1. The Problem of Offense
I Corinthians 8

2. Adiaphora Activities neither commanded nor forbidden in Scripture
I Co 6:12= “Everything is permissible for me” – but not everything is beneficial.
Freedom to do what one
pleases in matters of adiaphora
Self-denial out of consideration
for others
Do not offend the consciences of the weak, or jeopardize their souls, by insisting on using our Christian liberty.

3. Knowledge is not enough
I Co 8:1-6= Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that we all possess knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. 2 The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. 3 But the man who loves God is known by God. 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.

4. Knowledge is not enough
I Co 8:1-6
What practice is Paul discussing?
What problem had arisen?
Why does Paul dwell on the place of knowledge in this matter?
How is Paul applying the principles of Christian set up in I Co 6:12?
What makes love superior to the kind of knowledge Paul speaks of in verse 1 & 2?

5. Knowledge needs love
I Co 8:7-13=7 But not everyone knows this. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat such food they think of it as having been sacrificed to an idol, 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. 9 Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. 10 For if anyone with a weak conscience sees you who have this knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, won’t he be emboldened to eat what has been sacrificed to idols? 11 So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. 12 When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. 13 Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall.

6. Knowledge needs love What defiles a weak conscience?
Compare the teaching of vs 8 to I Co 6:12,13.
Why should those with greater spiritual understanding concern themselves with the consciences of the weak?
How does one sin against Christ when he sins against his brother?

7. How do these passages supplement Paul’s presentation in I Co 8?
Mt 18:7= “Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin! Such things must come, but woe to the man through whom they come!
I Co 10:32= Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God

8. How do these passages supplement Paul’s presentation in I Co 8?
Ro 14:14-23= As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that no food is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean. If your brother is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother for whom Christ died. Do not allow what you consider good to be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.
Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall.
So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves. But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.

9. Digging Deeper What is a weak conscience?
How do the principles set down in this chapter apply to …
Card playing
The use of alcohol
Contemporary liturgy
Appropriate attire in worship
Others?
Under what circumstances should we refuse to yield our liberty for the sake of the weak brother? (Ga 2:1-10)