Lessons #251 and 252
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+ 1. It is best to use this note after you have listened to the lessons because there are +
+ comments given in the actual delivery not in the note. +
+ 2. The Bible abbreviations are as follows: CEV =Contemporary English version, +
+ CEB = Common English Bible, ESV= English Standard Version, +
+ GW = God’s Word Translation, ISV = International Standard Version, +
+ NAB=New English Bible, NASB= New American Standard Bible, +
+ NEB= New English Bible, NET = New English Translation, +
+ NLT = New Living Translations NJB = New Jerusalem Bible, +
+ NJV = New Jewish Bible, TEV = Today’s English Version. +
+AMP = Amplified Bible, UBS = United Bible Society +
+ 3. Notes have not been edited for grammatical errors. +
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Food sacrificed to idols: knowledge and love (1 Cor 8:1-3)
1Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that we all possess knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. 2 The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. 3 But the man who loves God is known by God.
Corinthians as believers in Christ were a small fraction of the population that is steeped deep in idolatry. Consequently, they had many questions of how to deal with many issues that the pagan world would have no problem with since they do not know the true God. The Corinthians have come to the knowledge of the true God by faith in Christ Jesus. They have the Holy Spirit living in them so that there is no doubt that they were struggling with doing what God wants in contrast to what the society that they live in demands. In effect, the Holy Spirit working in them caused them to become conscious that there are practices in their society that would be incompatible with faith in Christ. The implication of this is that they had many questions, as new believers in Christ should, about actions and practices that are fitting to those who have believed in Christ. In the preceding chapter, that is, the seventh chapter, the apostle handled the questions the Corinthians had regarding marriage such as the state of being single, how to deal with an unbelieving spouse who either wants out of marriage or wants to remain in marriage, what to do about a person’s engagement to be married in time of crisis and what should happen to a widow regarding remarriage. The eighth chapter of 1 Corinthians is concerned with the question addressed to the apostle by the Corinthians regarding food sacrificed to idols. We know that this is the concern because of the first phrase of verse 1 Now about food sacrificed to idols and the verbal phrase of verse 4 about eating food sacrificed to idols.
The response of the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul regarding the matter of food sacrificed to idols that is given in this eighth chapter of 1 Corinthians can be summarized as involving three major declarations of the Apostle that are helpful in studying the chapter. A first declaration is that dealing with food sacrificed to idols requires differentiating knowledge and love. This the apostle dealt with in verses 1 to 3. The second declaration is that dealing with food sacrificed to idols is affected by the knowledge one possesses about supernatural beings as he discoursed in verses 4 to 7. The third declaration of the apostle regarding the subject of food sacrificed to idol is that it is to be governed by care for the weak. It is this that he considered in verses 8 to 13. It is as we deal with these major declarations that we will understand what the Holy Spirit communicated through the apostle about food sacrificed to idol in this eighth chapter. We will, of course, begin with the first declaration.
The first declaration, as we indicated, that is derived from this eighth chapter of 1 Corinthians, is that dealing with food sacrificed to idols requires differentiating between knowledge and love. The teaching of the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul to the Corinthians in dealing with the subject of food sacrificed to idols in verses 1 to 3 focused on knowledge and love. It is for this reason we indicated that the first major assertion of the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul is concerned with differentiating between knowledge and love. By considering what the Holy Spirit conveyed through the apostle in the first three verses, we derive a message we believe the Holy Spirit wants me to convey to you as an application of the first three verses. The message is this: You must temper knowledge with love when you deal with any debatable subject matter. This message will become clearer as we examine the passage before us. Furthermore, it is this message that enables us to understand how the apostle once he introduced the subject of the chapter jumped straight into the two subjects of knowledge and love. In other words, the Holy Spirit intended for us to connect love and knowledge as we study what the apostle taught regarding food sacrificed to idols in the passage we are about to expound.
