1 Corinthians 8
Food Sacrificed to Idols
1 Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that we all possess knowledge.t 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.
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 wedo.
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.
1 CORINTHIANS 8
Food Offered to Idols
1 In your letter you asked me about food offered to idols. All of us know something about this subject. But knowledge makes us proud of ourselves, while love makes us helpful to others. 2 In fact, people who think they know so much don't know anything at all.
3 But God has no doubts about who loves him.
4 Even though food is offered to idols, we know that none of the idols in this world are alive. After all, there is only one God. 5 Many things in heaven and on earth are called gods and lords, but none of them really are gods or lords.
6 We have only one God, and he is the Father. He created everything, and we live for him. Jesus Christ is our only Lord. Everything was made by him, and by him life was given to us.
7 Not everyone knows these things. In fact, many people have grown up with the belief that idols have life in them. So when they eat meat offered to idols, they are bothered by a weak conscience.
8 But food doesn't bring us any closer to God. We are no worse off if we don't eat, and we are no better off if we do.
9 Don't cause problems for someone with a weak conscience, just because you have the right to eat anything. 10 You know all this, and so it doesn't bother you to eat in the temple of an idol. But suppose a person with a weak conscience sees you and decides to eat food that has been offered to idols. 11 Then what you know has destroyed someone Christ died for. 12 When you sin by hurting a follower with a weak conscience, you sin against Christ. 13 So if I hurt one of the Lord's followers by what I eat, I will never eat meat as long as I live.