Controlled by Love

0:51And so I want to help narrow our focus this morning by considering some questions that are going to get us thinking a little bit more deeply. So think about the following. Is kissing in a dating relationship taking things too far? Is it okay to use certain reproductive technologies? Is it okay to spend time on sports and hobbies? Should I, can I get a tattoo? What about instruments or using certain instruments in congregational worship? Is it okay to listen to certain types of music?

1:28How about celebrating health? Halloween. Is it okay to watch mixed martial arts for entertainment? Fair trade, playing video games, reading Harry Potter? What about the form of medicine that you use or practice? How about kids' schooling? Public, private, homeschool? What about food? Natural versus processed? How about church practices? How the church is organized and what it does? What about money practices? Giving, saving, spending, debt, investing, drinking alcohol, when you have kids and how many kids you have?

2:21Health practices? And what about Santa Claus? All of these questions create a response in us because our consciences, our sense of awareness of what we believe is right and wrong, go into overdrive sorting through all that we believe on these matters and what we believe informs the way that we live. What makes these questions tricky, church, is that though our consciences and our responses are immediate, often black and white, because That's how the conscience works. Most of these are difficult to knell down scripturally.

3:10And that's because I believe many of these fall into what we would call third-level issues, disputable matters, or matters of the conscience. And so, look at these levels. Hopefully, this is helpful. You have first-level issues, which are central or essential to the Christian faith. That means you can't deny these and still be a Christian. Things like the Trinity, deity of Jesus, resurrection, and there are many others. Second-level issues are important, but not essential to the Christian faith. Right? We don't all believe the same things, but it's hard to be part of the same church and not believe the same about many of these things. We have mode of baptism, church government, roles of men and women in the church and in the home.

3:57And this is the reason for many of our denominations or local churches. And then we have third-level issues or disputable matters, matters of conscience. And these are not unimportant, but members of the same church should be able to disagree on these issues and have close fellowship. Disagreements about these should not cause disunity in the body. Think about the issues we talked about, the questions I asked you. We should expect to disagree with fellow Christians about these third-level issues and learn to live with those differences. And so, though it's impossible to perfectly parallel the first century, I believe that is the question before us this morning, 1 Corinthians 8. The question is: to eat or not to eat.

4:54That's the question that the Corinthians are raising, and Paul is answering. This falls into the third level because it was not sinful to eat. It was not sinful to not eat. We know that Jesus came to fulfill the law. And we learn in texts like Mark 7 and Romans 14 and this text that it was not a sin to eat. And so this falls in a third-level conscience issue. And I believe what we learn in this letter will be instructive and helpful for us. Ultimately, what we're going to learn is that for the sake of unity in the church, we must be controlled by love.

5:39And I think that's what Paul is communicating to us this morning. So he begins in these first few verses and he identifies the problem. Right? We know that Paul's been settling disputes or arguments in the church. He's been talking about sexuality. He's been talking about marriage. And now he comes to the topic of food. And just like before. Paul is using the topic of food to address deeper issues, to dig down deeper and talk about what's really going on. And so the issue appears to be food, but Paul's going to dig a little bit deeper. Don't we love that?

6:13It hurts, but it's good. And so that's what Paul's doing. And so the question is whether or not it was sinful to eat meat. So here's the scenario. For the Corinthian Christians, what you have is you have animals being sacrificed in the worship service of an idol. And the meat that was not used in that service was used by the priest. And if it wasn't used by the priest, it was then sold in the market or used at the temple restaurant.

6:48And so you can see how this would become an issue because you have Christians worried that they were going to eat meat that was used in the worship service of an idol. Additionally, it's a big problem because what you have in Corinth is you have Christians who are both Jewish and Gentile. Couldn't be any more different. And so what you have is you have Jews who are now Christians who are still largely under the influence of the law. They're conflicted as to whether or not they must continue to adhere to the law.

