Limits of liberty
Published by Stanley Pouw in 2025 · 2 November 2025
Look in your Bible with me this morning at 1 Corinthians 8 in our continuing study of the letter to the Corinthians. We know, as Christians, that we have liberty in Christ, but that liberty is conditioned upon certain things that the New Testament reveals to us, and that is just the area we’re going to be discussing not only in chapter 8, but also in chapter 9 and chapter 10, because all three chapters deal with the same theme.
Some of the great debates in the Church in the last 30 years, fall along these lines. Is it right to shop on Sunday? Should Christian women wear makeup? Now, can a Christian play golf on Sunday morning and score well? Is there anything wrong with rock music concerts or rock music? What about movies? What about dancing? Should a Christian have a beer, a bottle of wine, or too much coffee?
Those are questions that the Church has discussed and debated sometime in the last 30 years, and some of them are current today. And the reason the Church spends so much time talking about that is because there is nothing in the Bible that speaks about that. It just says, ‘Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy.’ The Sabbath is Saturday, the seventh day of the week. So, the Bible doesn’t say anything about the Lord’s Day.
Psalm 50, “Praise the Lord with a dance,” and, “David danced before the Lord.” There was a great debate, and now the movies that everybody damned 25 years ago are on television, and everybody’s indifferent to them because they’re rather innocuous compared to what we have today. These are things that are not stated in the Bible as exactly as we would like to have them state it. There are things that are in gray areas.
We do know that there are some things that are wrong. We don’t really have any problem with those, do we? The Bible says not to kill, steal, cheat, commit adultery, lie, and on and on. And you know what those things are. The New Testament has long lists of the works of the flesh. In Corinthians and in Galatians we find exactly what we’re not to do. There are also lists in the Old and New Testament of good things to do.
Like loving your neighbor and helping people and giving your money and meeting people’s needs and doing right, and taking care of your children, and loving your wife, and on and on. But there are those things that the Bible never comments about that are in that gray area. Where in every society, and every culture, there has to be a decision made that may be only right for that time and that place.
How do we know what’s right and what’s wrong in that gray area? I think the New Testament is clear on what’s wrong and what’s right. The Old Testament is clear on what’s wrong and what’s right, and where it doesn’t really get specific, your conscience usually helps you. How does a Christian know whether to do them or not? Are there any guidelines we can follow? Well, remember: as Christians we are not under the laws.
Did you know, when the Council of Jerusalem met in Acts 15, they had a great big, long discussion? And they said, “Now, the Gentiles have been admitted into the Church. It’s a new day. The old ceremonies are done away with. Now, you go on out and have a great time with the Gentiles. But they said, “Tell them to refrain from things strangled and from blood and from certain things here.”
2 Corinthians 3:17, “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty,” and Galatians 5:1, “For freedom Christ has set us free.” And James says that our lives are governed by the perfect law of liberty. But 1 Corinthians 8:9 says, “But be careful that this right of yours in no way becomes a stumbling block to the weak.” 1 Peter 2:16, “Submit as free people, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but as God’s slaves.”
So, how do we decide? Do you have a process by which you make a decision? Let me offer you a series of terms that can act as a filter through which you can judge any behavior that is in the gray area. Number one, excess. Do I need it, or is it excess baggage. Hebrews 12:1 says, “Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us.”
Second, the principle of expedience. 1 Corinthians 6:12 says, “Everything is permissible for me, but not everything is beneficial.” Not only does it not have a negative effect, but does it have a positive effect? Is this something I need to become a better man of God, or a better woman of God? Is this something very positive that I have to do to increase my effectiveness as a believer? That’s important.
Thirdly, the principle of emulation. 1 John 2:6 says, “The one who says he remains in Him should walk just as He walked. Is this what Christ would do?” All right, excess, expedience, emulation. Fourthly: the principle of evangelism. “If I do this, is it going to enhance my testimony to an unbeliever?” Colossians 4:5 says, “Act wisely toward outsiders, making the most of the time.” Will it create a better evangelistic platform?
