Stumbling blocks – Cultural or legalistic taboos; the solution is the law of love, part 3. John 16:1; Eph 5:1-2.

Title: Stumbling blocks - Cultural or legalistic taboos; the solution is the law of love, part 3. John 16:1; EPH 5:1-2.

 

There are four laws of Christian behavior which are designed only to operate on spirituality - in the confines of the plan of God under the filling of God the Holy Spirit.

 

Law #1: The law of liberty - directed toward self, it is the function of the believer priest to serve the Lord in freedom without interference.

 

Law #2: The law of love - directed toward others, it is a lack of MAS’s toward others as well as the avoidance of offending a weaker believer or becoming a distraction to their spiritual growth.

 

Law #3: The law of expediency - directed toward the unbeliever it is a change of legitimate behavior so that the issue of the gospel is not hindered, 1Cor 9:16-23; 10:23.

 

Law #4: The law of supreme sacrifice - directed toward God it requires the believer to often forsake normal living and legitimate function in life in order to serve the Lord in a specialized capacity or in an historical emergency, 1Cor 9:1-15.

 

This is the highest law of Christian behavior.

 

Illustration: the apostle Paul.

 

These four laws resolve your modus operandi for anything that is not specifically declared to be wrong in the Bible. Inside of every believer is the Holy Spirit. When He controls the life the believer imitates God, Ephesians 5:1, and the Holy Spirit produces in the believer divine good.

 

It is one thing to do a right thing, but it must be done in a right way. If I stand arrogantly in what I am doing, saying that it is legitimate for me, while at the same time it is hindering the gospel or hindering a weaker believer than I am doing in the wrong way and so I am wrong.

 

When the old sin nature controls the result is personal sin and the production of human good which results in the imitation of the unbeliever and the production of human good.

 

So there is divine good versus human good, the imitation of God versus the imitation of a self-righteous, moral, religious unbeliever.

 

Every Spirit-filled believer will face X number of situations in his life where there is no biblical command, do this or do not do this.

 

The filling of the Spirit is the only way that these laws operate and when we study the operation of these laws it must be understood that always behind these laws is the demand that the believer must be in fellowship, he must be controlled by the Spirit.

 

Verses 1-6, the problem is the danger of a little knowledge in the Christian life, just enough knowledge to be dangerous.

 

There is nothing wrong with having a little knowledge. Basically a little knowledge includes an understanding of basic doctrine, the categories, the plan of God, etc. We all start out as babies in the Christian life experientially. Maturity comes eventually with maximum knowledge of the Word of God, maximum application, maximum use of the techniques of the Christian life. A person who is habitually carnal is, however, a spiritual moron and very useless.

 

Verses 1-6 deal with the adolescent believer who is in the right category of learning doctrine, but there is a trap of knowing a little doctrine. He has a partial understanding of doctrine but the trouble with an immature believer is that they have a knowledge of doctrine but it is coupled with their ego. This is the trap or stumbling block. Whereas the mature believer has a maximum knowledge but that knowledge is coupled with love. But knowledge in any category of life when it is coupled with ego is neutralized. When it is coupled with love andor the filling of the Spirit it becomes a dynamic whereby you have divine viewpoint applied to life. Mental attitude divine viewpoint is a fantastic dynamic and gives great impact for Christ. We are dealing with sophomore believers, believers who have learned a little and think it is a lot, believers who learning a little bit their ego is stimulated, and in the stimulation of their ego they have failed in certain matters.

 

1 Cor 8:1 Now concerning things sacrificed to idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge makes arrogant, but love edifies.

 

Knowledge alone without the FHS will make one arrogant and an egoist. Knowledge accumulated under the filling of the Spirit will bring revelation of the deep things of God which will eventually produce divine love.

 

The sacrifice refers to meat that was sold at the marketplace. Some meat was sacrificed to idols and others not. Sometimes the meat sacrificed was the only available.

 

1 Cor 8:2 If anyone supposes that he knows anything, he has not yet known as he ought to know;

 

A little knowledge is often mistaken for a lot of knowledge and when it is mixed with ego that little bit of knowledge can be twisted so as to justify an anti-Christian lifestyle.

 

This is when you run your little line into the depths of a doctrine and assume that you must have hit the bottom.

 

1 Cor 8:3 but if anyone loves God, he is known by Him.

 

 “known by Him” is a Greek idiom for intimacy. Knowing a great deal about God results in great love for Him and the capacity for intimacy, PSA 37:4.

 

Since the knowledge of God is unfathomable the potential for love and intimacy is limitless.

 

1 Cor 8:4 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 [Jesus Christ revealed in the world].

 

Paul first instructs the young believer with limited knowledge that it is ok to eat meat sacrificed to idols because the idols are nothing. We assume that there were some who felt guilty about this.

 

1 Cor 8:5 For even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords [so many false gods that it’s hard to keep count],

 

1 Cor 8:6 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.

 

Now Paul switches to believers who have no knowledge whatsoever. Verses 1-6 is for the sophomore believer who at least understands the essence of God and that idols are nothing.

 

When you have no knowledge you revert back to known human viewpoint from the past, which is always erroneous.

 

1 Cor 8:7 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 [as if the idol were real]; and their conscience being weak is defiled [contaminated].