The apostle alerted the Corinthians that he was about to change the subject matter that he began in the seventh chapter. You may not recognize the necessity of this because you have the English version of the epistle with divisions into chapters and verses but that was not the case in the original text. The point is that the apostle alerted the Corinthians that he was changing the subject matter of chapter 7. This is because we find the same Greek phrase used in 1 Corinthians 7:1 in 8:1. The phrase that begins 1 Corinthians 8:1 Now about is translated from the same Greek phrase the translators of the NIV rendered Now for in 1 Corinthians 7:1. The apostle used the Greek phrase in this first epistle to the Corinthians to indicate a change in subject matter or to introduce an aspect of a subject matter that is a subset of the major subject or to link materials that although do not relate to the same general topic but are related in the sense that they form closely linked teachings. For example, the apostle used the phrase to introduce the subset of the matter of dealing with virgins in the larger context of his teaching about marriage, as we read in 1 Corinthians 7:25:
Now about virgins: I have no command from the Lord, but I give a judgment as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy.
He used the Greek phrase to link the subject of spiritual gifts to worship that he began its discussion in the eleventh chapter but interrupted by considering a different matter that although related to worship is a different topic from what he discussed in the eleventh chapter about worship and continued in the later part of the fourteenth chapter. Thus, he indicated a change in subject by using our Greek phrase in 1 Corinthians 12:1:
Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant.
It is in the sense of changing from one topic to another that the apostle used the Greek phrase to introduce the subject of giving or collection of funds to be distributed to believers in Jerusalem following his discourse on resurrection, as we read in 1 Corinthians 16:1–2:
1 Now about the collection for God’s people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. 2 On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.
The apostle’s last usage of the Greek phrase translated now about in the NIV is when he changed from his declaration regarding Timothy to Apollos in 1 Corinthians 16:12:
Now about our brother Apollos: I strongly urged him to go to you with the brothers. He was quite unwilling to go now, but he will go when he has the opportunity.
Anyway, the Greek phrase translated now about in 1 Corinthians 8:1 is used in the sense of introducing a new topic that although somewhat related to the preceding subject of marriage because both deal with the concerns of the Corinthians, but they are different topics.
The topic the apostle addressed that was of concern to the Corinthians deals with eating of food offered to idols as in the phrase of 1 Corinthians 8:1 food sacrificed to idols. The expression “food sacrificed to idols” is translated from a Greek word (eidōlothyton) that refers to something offered to an idol in form of religious service or worship. Thus, it refers to a sacrificial meat, of which, part of it was burnt on the altar of a deity and the remaining portion was either eaten as a sacred meal in the temple or was sold in the market for normal consumption by people or both. Because the Jews were careful at the time of the NT to avoid any appearance of idolatry, it was forbidden for them to eat or trade in it because such meat was defiling. Consequently, the early church rendered the decision that Gentile believers should avoid such meat as we read in Acts 15:29:
You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things.
There is no doubt that God abhors believers eating such meat or food as part of worship to an idol. This we first noted with the anger of God towards some Israelite men who participated in worship and food offered to idols by the Moabites as we read in Numbers 25:2–3:
2 who invited them to the sacrifices to their gods. The people ate and bowed down before these gods. 3 So Israel joined in worshiping the Baal of Peor. And the LORD’s anger burned against them.
That God is displeased with believers participating in eating meat or food offered as part of idolatry is clear from the Lord’s denunciations of two of the seven Asiatic churches. He rebuked the church in Pergamum for such practice in Revelation 2:14:
Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality.
The same rebuke is levied against the church of Thyatira, as recorded in Revelation 2:20:
Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols.
The Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul indicated that there is a situation when such meat may be eaten by believers in Corinth without it being sinful, but we will have to wait for further comment on this when we get to the tenth chapter of 1 Corinthians.