Fifthly, the principle of edification. “Will it build me up? Having done this, will I be stronger in Christ?” 1 Corinthians 10:23 says, “All things are lawful, but not everything builds up.” I need to think through whether this works to build me up in Christ. Sixthly, the principle of exaltation. If I do it, will it exalt the Lord?” 1 Corinthians 10:31 says, “Whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.”
Now, those are very practical. Lastly there’s another one that ties us into 1 Corinthians 8, and that’s the principle of example. “If I do this, will it set the right pattern of righteousness for my weaker brother? Will it be an act of love toward him? To lead him in the right way?” 1 Corinthians 8:13 says, “If meat causes my brother or sister to fall, I will never again eat meat, so that I won’t cause my brother or sister to fall.”
Now, all of those principals just drive us into 1 Corinthians 8, where Paul deals with just that last one. But let’s look at this concept of love. So, I’m all right to smoke, but all I would have to do would be to do that once, and half of this audience would go out. And some people would be very offended because, in their mind, that represents something other than a Christian life and a Christian commitment.
But the point is, in a society that we’re in, if that’s a problem to some people, then I don’t do that. The point is there are some things that in themselves are not necessarily wrong. Now, that may become wrong if it harms your body in that angle, but the point is, I don’t do some things, because they would be offended. Now the primary issue then is love and Paul shows that love is really the key to everything.
Now, to set the stage a little bit, remember that in chapters 8 - 10, he answers their questions on this subject of meats offered to idols. In chapter 11, he answers their question on the Lord’s Table and worship. In chapter 12 - 14, he answers their questions on spiritual gifts. Outside of this section, he is correcting things that he has seen by his own observation. So, we’re in the section now about things offered to idols.
Verse 1 says, “Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that “we all have knowledge.” Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.” Now, idol sacrifices becomes the theme of chapters 8, 9, 10. In some parts of the world, these offerings to idols, sacrifices to false God’s is very germane. But this will become intensely applicable to you, because we will draw out a general principle for anybody who is a Christian.
Well, recall the situation. Corinth is a part of the Greek culture. It’s a part of the Roman Empire. Now, Romans and Greeks worship many God’s. They were what we call polytheistic. And they also believed in many evil spirits. And they had gods for every conceivable thing. Never any end to them. They worshipped all kinds of gods and had consciousness of all kinds of evil spirits floating around them.
When they had justice, there was a god of justice. Sometimes you see the goddess of justice today with a blindfold and scales in her hand. That comes from that ancient period. There are gods for everything: the goddess of love. Every single thing that they did, whether it was amusement, or entertainment, or government, or feasts, or social events, for everything there was a conglomeration of deities involved.
And take the average Christian. He becomes saved, and out of this paganism that engulfs every facet of his life he comes. He can’t do anything socially that doesn’t relate to a god. So, the Christian is in the danger of being exposed to that from which he has just been saved. Now, for a new Christian, all this is distasteful. But, a more mature Christian says, “Hey, what’s an idol? An idol isn’t anything. So eat it. Who cares?”
So you’ve got a conflict. This is how they would offer a sacrifice. You would go to any particular god, and you would offer an animal and divide it into three parts. Part number one was burned on the altar, and that went up to that god. Part number two the priest took. If he had more than he needed, and they normally did, he would go right out the back of the temple and put it in a butcher shop and sell it.
The guy who offered it took it home with him. So, the third part you could eat if you went over to a friend’s house. So, here’s a Christian. He goes down the street, and he wants to buy some meat and he thinks, “I wonder if the priests have any connection with this little butcher shop. I don’t want to buy meat offered to idols.” Another Christian says, “What’s an idol? It’s the best bargain.” So, he buys it.
