Four Points Church

At the beginning of chapter 8, Paul began the discussion about food being sacrificed to idols. Some within the Corinthian body had no problem with eating food that had been sacrificed to idols. Earlier, Paul dealt with their lack of love for their brothers in prioritizing their own desires to eat that food over what was best for their brothers (see previous section in this study guide). Now, Paul condemns eating the sacrifices, saying those who do are participating in the idolatrous services (1 Corinthians 10:18). Paul condemned this practice by giving two reasons, one positive and one negative. The positive reason is a reminder of the beauty of God’s people participating in right sacrifice. The negative reason is that participating in idolatrous sacrifice is actually demonic.

This passage opens with a summary of some of the ways God cared for His people in the Old Testament, as they left Egypt, wandered in the wilderness, and eventually entered the Promised Land. Paul relates several ways that God provided for their physical needs, including leading them through the Red Sea, feeding them manna, and giving them water from the rock. These were visible and tangible means that God used in the Exodus of His people. In verse 6, Paul is clear that one of the reasons we have such passages is as “examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did.”

Soli Deo Gloria - To the Glory of God Alone

Sola Scriptura - Scripture Alone

Solus Christus - Christ Alone

Sola Fide - By Faith Alone

Justified: Studying the Five Solas - "Sola Gratia"

At the beginning of chapter 9, Paul argued that those who minister the gospel deserve to make a living from the gospel. After all of this buildup, one would expect Paul to request the Corinthians to pay up! But that is not where he is going with his argument. We will see in this passage that Paul’s main point in chapter 9 is to demonstrate that though he has a right to claim payment for his gospel ministry in Corinth, he gave up that right for the sake of the Corinthians, and ultimately for the sake of the gospel. Paul laid down his liberties so that the gospel could be proclaimed without hindrance.

In the previous chapter, Paul uses himself as an example of someone who has given up certain rights for the sake of others. As an apostle and a minister of the Word to the Corinthians, Paul has a biblical right to receive financial support from the church. In fact, all those who labor diligently in the ministry of the Word have a right to claim financial support from the church in which they serve. Those who receive the Word owe support to those who sow the Word.  Look at Paul’s argument in the text.

When we think of the topic of love in the Bible, one of our go-to passages is 1 Corinthians 13, and rightly so, but the theme of loving our brothers and sisters in Christ flows throughout Paul’s response to the ethical issues at the church in Corinth. Paul’s answer to a question about eating meat that has been sacrificed to idols is spread out over three chapters of the book, but he begins in chapter 8 with the crucial question: what does it look like to love your brother in Christ in this situation?