7:22And as a result, they're anxious to avoid any contact or any practice that resembled his law. Heathen idolatry. Now, we would say that's wise. We can also see why they were very anxious. Someone invites them over for dinner. How do they know where the meat came from? Right? They're anxious, they're nervous about this. Though they were freed from keeping the law, the lingering effects of their old life still remained. There's this sacred secular divide. The issue is they had not fully grasped how the cross had transformed them. Not only had it transformed, was it the basis of their salvation, right? But it was also the basis of their new worldview, teaching them how to live in a broken and fallen world. I love how Carson and Moo explain this. Look on the screen. These sort of social pressures were still shaping immature Corinthian believers. The problem was not so much that they were relapsing into paganism as that their Christian faith, however sincere, had not yet transformed their worldview that they had adopted from the surrounding culture. They had not grasped how the theology of the cross not only constitutes the basis of our salvation, but also and inevitably teaches us how to live and serve, and such teaching is in radical contradiction to a world dominated by self-promotion and social climbing.

9:00Though they knew they were free to eat, in other words, it was not sinful, their conscience would not allow them to eat. We can say it another way. Because of what they believed to be right in this area regarding food, their freedom was limited or restricted in this way. You see that? The Gentile Christians, on the other hand, were quite different. They may be more similar. We might relate more with these Gentile Christians because their background was so different. They really didn't have any restrictions. They weren't under the law. And this is, in fact, what Paul is addressing in much of the New Testament. The issue of whether or not Gentiles have to become Jews in order to be Christians, right? Think about circumcision, restrictions that involve food, Sabbath restrictions, all of that. That's much of the debate of the New Testament. They really have no fear or anxiety about living in the world and doing the things of the world because they had experienced it all. There's not really any sacred or secular divide in their lives. Their struggle, however, may be similar to many of ours. Their struggle is with worldliness, pursuing pleasure at all costs.

10:24And so upon coming to Christ, the theology of the cross begins to make way. On their sense of freedom. So, the challenge for them is to properly understand their newfound freedom in Christ, to not abuse their freedom and listen, to limit their freedom. We can say it another way: because they knew that things, food, drink, money, they knew that they weren't bad in and of themselves. They wouldn't corrupt a person, they were free, and thus their consciences were free and clear to eat the food. You see the difference? One is very limited and restricted, one is free. So, you can imagine why this is an issue when Paul addresses food offered to idols. And so, here's where Paul lands: these first few verses, here's the problem: he mentions two things: he mentions knowledge, and he mentions love. And though knowledge, the difference in knowledge, was something that was there, right? It was an issue. Ultimately, where Paul lands is he says the issue is a lack of love. What does he mean? Well, the Gentiles knew the right things about God.

11:50Their theology was actually pretty solid. That may describe many of us. You can see that Paul even. Says, you may think that you know, but you don't actually know. Little jab from Paul. Here's the point: Paul says, anyone who truly knows God will be known by God. Those who are known by God will live differently. And what he's telling the Gentile Christians specifically is: he's saying, your life really doesn't look like this. It doesn't appear, and he's going to explain it, it doesn't appear that you love God as you should because knowing God and being known by God makes one humble and not prideful.

12:42And to be humble is to love, even and especially when others aren't like you. Think about Philippians 2. It was our opening call to worship last week. The humility, the love of Jesus to set aside his own rights. That's what Paul's saying. Brothers, sisters, the issue is love. Could there be any better word for us this morning? We live in a context right next to one of the largest universities. We are well-educated, fairly wealthy. And my friends, we tend to exalt our knowledge and our convictions above our brothers and sisters at their expense. Could there be any better words? Better word for us this morning as we think about messy church, being a messy church. I don't think so.

13:37Paul says, No, don't do that. Don't do that. That's not the right way. You've been called to love because love builds up. The only way that we will see unity in the church is if we are controlled by love. And this is the way of our Savior. This is what led him to the cross. And I love how Paul describes this in his next letter to the Corinthians, 2 Corinthians 5. Look at what he says. For the love of Christ controls us.