 

In situations like this a believer with zero knowledge reverts to past human viewpoint which is usually filled with prejudice, tradition, and taboos.

 

A weak conscience is ignorance of divine viewpoint. Doctrine cleanses contamination.

 

1 Cor 8:8 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.

 

Nothing we put into the body nor anything we deny ourselves makes us spiritual. Both of these functions simply “feed” the ego.

 

Taboos don’t make you spiritual, but there is a specific time when they need to be observed and that is when they become a stumbling block to a weak believer.

 

1 Cor 8:9 But take care lest this liberty of yours somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.

 

Observing a harmless taboo is only justified when protecting the weak believer from stumbling blocks.

 

There is no command in the Bible that says you cannot eat meat sacrificed to idols, but it became a taboo in the early Church.

 

Taboos trend with culture and societies. In our recent past in America the churches forbade smoking, drinking, dancing, coed swimming [bathing], pants on women, short hair on women, makeup, jewelry, etc. [Illustration - FL camp.]

 

The enlightened believer must not cater to legalism or spiritual bullying. Do not abstain from harmless things because of legalistic criticism and persecution.

 

The enlightened believer is this example is not bullied or persecuted, in fact, no contact is made with him at all.

 

This simply promotes more legalism. That is one side of the coin but when you flip it over you have something a little different, and yet it is a part of the same issue.

 

On the other hand, if harmless things cause the weak and ignorant believer to sin then it becomes necessary to abstain on the basis of the operation of higher laws.

 

Verse 10 sets the stage for a situation in which we have three players; a believer with doctrine, a believer without doctrine and a temple that is much like a popular NY night club.

 

The believer with doctrine is going to take his family out to dinner. The best steak in town is at the night clubtemple. The steak has been sacrificed to an idol, but the believer with doctrine knows that this is nothing because there is no such thing as an idol. Yet also at the night clubtemple [club Baal] there is a bar with a mixologist as well as temple prostitutes lurking, but he knows he’s not going to get drunk or take another woman to bed. He is there to eat a fine steak and to him this is no sin. This is the law of liberty. However, there is a problem that really has nothing to do with him. He is seen by a believer without doctrine.

 

1 Cor 8:10 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?

 

Profile of the weak believer: guilt complex, emotionally unstable, very sensitive, wears his feelings on the sleeve, demands attention, easily moved to self-pity, not interested in doctrine, very interested in special experiences, full of taboos, full of human prejudice, emphasizes the externals of legalism, very nosy.

 

Why would a doctrinal believer alter his legitimate behavior for such a person? I’ll ask another question, “Why would the perfect, impeccable, humanity of Christ lay down His life for a loser like you?”

 

This is not compromising with legalism, but it is sacrificing legitimate behavior so that a weak believer doesn’t fall farther away from doctrine.

 

In Paul’s example the weak believer isn’t going to say anything to the enlightened believer. He’s not going to even approach him, rather he is going to go away and think about what he saw.

 

This is not an example of spiritual bullying, which legalists sometimes do, this is simply a weak believer who is wounded in his conscience and because of what he saw the stronger believer do he works up the nerve to go back to the temple.

 

 “be strengthened” - future passive indicative; “to eat” - infinitive, which modifies the verb. He will go away and think about it and will be encouraged to return “to eat” which is going to lead to more than eating.

 

If brother X hangs out at the temple then it’s ok for me to hang out at Club Baal. But you see, the weak believer is going to go in and get a steak, and then wander over to the bar and tie one on and then talk to the lovely priestess Bubbles and she will coax him into some back room “worship” of Baal.  

 

There’s no question that he’s intruding on your privacy. He does so because he is weak. He lives by his emotion and his past prejudice and he uses the legitimate liberty of another as a patsy to return to his sinful activities. He doesn’t want to return to the temple to eat. He wants to return so he can sin, and he may even kid himself that he’s returning only to eat, but he is fooling himself. Self deception is the worst kind of deception.

 

Now verses 11-12 reveal the weak believer’s fall:

 

1 Cor 8:11 For through your knowledge he who is weak is ruined [not loss of salvation, but loss of any momentum], the brother for whose sake Christ died.

 

He hasn’t lost his salvation. He is a brother in Christ, for whom Christ died, meaning his sins are paid for, but he has gone farther down the rabbit hole into cosmic thinking and living and has taken himself farther away from Christ.  

 

1 Cor 8:12 And thus, by sinning against the brethren and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ.

 

The onus is put on the stronger believer in though operating in the law of liberty he has sinned against Christ since he has sinned against the weak believer and damaged his conscience.

 

Mark 9:42

"And whoever causes one of these little ones who believe to stumble, it would be better for him if, with a heavy millstone hung around his neck, he had been cast into the sea. [divine discipline]

 

Ultimately all sin is against Christ, but here we have a sin while a believer is legitimately operating under the law of liberty.

 

Matt 25:45

"Then He will answer them, saying, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.' [tribulational passage referring to the Jews]

 

Acts 9:4

 and he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?"

 

In situations like this, the law of love must take precedence over the law of liberty.

 

1 Cor 8:13 Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never [double negative - ouv mh,] eat meat again, that I might not cause my brother to stumble.

xxx