[Read the Bible Together Series]
Read 1 Corinthians 8-10 Together
Read 1 Corinthians 8-10 by yourself or in a group. Use the following questions to guide your reading:
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What are your initial observations of this passage?
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Did you find anything confusing? Exciting? Challenging?
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What are some of the most important words and themes? Why?
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What are some of the key verses or paragraphs in this section? Why?
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How would you outline this section of 1 Corinthians?
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What do you think is the author’s intent for this passage — what was his point exactly?
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What would you say is the expected response(s) to this passage?
“Take Care with Liberty”
How do you know if someone is a Christian? His cross t-shirt? The fish on the bumper of her car? Of course, only God can see into the heart and soul of a person and say for sure, but one of the truest marks of a Christian is love. But that raises another question: What is love? How do you know if love is genuine? We all agree that words alone mean little. Love will result in action and genuine love can be demonstrated in many ways. Jesus was the greatest example of love and the Apostle John tells us that He demonstrated His love through sacrifice (1 John 4:7-11).
In 1 Corinthians 8-10, we learn that in the Corinthian church, there was a secondary issue causing a lot of trouble: Meat sacrificed to idols. Not a big issue in our time, but it provided the Apostle Paul with an opportunity to teach a timeless principle of maturity for Christians: Love trumps liberty.
Overview of 1 Corinthians 8-10
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Big Idea: Mature Christians should be willing to give up their freedoms in order to edify brothers and sisters with weaker consciences.
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1 Corinthians 8: This chapter contains an important principle: “Knowledge makes arrogant, but love edifies.” Paul was not anti-knowledge or pro-ignorance—he highlighted the importance of knowledge throughout 1 Corinthians. He was saying that knowledge alone about Christian liberty—apart from love—makes a person arrogant.
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1 Corinthians 9: Paul illustrated from his own life how he followed the principle he taught in chapter 8. He knew this teaching was difficult, and he wanted his readers to know that he himself had practiced what he preached.
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1 Corinthians 10: Paul knew that Christian liberty came with both responsibility and temptation. In chapter 10, he warned the Corinthian Christians against pride which could lead to disqualification. Instead, they should seek “the glory of God,” the profit of believers and the salvation of unbelievers.