Be that as it may, the apostle in the passage of 1 Corinthians 8 that we are considering simply introduced the question or the concern of the Corinthians regarding the meat offered to an idol as we again read in the beginning of verse 1 Now about food sacrificed to idols. The apostle did not give any hint as to the reason the Corinthians must have asked a question about this kind of meat since they would have been acquainted with the ruling of the church regarding meat offered to idols. It is possible that some in Corinth were rejecting the ruling of the church by indicating that they see nothing wrong with such meat or that some felt that since most meat offered for sale in the market is such meat, that it makes their life difficult as Christians living a world of the pagans. We really do not know what prompted the question although it is probably that the question is more likely related to the knowledge of the ruling of the church. That notwithstanding, after this introduction, we would have expected the apostle to jump into a discourse regarding the subject he introduced but that is not what happened. Instead, he brings up the subject of knowledge by quoting a slogan among the Corinthians that he agrees with in principle as we read next in 1 Corinthians 8:1 We know that we all possess knowledge.
There are at least two related problems with the sentence We know that we all possess knowledge. A first problem is how to understand the personal pronoun “we.” This first problem is whether the pronoun refers to the Corinthians in which case the apostle quoted them completely or whether the apostle wrote in the first, person pronoun to include himself in the slogan, implying that he agrees in part with the slogan. Truly, we cannot be certain how the apostle used it but those in Corinth were aware of its usage. It is probably that the apostle included himself as he quoted the slogan to indicate he agreed in part with it. Fortunately for us, the exact interpretation does not affect the interpretation of the verse. A second problem of the sentence that is related to the first problem is how to interpret the word “all” in the phrase we all. This is specifically important since its proper interpretation helps to resolve the apparent contradiction of verse 7 when the apostle wrote but not everyone knows this that literally reads but knowledge is not in all. In verse 1, we are considering, the word “all” is used not in a universal sense but in a limited sense of the Corinthians and the apostle. Thus, when the apostle wrote we all in the sentence We know that we all possess knowledge he meant the Corinthians and himself. Hence, the apostle conveys that all believers in Corinth and the apostle are aware of the possession of knowledge.
The word “know” is translated from a Greek word (oida) that may mean to grasp the meaning of something or to comprehend, that is, “to understand, recognize, come to know, experience” as in John 16:18:
They kept asking, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand what he is saying.”
The sentence We don’t understand what he is saying is literally we don’t know what he is saying. The Greek word may mean “to remember, recollect” as Apostle Paul used it to state of him not recollecting baptizing anyone else in Corinth than those he mentioned in the context as we read in 1 Corinthians 1:16:
(Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.)
The Greek word may mean “to know” in the sense of having information about someone or something as Apostle Paul used the word to indicate that the Galatians, prior to their salvation, did not know the true God in Galatians 4:8:
Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods.
The Greek word may mean “to understand how, to learn how” as Apostle Paul used the word to convey the sense of learning how to control one’s sexual desire to avoid sexual immorality in 1 Thessalonians 4:4:
that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable,
The sentence each of you should learn to control his own body of the NIV is literally each of you know how to possess his own vessel. The Greek word may mean “to honor, respect” as in the instruction of what is expected of believers relating to their spiritual leaders as stated in 1 Thessalonians 5:12:
Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you.
The verbal phrase to respect those who work hard among you is literally to know those laboring among you, which does not make much sense unless it is understood either to mean to respect or honor such individuals since believers would have known such persons. The Greek word may mean “to know” in the sense of being intimately acquainted with or stand in close relationship to someone so that it is used to know God, not merely to know theoretically of His existence, but to have a positive relationship with Him as in the claim of individuals referenced in Titus 1:16:
They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 8:1, the word means “to know” in the sense of being aware or cognizant of a fact or a specific piece of information. Thus, the apostle indicates he and the Corinthians are aware of possessing knowledge.
The word “knowledge” in 1 Corinthians 8:1 We know that we all possess knowledge is translated from a Greek word (gnōsis) that may mean the content of what is known, as the word is used in 2 Corinthians 2:14:
But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.