So, they were caught between a rock and a hard place. So that the result being almost everything that they bought in the market had been offered to some god somewhere along the line or that they ate in the home of an unbeliever had been offered to some god. Now, add to that the fact that all the social events were tied into the worship of these gods, and that the festivals and social events took place in the temple.
The weddings and the festivals that were connected with family life were always held at the temple and always had meats offered to some idol before they were consumed. What if your sister was getting married? She was a pagan, but you cared about her. Would you go to your sister’s wedding and eat? They were trying to decide whether they could do what the world did that were not stated in the Bible as wrong.
Now, Paul’s going to give them a solution. He says, “How far does your liberty go? It only goes as far love.” The Corinthians, the mature ones, they had decided it was okay. Their feeling was, “We’re just going to go, and have a great time.” We’re going to eat whatever is provided. An idol isn’t anything anyway. ‘It’s not what goes into a man that defiles him,’ Jesus said, “it’s what comes out of him.’”
Paul writes to them and says, “Your liberty is conditioned by your love. Before you exercise liberty in an area, you got to think about how it affects somebody else.” Now, he states this principle in chapter 8, and he explains it. He illustrates it in chapter 9 through 10:13, and he applies it in 10:14 through the first verse of chapter 11. So, he explains it, illustrates it, and applies it to everyone.
Reason number one is in verse 1, “We know that we all have knowledge.” Reason number two is in verse 4, “We know that an idol is nothing.” Reason number three is in verse 8, “But food will not bring us close to God.” Three reasons have led us to do this. Number one, we know enough to know the Bible doesn’t forbid it. Two, an idol isn’t anything anyway. Three, God isn’t concerned about what we eat.
In verse 1 they were claiming to have matured sufficiently as Christians to have proper knowledge. But notice verse 7, “However, not everyone has this knowledge.” But to them, “We know everything, and we know that there’s nothing against this. It is not a sin.” In 2 Corinthians 6:6, Paul describes his own virtues, “By purity, by knowledge, by patience, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit and by sincere love.”
But knowledge is not sufficient. Now, the Corinthians were really proud of their knowledge. Knowledge just makes people proud. Knowledge ends right here with me. “I know.” They began with knowledge of the Scripture. But that isn’t the end of it. 1 Corinthians 13:1 says, “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not love, I am nothing but a banging gong and a tinkling cymbal.”
And verse 2 says, “If I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so that I can move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing.” Knowledge must issue in love. Knowledge puffs up; love builds up. Love reaches out and cares about you and strengthens you, because love terminates on you. Knowledge terminates on me. Knowledge is essential, but it is insufficient.
Paul ties love and knowledge together. It doesn’t do you a bit of good to know everything if you don’t love anybody. Now, this is a very important truth. Yeah, but if you start talking like that, somebody is really going to be offended. An effective Christian thinks in two ways and acts in two ways: conceptually and relationally. He has the ability to understand concepts, and he has the knowledge plus love.
One theologian said, “Knowledge is the process of passing from the unconscious state of ignorance to the conscious state of ignorance. Being ignorant is not knowing that you don’t know. Being knowledgeable is knowing you don’t know. Look at verse 3, “But if anyone loves God, he is known by Him.” The only way to have the knowledge of God is to love God. You don’t know Him at all until you love Him.
All he’s saying in verse 3 is that love and knowledge are inextricable. Love and knowledge are cemented together. Love and knowledge have to go together. And that’s what I was saying. A church and a Christian must be conceptual and relational. He must be able to know the truth, and he must hold the truth in love. Knowledge always has to be passed on with love. Without love there is no knowledge; with love there is true knowledge.
Paul pulls together this principle, that knowledge isn’t enough. It’s a start, but it must be coupled with love. Love is the key to behavior. When you are worrying about how you’re going to affect another person, when you’re concerned about how his conscience will make him stumble or make him weak, as Paul says in Romans 14, then you’re really operating on the basis of love. Knowledge without love makes you nothing. Let us pray.