Emmanuel Lutheran Church

1 Corinthians 10:14–33 (NKJV)

¹⁴ Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. ¹⁵ I speak as to wise men; judge for yourselves what I say. ¹⁶ The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? ¹⁷ For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread. ¹⁸ Observe Israel after the flesh: Are not those who eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar? ¹⁹ What am I saying then? That an idol is anything, or what is offered to idols is anything? ²⁰ Rather, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons. ²¹ You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord’s table and of the table of demons. ²² Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He? ²³ All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify. ²⁴ Let no one seek his own, but each one the other’s well-being. ²⁵ Eat whatever is sold in the meat market, asking no questions for conscience’ sake; ²⁶ for “the earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness.” ²⁷ If any of those who do not believe invites you to dinner, and you desire to go, eat whatever is set before you, asking no question for conscience’ sake. ²⁸ But if anyone says to you, “This was offered to idols,” do not eat it for the sake of the one who told you, and for conscience’ sake; for “the earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness.” ²⁹ “Conscience,” I say, not your own, but that of the other. For why is my liberty judged by another man’s conscience? ³⁰ But if I partake with thanks, why am I evil spoken of for the food over which I give thanks? ³¹ Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. ³² Give no offense, either to the Jews or to the Greeks or to the church of God, ³³ just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.

When Christians partake of the Lord’s Supper, they eat Christ’s very body and drink His very blood which was sacrificed on the cross for the sins of the world. By eating the sacrifice we have fellowship—or communion—with Christ’s body and blood and receive the benefits won by His death.

Israel ate the sacrifices they offered in the tabernacle and temple and by that eating had fellowship—or communion—with the true God, receiving His promised benefits by faith. But when Gentiles eat the sacrifices they offer to idols in their temples they have fellowship—or communion—with the demons who inspired the idol. If a Christian has fellowship with demons by eating the sacrifice to them in their temple, they arouse the Lord’s jealousy by their idolatry.

However, Christians can buy meat at the marketplace and eat as guests in others homes without harm to their conscience.  If the host discloses that the meat was sacrificed to an idol, the Christian isn’t to eat it, not for the sake of his own conscience, but for the sake of the host’s conscience who told them. Christians weren’t to worship in idol temples. Neither were they to go searching for things to avoid based on their origins or how they were made. Christians should only abstain from the things of this world if those things trouble the conscience of others. This is using Christian freedom for the sake of others so that their consciences aren’t burdened.

The rubric for Christian freedom is simply: “Let no one seek his own, but each one the other’s well-being.” Consider Christ. The bruised reed He did not break. The smoldering wick He did not snuff out. He came not to be served but to serve. Christ did not seek His own good because love “does not seek its own” (1 Cor. 13:5). We have fellowship with Christ and receive His benefits in the Lord’s Supper, which strengthens us to love our neighbor and seek their good.

Let us pray: Lord Jesus, fill us with your love so that we, having partaken of your sacrifice and received Your benefits, may live for the good and benefit of our neighbor. Amen.

Devotion for Saturday, August 6th, 2022

1 Corinthians 9:1–23 (NKJV)

¹ Am I not an apostle? Am I not free? Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord? ² If I am not an apostle to others, yet doubtless I am to you. For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord. ³ My defense to those who examine me is this: ⁴ Do we have no right to eat and drink? ⁵ Do we have no right to take along a believing wife, as do also the other apostles, the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas? ⁶ Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working? ⁷ Who ever goes to war at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its fruit? Or who tends a flock and does not drink of the milk of the flock? ⁸ Do I say these things as a mere man? Or does not the law say the same also? ⁹ For it is written in the law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain.” Is it oxen God is concerned about? ¹⁰ Or does He say it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written, that he who plows should plow in hope, and he who threshes in hope should be partaker of his hope. ¹¹ If we have sown spiritual things for you, is it a great thing if we reap your material things? ¹² If others are partakers of this right over you, are we not even more? Nevertheless we have not used this right, but endure all things lest we hinder the gospel of Christ. ¹³ Do you not know that those who minister the holy things eat of the things of the temple, and those who serve at the altar partake of the offerings of the altar? ¹⁴ Even so the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel. ¹⁵ But I have used none of these things, nor have I written these things that it should be done so to me; for it would be better for me to die than that anyone should make my boasting void. ¹⁶ For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel! ¹⁷ For if I do this willingly, I have a reward; but if against my will, I have been entrusted with a stewardship. ¹⁸ What is my reward then? That when I preach the gospel, I may present the gospel of Christ without charge, that I may not abuse my authority in the gospel. ¹⁹ For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more; ²⁰ and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law; ²¹ to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law; ²² to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. ²³ Now this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I may be partaker of it with you.