The word may mean “knowledge” in the sense of comprehension or intellectual grasp of something as the word is used in 2 Corinthians 4:6:
For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 8:1, the word is used with the meaning “knowledge” in the sense of comprehension or intellectual grasp of something. Because of what the apostle states about knowledge in 1 Corinthians 8:1, we need to consider the subject of knowledge.
The Concise Oxford English dictionary defines knowledge as “information and skills acquired through experience or education” or “awareness or familiarity gained by experience.” This definition implies that knowledge is that we get from humans who teach us or who provide us information but ultimately God is the source of all knowledge although many people would not accept this statement due to human arrogance. Nevertheless, we asserted this truth, especially since we are concerned with knowledge associated with believers. It is true that all human beings have knowledge of one kind or another, but we are specifically concerned with knowledge as it pertains to believers because of the phrase we all in the sentence of 1 Corinthians 8:1 We know that we all possess knowledge. The apostle wrote the epistle we are considering to believers so when he said we all, as we have already stated, he is referring to believers including himself although what he said applies to all humans. Consequently, since we are studying the subject of understanding from the perspective of believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, it is fitting to assert that all knowledge is from God. The Scripture has several references that indicate knowledge is from God either in terms of skill or understanding. That skill as part of knowledge is from God is evident in the special skill, He gave to the men who constructed the Tabernacle, as we read in Exodus 35:30–35:
30 Then Moses said to the Israelites, “See, the LORD has chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, 31 and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts— 32 to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, 33 to cut and set stones, to work in wood and to engage in all kinds of artistic craftsmanship. 34 And he has given both him and Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, the ability to teach others. 35 He has filled them with skill to do all kinds of work as craftsmen, designers, embroiderers in blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen, and weavers—all of them master craftsmen and designers.
The Lord gave Daniel and the other three Jewish young men with him in exile, knowledge and understanding, as we read in Daniel 1:17:
To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds.
Hence, it is clear the Lord is the source of knowledge that may be given directly to anyone He chooses; however, it is through His word that He gives knowledge. This truth we derive from the fact that His word is described as the source of wisdom in Proverbs 1:4:
for giving prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the young—
The same truth that the word of God is the source of knowledge is stated in Proverbs 2:6:
For the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
Those who have respect for God will gain knowledge since they would spend time in His word. It is for this reason that knowledge is linked to respect for God, as we read in Proverbs 1:7:
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.
The phrase fear of the LORD here refers to respect and belief in the Lord. Anyone who has respect for the Lord and believes Him will obey the instruction to study the word of God as the Lord conveyed to Joshua in Joshua 1:8:
Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.
We have stated that God is the source of knowledge directly and primarily through His word but there are different kinds of knowledge stated in the Scripture. The first kind of knowledge mentioned in the Bible is that of good and evil as stated in Genesis 2:9:
And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
The phrase knowledge of good and evil has been interpreted in several ways such as a description of the consequences of obeying or disobeying the commandments of God or sexual knowledge or many more that we considered in detail when we studied this passage in our study of Genesis. The various interpretations notwithstanding, we interpreted the phrase to mean a clear ability of moral distinction and decision making. Thus, a person may have the knowledge of what is morally acceptable before God and what is not. A second kind of knowledge is that of God. This kind of knowledge is mentioned in commending the importance of learning God’s word or wisdom in Proverbs 2:5:
then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.
Apostle Paul mentioned this kind of knowledge in 2 Corinthians 10:5:
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
Related to this knowledge is the knowledge of Christ who is, of course God, as the apostle referenced in a passage we cited previously, that is, 2 Corinthians 2:14:
But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.
