Paul
the apostle told the church members in Corinth, “if
any man say unto you, this is offered in sacrifice unto idols”
not to eat it “for his sake that
showed it”.
He added that they should not eat it “for
conscience sake: for the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness
thereof”.
In chapter ten and verse twenty-nine of
First Corinthians, Paul told the Corinthian church members
“conscience, I say, not your own, but of the
other” where
we read:
Conscience,
I say, not your own, but of the other:
The verse begins,
“Conscience,
I say, not your own, but of the other:”.
Paul began
with the word, “Conscience”
which means “the soul as distinguishing between what is morally
good and bad, prompting to do the former and shun the latter while
commending one and condemning the other”, “I
say” or
“Paul uttered, declared and proclaimed”, “not
your own”
which means “not the church members' personal conscience”, “but”
which is a
disassociation conjunction that means what is about to be written
takes precedence over what was just stated or “of
the other”
which refers to “for the other person's conscience”. The church
members were not to eat of the food that was declared to be “offered
in sacrifice” to idols because they “cared for and were concerned
about” the “conscience” of a “weaker” brother that might be
among them.
The
verse continues, “for
why is my liberty judged of another man's conscience?”
Paul added
the word, “for” which
means “even as, indeed, no doubt, seeing then, verily and therefore
“why”
or “for what reason or account” “is
my liberty”
which refers to “is Paul's freedom and license to do as he
pleases”“judged”
or “put asunder, selected, chosen, approved, esteemed, preferred,
deemed, determined, resolved and decreed” “of
another man's”
or “some other person's” “conscience”
which means “soul as distinguishing between what is morally good
and bad, prompting to do the former and shun the latter while
commending one and condemning the other”. Paul went on to question
why his personal “freedom” should be
“judged”
by someone else's “moral promptings”.
When
we think through these words from Paul, we see how he desired the
church members to be concerned for one another in the area of
personal “liberty”.
Though a person may have a “freedom” to “eat”
of the “meat offered in sacrifice to idols”,
they might stumble or offend the person near them who does not share
that personal “liberty”.
In that case, the person who was “free to eat”, should not “eat”
the food. Because Jesus Christ desires for His church to live in
harmony and unity with one another, there are times where a church
member might have a personal “freedom” to indulge where another
person does not. One church member was not to “judge”
the other in this area, however, they were both to care for one
another's “conscience”.
Let us remember Paul's words as we consider these things, “All
things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all
things are lawful for me, but all things edify not”, and let
everything we do be done to the glory of God.
Next
time Paul asks the Corinthians, “if
I by grace be a partaker, why am I evil spoken of”,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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