Lessons #353 and 354
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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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Believer’s freedom in Christ (1 Cor 10:23-11.1)
. .. 27 If some unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience. 28 But if anyone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, both for the sake of the man who told you and for conscience’ sake— 29 the other man’s conscience, I mean, not yours. For why should my freedom be judged by another’s conscience? 30 If I take part in the meal with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of something I thank God for? 31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 32 Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God— 33 even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved. 11 1 Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.
Let me refresh your mind that the message of 1 Corinthians 10:23-11:1 that we have been considering is that You should use your freedom in Christ in such a way to advance the spiritual needs of others. We asserted that we would expound the message by focusing on three responsibilities you have as a believer pertaining to the concept of freedom you have in Christ, given in the passage we are studying. The first, if you recall, is that You should understand that not everything you have right to do, helps others spiritually but you are required to seek the good of others. The second is that You should understand that your use of your freedom is not absolute, so you need to adjust its application. This responsibility we stated, demands you should know when to use your freedom in Christ and when not to use it. We indicated that you should use your freedom in Christ when enjoying God’s provisions that in ordinary use are not in and of themselves sinful and do not impact your testimony before unbelievers because you recognize that God created all things in this planet. This, we indicated is the positive aspect to the second responsibility. We also stated that the negative aspect of the second responsibility that a believer has regarding the concept of freedom in Christ concerns when not to use it, which is, when your faith is directly challenged. In the passage, we are studying, the situation is when an unbeliever-host informs a believer-guest that the meat offered as part of the meal set before such a guest is sacrificed to a pagan idol. The believer is instructed not to eat the meat. So, we considered two related reasons the believer should refuse to eat that meat. The first is for clarity regarding the authenticity of the Christian faith. This, the believer does by making an impression on the host that the believer does not accept idol as worthy of worship and so would not want to have anything associated with an idol. The second concerns the matter of conscience of the unbeliever who made the believer aware of the source of meat that is part of the meal set before the believer. The Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul presented, using rhetorical questions, two objections a believer may give regarding the instruction not to eat the meat. The first is that the believer’s freedom in Christ should not be determined by the conscience of another person. The second is that there is no reason a person should criticize the believer who eats even such meat since he offered thanks to God. These two objections lead to a third reason a believer should not use the individual’s freedom when there is a challenge to the Christian faith by an unbeliever.
A third reason a believer should not use personal freedom in situation where there is a challenge to the Christian faith is that God’s glory supersedes any human freedom in Christ. This third reason is derived from what the Holy Spirit gave through Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 10:31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
It may not be clear that verse 31 supplies a third reason a believer should not consider freedom in Christ as absolute in its application because the verse seems not to be connected to the rhetorical questions of verses 29 and 30. In fact, it is because the connection between verse 31 to verses 29 and 30 is not obvious that caused some interpreters to reject the possibility that the structure of verses 29 and 30 fits into what is known as diatribe that the Lexham Bible Dictionary states is “a Graeco-Roman literary style characterized by a question-and-answer structure; used in much literature of the period, including New Testament letters (especially Paul’s).” But we contend that there is a connection between verse 31 and the preceding two verses. There are two supports for this interpretation. First, the context demands that this verse be considered a third reason for limiting the use of believer’s freedom when there is a challenge to the Christian faith in terms of being involved in an activity that in and of itself is not sinful but a believer’s involvement in such would send a wrong message to an unbeliever about the Christian faith. The apostle gave the first two reasons in verse 28 but before he gave the third reason, he presented two objections that a believer could mount regarding the instruction not to eat meat that a host had indicated was sacrificed to a pagan idol. It is after presenting the objections that he responded to the objections in a way that not only answers to the objections but established a general principle by which believers should carry out their activities on this planet. Second, the word “so” in verse 31 of the NIV in fact supports our interpretation as we will demonstrate.
