Love Must Triumph

1 Corinthians  •  Sermon  •  Submitted
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What happens when a theology of freedom trumps a theology of love

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In our series on 1 Corinthians, I have been wanting to get to this place where we talked about the polarization of the church in Corinth and what I think is really behind it...
I think that the church had become obsessed with their own freedom, their own rights, their own ability to act and I think they lost their obsession with love

Explanation of Freedom

And here is what I mean by freedom:

Romans 8:1-2

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death

Freedom in Christ is that Jesus set us free from sin.
He removed the barrier between us and the father!
Freedom is, if you have said, “Yes” to Jesus and surrendered your life to him then you are no longer bound as a slave to sin.
Guilt no longer has the last word in your life…This is freedom!
And freedom in Christ is a wonderful thing...
The Apostle Peter discovered this when God sent him to Cornelius’s house…And in a Vision…God told Peter…its okay to eat whatever type of food you want...
See Peter was bound by these strict Old Testament food laws and traditions, Jesus was trying to show Peter that when you find your life in Jesus, you are no longer bound to this old law....
Jesus is taking you from the old to the new!
Peter had an interaction with Jesus in that time

Acts 10:15

15 The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”

Jesus had said this before…But for Peter, this is an earth shattering moment...
There had always been clean and unclean animals and clean and unclean people...

Acts 10:34

34 Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism 35 but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right

There is this whole new freedom!
Its not just about food…and People…When you are in Christ and He has cleansed you from your sin and is making you into a new creation then you are free from the law…And in the time of Paul’s writing to the church in Corinth that is mostly what freedom was…Free from following every letter of the law…Free from the strict observance ..
And we as a society love our freedom!

Freedom (Knowledge) vs Love

But we have to be cautions
Our society and our church culture has subtly elevated our own freedom…a theology of freedom over a theology of love…Now it didn’t happen all at once…But with our culture changing and shifting subtly from a community based ethic to an individualistic ethic has changed our theology…
So over time we have elevated this theology of freedom over a theology of love..
So a theology of freedom is me focused
But a theology of love is others focused
In other words…our preferences…Our choices…our opinions had become more important than love and concern of others
Now don’t get me wrong here, Freedom is a wonderful thing. God created us as free beings, with freedom of thought so that we can be free, but all of that needs to rightfully fall under a theology of love
But Love must tower over freedom
So in the Bible this discussion happens around the grey areas of life.
So here is what we are going to do today…We are going to dig into chapters 8-10 and we are going look at some of these grey areas to draw this out because I think you will see that this is so important to our spiritual lives today
This is so important to maturity today
Because to say this the most simple way possible…moving from an attitude of freedom to love is moving from selfishness to selflessness

1 Corinthians 8:1-3

8 Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that “We all possess knowledge.” But knowledge puffs up while love builds up. 2 Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know. 3 But whoever loves God is known by God. e

So Paul is setting the stage for talking about a contemporary issue, which is a big issue in the life of the church in Corinth…It is the issue of food sacrificed to idols.
He has to address something…first
Knowledgewithout love is disastrous
Does anyone remember the TV show “House?”
The Doctor that could find the cure to any obscure disease?
Well House was the poster child for for a guy who had knowledge without love…He didn't want to meet with his patients, he was rude to them …But he always knew what to do and how to get the job done…House eventually saved the day, but he was a real jerk while he was doing it.
In the same wayPaul is saying…Church all of you have “knowledge” but you are not acting in any sort of love!
Love needs to be your first focus!
Focus on loving God and being loved by God
Lexham Context Commentary: New Testament Humble and Loving Knowledge (8:1–6)

Life is not about moral and philosophical principles alone but about relating to the living God in humility and love (Mic 6:8).

Because with the next stretch of 1 Corinthians we are going to be diving into some moral grey areas…
And what Paul is focusing on right up front is that, Love is the filter through which all grey areas are looked at
and you know what, your own personal freedom always comes last!

1 Corinthians 8:4-8 NIV

4 So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that “An idol is nothing at all in the world” and that “There is no God but one.” 5 For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”), 6 yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.

7 But not everyone possesses this knowledge. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat sacrificial food they think of it as having been sacrificed to a god, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled. 8 But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.

