“KNOWLEDGE PUFFETH UP; BUT LOVE BUILDETH UP.”
-1 CORINTHIANS
8:1-13-FEBRUARY 15.-
“Let us, therefore, follow after the things which make for peace.”-Rom.
14:19.
ABOUT three and a half
years after the Apostle Paul left Corinth he wrote to the Church there the
first Epistle to the Corinthians, and our present lesson concerns one of its
important topics. The question of religious liberty, and the propriety or
impropriety of eating meat which had been offered to idols, might at first seem
unnecessary to discuss; but, as the Apostle handles the subject in our lesson,
he develops from it a valuable lesson along general principles, valuable to the
Church now, as well as then, in connection with various other matters.
Some of the Corinthian Church had evidently made considerable progress in
knowledge, and heartily appreciated the fact that since an idol is nothing,
meat offered to the idol cannot in any sense of the word be injured. Nevertheless,
in the conference of the apostles at Jerusalem it had been specially
recommended to the Church at Antioch and to all Christian converts from the
Gentiles “that they should abstain from meats offered to idols.” Some of the
brethren at Corinth perceived that there could be no sin in the eating of such
meat where their consciences were not violated, and concluded that the
admonitions of the Apostles were not a law to the Church, but a recommendation,
and had proceeded to use their liberties-to eat meat offered to idols,
thinking, perhaps, thus to show not only their Christian liberty, but also that
they entirely disregarded an idol.
It will help us to sympathize with them to remember that they were in
daily contact with heathen neighbors who would repeatedly invite them to
feasts, entertainments, weddings, etc., at which they were sure to be served
with food that had been offered to idols, and which was supposed to be the
better therefor. To abstain, under such circumstances, would mean more or less
of an insult to their friends, and the practical ostracism of themselves. Some
of the brethren took the view that they could partake of such refreshments
without the least injury to their consciences, and at the same time show their
heathen neighbors that they were not narrow and bigoted, but broad-minded;-or
perhaps explain the matter by saying, “Your god is nothing anyway, and could
not injure the meat.”
The Apostle intimates that the majority of the Church had such knowledge
as enabled them to discern that an image of wood or stone, being no god, could
neither improve nor injure the food in any sense or degree; but that this
knowledge did not necessarily mean a great growth in spirituality. A very
small mite of soap will make a large air bubble; and so, a comparatively little
knowledge might puff one up greatly, without any solidity of character. He
points out the advantage, therefore, of measuring oneself by growth in love,
rather than by growth merely in knowledge-though, of course, to be great in both
knowledge and love would be the ideal condition. The same lesson the Apostle
inculcates further on (1 Cor. 13:2) asserting “though I have all knowledge and
have not love I am nothing.” Knowledge without love would be an injury, and to
consider it otherwise would imply that real knowledge has not yet been secured;
but, says the Apostle, to the contrary of this, “If any man love God, the same
is known to him,”-acquainted with him. We might have a great deal of
knowledge, and yet not know God, and not be known or recognized by him; but no
man can have a large development of true love in his character without
personally knowing the Lord and obtaining the spirit of love through fellowship
with him. Hence, the getting of love is sure to build us up substantially
(avoiding the inflation of pride) in all the various graces of the spirit,
including meekness, gentleness, patience, long-suffering, brotherly kindness,
knowledge, wisdom from above and the spirit of a sound mind.
Having laid down this premise, the Apostle proceeds to build his argument
thereon, and to show that although it is true, as claimed, that the idol could
do no injury to the food, nevertheless with Christians love must have the last
word on the matter. Love, after securing knowledge and liberty, will look
about to see what effect the use of liberty might have upon others; and would
perceive that by reason of differing conditions of mental strength, perception,
reasoning faculties, etc., all could not have exactly the same standpoint of
knowledge and appreciation of principles. Love, therefore, would forbid the
use of knowledge and liberty if it perceived that their exercise might work
injury to another.
True, there is only one God, and idols, therefore, are nothing as gods;
nevertheless, the appreciation of idols as gods had become so ingrained in the
thought of many that it would be impossible for them fully to divest themselves
of some respect for the idols-impossible for them to eat meat that had been
offered to idols without the feeling that in some sense of the word they had
done wrong-had been contaminated or injured by the unholy associations. This
would be true also of food offered to the heavenly bodies worshiped as gods-the
sun, moon and stars.
Knowledge is beneficial;-“To us there is but one God, the Father;” of, or
from whom, as the first cause or Creator, all things came, including ourselves;
and there is one Lord, Jesus Christ, by, or through whom all things, including
ourselves, have been brought into existence. The knowledge which would enable
us to discern this matter clearly would assuredly be of advantage. But some
dear brethren did not possess ability to reason clearly from this premise, and
they had a claim upon their stronger brethren under the Law of Love.
