“Now concerning things sacrificed to idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge makes arrogant, but love edifies. If anyone supposes that he knows anything, he has not yet known as he ought to know; but if anyone loves God, he is known by Him.”

Literary markers in his letter, particularly the term “concerning,” reveal the issues about which the Corinthians had apparently queried Paul. The first time has to do with what he had heard privately concerning their quarreling (1 Cor. 1). Then comes the issue about marriage and singleness (1 Cor. 7). Here he addresses sacrificing to idols. In 1 Corinthians 12, the concern is spiritual gifts; 1 Corinthians 16, the financial collection for the needy Christians in Jerusalem; and finally in 1 Corinthians 16, an apparent concern about Apollos’ visit to them. On each of these issues Paul answers their concerns and also extends his teaching beyond just what was asked.

The apostle begins by stating the obvious: we all share a basic knowledge. Though not stated explicitly, there is nothing more fundamentally clear to Jew and Christian alike than this: the first of the Ten Commandments is “I am the Lord your God … you shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself an idol … you shall not worship them …” (Ex. 20:2–5).

Yet, like many issues, the application of truth is not always black and white, and that’s the rub. But rather than jump right into a list of “Christian” commands about this subject, Paul goes for the root issue, the “jugular” so to speak: arrogance. Corinth was situated in the shadow of Athens, one of the intellectual centers of Greek thought, and was a city given to excessive idol worship and the pursuit of knowledge. Luke describes it this way: “All the Athenians … used to spend their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new” (Acts 17:21). What a person knew became the focal point of life. The spillover for the nearby Corinthians would be reasonable to assume. One can imagine that the pecking order developed on who knew what.

While knowledge can be good, Paul asserts that in contrast to love, it “puffs up” (ESV, NIV, NKJV) a person’s sinful tendency to pride. Throughout this letter, Paul moves them toward love being the greatest thing, for after all, our standing before God is based on God’s love toward us through Christ and Him crucified. That is the true knowledge by which God knows us and by which we should know and love others. This is the basis for his teaching about idol worship to the Corinthians, as we shall see.

Lord, thank You for giving me knowledge, but I want to pursue even more to love others the way You love me.