Food is Grown and Marketed by NonBelievers, but We Acknowledge the Spirit of Christ in Our Eating.

1 Corinthians 8

Click for a description of the mark of the beast.
Click here for a description of the image of the beast.

• Knowledge in Christ should never override love in Christ.
• Everyone is eating foods offered to an idol, but there is only one true God.
• Eating habits do not decide our relationship with God.
• We should not encourage others to eat what they believe is sinful.
• The knowledge of Christ should not be used to kill the Spirit of Christ.

Knowledge in Christ should never override love in Christ. “Now concerning things offered to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies.” 1 Corinthians 8:1 As followers of Jesus Christ, we have the knowledge of being freed to live in the Holy Spirit. That freedom also relates to things that have been made as an offering to the system which governs by the thing which forms thoughts, words, feelings, and behaviors to enable the image of the beast to live and speak through people. Everything they say and do is for the “democratic” global culture and nothing is done as an offering to God and Jesus Christ. They are conformed to their place within the agriculture and food industry as they are groomed to the mark of the beast.

It’s very important to lay aside the knowledge we have in Christ so that we can be free to edify one another in the love of Christ. Just about everything we buy at a shopping center or grocery store has been processed or farmed by someone who serves the “democratic” society of the beast and rejects Jesus Christ. However, our knowledge of those things should not turn into a crusade to get everyone to quit eating by telling them they are condemned by God for eating foods prepared by non-believers. That type of knowledge reveals our ignorance of God’s grace and love for us.

“And if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him.” 1 Corinthians 8:2-3 The knowledge we have through Jesus Christ should never be more important than the love we have through Jesus Christ. When we show our love to God, then we are known by the Lord Jesus.

Everyone is eating foods offered to an idol, but there is only one true God. “Therefore concerning the eating of things offered to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God but one.” 1 Corinthians 8:4 Just about everything we eat is offered to an idol, which is to say that those who grow, process, and deliver the food to the grocery store lives to serve the thing forming what they do, say, think, and feel. Although it sits itself up as God in every sector of society around the world, there is only one true God. The thing which sits itself up as God has no authority on the conscience of those who serve God through Jesus Christ.

“For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords), yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live.” 1 Corinthians 8:5-6 As followers of Jesus Christ, we do not follow the god of the world, we follow the God who gives us the Holy Spirt through Jesus Christ. If someone delivered food to us and drew symbolisms of Satan, the occult, and wrote “made in hell,” etc. on the package, we could throw away the packaging in the garbage and eat the food anyway. That is in regard to our conscience through Jesus Christ, not referring to the quality of the food. We cannot let every anti-Christian thing affect our service to God because we live through Jesus Christ.

Eating habits do not decide our relationship with God. “However, there is not in everyone that knowledge; for some, with consciousness of the idol, until now eat it as a thing offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled.” 1 Corinthians 8:7

Some people are aware that we live in a world that denies God, discards the need for Jesus Christ, and tramples on the Holy Spirit. The anti-Christians are food servers in restaurants, grow the food on farms, process the food in factories, deliver the food to stores, stock the shelves in stores, and are the cashiers. Being aware of that situation, many people eat the food believing they are supporting the global culture of the beast. Their conscience is marred and their life in Jesus Christ is crippled. Within them, they are not living in the knowledge of the Holy Spirit, which purifies our conscience when eating those processed or fresh foods. “But food does not commend us to God; for neither if we eat are we the better, nor if we do not eat are we the worse.” 1 Corinthians 8:8 Our eating habits do not earn us points with God. We are not closer to God by what we eat and are not separated from God by what we eat. Our relationship with God corresponds 100% to our relationship with Jesus Christ.

We should not encourage others to eat what they believe is sinful. “But beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak.” 1 Corinthians 8:9 Some people will refuse to eat certain foods because they feel it damages the purity of their mind and heart, we shouldn’t try to convince them otherwise. They are keeping their conscience clean with Christ. We should always be careful that our freedom in the Holy Spirit is not offensive to those growing in Christ.

“For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will not the conscience of him who is weak be emboldened to eat those things offered to idols?” 1 Corinthians 8:10 We do not want to encourage others to eat foods that they think are a violation to living for the Lord Jesus Christ. For example, if we eat in a restaurant called the “King’s Palace,” we might consider that God is the only true King. Someone else might interpret that as being an establishment owned by those who crown as king the thing forming their thoughts, feelings, words, and behaviors. They might be emboldened to believe it is OK to mix life in Jesus Christ with allowing the image of the beast to live and speak through them by the thing forming their thoughts and feelings.

The knowledge of Christ should not be used to kill the Spirit of Christ. “And because of your knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died?” 1 Corinthians 8:11 Knowledge kills the spirit, and unfortunately the knowledge people have in Jesus Christ can overburden and offend those growing and making an effort to live with a good conscience in Jesus Christ. No one goes from drinking milk in a bottle to eating meat in one day. The Lord Jesus gave His life for every individual, and as His followers we should give our life to edify others in the love of God. The purpose is to build people up in the Spirit through Jesus Christ not to burden them with knowledge that hurts their walk with Christ.

“But when you thus sin against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.” 1 Corinthians 8:12 Not only is it a sin against the person to wound their conscience, but it is also a sin against Jesus Christ. “Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.” 1 Corinthians 8:13 I had a visitor once who let me know he doesn’t eat pork. Now, I know to keep the cans of pork that I have out of sight, and not to offer him a bar-b-que pork sandwich. And neither would I dare sprinkle some pork in the food he was eating, and make it known to him afterwards that he has eaten some. Those who live by the thing giving them what to do, think, feel, and say do those things as an attack against the conscience rooted in the Christ.

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“….to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets,“
‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’”
“I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
Revelation 2:24-25, 3:11