No Worse No Better

DEVOTION

1 CORINTHIANS

NO WORSE NO BETTER

1 Cor 8:7-8

7 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. 8 But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.

NIV

Whenever we come to Christ from a past life of living accustom to certain ideas which we thought were the truth, we have to make some changes in our though process. There were people in Corinth although they had accepted the Gospel and supposedly turned from their former life, still could not get over it. Paul was speaking specifically about food that had been sacrificed to idols, but there are a lot of things in the world as sinners we become rather accustomed to. We might even be in the same sort of circumstances as some of those people in Corinth. When we come to Christ, a whole new set of rules and regulations are set forth for us, some based on the Word of God, others based on what men think should be the appropriate manner we should behave, forgoing certain activities, and certain foods. It would appear that once saved, at last according to some, we should no longer smoke, drink alcoholic beverages, go to movies or dances and at one time, no mixed bathing, which is being on the beach with the opposite sex. But let is stick to the food stuff, like drinking for example. It would appear whether we drink wine or not drink wine it does not bring us any closer to God. We will learn from the next passage tomorrow we do have some responsibility to each other, but for now let us simply deal with our relationship with God. However we approach these ideas, that we think are not acceptable behavior, or activities we need to know how God feels about them. It may be true for some drinking wine simply goes against everything they believe, and for sure they should not every drink wine. But for others it carries not such stigma and feel no such compulsion from God. That kind of thing just does not matter in our relationship with God. Now surely the sin which is laid out in the scripture does, such as bitterness, unforgiveness, gossip, greed, as well as a host of other attitudes which some people seem to overlook, but certainly frown upon drinking and consider it a sin. When it comes to food and drink it simply is a personal conviction, but not one from God. It simply does not influence our relationship with Him, we are not better off if we refrain, or whether we don’t. But don’t forget about what is coming next. Some may have more freedom in their faith then others, but do we have any responsibilities in that? Yet we are no worse or nor better.