The word “so” of the NIV is translated from a Greek conjunction (oun) that has several usages. However, in 1 Corinthians 10:31, its usage is subject to two possible interpretations. A first interpretation is that it is used as an inferential conjunction so that it is used to convey a deduction, conclusion, summary, or inference to the preceding discussion and so may be translated “so, therefore, then.” This usage leads to the interpretation that verse 31 is a logical conclusion to what the apostle had taught in chapters 8 to 10. Another usage of the conjunction is as a marker of response in which case it could be translated “so, now, in reply.” This usage is not often recognized but it is a legitimate interpretation of the Greek conjunction as the standard Greek English lexicon (BDAG) has suggested. Because this usage is not that commonly recognized, we need to demonstrate from some biblical passages that this interpretation of the Greek conjunction is appropriate. The conjunction is used in the interaction between Jesus Christ and the Samaritan woman. The Lord Jesus requested the woman to give Him water to drink as we read in John 4:7:
When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?”
The woman’s response is given in John 4:9:
The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
The translators of the NIV and some of our English versions did not translate our Greek conjunction that begins this verse although some English versions translated it using “so” or “therefore.” It makes sense to accept that verse 9 is a response of the Samaritan woman to the request of Jesus Christ. Thus, the verse could begin with the phrase “in reply” so that the first sentence of verse 9 would read In reply, the Samaritan woman said to him. This may appear redundant in the English but it conveys the sense of the Greek word used. Another example where our Greek conjunction is used to indicate a response is when a man approached the Lord Jesus to request healing for the son as we read in John 4:47:
When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death.
The response of Jesus Christ is given in John 4:48:
“Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders,” Jesus told him, “you will never believe.”
The translators of the NIV and many other English versions did not translate our Greek conjunction that begins the verse, but some did with the word “so.” We cannot be certain whether those who used the word “so” in their translation used it to indicate a response. Nonetheless, our Greek conjunction is used as a marker of response of Jesus Christ to the unnamed man in verse 48. Another example of the usage of our Greek conjunction to introduce a response is in the Lord Jesus’ response to the question of the Jews who wondered if He would give them His flesh because He stated that He is the bread of life which if anyone eats (that is believes in Him) the person will live eternally. The question of the Jews is given in John 6:52:
Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
The response of the Lord Jesus is given in John 6:53:
Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.
Again, the translators of the NIV did not translate our Greek conjunction that introduced Jesus Christ’ response where our Greek conjunction could be translated “in reply.” Anyway, the examples we have given should convince you that our Greek conjunction could be used to respond to a question. It is likely that the translators of the NCV adopted this second usage of our Greek conjunction because they began 1 Corinthians 10:31 with the sentence The answer is. In effect, the second interpretation that our Greek conjunction is used as a marker of response would mean that the Apostle Paul answered the rhetorical questions of the preceding two verses and so verse 31 would be considered an additional reason for a believer to limit use of freedom in Christ when the Christian faith is challenged.
We have considered the two possible interpretations of the Greek conjunction that begins verse 31 so the question is: How then should we understand the Greek conjunction translated “so” in the NIV of 1 Corinthians 10:31? The answer is that both interpretations are implied in our passage. The situation is that the apostle probably assumed that the objections to the instruction not to eat meat that an unbelieving host had informed the believing guest that it is from sacrificed meat made to a pagan idol are correct. Thus, the apostle responded by saying something like “such objections are valid but there is something more important than freedom one has in Christ in this specific situation.” This being the case, the conjunction that the apostle began verse 31 is used not only to supply the third reason for the instruction the Holy Spirit gave to him but to provide a generalized guideline that should govern every activity of the believer on this planet since the apostle went from the matter of food and drink to every activity of believers on this planet as in the sentence of 1 Corinthians 10:31 whatever you do. This guideline is to put the glory of God above every other thing on this planet as given in 1 Corinthians 10:31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
There are two questions we need to examine. The first is how should we understand the sentence whatever you do? The second is what does the phrase of 1 Corinthians 10:31 the glory of God mean? We begin with the first question of how to understand the sentence whatever you do.
The range of meaning of the Greek word (poieō) translated “do” helps us in understanding what the Holy Spirit intended for us in the sentence whatever you do. The Greek word may mean “to produce something material” hence means “to make, manufacture, produce.” Another meaning of the Greek word is “to undertake or do something that brings about an event, state, or condition” and so means “to do, cause, bring about, accomplish, prepare.” Still another meaning of the Greek word is “to carry out an obligation of a moral or social nature” hence means “to keep, carry out, practice, commit.” Thus, the sentence whatever you do is concerned with what a person can undertake or produce or carryout. This being the case, the apostle is concerned with every activity of our lives on this planet. In effect, the word whatever covers every activity a believer could be involved while on this planet.
