1 Corinthians 10

Since Easter, we have dwelt in Paul's discussion of the resurrection. Paul spends time discussing doctrines that the church has dropped. Belief in the resurrection, both Jesus' resurrection in the first century and the general resurrection in the future, is crucial to Christian faith now.

This Sunday, we jump back to 1 Corinthians 10, where we will lead up to Pentecost and the gifts of the Spirit in 1 Corinthians 14. Paul addresses a community with two theologies competing with the Christian faith. Many of the Jewish Christian members of the community struggle with their old identity in the face of pagan converts; the former pagans struggle with the exclusive claims of the Christian faith. On top of this, in Jesus Christ, a new identity is forged in freedom and grace.

Context determines how we exercise our freedom in Christ.

For Corinth, freedom in Christ meant eating or not eating idol meat. For Christians today, there are many forms of idol meat - alcohol, vegetarianism, etc. There are actions that hurt our testimony to this freedom in Christ in the eyes of some unbelievers; these same actions are fine outside their presence.

Conscience is our guide, not legalism. Yet the conscience we follow is not always our own.

We Presbyterians say that "God alone is Lord of the conscience", as Paul reaffirms here. Yet sometimes our own conscience is not primary. The conscience of the unbeliever, out attempts to win everyone for Christ, should determine our behavior.