Notice that the question of eating meat sacrificed to idols is so important that Paul consumes three chapters on the topic — so many verses that we usually assume Paul drifted off to another subject or two, only to return to meat and idols. But it’s really all a very elaborate argument about meats and idols.
And notice what Paul does not do. He does not say, “I am an apostle empowered to know all God’s rules. Since you asked me, I’ll tell you what the rule is.” No, he uses all these verses to explain in detail why he thinks as he does. It’s not just a rule. It’s never just a rule. There’s always a reason.
What are the principles from which Paul reasons?
* The gospel — especially the example of Jesus as sacrificing for us so that we must sacrifice for others.
* Love for our neighbors — which is the guiding principle of when and how to sacrifice for others. We don’t sacrifice because God loves to see us suffer. We sacrifice out of love, because we place the good of others ahead of our own good. Because we love, sacrifice is joyful, not painful.
* The nature and character of God as revealed in the Old Testament, especially the Torah.
* The character of Christ as revealed in the God of the Old Testament — which somehow seems backwards in light of countless sermons about how Jesus softens the character of God as revealed in the Old Testament, especially the Torah. In fact, all these killings of grumbling, complaining Israelites seems so harsh to us that we imagine God changing in light of the good example of his Son on the cross. And yet Paul says we have it exactly backwards! Jesus is the one who was so offended by the grumbling that he took the lives of the complainers, depriving them of their inheritance in the Promised Land.
Imagine the Jesus of 1500 BC thinking, “I’m going to die on a cross for these people, and they are upset because the menu in the desert is boring! And the Father is feeding them and bringing them meat and water that they only need gather from the ground! I’ll show them. When the time is right, I’ll fast for 40 days, because as much as the food I helped create is for the enjoyment of the people I helped create, life is not about food. And how can I ask them to skip meals unless I’m willing to do the same?”
(Deu 8:3 ESV) 3 And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.
You see, when Jesus was fasting and being tempted, he was thinking back to the desert wanderings. The hunger, Moses says, was to teach a lesson: that man lives by the word of God, not meat.
* The gospel — especially our obligation to teach the lost and, therefore, to put nothing in their way.
* The fact that subjective sin is sin, and so we cannot tempt our brothers to sin against their consciences. We’d be better off skipping a meal or two.
Notice the utter absence of any reasoning from authority or the lack of authority. Paul starts with the general rule that all things are permitted, and then he limits this rule in light of the foregoing principles.
We cannot use our freedom to tempt our brothers to sin against their consciences as a result of peer pressure. We cannot use our freedom in a manner that tears down people we are supposed to build up. Of course, “build up” ultimately means “build into the image of Christ.” We have to remember —
* The mission. Evangelism. Teaching the lost about Jesus. Showing the love of God. Becoming more and more like Jesus.
These things are paramount — even to taking a salary (in Paul’s case) or eating three square meals a day (in the case of his readers).
Why, do you suppose, did Paul not simply declare a law, insist on his authority as an apostle, and leave it at that? We have this whole body of teaching that the apostles has special gift of the Spirit that told that the rules and laws before the New Testament was written.
But Paul obviously considers it very important that his readers understand how to think like an apostle. He could never give them enough rules and laws. He chose, instead, to give them an understanding of how to think about the gospel and Jesus, God, and the Spirit so that they would be prepared for whatever might come their way.
And as always, it’s more about being than knowing, about living the gospel as a part of the grand narrative of all of scripture. When you see that, understand that, as a vessel of God’s Holy Spirit, you shouldn’t need a rulebook.
(Gal 5:16-18 ESV) 16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
Bread, food, drink, table, hunger, thirst…the major miracles and the road to Emmaus. It’s all about the meal and satisfaction or fulfilment being found in him