It is impossible to list every activity a believer could be involved on this planet that is covered under the word whatever. Nonetheless, for the purpose of our study, we can classify our activities in this life in two general categories of physical and spiritual. Physical activities could further be classified into two: activities carried out in the home and those carried out outside the home. The activities carried out in the home include, but not limited to, cleaning, preparing food, and every activity that is necessary to make living in a home comfortable or enjoyable. Added to these are two important activities of raising children and doing marriage. When I use the expression “doing marriage” I mean primarily two things. The first is the daily interaction of the husband and wife with each other and the other is sexual relationship between them as the Holy Spirit communicated through Apostle Paul in the seventh chapter of 1 Corinthians that we studied in detail. Doing marriage also involves the responsibilities of the husband and wife. In effect, there is the responsibility of a wife submitting to the husband and the husband loving and ruling the wife. The activities carried out outside the home include, but not limited to, work that may involving producing something, governing others, and entertainments. Anyway, we have given a summary of physical activities of a believer that are included in the word whatever of the sentence whatever you do. The problem that we must contend with in this sentence is how to be involved in these activities to satisfy the instruction of 1 Corinthians 10:31 do it all for the glory of God. But before we get to that, let us focus our attention on the activities that are spiritual in nature.
Spiritual activities of believers are easier to list than the physical activities of the believer. The Scripture gives us the activities believers should be involved as they live out their lives on this planet. There are at least seven types of spiritual activities that a believer should be involved that are covered under the word whatever of the sentence whatever you do. The early church provided us with four activities that believers should jointly be involved with or should carry out. I am referring to the activities stated in Acts 2:42:
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
As we have stated, there are four activities of the church that every believer as part of the Christian community should be involved with. The first is the studying of the word of God under the teaching of gifted teachers of the church with authority to do so although here the gifted teachers are described as apostles in the sentence They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching. The studying of the word of God here is a group study of the Scripture under one with authority to teach it. It is not a private study that a person gets involved with after receiving the teaching of the word of God. No! It is the study of the Bible where believers assemble with each other. Thus, it is necessary to assemble with other believers or be a part of a local church in the study of the word of God. I realize that we have means today of delivering the word of God to people but when you get involved in such means, you should recognize that such means are intended to help those who want to be a part of a local church that studies the word of God but are unable to do so physically and not for your convenience. Anyway, an important spiritual activity of every believer is learning the word of God under a teacher of God’s word unless, of course, a person has the gift of teaching. Even then, a person with the gift of teaching must busy himself with the studying of the word of God. The second activity every believer should participate jointly with other believers is having fellowship with fellow believers as in the phrase to the fellowship. The word “fellowship” is translated from a Greek word (koinōnia) that here has the sense of “participation fellowship,” that is, “the act of sharing in the activities or privileges of an intimate association or group.” This word reminds us again of the reason we should assemble together with fellow believers in a local church where possible. Fellowship here refers to spiritual fellowship in which there is a real sense of connection between believers that would involve in sharing even material things with follow believers. This is implied in that the third activity of believers in the group of assembled believers is described in the phrase the breaking of bread. This is taken as a reference to the Love Meal of believers that is followed by the Lord’s Supper so that we can say that the third activity of the church that every believer should participate is the Love Meal and the Lord’s Supper. Some of you in this local church do not recognize that it is an important activity that you are required to be engaged in as a believer in Christ. I am saying that you fail in your responsibility as a believer in Christ if you absent yourself from this activity that involves breaking of bread with fellow believers. The fourth activity is prayer as in the phrase to prayer. This refers, in the context, to prayer of the Christian community and possibly the Jewish prayer that takes place at stipulated time.
