March 17, 2022
How to Be Free
1 Corinthians 10
Bryce Nguyen
Central Truth
Freedom from your sinful actions is not habit modification, it's heart transformation. Our sin is simply an issue of misplaced worship or, in other words, idolatry. Your worship determines your will. Therefore, my beloved, gaze upon the glory of Christ Jesus in order that you may flee from idolatry.
Key Verse | 1 Corinthians 10:14
Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.
1 Corinthians 10
Warning Against Idolatry
1 For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, 1 10:1 Or brothers and sisters that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, 2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 and all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. 5 Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown 2 10:5 Or were laid low in the wilderness.
6 Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. 7 Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” 8 We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. 9 We must not put Christ 3 10:9 Some manuscripts the Lord to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, 10 nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. 11 Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. 12 Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. 13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
14 Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. 15 I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. 16 The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. 18 Consider the people of Israel: 4 10:18 Greek Consider Israel according to the flesh are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? 19 What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20 No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. 22 Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?
Do All to the Glory of God
23 “All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. 24 Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. 25 Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience. 26 For “the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof.” 27 If one of the unbelievers invites you to dinner and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience. 28 But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for the sake of conscience— 29 I do not mean your conscience, but his. For why should my liberty be determined by someone else's conscience? 30 If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks?
31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 32 Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, 33 just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved.
Listen to the Podcast
Listen NowDive Deeper | 1 Corinthians 10
This passage is warning the people of God against idolatry, or sin. What's idolatry? Idolatry is valuing anything more than you value God. What you value most is what you worship.
Christ followers will often identify things that have taken too much ground in their hearts, thereby becoming idols. Common idols include marriage, money, materialism, pornography, alcohol—you name it. We often find ourselves believing that death to this particular sin comes by fighting with all your strength to stop or avoid it. But what if I told you that pornography, for example, isn't your idol, but only a representation of an idol?
In biblical times, idols were statues of false gods that, when sacrificed to and worshiped, would (theoretically) provide a solution to some sort of need of the worshiper. There were different gods for different needs or desires, so people were often polytheistic in their worship or allegiance. However, this meant that worshipers didn't sacrifice for the sake of the idol, they sacrificed for the sake of what the idol could provide them. The idol was not the object, the idol was what the object could provide.
Paul explains in verses 19-20 that neither idols, nor food offered to idols, are anything. God isn't worried about a block of wood with a nametag that says "moon god." The real offense to God isn't the object or action, but the value we seek to satisfy by means of the object or action. To personalize this in a word: your idol isn't pornography or marriage. Your idol, or object of worship, is what you are seeking to satisfy by means of pornography or marriage.
"Do not be idolaters as some of them were . . . ." (1 Corinthians 10:7) Because of Israel's idolatry, they were led into laziness and sexual immorality, which were simply avenues to satisfy what they worshiped. Idols lead us into destructive habits. If you want to be free, you must expose and surrender the actual idol or misplaced worship in your heart to God. Then, by the Spirit, He will begin to set you free.
Discussion Questions
1. Finding freedom from sin begins at the root, not the fruit. Four source idols that are common to man include control, acceptance, comfort, and power. Which of these do you most relate to?
2. If you want the sin in your life to be killed, you have to know what the cause of the sin is. Ask yourself this: "When I (sinful action) , am I trying to satisfy my need for ?" (Try inserting a source idol mentioned above.)
3. How can you view God as more valuable, glorious, and worthy of worship than the idol you seek to satisfy?