14:15Because we have concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all have died. And he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves, but for him who for their sake died and was raised. This, this is the aim. This is the goal. Self-sacrificing love. That's what Paul's saying. To not demand our rights and use our freedoms at the expense of others. That's one side. And to not require others to conform to our conviction. When they're not supported by the scripture, but instead with great humility, as Jesus did, to walk in love, to be controlled by love. So that's the problem. The problem is love. So let's look at what's at stake now in this next section, beginning in verse 4. Paul is going to transition and he's going to address the Gentiles specifically. Look at what he says. He essentially says, You guys are right. You're right. Idols don't really exist. There's only one God and Father, and there's only one Lord.

15:40How amazing! In a couple of sentences, this statement, this depth, the depth of theological truth that Paul affirms in the Gentiles. It reminds me of Colossians 1. For further study, take a look and meditate this week on Colossians 1. That first chapter is unbelievably rich and packed with truths like this: the preeminence of Jesus Christ. It's wonderful. So, what's the point, Paul? Well, I think what Paul is trying to say to the Gentile believers is he's not just trying to throw out knowledge completely, he's not trying to say that attaining knowledge or having convictions altogether is wrong.

16:30But rather, what I think he's trying to communicate to these Gentile believers especially and to us is that when those things begin to control you and guide your every interaction and you don't love your brothers and sisters, that is a problem. That is a problem, and it will be seen in your interactions with others. Oftentimes, the attainment of knowledge prevents us from seeing that not everyone is in the same place as we are, theologically, convictionally, and so on.

17:09And that's what Paul says in verse 7. However, not all possess that knowledge, but some, through former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. Not all possess this knowledge. Because of their former lives, think about all that that means for the Jew. All of the restrictions. They were really struggling in this way because their consciences were weak, not theologically informed, as they should be in this area. And so I want to take a moment and I want to press pause and I want to dig a little bit deeper and think about this topic of conscience, right? We talked about at the beginning. And Paul's going to address it throughout, and so we need to understand what in the world does this mean. It seems like a big term that is thrown around a lot, and I don't even know. So, let's look at it. First, a couple of definitions to think about to get us all thinking the same. First of all, I want to highly recommend Nacelli and Crowley's book on the conscience. We have it in the bookstall. It is wonderful in helping to explain and work out what exactly this means. But one of their definitions is: the conscience is your awareness or sense of what you believe is right or wrong.

18:40And I combined a bunch of other things and came up with this: it's the soul's ability to know right from wrong, good and bad, and commend or condemn those things. Don't miss the second part, it is absolutely critical. That second part about commending or condemning tells us a lot about the conscience, and that leads to the second point: your conscience functions like an on-off switch, not like a dimmer. Look at this quote from Nacelli and Crowley: Because your conscience wants to make such stark pronouncements, it is of utmost importance that you and I align your personal conscience standards with what God considers right and wrong, not just human opinion. Otherwise, your conscience will pronounce. Guilty verdicts on what on matters of mere opinion. So you can see how what you know and what you believe work together, and you can also see how we can find ourselves in very dangerous places. The conscience wants to pronounce judgment, render a verdict. It's all about right and wrong.

19:51And if our consciences are not tethered to, brought underneath, under submission of God's word, we can find ourselves in dangerous places. Think about the questions above. Think about the typical church experience. Think about how much fighting occurs around these issues. Oftentimes, my friends, it's because our consciences are not brought under submission of God's Word. Third thing, your conscience is for you. No two people have the same conscience. And no one's conscience perfectly matches God's will. Okay?

