can support their calling.

And the most important result: Lives are changed for God.

Supporting God's Servants (1 Cor. 9:8-14)

I am not speaking these things according to human judgment, am I? Or does not the Law also say these things? For it is written in the Law of Moses, “YOU SHALL NOT MUZZLE THE OX WHILE HE IS THRESHING.” God is not concerned about oxen, is He? 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? If others share the right over you, do we not more? Nevertheless, we did not use this right, but we endure all things so that we will cause no hindrance to the gospel of Christ. Do you not know that those who perform sacred services eat the food of the temple, and those who attend regularly to the altar have their share from the altar? So also the Lord directed those who proclaim the gospel to get their living from the gospel.
(1 Corinthians 9:8-14, NASB)

Some followers of Christ are called to full time ministry: pastors, teachers, evangelists, missionaries. They devote their lives to serving God, to reaching the unsaved, to supporting the “least of these,” and to equip the saints.

Those whom God has called to serve Him full time have needs, those same needs we looked at yesterday.

And they need to have those needs met as well.

We who are not called to full time ministry have a wonderful privilege of supporting those who are. We can contribute to godly ministries. We can tithe to our local churches. We can financially support missionaries.

And when we give a portion of what God’s given us to meet our needs, we help to meet the needs of God’s full time servants as well.

It truly is a privilege because we have a small part in growing God’s kingdom when we support those who have committed their lives to serve Him and others. When we help to provide for their needs, we allow them to focus on their calling.

What a blessing!

Meeting Our Needs (1 Cor. 9:3-7)

My defense to those who examine me is this: Do we not have a right to eat and drink? Do we not have a right to take along a believing wife, even as the rest of the apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? Or do only Barnabas and I not have a right to refrain from working? Who at any time serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat the fruit of it? Or who tends a flock and does not use the milk of the flock?
(1 Corinthians 9:3-7, NASB)

As followers of Christ, we have the “right” to take care of ourselves and our families. We have the “right” to work and to enjoy the fruit of our labor.

We have a few precious “needs” in life. We need water. We need food. We need shelter.

And most of us meet those needs by working. Some people work the land, and they have the right to eat some of what they grow. Some raise animals, and they have the right to enjoy milk or meat. Others work at various jobs to earn a paycheck.

In any case, our ability to work comes from God—our skills, our talents, our energy.

The other need? We really are created for relationships, and for some of us, that means marriage. We’ve already talked a lot about marriage over the last several days, but we have that right, if God has led us there. But even married or not, we need friends. We need people to whom we can to when things are difficult—and with whom we can celebrate during times of joy.

God provides the means for meeting our needs. We merely need to do what He’s called us to do.

True Freedom (1 Cor. 9:1-2)

Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord? If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you; for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.
(1 Corinthians 9:1-2, NASB)

Freedom. It’s a fundamental desire of all humanity. We weren’t created for slavery of any kind. When we feel confined, we strive to shake off whatever binds us.

Yet even if we’re free of any earthly constraints, so many are bound by sin. We are, in fact, slaves of sin. Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin” (John 8:34, NKJV).

Addictions. Sexual sin. Greed. Anger.

Freedom, true freedom, comes from faith in Christ. Paul wrote to the Roman Christians: “… thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness” (6:17-18).

When we’re in Christ, we are free from the repercussions of sin. We’re free to live according to God’s will. We’re free to serve our God who loves more than we can truly comprehend.

And we who are in Christ must not continue to live in habitual sin because He saved us from that sin: “It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1).

Indeed, our being freed from sin should cause us to joyfully and gratefully serve God and others. “For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another” (Galatians 5:13).

Don't Be a Stumbling Block (1 Cor. 8:7-13)

However not all men have this knowledge; but some, being accustomed to the idol until now, eat food as if it were sacrificed to an idol; and their conscience being weak is defiled. But food will not commend us to God; we are neither the worse if we do not eat, nor the better if we do eat. But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if someone sees you, who have knowledge, dining in an idol’s temple, will not his conscience, if he is weak, be strengthened to eat things sacrificed to idols? For through your knowledge he who is weak is ruined, the brother for whose sake Christ died. And so, by sinning against the brethren and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause my brother to stumble.
(1 Corinthians 8:7-13, NASB)

Yesterday, we addressed the issue of man-made gods and idols. Today’s verses, at first, don’t seem to fit. What does food have to do with being a Christ-follower?

I, as I often do, visit one of my favorite commentaries:

Eating one kind of food, and abstaining from another, have nothing in them to recommend a person to God. But the apostle cautions against putting a stumbling-block in the way of the weak; lest they be made bold to eat what was offered to the idol, not as common food, but as a sacrifice, and thereby be guilty of idolatry. He who has the Spirit of Christ in him, will love those whom Christ loved so as to die for them. Injuries done to Christians, are done to Christ; but most of all, the entangling them in guilt: wounding their consciences, is wounding him. We should be very tender of doing anything that may occasion stumbling to others, though it may be innocent in itself. And if we must not endanger other men's souls, how much should we take care not to destroy our own! Let Christians beware of approaching the brink of evil, or the appearance of it, though many do this in public matters, for which perhaps they plead plausibly. Men cannot thus sin against their brethren, without offending Christ, and endangering their own souls
(Matthew Henry Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible).

