The Limits of Freedom

1 Corinthians 10

            We constrain our freedom in Christ for the sake of our brothers and sisters in the faith who might mistake our freedom for sin. That’s 1 Corinthians 8-9.

            In 1 Corinthians 10, Paul argues that sometimes we don’t just mistake freedom for sin—sometimes we actually sin!

            So, he is more than willing to allow that meat, originally sacrificed in the temple but now being sold in the market, is permissible for Christians. He just wants the ‘meat-eaters’ to respect those who can’t quite see it that way. But that’s a different thing than actually worshipping in the idol temple, and that appears to be what the ‘meat-eaters’ were saying, “A idol is nothing, so worshipping in an idol temple is nothing.” That’s a bridge too far for Paul, who cites the history of Israel (over and over and over again) as the prime case that says, “No, you can’t participate in an idol temple! Whether you ‘mean it’ or not, that’s idolatry!”

            This, then, is a second constraint Paul lays on freedom: we are not free to sin. That’s a point he made in Romans 6 and he will make again in Galatians 5. It should be apparent, but it’s not always. Sometimes we Christians are all, “Well, God forgives me so I guess it doesn’t matter what I do.” If we changed the cast of characters a little and said, “Well, my wife loves me, so I guess it doesn’t matter if I cheat on her a little,” well, then, we’d see how absurd that reasoning is! We don’t repay human love with betrayal. Why would we do it with divine love?