Selie Visa
Scripture Passage: 1 Corinthians 8:7-9
“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. But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do. Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak.”
In their former unsaved state they had become so accustomed to idols and to the sacrificed meat that when they now eat such meat, they think of it only as something sacrificed to the idol, rather than as food provided by God.
There is nothing inherently wrong with sacrificial meat and that in itself food neither enhances nor minimizes our standing before God. Idols are man-made and have no power. How can the food offered to them harm us? Who is mightier, man-made idols or God our heavenly Father?
There is only one thing to consider while eating such food offered to other gods or idols. We must "be careful" lest we somehow cause the weak in faith to stumble in living their Christian lives. The stress is on weakening the faith and ruining the Christian life of a fellow believer, if they assume that Christians are compromising with idol worshipers or pagan gods.
There is a misunderstanding of the prohibition in Acts 15.
Acts 15:20 Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood.
Acts 15:29 You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. Farewell.
Bible reading and interpretation should not be based on a few verses but on entire chapters and books or the whole Bible. In Acts 15, the author is expressing his personal judgment or his opinion. This means he is proposing what to do for the gentile converts of Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia. He is suggesting that they should not put the gentiles to undergo circumcision as this will terrify the gentiles. He is also of the opinion that writing to the gentiles to avoid food offered to idols would be good. This is because the gentiles were new converts whose faith may be weak and they may return to idolatry. It would not be wise for the gentiles to continue eating food offered to idols when they have given up worshipping idols recently.
The prohibition of strangled animals and blood too was related to pagan practice. Animals are strangled so that not a drop of blood is shed. When we contemplate this prohibition it makes a lot of sense. This is to prevent the new gentile converts from going back to their old ways. This is also to prevent cruelty and brutality. The animals we kill for food should not die a slow painful death.