We must do nothing that might cause a brother or sister in Christ to stumble or fall away from faith.

We must be aware of how we act and the choices we make. We must be careful of what we say. Others are watching us, and if we do anything that might cause another Christian to stumble, we sin against Christ.

And as Paul writes elsewhere, may that never be!

There Is No God But One (1 Cor. 8:4-6)

Therefore concerning the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we know that there is no such thing as an idol in the world, and that there is no God but one. For even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords, yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.
(1 Corinthians 8:4-6, NASB)

“… there is no God but one.”

Some belief systems believe in many gods. This concept dates back to shortly after Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden.

Man seeks something higher than himself. There’s something in us that desires a power above us … something that we can believe in, something we can trust. Sometimes that desire manifests itself in worshiping the created rather than the Creator. Some people worship the sun or trees or oceans.

Or they create their own god—or gods. The Romans had Zeus and Jupiter (among many others). The Greeks had Jupiter and Neptune (… among many others). But their gods—and the gods of many other beliefs—were impersonal, distant.

Our God—the one true God of the Bible—is personal and loving and compassionate. He is full of mercy and grace. As we saw yesterday, He knows us, and He wants to be known by us.

Our Abba invites us to crawl on His lap and seek shelter in His arms. Our Lord Jesus came to earth and took on human flesh in order to provide for us a way of salvation and reconciliation with God. Our Holy Spirit indwells us and helps us to face the daily battle we face.

And Paul says it better than I ever could:

… yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.

Amen and amen.

Knowledge versus Love (1 Cor. 8:1-3)

Now concerning things sacrificed to idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge makes arrogant, but love edifies. If anyone supposes that he knows anything, he has not yet known as he ought to know; but if anyone loves God, he is known by Him.
(1 Corinthians 8:1-3, NASB)

“Knowledge makes arrogant, but love edifies.”

So often unbelievers say they can’t accept the Christian faith until they know more. They want all their questions answered before they commit. They want to have all the mysteries explained.

My answer to them is two-fold: First, the Holy Spirit illuminates God’s word for believers and helps us better understand what God is trying to say to us (see 1 Corinthians 2:14; 2 Corinthians 4:3); second, even for believers, there is so much of the Bible that remains a mystery. And that’s as it should be. I don’t want to serve a God whom I can fully know. Because if I know as He knows, then that would make me like Him.

And I am not God.

I read and study and meditate on God’s word every day because I want to know Him more. Not because I want to be Him, but because I love Him. Just as I want to spend time with my husband because I love him.

I love God, and I am known by Him. And in His infinite grace and mercy and love for me, He wants me to know Him as well.

And so I do have knowledge of Him. I do know how holy and just and righteous He is. I do know He can’t coexist with sin. I do know He offers grace and mercy to those who seek Him. I do know He put a plan of redemption in place—for me. I do know that Jesus Christ will return one day to gather His followers to heaven. I do know that we will spend eternity in a new heaven and new earth (Revelation 21:1).

Because He loves us.

I don’t need to know every nuance of God. I don’t have to understand every single word of every single verse of His word.

The Holy Spirit will reveal to me what I need to know. Because God—Father, Son, and Spirit—loves me that much.

A Last Word for Married Couples( 1 Cor. 7:39-40)

A wife is bound as long as her husband lives; but if her husband is dead, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord. But in my opinion she is happier if she remains as she is; and I think that I also have the Spirit of God.
(1 Corinthians 7:39-40, NASB)

Today’s verses complete Paul’s quite lengthy exhortation to married couples and singles. And he ends by one last “stay as you are” message.

He directs these verses to wives, but I believe the same applies to husbands. As long as we are married, we are to stay married; however, if one spouse predeceases the other, the living spouse is free to remarry. And in most marriages? One spouse usually does predecease the other.

My husband always says I’m going to outlive him. He bases that on the fact that he’s six and one-half years older than I am and that women usually live longer than men. He also bases it on the fact that all of my grandparents lived well into their eighties, and my paternal grandmother lived to be almost 95. In contrast, his grandparents lived only into their seventies.

Only God knows if I’ll outlive Russ—or if he’ll outlive me. One thing I do know is that I’ll probably “remain as [I am]” should I one day be a widow. I love being married, and I love my husband. But I see my single friends as they maneuver the perils of dating. It doesn’t look like too much fun to me.

I agree with Paul that I probably would be happier just living for Jesus, being available to do all God calls me to do.

Yet since I hope Russ and I both live to ripe old ages, side by side, I’ll never have to think about being single. That’s my hope.