We have mentioned four activities that believers would normally be engaged because of the activities of the early church. However, as we indicated, there are at least seven spiritual activities that a believer should be involved with that are covered under the word whatever of the sentence of 1 Corinthians 10:31 whatever you do. The remaining three are given not in one specific passage but in different passages. Thus, the fifth activity a believer is expected to be involved in is witnessing, that is, telling others about Jesus Christ and His goodness towards us. The Lord Jesus directly stated to the disciples that it is their responsibility to witness for Him as we read in Acts 1:8:
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
The sixth is giving. This activity is described in two ways. It is described in terms of sharing what one has with others as we read in Romans 12:13:
Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
It is this kind of giving that led to the instruction given to the Corinthians about their giving to help believers in Jerusalem as we read in 1 Corinthians 16:2:
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.
Giving is also described in terms of the support of the ministry and those in the ministry of the word of God as we read in Galatians 6:6:
Anyone who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with his instructor.
The seventh activity of believers in spiritual realm is praise of God that includes singing. Believers are expected to praise God as we may gather from 1 Peter 2:9:
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
In addition to praise, we are required to sing songs as we read in Ephesians 5:19–20:
19 Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Anyway, we have mentioned some of the activities that believers are expected to be involved as part of what is meant by the word whatever of the sentence whatever you do. This brings us to the second question we need to consider, that is, what does the phrase of 1 Corinthians 10:31 the glory of God mean?
The question we first need to answer is: What is glory? The word “glory” is translated from a Greek word (doxa) that may mean “honor, prestige”, as in Jesus’ teaching in John 7:18:
He who speaks on his own does so to gain honor for himself, but he who works for the honor of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him.
The word may refer to the state of being magnificent and so means “splendor, greatness” so the word is used to describe the greatness or splendor of the kingdom of the world that Satan offered to Jesus during his temptation of Him in Luke 4:6:
And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to.
The word can mean the condition of being bright or shining, hence means “brightness, splendor, radiance.” In a physical sense, it is used to describe the brightness of the light that blinded Apostle Paul when Jesus appeared to him on his way to Damascus to persecute Christians, as indicated in Acts 22:11:
My companions led me by the hand into Damascus, because the brilliance of the light had blinded me.
Under this meaning of shining, we have the concept of reflection of something. The word may mean “praise” as it is used to describe what believers should bring to God when they accept each other as Christ accepted them, as stated in Romans 15:7
Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 10:31, the word means “glory” as a state of high honor or praise. That aside, the question is to understand what the apostle meant in the phrase glory of God.
The phrase glory of God is one that is used in different ways in the Scripture and so let us explore this phrase. The psalmist states that the heavens declare the glory of God in Psalm 19:1:
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Here the phrase the glory of God refers to God’s power, greatness, and majesty that are manifest in the created universe. Solomon used the phrase to indicate that God acts in a mysterious way as we read in Proverbs 25:2:
It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings.
The phrase the glory of God here refers either to the honor of God or His greatness. The Lord Jesus before raising of Lazarus from the dead says that Lazarus’ death is for God’s glory as we read in in John 11:4:
When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.”
God’s glory in this verse of John 11 refers to His power. In effect, Jesus said that the death of Lazarus is to reveal the power of God or how powerful He is. This interpretation is supported by what the Lord Jesus said later after He brought back Lazarus from the dead in John 11:40:
Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?”
The glory of God that the disciples saw was the power of God demonstrated in raising Lazarus from the dead. . Another context in which “glory” has the meaning of power is when Apostle Paul mentioned the means of resurrection of Jesus Christ in Romans 6:4:
We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
Certainly, the phrase the glory of the Father refers to the power of the Father. During the stoning of Stephen to death, it was reported that he saw the glory of God as we read in Acts 7:55:
But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.
Here the phrase glory of God refers brightness from the presence of God since Stephen saw something and Jesus but not the other two members of the Godhead. Apostle Paul used the phrase glory of God severally. In describing the fallen state of humankind, he used the phrase in Romans 3:23:
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
The phrase the glory of God here refers to the likeness or image of God that each person is intended to bear but which was lost because of sin. Of course, it is also possible that the phrase could refer to God’s saving presence as some interpret it. Apostle Paul in describing the present state of believers and what they confidently expect in the future, used our phrase in Romans 5:2:
through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
The phrase the glory of God here refers to “attribute of God” or “divine qualities and attributes of God” that the believer ultimately hope to share. In explaining the reason, a man should not cover his head during worship, Apostle Paul used the phrase we are considering in 1 Corinthians 11:7:
A man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man.