We must pause a moment in our consideration of vs. 6, not because the
Apostle’s language is in any measure obscure; but because the Adversary seeks
continually to wrest the Scriptures, and to misrepresent their plain teachings,
and thus to mislead the Lord’s flock. We refer to the false teaching abroad
today, that this statement, “Of whom are all things,” signifies that all the
sin, all the wickedness, etc., of the world are from God; are his direct work,
traceable to him as their author or fountain. Surely it is nothing short of
blasphemy for anyone who has first tasted of the good Word of God, and been
made a partaker of the holy spirit, thus to attribute to God the various evils
which, throughout the Scriptures are uniformly condemned, and which God
declares he will ultimately-“in due time”-destroy! The Scriptures are clear in
their statement that “all his work is perfect;” that “God is not the author of
confusion;” that “God tempteth no man,” and is not in accord with any
suggestion to the effect that evil may be done so that good results may follow.
(Deut. 32:4; Rom. 3:8; 1 Cor. 14:33; Jas. 1:13; 1 Pet. 3:11.) It is in full
agreement with the declaration that “all his work is perfect,” that having made
Satan a perfect being, as also he made our race perfect, representatively in
Adam, God has not hindered his free moral agents from taking a course of sin in
violation of his commands. His wisdom and power are such that he will
eventually bring a blessing out of these evils to those who are not in sympathy
with them, but the evils themselves, yea, and “all the wicked, will he destroy.”-Psa.
145:20.
The Apostle proceeds in his argument to show that it is not the food that
we eat that makes us acceptable to God, neither our abstaining from any
particular food. Our relationship to God is that of the New Creation, a heart
relationship; and the blessing which the Lord gives us is as newly begotten
children,-not along the lines of the flesh, but along the lines of the
spiritual and heart development, which shall ultimately be perfected in the
resurrection.
True, “whom the Son makes free is free indeed,” and we all should “seek to
stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ makes free;” but it is also true
that we need to be on guard lest we use our liberty in such a manner as would
stumble others more weak than ourselves,-not so able to use the liberty of
Christ discriminatingly. The liberty wherewith Christ makes free may be viewed
from two standpoints: if it gives us liberty to eat without restraint, in a
manner that the Jews were not at liberty to eat, it gives us liberty also to
abstain;-and whoever has the spirit of Christ and is seeking to follow in his
steps has already covenanted to the Lord to use his liberty, not in the
promotion of his fleshly desires, ambitions and appetites; but in
self-sacrifice, following in the footsteps of the Master, seeking to lay down
his life, even, on behalf of the brethren-for their assistance. How different
are these two uses of liberty! Its selfish use would mean self-gratification,
regardless of the interests of others; its loving use would prompt to
self-sacrifice in the interests of others.
But why?-what principle is involved that would make it incumbent upon one
whose conscience is clear to consider the conscience of another? Why not let
the person of the weak conscience take care of his own conscience, and eat or
abstain from eating as he felt disposed? The Apostle explains that this would
be all right if it were possible; but that the person of weaker mind, feebler
reasoning powers, is likely to be weaker in every respect and, hence, more
susceptible to the leadings of others-into paths which his conscience could not
approve, because of his weaker reasoning powers or inferior knowledge. One
might, without violation of conscience, eat meat that had been offered to
idols, or even sit at a feast in an idol temple, without injury to his
conscience; but the other, feeling that such a course was wrong, might
endeavor to follow the example of his stronger brother, and thus might violate
his conscience, which would make it a sin to him. Every violation of
conscience, whether the thing itself be right or wrong, is a step in the
direction of willful sin-it is a downward course, leading further and further
away from the communion and fellowship with the Lord, and into grosser and
grosser transgressions of conscience and, hence, possibly leading to the Second
Death. Thus the Apostle presents the matter: “For through thy knowledge he
that is weak perisheth,-the brother for whose sake Christ died.”
The question is not, Would it be a sin to eat the meat offered to idols?
but, Would it be sin against the spirit of love, the law of the New Creation,
to do anything which could reasonably prove a cause of stumbling to our
brother;-not only to the brethren in Christ, the Church, but even to a
fellow-creature according to the flesh?-for Christ died for the sins of the
whole world. It is a very serious crime against the
law of love and against the Lord’s injunction, to cause one of his brethren to
stumble (Rom. 14:13,21; Matt. 18:6), but it would also be a crime in his sight
for us to stumble others,-to hinder them from becoming brethren, and of the
household of faith. Hence, it is clear that although knowledge might remove
all prohibition of our consciences and all restraints of our liberty, yet love
must first come in and approve the liberty before we can exercise it. Love
places a firm command upon us, saying,-Thou shalt love the Lord with all thine
heart, and thy neighbor as thyself. Love, therefore, and not knowledge, not
liberty, must finally decide every question.
Let us take our stand with the Lord, and determine that so far from
using our liberties in any manner that might do injury to others we will refuse
so to use them; and will rather sacrifice them for the benefit of
others;-even as our Master, as our Redeemer, gave all that he had. Let us
adopt the words of the Apostle in the last verse of this lesson, and determine
once for all that anything that would injure a brother we will not do-any
liberty of ours, however reasonable in itself, that would work our brother’s
injury, that liberty we will not exercise; we will surrender it in his
interest; we will sacrifice it; we will to that extent, on his behalf, lay down
our life for him.