Paul is free to take a believing wife with him on his missionary journeys as the other apostles do. He has the right to reap material things from his congregations and make his living from preaching the gospel. It is the Lord’s command that “those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel.” But Paul does not use these rights. He uses his freedom to provide the gospel free of charge to his hearers.

He free from all men. But he uses his freedom to win men to the gospel. When among Jews he lives as a Jew. He observes the Mosaic laws even though he is not under the law. He does this so that the Jews might more readily hear the gospel. When among Gentiles who are not under Mosaic law he lives as the Gentiles. He doesn’t live by Mosaic law among the Gentiles because that would hinder his preaching that faith in Christ alone, apart from the works of the law, justifies. Yet even among the Gentiles he is not without law toward God. He lives under the law of Christ which is the law of love. To the weak, those in yesterday’s reading whose understanding and faith was not strong, Paul condescends to their weakness. He lives as one who is weak to strengthen them in knowledge and faith. He becomes all things to all men that he might by all means save some. He uses his freedom from the law to preach to others in their present condition so that some might be saved by faith in the gospel.

All who believe in Christ Jesus’ perfect atonement and righteousness are free from the condemnation and coercion of the law. We are perfectly free, subject to no one. But believers use their freedom, not as a clock for vice, but to serve others in love. Paul used his freedom, condescending to the spiritual state his hearers, to serve them with the gospel. Christians use their freedom from the law to serve others in their vocations, meeting others where they are as well.

Let us pray: O Lord, grant us Your Holy Spirit that we may understand our freedom in Christ, rejoice in it, and use it to serve our neighbors in love. Amen.

Wednesday after Trinity 7                   1 Corinthians 8:1-13

The Corinthians asked Paul if it was acceptable to eat meat sacrificed to idols. Would eating the sacrifice make them partakers of the sacrifice to a pagan idol and make them idolaters? Paul responds that “an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God but one.” Scripture at times calls other beings—usually leaders of the church—gods, such as in Psalm 82:6. The gentiles made their ancestors into gods and gave them divine honors and worship. But these are not gods in the true sense. There is only one God, the Father, His eternal Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit that proceeds from them. This is why “idols are nothing in the world.”

Paul sees that the real issue isn’t eating this meat but about the effect such eating could have on the consciences of Christians whose faith was weak. The weak in this instance are Corinthian Christians who were former idolaters and still had scruples that such meat was truly offered to another god. Their knowledge of the one God was frail. These Christians would see the more certain Christians eating meat previously sacrificed to idols and be scandalized, imagining that their brothers and sisters in Christ were partaking in idolatry.

Christian freedom is not always easy to understand and practice. Those who have understanding must be careful for those who are weak in understanding. If meat scandalized a brother Paul would never eat meat again. So we are to be careful not to use our freedom to scandalize others. However, neither are we to allow the weaker brother to remain in his weak state. Thus Paul can write that those with knowledge should temper their knowledge with love while those who are weak should consider that there is, in fact, only one God. Let us love the brethren so we neither scandalize them in free matters nor allow them to remain in their weak understanding.

Let us pray: Heavenly Father, increase in our hearts our knowledge of the gospel as well as love for others, so that in all things we confess our faith and live in love. Amen.

Tuesday after Trinity 7                     1 Corinthians 7:1-40

St. Paul praises celibacy, which is the complete abstention not only from lusts and fornication, but also marriage. What makes celibacy good isn’t that it justifies us before God or earns God’s favor. What makes it good is that it frees men and women from the cares of this world so that they can devote themselves to prayer, the word, and service to the Lord in the church. Yet celibacy is not for everyone. “Each one has his own gift from God, one in this manner and another in that.” Celibacy and marriage and a family are both gifts from God, not choices we make.

To those whom God has not given the gift of celibacy, Paul writes, “If they cannot exercise self-control [celibacy], let them marry.” Yet even in marriage there is to be self-control so that husbands and wives give themselves to each other in love and sanctification, “not in passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God” (1 Thess. 4:5). Sex within marriage is an expression of the one-flesh union that God has created, so that marriage isn’t a matter of “me” but of “we.” The Christian spouse asks, “What’s good for my spouse whom God has given me? What’s good for us? That’s what’s good for me.” This is how the Christian spouse ought to think about all things in marriage, including physical intimacy, so that in all things the one flesh union is celebrated.

Paul then urges the single who can be celibate to serve the Lord without distraction. But those who desire marriage and family are to pray for a Godly spouse, as well as patience and self-control. Self-control is simply chastity and chastity is something required outside of marriage and within marriage as well. Whatever gift God has given, celibacy, singleness, or marriage, we are to glorify God by living in sanctification and holiness, loving our neighbor as ourselves.

Let us pray: Grant us wisdom, O Lord, to recognize our callings. Increase in us the gift of self-control that in our callings we may love one another and glorify you. Amen.