Tag: food

Romans 14:15 – Spiritual Body Building

Posted on by Will

For if your brother is grieved because of what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died.

Truth to Learn

We should all build up other members of the body of Christ.

 

Behind the Words

The word translated “grieved” is the Greek word lupeō. This is the verb form of the noun lupē, meaning “sorrow.” Thus, lupeō, means “to make sad or sorrowful or to cause someone to grieve.” It is expressed here in the passive voice.

“Food” is from the Greek noun brōma, which refers to “food which is chewed such as meat or vegetables as opposed to a drink which is not chewed.”

 

Meaning Explained

Paul now turns to the Gentile converts in the Christian church in Rome. He previously warned the Jewish converts not to judge others for eating food that the Jewish converts still believed was forbidden. Now he tells those who believe all foods are permissible not to intentionally eat food that they know will grieve their brothers who think certain foods are still forbidden.

Apparently, there were those former Gentiles in the church at Rome who still held the Jewish converts in distain. Knowing that the former Jews in the church would be grieved to see them eating supposedly “forbidden” food, they intentionally ate those foods and made it known to the Jewish converts. Paul admonishes them that this is not behaving in a loving manner. In fact, the Jewish converts were behaving in a more loving manner when they were grieving for those who ate this supposed forbidden food, for it was out of love for their brothers that they were grieved. There is a roughly parallel passage to this in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians:

Food will not commend us to God; for neither if we eat are we better, nor if we do not eat are we worse. But be careful lest somehow this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak. 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? And because of your knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died? But when you thus sin against the brothers, and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if meat makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble. (1 Corinthians 8:8-13)

If you have a conviction from God about something, don’t force that conviction on your brother or sister; instead, let God deal with them in His own manner and time. And if you know that your brother has a conviction from God about something, don’t flaunt your lack of conviction in that area in your brother’s presence. That’s just downright mean. We should be an example to our brothers and sisters to strengthen them. We should not do anything to make them weaker!

 

Application

No one in their right mind will cause harm to part of his or her own body; that would cause the whole body to suffer. Likewise, a Christian should never do anything which will cause the body of Christ to suffer. If we truly love one another, we will do all we can to build up the body of Christ.

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2018 Will Krause. All rights reserved

1 Corinthians 3:2 – Milk or Meat?

Posted on by Will

I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able;

Truth to Learn

Infants are satisfied with milk. Those who are growing require a lot more nourishment in order to grow.

Behind the Words

The word translated “fed” is potidzō, which means “to give a drink to” or “to let drink.”

“Milk” is from gala, which literally refers to the milk of an animal. Figuratively it refers to the rudimentary elements of the Word of God from which Christians receive spiritual nourishment.

“Solid food” is the translation of the Greek word broma, which refers specifically to food which must be chewed before it is swallowed.

Oupō is the word translated “until now.” It is made up of ou, meaning “not” and pō, meaning “yet.” So this word literally means “not yet.”

The words “you were … able” are translated from the Greek verb dunamai, which means “to have the power or ability to do something. It is expressed in the imperfect tense, indicating past continuous action.

Meaning Explained

In chapter two of 1 Corinthians, Paul contrasted two types of people: those who live according to the thoughts and desires of the flesh (the natural, physical, and emotional part of man) and those who live according to the spirit (the spiritual part of man that is only enabled by God’s Holy Spirit). In yesterday’s verse he introduced a third type of person: the carnal Christian who, although having God’s spirit, chooses to live life according to the flesh, rather than the spirit.

In today’s verse Paul is specifically talking to carnal Christians, those whom he referred to as infants in Christ. For the year and a half that Paul was in Corinth, he put most of his effort into witnessing about Christ and spoon feeding the new converts in the basics of Christianity. Now, several years later, he is writing to the church and chastens them for still being babies in their Christian walk.

Our Christian life very much parallels our physical life. In our physical life we started out as a newborn infant. At this stage in our development we could not tolerate solid food, so our mother fed us milk. As we grew, however, we began eating solid food by which we continued to grow and get stronger. Likewise, in our Christian life, we started out by becoming “born again,” as Jesus described it in John 3:3. As a baby in Christ, we were not able to handle deep theological truths. Instead, we had to first learn about the basics of our spiritual life. As our spiritual life continued to grow, we began to receive and understand these deeper spiritual truths.

If a baby is never fed anything other than milk, he or she will not mature. Likewise, if a Christian never feeds on anything other than spiritual milk, he or she will not grow in his or her spiritual life. It takes more effort to consume spiritual solid food, but it is necessary for spiritual growth.

Application

Do you crave spiritual meat, or are you satisfied with spiritual milk?

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2013 Will Krause. All rights reserved

Romans 14:15 – Spiritual Body Building

Posted on by Will

Romans 14:15 – Spiritual Body Building

Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died.

Truth to Learn

We should all build up other members of the body of Christ.

Behind the Words

The word translated “grieved” is the Greek word lupeō. This is the verb form of the noun lupē, meaning “sorrow.” Thus, lupeō, means “to be made sad or sorrowful or to be made to grieve.”

“Food” is from the Greek noun brōma, which refers to “food which is chewed such as meat or vegetables as opposed to a drink which is not chewed.”

Meaning Explained

Paul now turns to the Gentile converts in the Christian church in Rome. He previously warned the Jewish converts not to judge others for eating food that the Jewish converts still believed was forbidden. Now he tells those who believe all foods are permissible not to intentionally eat food that they know will grieve their brothers who think certain foods are still forbidden.

Apparently, there were those former Gentiles in the church at Rome who still held the Jewish converts in distain. Knowing that the former Jews in the church would be grieved to see them eating supposedly “forbidden” food, they intentionally ate those foods and made it known to the Jewish converts. Paul admonishes them that this is not behaving in a loving manner. In fact, the Jewish converts were behaving in a more loving manner when they were grieving for those who ate this supposed forbidden food, for it was out of love for their brothers that they were grieved. There is a roughly parallel passage to this in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians:

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. But beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak. 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? And because of your knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died? But when you thus sin against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble. (1Corinthians 8:8-13)

If you have a conviction from God about something, don’t force that conviction on your brother; instead, let God deal with your brother in His own manner and time. And if you know that your brother has a conviction from God about something, don’t flaunt your lack of conviction in that area in your brother’s presence. That’s just downright mean. We should be an example to our brothers and sisters to strengthen them. We should not do anything to make them weaker!

Application

No one in their right mind will cause harm to part of his or her own body; that would cause the whole body to suffer. Likewise, a Christian should never do anything which will cause the body of Christ to suffer. If we truly love one another, we will do all we can to build up the body of Christ.

In God’s service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2011 Will Krause. All rights reserved.

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