There is, perhaps, occasionally a danger of misapplication of this
principle; as, for instance, the Doukhobors might say to us, We regard that it
is wrong to eat any meat and wrong even to use the skins of animals for shoes,
and you are to condescend to our weak consciences in this matter, and ought not
to eat meat or wear shoes either. We answer that that is not a similar
question to the one which the Apostle has explained in which we should
surrender our liberties. On the contrary, the Word of the Lord and the customs
of society are all opposed to these bewildered people, and to yield to their
mental unbalance on this question would be to assist them in a wrong
direction. Our abstaining from eating meat or from the wearing of shoes would
in no sense of the word help them to better views; nor does our eating of meat
or wearing of leather in any sense of the word interfere with their
consciences. Other brethren have an antipathy to the use of instrumental
music in the worship of God, as there used to be people who objected to having
meeting places heated and provided with comfortable seats. These may sometimes
abuse the Apostle’s argument, claiming that their consciences are injured by
the liberties of the brethren; and that such liberties should be abridged in
their interest. Our answer to them must also be,-that they misapply the
Apostle’s argument: it is not his meaning that the Lord’s people are to favor
the mental crotchets of each other in such a manner as would be to the general
injury of the Church. Superstitions are not to be encouraged in the Church,
nor its spiritual advantages and liberties sacrificed on account of them.
Nevertheless, love must always have a voice in all of the affairs of the Lord’s
people; and even such as would mistakenly impose upon their brethren upon the
score of weakness, should be treated with love, and their objections, etc.,
should be reasoned upon. They should see that they have full liberty to do any
and everything that the Lord requires of them, abstaining from every appearance
of evil, and that their brethren should be accorded the same privileges. If
they cannot conscientiously sing with instrumental music or sing hymns, let
them keep silence, or for the time do their singing at home. Praising God with
instruments is a very different question from eating in an idol’s temple.
A somewhat similar question to this one which the Apostle decided, may
come before us today in respect to attendance at public worship in the nominal
churches, Protestant and Catholic-including the propriety of partaking of the
“sacrament” or the “Mass.” On such a question each has personal liberty; each
should be fully persuaded in his own mind, and follow the direction of his own
conscience. In our judgment it would be a much more serious offense to partake
of the Mass in Roman Catholic, Greek Catholic or High Episcopal Church
services, than to sit in an idol temple and partake of the foods offered to the
idols; because the Mass is particularly an abomination before the Lord. (Heb. 7:25;
10:14.) As respects participation in the Lord’s Supper, as observed by the
majority of Protestants: We could see no harm in this of itself;-those
participating might intelligently reverence and worship God in such a manner,
even though realizing the inappropriateness, according to the Scriptures, of
such a celebration. We would, however, think that a regular participation in
the services of Babylon and in her misinterpretation of the Lord’s Supper would
be reprehensible;-injurious to our own spiritual progress, and dangerous also
in the stumbling of some weaker in their discernments. Our advice, therefore,
would be that on the one hand we do not feel such a restraint that we would
fear to enter a nominal church building to hear a service there; and on the
other hand that we do not seem to give our assent to their errors by regular
attendance and participation-except at such meetings as would afford us full
opportunity for the presentation of the truth.
Another illustration of this principle in our times, is found in the
liquor question. There will be no dispute that it would be wrong for any man
to get drunk-to lose his senses, and additionally to render himself liable to
do injury to others, and surely to dishonor his Creator. The question of liberty
comes in only in respect to the use of liquors in such a manner as would work
no dishonor to God and no injury either to ourselves or to our neighbors. All
recognize the fact that intoxicating liquors are a dangerous temptation to the
world in general, and our suggestion to the brethren who feel that they have
full power of self-control in the use of liquors, is that they apply the
argument of the Apostle in this lesson, and determine whether they could not
more honor the Lord and help those who are weaker than themselves by using
their liberty in the direction of total abstinence,-sacrifice of rights,-rather
than by using it in moderate drinking.
So far as we are able to discern, intoxication is one of the most terrible
evils scourging our race at the present time. Many are so weak through the
fall, by heredity, that they are totally unable to resist the control of
intoxicants, if once they yield to them. Is it too much to ask of those who
have consecrated their lives to the Lord, to righteousness and to the blessing
of others, that they should deny themselves in this matter, and thus lay down
some liberties and privileges in the interest of the brethren, and in the
interest of the world in general?
Similar arguments might be urged respecting the use of tobacco, cards and
the various implements which the Adversary uses in luring mankind into sin.
The whole, be it noted, is the argument of love. In proportion as we grow in
the graces of our Lord, in his spirit of love, we will be glad, not only to put
away all filthiness of the flesh for our own sakes, and to be more like the
Lord, but also, at the instance of love, we would desire to put away from us
everything that might have an evil influence upon others, whatever we might
consider our personal liberties to be in respect to them.
Our Golden Text is in place here-it appeals to all who have become new
creatures in Christ Jesus. “Let us, therefore, follow after the things which
make for peace”-for the blessing of others and for our own blessing and upbuilding
as new creatures in Christ, members of his body.