So here Paul is saying, listen…This is a grey area…Not everyone understands this…
He is saying…We know that there is no God but One God! We know that food does not bring us nearer to God
In the christian world, food is just food, its not like in the pagan world
In the Pagan world, when you sacrifice the animal to a false god and then eat it it is an act of worship...
So Paul takes a Jesus approach to the whole thing...
In Mark 7:15 Jesus said

Mark 7:15

15 Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.

But then Paul goes on to explain the problem

1 Corinthians 8:9-13

9 Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak. 10 For if someone with a weak conscience sees you, with all your knowledge, eating in an idol’s temple, won’t that person be emboldened to eat what is sacrificed to idols? 11 So this weak brother or sister, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. 12 When you sin against them in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. 13 Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause them to fall.

So here Paul explains to the church that the calamity that fully embracing their own freedom might cause ...
So to make this perfectly clear, in the Corinthian world, eating meat sacrificed to idols was basically a way of declaring your allegiance to another God..
So if you were eating this meat and a less mature christian saw you, they might just conclude that hey, its okay to worship Jesus and this other god…
Your actions could become a stumbling block to other people and your actions might cause others to sin!
What Paul is saying is that, if that is the scenario then just don’t eat!
I know some of you like to have a glass of wine with dinner…And there is nothing in the Bible saying that is wrong…You have the freedom to do that...
But what if you have someone over who is a recovering alcoholic? Would you still drink in front of that person?
NO Absolutely not!
Or what if someone is a new christian coming out of a partying lifestyle and your actions sort of tell them…You can party Saturday night but worship on Sundays...
What Paul is trying to say to the church is that your actions show others what is acceptable or not…So be careful!
Watch out who is around you!
But in the same way if you have meat and it has been sacrificed to idols and no one is around, then are you free to eat that?
Of course! You are free as a new creation in Christ to follow your conscience in debatable matters!
But you have to let love lead you in all of these areas!
See, christian liberty needs to always be exercised in subordination to “Christian Love!”
Paul’s whole point here with food sacrificed to idols and with anything else that you can think is a grey area in your walk with God is, Do you lead with Love?
Is Love your Primary Goal?
Or is it your preferences, your freedom, your way
The whole rest of chapter 9 & 10 are like this too.
In chapter 9 Paul talks about his motive for putting love above freedom

Paul’s Motive

1 Corinthians 9:19-23

19 Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. 23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.

Paul is like, Listen I used my freedom in christ to get an audience with all sorts of people so that I can tell them all about the love of Jesus Christ!
And not only that, I limit my own freedom so that I can freely help others find and follow Jesus…Because it is not about me!
See for Paul, Following Jesus is not about having the freedom to do whatever you want…It is about taking the love you have recieved and lavishing it back on others!

Application

We will always have grey areas to deal with as christians
We are days away from an election…And I think this is another grey area…Because as a christian you are free to be a Republican, a Democrat, a Libertarian, a Green Party person…you are free engage in your political preferences...
But you know what goes out the window? Love!
When I was in college, Campus Crusade for Christ set up a “Doubt Wall” and what they did was put up this big wall where you can write your doubts and then the leaders of Campus Crusade would be there to answer questions and pray with people.
Someone wrote in big capital letters across the wall, “Why can’t Democrats be Christians too?”
And this is a perfect example of how the church has failed in this area over the years.
Because the church had communicated whether on purpose or not…To follow Christ is to be Republican…and to not follow christ is Democrat.
And the reality is that is just wrong…It is the church leading with freedom over love!
What the church has somehow communicated over the years is that you can only follow Jesus if your political preferences match up!
See I think if Paul was here today he would be seriously grieved by that question on the wall!
He would have said, to the republicans I become like a republican
to the Democrats I become a democrat
to the Libertarians I become a libertarian
WHY? For the sake of love…to win others to Christ!
So this week there are a few things I want to ask you to do
Would you consider laying down your preferences for the sake of loving others?
I am pretty sure all that agonizing that Jesus did in the garden was about him laying down his freedom for the sake of love!
Would you consider the permission that you are giving others in your actions?
And here is the first place where you ought to consider these…Home
Maybe drinking with dinner is setting a bad example for your kids?
Maybe its not, you have to judge that for yourself
Maybe the words and the language you use sets a contradiction in the head of your kids!
My Youth Pastor used to tell me, you could be the only example of Jesus that anyone ever sees, how are you living?
In following Jesus this week, lead in love!
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