“Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that “We all possess knowledge.” But knowledge puffs up while love builds up.”
1 Corinthians 8:1 (NIV)
This is not a normal blog post - for I what I hope to achieve is for you to consider reading 3 chapters of 1 Corinthians in one sitting - chapters 8, 9 & 10 - in order for us to “see” the unity in the various topics Paul discusses in these 3 chapters. I fear that if we don’t “see the big picture” of what Paul is communicating, we will most certainly miss Paul’s point in each section to our determent. I see these 3 chapters as a unit because the topic of chapter 8 is repeated in chapter 10:14-33- these sections form “bookends” - and reveal for us that the content inside these “bookends” must certainly be connected to this topic. I anticipate the Holy Spirit blessing us in ways we have not yet experienced in previous readings of 1 Corinthians if we choose to spend the time taking the “long look”, but it will take effort on our part.
Paul sets knowledge up against love in this first verse, and he will come back to this theme over and over again until he begins the wonderful resurrection teaching in chapter 15.
So the questions for us are these; What do I know? Who do I love? Who do I know? Who knows me?
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