What is the meaning of 1 Corinthians 10:28? But if someone tells you Paul pictures a shared meal where another guest leans over and informs you about the origin of the meat. • The alert comes from “someone,” not necessarily a believer. • Their statement creates a moment of decision for you. • The Holy Spirit, through Paul, treats this voluntary disclosure as significant (cf. 1 Corinthians 8:10-12; Romans 14:15). By taking the remark seriously, you show that love listens. "This food was offered to idols" The words identify the meat as part of pagan worship. • Scripture consistently rejects any fellowship with idolatry (Acts 15:29; Revelation 2:14). • The issue is not the meat itself—“the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof” (1 Corinthians 10:26)—but the connection to false worship. • Knowing that link forces a new context: eating now risks appearing to honor the idol. Then do not eat it A clear instruction follows awareness. • Liberty bows to love (1 Corinthians 8:13). • Daniel modeled this by declining royal food that compromised faith (Daniel 1:8). • Refusal protects both the gospel witness and the weaker observer. • Abstaining here is not legalism; it is an act of voluntary self-denial for a higher purpose. For the sake of the one who told you The person who spoke up might be a new believer or a curious onlooker. • Your response shapes their understanding of devotion to Christ (Romans 14:13-15). • Choosing not to eat communicates, “Jesus means more to me than any menu.” • This echoes Paul’s heart: “I have become all things to all men, so that by all possible means I might save some” (1 Corinthians 9:22). And for the sake of conscience Paul immediately clarifies in verse 29 that it is “not your own, but the other man’s conscience.” • Christian freedom must never trample another’s tender awareness of right and wrong (1 Peter 2:16; Galatians 5:13). • Preserving a brother’s clear conscience is worth any personal inconvenience. • Acting in love keeps the community unified and the gospel attractive. summary When informed that food has come from idol worship, love chooses restraint. Refusal honors Christ, safeguards the informer’s conscience, and displays a freedom gladly surrendered to protect others. In everyday choices, the believer measures actions not by personal rights alone but by how those actions reflect the Lord and build up His people. |
    |