The phrase glory of God here means the reflection of the nature of God. The apostle in amplifying God’s faithfulness used the phrase in 2 Corinthians 1:20:
For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.
The phrase the glory of God here refers to God being honored. The apostle in providing the reason for him and others not preaching themselves, but Christ, used our phrase 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.
Here the phrase the glory of God has the meaning of “brightness of God.” The apostle used the phrase we are considering in the context of thanksgiving in 2 Corinthians 4:15:
All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.
The phrase the glory of God here refers to the praise of God. It is in the same sense of the praise of God that Apostle Paul used the phrase in Philippians 2:11:
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
The phrase is used in the description of heavenly temple in Revelation 15:8:
And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed.
In this passage, the phrase the glory of God refers to the visible manifestation of God’s presence in the form of a brilliant light.
Our consideration of the phrase the glory of God as used in the Scripture indicates that its meaning is context dependent. Thus, in our passage of 1 Corinthians 10:31 the phrase the glory of God refers to the praise or honor that characterizes God or the honor or praise that belongs to Him. This interpretation notwithstanding, we should recognize that because of the range of meanings of the phrase that in some applications the phrase may refer to God’s greatness or power. This qualification helps us to apply correctly the instruction given in 1 Corinthians 10:31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Anyway, with the answer to what the glory of God means in our passage of study, with the answer that the sentence whatever you do is concerned with what a person can undertake or produce or carryout, and with a summary of the general activities involved in the word whatever, we are now ready to examine the actual responsibility the Holy Spirit puts on us as believers in Christ.
The actual responsibility is given in the command do it all for the glory of God. Many of us Christians quote this instruction but may not grasp what it is that we are quoting or how to apply it. Thus, it is our intention that by the end of this study you will not only understand what you quote but how to put it in practice. To understand and correctly apply the command demands understanding of two prerequisites of the instruction. A first prerequisite of the instruction do it all for the glory of God is possession of a mindset with the sole aim of honoring God either in form of Him receiving praise or in the form of acknowledgment of His character, specifically but not limited to, His power and goodness. We say that the believer must possess a mindset of honoring God because of the word for in the instruction do it all for the glory of God. The word is translated from a Greek preposition (eis) with a range of usages. But in the command, we are examining, it is used as a marker of goal or aim. The implication is that a believer should be occupied with this one goal of ensuring that in every activity the person gets involved that God should be praised or honored. This honoring of God or praise, as we have implied, should involve acknowledging the character of God or His goodness. So, if you are going to obey this instruction, you must have your thought process rearranged so that your aim in life and in all your activity is praising God or acknowledging His character.
A second prerequisite necessary to understand and correctly apply the instruction do it all for the glory of God related to the first is formation of habit of seeking to carry out every activity to bring praise to God. A habit begins with one action that is then repeated several times. Thus, to obey the instruction do it all for the glory of God, you must begin with a determination that you are going to do what is required again and again until it becomes a habit. This requirement is because the command do is in the present tense in the Greek. The present tense used in our command has the sense of continuing something or simply to make something a habit. Thus, you should form the habit that whatever you do is intended to bring praise to God or to reveal His character. The determination to do everything to bring praise to God demands that the believer should be occupied with Christ through occupation with the word of God. This occupation with the word of God is what enables a believer to know that what the individual does is in keeping with God’s word. It is because we need our souls to be saturated with God’s word that we have the command of Colossians 3:16:
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.
It is only as the word of God keeps residing in a person’s soul would the individual be mindful of God in every aspect of the person’s life. By the way, it is as a believer has the word of God in the soul that the person can fulfill an instruction that is similar to the one, we are considering, given in Colossians 3:17:
And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
A person who meets the two prerequisites of life goal of honoring God and the formation of habit of doing what the command we are considering states, would be ready to obey the command. So, let us then illustrate how this works out in the two major categories of activities we mentioned.