The knowledge of Christ is usually linked to the gospel message, so we have the knowledge of the gospel as cited in 2 Corinthians 4:6:
For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
Another kind of knowledge is that of truth. This knowledge is referenced in Hebrews 10:26:
If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left,
In this context, the knowledge of the truth refers to Christian teaching that involves the gospel that leads to conversion or salvation. There is also the specific knowledge of truth that is concerned with the law as Apostle Paul mentioned in Romans 2:20
an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth—
Another kind of knowledge is that associated with the secrets of the rule of God, as cited in Matthew 13:11:
He replied, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.
The phrase the kingdom of heaven is the same as “the kingdom of God” that refers to God’s rule or royal reign.
Knowledge as it concerns God is important that we are instructed to choose it over things material as we read in Proverbs 8:10:
Choose my instruction instead of silver, knowledge rather than choice gold,
A person who chooses knowledge of God proves to be wise since wise individuals are those who store or retain knowledge of God’s word as stated in Proverbs 10:14
Wise men store up knowledge, but the mouth of a fool invites ruin.
You should choose and store knowledge of God’s truth because that is quite beneficial. As a general truth, knowledge helps a person to be efficient in whatever endeavor the person is involved. If you want to be very efficient in your work, you must have thorough knowledge of the field that you work. If you want to be efficient in living the spiritual life, you must have knowledge of the word of God. It is the general principle that knowledge makes a person efficient in whatever endeavor the person finds self that we have what is stated in Proverbs 24:5:
A wise man has great power, and a man of knowledge increases strength;
According to the UBS handbook, the word “strength” in this context refers to “ability” or “efficiency.” Hence, it is to be accepted that knowledge makes a person efficient in whatever endeavor the individual engages. In addition, knowledge helps to preserve a person from trouble both from man and God. It is knowledge’s value in delivering a person from trouble that is implied in Proverbs 11:9:
With his mouth the godless destroys his neighbor, but through knowledge the righteous escape.
The clause through knowledge the righteous escape may be translated by knowledge the righteous are delivered as it is translated in the LEB. Thus, a person with knowledge can use his knowledge to save himself from troubles that others may bring to harm the individual. Knowledge of truth correctly applied would keep a person from God’s judgment as implied in the indictment of Israel by the Lord through Prophet Hosea, as we read in Hosea 4:6:
my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. “Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children.
We touted the advantages of knowledge but there is one negative effect of certain kind of knowledge which is to cause grief on an individual, as given in Ecclesiastes 1:18:
For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief.
The phrase the more knowledge, the more grief even on a surface reading states that which is true.
We can understand its truth by observing the situation of the world around us. The knowledge of things that people have today brings more grief to them than their ancestors. Take a simple fact as weather forecasting. This knowledge brings more pain or anxiety to us than our predecessors who did not have that knowledge. You see, when there are weather forecasts of hurricane or tornadoes people panic and are in pain. The forecast may or may not prove to be true, but it has the tendency of causing great pain or anxiety to people. People who lived in the past or who are living in areas of the world today where such knowledge is absent do not panic or live in fear as those who do. It does not mean that weather forecasting is bad, but the point is that it creates pain of the type that those who did not know of such forecast never experienced; in this way, knowledge in terms of possession of information creates pain or grief for those who have it. In effect, there is a kind of protection that can come to a person because of some form of ignorance. People worry more today about various issues because of knowledge in contrast to those who preceded us. Take another example from the Scripture. Apostle Paul’s knowledge about the fate of those who reject the gospel message brought him grief or caused sorrow in him of the type those who do not have this knowledge do not have as he implied in what he wrote Romans 9:2–3:
2 I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race,
Anyway, the phrase of Ecclesiastes 1:18 the more knowledge, the more grief is not to be taken as an absolute assertion but a proverb that is general in nature with exceptions. In other words, the proverb does not mean that there is no benefit to having more knowledge, but Solomon, the teacher, merely recognized this downside to knowledge. Interestingly, it should be observed that even in the matter of faith, worldly knowledge can become an enemy of faith. This point is easy to observe when it is recognized that believers who live in places where there is so much advancement in technology do not often exercise faith as the believers without such advancement. Take for example, when believers in a civilized society run into health problems their first thought is to seek a physician while those believers in remote areas of the world would first seek the Lord’s help in prayer. The point is that certain knowledge could become detrimental to faith if one does not become careful. Hence, there is a downside to some form of knowledge if not correctly utilized.
