1 Corinthians 8:1-3

Scripture: 1 Cor. 8:1 Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” This “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up.

1 Cor. 8:2 If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know.

1 Cor. 8:3 But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.

Teaching: Paul has been teaching general principles on marriage in the last chapter, and he takes the same tact in this chapter. Rather than getting granular about exactly what to do or what not to do, Paul would rather the Corinthians understand spiritual truths so that they can apply them as necessary to the many different scenarios life throws at them. 

In Greek culture, it was common and also ceremonial to conduct great feasts and as part of them, sacrifice and burn parts of the meat as worship to pagan gods and goddesses. The leftover meat from these events was then taken to the marketplace to be sold. So, even if a Christian abstained from these ritual feasts, they would have a hard time determining if the meat they bought in the marketplace was from one of these feasts or not. This was quite a conundrum for Christians in that day who were earnest in their desire to worship only the Lord and turn from their old pagan ways. By Paul’s abrupt change of topic from chapter 7 to 8, and his use of “Now concerning…”, we know he was asked this question directly in the Corinthians earlier correspondence that encouraged Paul to write this letter. 

Paul begins to address this issue by calling the Corinthians’ attention to a spiritual principle, rather than giving them a simple, direct answer. He seems to be quoting something they had written him, expressing that they felt like they had great knowledge in these areas of Christian living. But as Paul taught in chapter 2, knowledge of the Lord was not the issue at hand, but rather wisdom. As Paul says here, knowledge has the effect of “puffing up” the knower, making them more arrogant, and thus, less likely to extend grace and love. Paul contrasts knowledge and love in these verses, holding up love as the mark of a Christian. While knowledge “puffs up”, love “builds up.” In verse 2, Paul is saying that knowledge is useless if it is not deployed in the right way. This begs the question, “What knowledge does God want us to have? And how will we know it when we know it?”

Verse 3 gives a brief answer to this. The knowledge to have is not knowledge of God as some sort of theological trivia exercise, but rather, love for God. And we will know we have this when we love God. For a culture that prided itself on what it knows, the true measure of value was to be known by God. And to be known by God is to be loved by God, to respond in kind to God and to show that same love to others. While knowledge served to elevate individuals above others, love served to know God and love others. 

Takeaway: We can all be a little cocky, a little puffed up at time when we feel self-assured of our own knowledge, our own plans, or our own achievements. But if any could have rightly held such an opinion of themselves, it was Jesus, and he held the opposite. Jesus said “the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matt. 20:28). Jesus demonstrated love was the foundation of his ministry and purpose by going to the cross for us (John 15:13). We will never know everything there is to know about God, but we can know Him and be known by Him. We are better served in prioritizing a love for God than a knowledge of God. If we love God truly, we will experience more of Him in our lives as we live out that love in the world. Thus, knowledge of God is not unimportant, but it is useless unless we love God and others.