20:39No one's perfectly matches God's will. And that's why we need texts like this, Romans 14, to help us instruct us. Finally, the conscience is a capacity that can be trained, grown, and developed. And that's why Paul describes the conscience as either strong. Or weak. And so when your conscience is strong in a particular area, think about the Gentiles when it comes to this food, this issue of food. When your conscience is strong in a particular area, your knowledge and understanding of a particular subject is theologically informed by God's Word. Additionally, you are pretty straight on what is first, second, or third-level issue. There's not much confusion there. And so typically, you'll be able to live more freely. Your faith will allow you to be more free in a particular way that God does not prohibit, but in ways that some might be restricted. Right? You name it. Alcohol, celebrating holidays.

21:49And here's the danger. When your conscience is strong in a particular way, you may be tempted to err on the side of license. You may be tempted to err on the side of license that God doesn't prohibit, so I can do it. If you have a problem with it, that's your problem. And Paul, inspired by the Lord Himself, says, no. Look at verse 9. But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.

22:30The danger of license, my friends, is a very serious and dangerous problem. But let's look on the other side. When your conscience is weak in a particular way, think about the Jews and this food issue. Your knowledge and understanding, you have knowledge and understanding generally, but there's typically a lack of clarity on exactly what God says or what that means. There's typically confusion on is this a first or second or third level issue? And typically what that looks like is lives that are more restricted or limited in a particular way, right? Your faith does not allow you to fill in the blank in ways that are not necessarily prevented by the scripture.

23:21And here's the danger. When our consciences are weak in a particular way, we will tend to err on the side of legalism. We will be restricted in certain ways. And what legalism is, is when we feel restricted and we feel like others have to be restricted in the same ways. You have to have the same convictions on these certain things that I have. And that is the danger of having a weak conscience in a particular area. Look at what Paul says in verse 8. Food will not come. Us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do.

24:16Paul gets to the heart of the matter in 10 and 11. Here is what is at stake. With that being said, His rebuke is primarily towards the Gentile Christians who were strong in the area of eating food offered to idols. Why? For any of us who feel strong in a particular way, our consciences are strong, our faith allows us where the word does not prohibit. Listen, what Paul is saying here is the Gentiles are primarily responsible because they have options. And that is dangerous. Their conscience is strong, so they can eat because they're free to, or they can not eat because they're free to. And so Paul is going to primarily come to them and he says, here is what's at stake. You may cause a brother or sister two things. To stumble, to stumble means to put something in your way, an obstacle. So you're walking and it causes you to stumble or fall. You're probably going to get back up, but it's an obstacle.

25:31You may cause a brother or sister to stumble, but secondly, and worse, this is the word he uses, he uses the word destroy. Now, I can't pretend to know all that that means, so I'm not going to try, but the word means to send to hell. So, what's at stake, and Paul's warning is: brothers and sisters, by not being controlled in love for the unity of the church, by you exercising your freedoms, Gentile believers, in this particular way, you may be derailing someone's faith completely and for eternity.

26:16I don't know how to flesh that out anymore, but that's just what he says. And so, we ought to take this sober warning and consider how we are living, what we are doing. And so, I want to try to bring this together with three encouragements. First, if your conscience is strong in a particular area, in love, you need to understand that your freedom may be causing another brother or sister to stumble, or worse, to be destroyed.

26:52Though it may be permissible, it may not be beneficial or loving. Just because you can doesn't mean that you should. It's not loving. It doesn't build up. It is not helpful. And it doesn't honor Christ. If your conscience is weak in a particular area, number two, in love, you need to understand that there is freedom in Christ. And we're not prohibited in Scripture. You need to give your brothers and sisters room in some of these areas. You need to give room.

27:34Though you may not like it or understand it, you must not assume that everyone should conform to your way of thinking on every particular matter. And then finally, for all of us, these are really important. Four, extremely important things. Number one, no one is completely strong or weak in every area, right? So while I'm talking, you're thinking, oh my gosh, am I strong? Am I weak? That's not the point. None of us is completely strong or weak. That's number one. Number two, these things are often very gray, right? As we're asking those questions initially, it's just really hard to know because they're often gray. And so we must, we must exercise wisdom. Wisdom from the whole counsel of God's Word and wisdom from the counsel that comes from a Multitude of counselors, that is our faith family, that is your life group leaders, that is your pastors.