In any case, we should note that to correctly use knowledge requires exercise of self-control. Thus, the Scripture tells us that knowledge should enable a person with it to exercise restraint in the individual’s use of words in Proverbs 17:27:
A man of knowledge uses words with restraint, and a man of understanding is even-tempered.
The importance of self-control in use of knowledge is underscored by the fact that in the list of virtues the Holy Spirit gave through Apostle Peter that are in effect evidence of the filling of the Holy Spirit, self-control is stated as that which follows knowledge in 2 Peter 1:6:
and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness;
We have noted that there are different kinds of knowledge so when Apostle Paul wrote the sentence of 1 Corinthians 8:1 We know that we all possess knowledge what knowledge did he have in mind? The fact the apostle did not use a definite article in the Greek before the word “knowledge” in the sentence we are considering suggests that he had in mind all knowledge that in the context would include knowledge of the fact that God is one and idols are nothing.
Be that as it may, the sentence We know that we all possess knowledge is followed by the declaration of what knowledge could do to a person in the next clause of 1 Corinthians 8:1 Knowledge puffs up. The expression “puffs up” is translated from a Greek word (physioō) that literally means “to blow up, inflate” but figuratively means “to puff up, to make proud.” The word is used in the NT only by Apostle Paul. He used it seven times and six of these are found in his first epistle to the Corinthians. The only other usage of the word outside 1 Corinthians is in Colossians where he used it to encourage believers to live in fullness of Christ than be “puffed up” with angel worship, as stated in Colossians 2:18:
Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 8:1, the apostle used it in the sense of “being proud” or “being puffed up.” It is important we understand that the apostle used our Greek word in a negative sense in our passage since sometimes people use being proud in a good sense that indicates boasting in a good sense. Take for example, Apostle Paul used the sense of being proud in a positive sense of boasting about the Corinthians to Titus in 2 Corinthians 7:14:
I had boasted to him about you, and you have not embarrassed me. But just as everything we said to you was true, so our boasting about you to Titus has proved to be true as well.
Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 8:1 Knowledge puffs up. This declaration of the Apostle should not be understood in absolute sense without qualification. To understand this declaration in an absolute sense or as an absolute assertion without qualification creates problem in that we can find examples of knowledge that does not cause one to be puffed up. Take for example, the Scripture tells me that all humans have sinned, as stated in Romans 3:23:
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
We know we are sinners not only because the Scripture tells us that but through our experiences. We know we sin. I doubt that a believer in his right mind would be puffed up because of such knowledge. I am saying that a believer who is concerned with his/her spiritual life would not be puffed up by knowledge of the person’s sins. If anything, such a believer would be grieved; so, we cannot say that the knowledge that one is a sinner could lead to a person being puffed up. A person who claims to be a believer and is puffed up because of sin is one that has placed self under God’s maximum discipline on this planet because the Lord will not forgive such a person since such a person has entered the state of defiant sinning for which there is no forgiveness as conveyed to Israel under the concept of no kind of sacrifice could be offered for such a person’s sin as stated in Numbers 15:30–31:
30 “‘But anyone who sins defiantly, whether native-born or alien, blasphemes the LORD, and that person must be cut off from his people. 31 Because he has despised the LORD’s word and broken his commands, that person must surely be cut off; his guilt remains on him.’”
Take another example, the Scripture gives me a knowledge of what testing does for me as a believer in James 1:3:
because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.