We illustrate the application of the command by considering first physical activities carried out in the home that include cleaning, preparing food, and every activity that is necessary to make living in a home comfortable or enjoyable. The believer who has such tasks should begin with the mindset to bring praise to God. Quickly, the person would ask what it really would mean for God to be praised because of these activities. In these two activities of cleaning and preparing food, praising God would take the form of offering thanks to God and recognition of something about God’s character. In effect, the person involved in these two activities would be thinking of how to carry out these activities so that those who benefit would thank God and observe God’s goodness in what the individual does. Armed with this kind of understanding, the person who cleans or cooks would want to do the person’s best so that others who see the individual’s effort would not only recognize what a great thing the person has done in cleaning or cooking but also to be able to thank God for both activities that benefit the recipients. Indeed, the person who carries these activities would be concerned that God approves what the individual does, in that way God receives the honor due Him. Take another example of doing marriage. A believer whose aim is to bring praise to God does marriage with the mindset that asks the question, “does how I treat my spouse lead to God being praised for the concept of marriage He instituted?” In other words, a person who is concerned with God being praised would endeavor to carry out his/her marriage responsibilities in such a way that the other spouse would be able to thank God for the concept of marriage that put the two people together. In effect, if your spouse cannot thank God for the concept of marriage then you are not doing your marriage to the glory of God. This is because God is not being praised or acknowledged due to your actions in your marriage. If you do your marriage to praise God then your spouse would see the goodness of what God has done in your life as it reflects in the marriage relationship. What I am saying is captured by the expected reaction of an unbelieving spouse that is impressed by believing spouse to lead to the unbelieving spouse’ salvation similar to what is recorded using the wife as an illustration in 1 Peter 3:1:
Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives,
Anyway, I have illustrated using activities done in the home so let me illustrate using activity done outside the home such as in a workplace. A believer whose goal is to bring praise to God and who has formed the habit to do so would ask of how the individual would bring praise to God or acknowledgment of God through the person’s work. The answer would be to carry out the individual’s work so that the person’s attitude would reflect that the individual is a believer. Consequently, the person would do his/her best to ensure that whatever work the individual does would be admired by others who would then learn that it is because of the individual’s faith that the person is a hard and careful worker. If a person avoids bringing any shame to the Christian faith, then the individual has performed in a way that would bring praise to God. It is similar to what the Holy Spirit said through the Apostle Paul to Titus regarding the conduct of slaves in serving their masters in Titus 2:9–10:
9 Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, 10 and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive.
A believer with the mindset of bringing praise to the Lord would work hard to avoid any thing said of the person that would dishonor the Christian faith.
We have used illustrations from physical activities, let us turn to spiritual activities so we can also demonstrate how the command do it all for the glory of God would be applied. Take the example of studying the word of God through attendance to the local church where the word of God is taught. A believer who has the aim of praising God in that activity would ask the question of how the individual would do that so that God would receive praise. The answer the person would arrive at, is to attend in such a way that people would recognize the person’s consistency and thank God for the individual. In addition, the person would recognize that if the individual applies the truth learned that others would also be thankful to God for such an individual. This would be similar to the various occasions Apostle Paul thanked God for the faithfulness of believers as we read, for example, in 2 Thessalonians 1:3:
We ought always to thank God for you, brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing.
Take another example, that of giving. A believer with the aim of giving in such a way to bring praise to God would do so in such a way that others would thank God for the person’s generosity as Apostle Paul implied in what he said to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 9:13:
Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else.
A person who is concerned with praise to God for generosity is very careful to be secretive as possible in the individual’s giving as the Lord Jesus taught that is recorded in Matthew 6:3–4:
3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
We have illustrated how the command do it all for the glory of God should be carried out so you should be able to obey it following our illustration. Obeying this command, as we have stated, requires that you have a mindset that you want to bring praise to God in whatever you do. This then requires that a believer constantly ask the question as to how what he/she is about to do will cause others to praise God or recognize the goodness of God. Anyway, let me end by reminding you that the third reason a believer should not use personal freedom in situation where there is a challenge to the Christian faith is that God’s glory supersedes any human freedom in Christ.
10/08//21