28:38We must exercise wisdom. Number three, always, no exceptions, always obey your conscience. It is yours, it's a gift from God. And the danger of ignoring our consciences, what we believe to be right and wrong, is that our consciences will no longer work as they should. We damage and sear our consciences, and thus what happens is we no longer respond to our conscience, to God as we should. It is true that our conscience should be trained and grown, and we ought to explore and seek wisdom and counsel because it is a capacity and it should be grown. But you always obey your conscience. And finally, most importantly, remember: Jesus is the Lord over your conscience.

29:37You obey your conscience, but when you feel like things just seem a little bit off on a particular issue, my friends, we have to hold that thing a little bit looser and say, God, would you help me? God, would you help me with this? I believe that my brother and sister and sister. They have good intentions, they love me, and they love your word. Maybe I'm off here, so would you help me? Because Jesus is the only Lord over our conscience.

30:17He ends verse 12 and 13. Thus, sinning against your brother and wounding their conscience when it's weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat, lest I make my brother stumble. If you're like me thinking about this, reading through this text, you're thinking about the impossible task before us. How can I wade through these difficult issues? And like we wouldn't put them on the scale of like life's greatest issues that I'm wrestling with, but many of these issues are the things that we spend the most time in our heads and our hearts wrestling with, struggling with. They affect our relationships often the most. And so, how can I wade through all this?

31:19How is it possible to truly love my brother and sister through these differences? How can we truly be unified as a church? Well, it's all here. That's why Paul wrote it, and that is why Jesus came. He says, Paul says in verse 12, that this is a very serious issue. In sinning against our brothers and sisters in this way, we are sinning against Christ. And so that means we ought to care. But Paul makes a stunning statement in verse 13. Can you imagine? I'm thinking about all these issues, these questions that we ask, these topics. And I'm thinking about being able to say what Paul says. If it causes my brother to stumble, okay.

32:13Really? When is the last time you did that? It's been a long time for me to be willing to give up my freedom to consider my brother as greater than myself. 2 Corinthians 5. For the love of Christ controls us. My friends, this sounds cliché. Oh, just love. No. Jesus died that we might no longer live for ourselves, but live for the good of others. Think about it. Jesus narrowed it down. The greatest commandment to love God, to love others.

33:10You can't give what you don't have. Paul had so been changed by the gospel of Jesus Christ. It saved him, and it radically changed the way he saw everything. Right? You remember his life recounted in the New Testament? People were hesitant and shocked and scared. Could God really change a guy who was killing people? Well, he did. And he's changed our lives as well. And as a result, we can love in this way. Paul could do the impossible because he experienced the supernatural.

33:56And therefore, he was able to love like this. The call for us today, my friends, is not to try harder and do better. We've tried that. We've done that. But the call is to turn to Jesus, maybe for the first time today, recognizing your need and your inability to do what you've been called to do by the Creator of the universe. Or maybe for the, I don't know, millionth time. The seemingly small and the seemingly large ways that we haven't operated in love towards one another. And to say, Jesus, the only way I can do what you've called me to do is if I experience that same love. That's the call.

34:47And when we do this, when we evaluate our lives and we let our interactions, our relationships be controlled by love in this way, we will see a unity in the church, in a very messy church, that will be attractive to the world because Jesus says that we will be known by our love. That's what will attract people to Him. And so may it be so, church. Whatever the issue may be, may we be careful not to abuse our freedoms and not to want to put our convictions on others where God doesn't speak clearly and definitely.

35:33May God help us. I pray. Let's pray together. Thank you for listening to the sermon audio from New Life Baptist Church in College Station, Texas. For more information or to support our ministry, visit us online at newlifecs.net.