My knowledge of the fact that whatever testing that I may be undergoing is to develop perseverance in me would not cause me to be proud or puffed up because of my suffering in testing. Knowledge could lead a person to boast in a right way that does not involve sin of being puffed up as Apostle Paul boasted regarding the Corinthians based on his knowledge of their love for others as implied in 2 Corinthians 8:24:
Therefore show these men the proof of your love and the reason for our pride in you, so that the churches can see it.
The phrase our pride in you is literally our boasting about you. The examples I have cited are sufficient to prove the point that knowledge does not necessarily mean that a person would be puffed up although a person could be proud in the good sense of boasting for what is not sinful.
How then should we understand the declaration Knowledge puffs up of the apostle? We should understand it as a declaration that has to be qualified. In effect, it is not all kinds of knowledge that puffs up but a specific kind of knowledge. Of course, an English reader may think that I am reading too much meaning into the declaration because there is nothing in the English that remotely supports what I have said. However, a Greek reader would not necessarily dispute my explanation. This is because the Greek used a definite article before the word “knowledge” in the Greek so that the declaration Knowledge puffs up reads literally the knowledge puffs up. You may then ask why the English translations did not include the definite article. This is because, often, when a definite article is used with abstract nouns that by their nature focus on a quality, our English versions do not usually translate it, with few exceptions. The use of the definite article in the Greek with the word “knowledge” implies that there is quality to the knowledge that the apostle intended in his declaration although it is possible to interpret it as referring to the previous mention of the word “knowledge”. That aside, we are saying that the apostle meant to convey that not all kinds of knowledge puffs up but knowledge of certain quality.
Let us consider some of the kinds of knowledge that could cause a person to be puffed up. Knowledge of God’s word by a person that the individual does not live by or does not practice is the kind of knowledge that will cause a person to be puffed up. It is this kind of knowledge of the word of God one does not practice that Apostle Paul referenced in rebuking those who pride themselves of knowing the law but do not live by it as the apostle states in Romans 2:20–23:
20 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth— 21 you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? 22 You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who brag about the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law?
This first kind of knowledge we mentioned is one that many who go to a Bible teaching church could become guilty because they receive so much information from the Scripture. However, if they do not live by the word of God they hear communicated, then such individuals have knowledge that puffs up. For example, knowledge of the freedom in Christ that belongs to believers that are misapplied can lead to being puffed up. It is probably the knowledge of the freedom in Christ that caused some in Corinth to be proud of the incestuous believer among them that is behind Apostle Paul’s rebuke of the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 5:2:
And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have been filled with grief and have put out of your fellowship the man who did this?
It is probably because the knowledge of freedom in Christ can lead to its abuse that Apostle Paul warned against misuse of freedom in sinning in Galatians 5:13:
You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.
The same instruction is repeated by the Holy Spirit through Apostle Peter in 1 Peter 2:16:
Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God.
Another kind of knowledge that may lead to one being puffed up is one that is not governed by humility on the part of the possessor. It is this kind of knowledge that is described by Apostle Paul in a passage we cited previously, that is, Colossians 2:18:
Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions.
Another kind of knowledge that may lead a believer to be puffed up is that which is not rooted in the Scripture and so derived from outside the Scripture. It is this kind of knowledge that Apostle Paul indicates is the reason for the pride shown by some of the Corinthians because of some spiritual leaders, as we read in 1 Corinthians 4:6:
Now, brothers, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, “Do not go beyond what is written.” Then you will not take pride in one man over against another.
Still another kind of knowledge that may lead a person to be puffed up is any knowledge of God’s work on behalf of the believer that is not tempered by grace. Take for example, God’s election means that you the believer have been chosen by God as stated in 1 Thessalonians 1:4:
For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you,
If a believer understands the fact the person has been chosen by God because of His plan, it is possible that such an individual would become puffed up or act towards unbelievers in a manner that implies that it is by the individual’s goodness that the person is an elect of God. Anyway, we have considered the subject of knowledge so let me end by reminding you of the message of the passage we are studying which is that You must temper knowledge with love when you deal with any debatable subject matter.
08/28/20