1st Corinthians Lesson 9

1st Corinthians 8 Part 3

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

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Lesson Transcript

Opening

Please open your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 8. This is our third lesson on that chapter. And tonight, we’re going to start with verse 1. We’ve had two lessons of introductory material, which you might find unusual for a chapter with 13 verses, but it is leading into a pretty big discussion here in chapters 8, 9, and 10. So there are quite a few things we needed to talk about.

The Clear Command: Flee

In this letter to the Corinthians, as we’ve already seen, Paul deals with at least two major problems: fornication and idolatry. And ultimately, he deals with each of those problems in the same way, with a simple two-word command: flee fornication in 6:18 and flee idolatry, which we’ll see in chapter 10, verse 14.

And flee is one of those words that’s just impossible to misunderstand. We know what it means, and Paul’s readers, initial readers, knew what it meant. If I were to suddenly shout, “flee, fire, flee,” and you looked up and saw flames, I don’t think anyone’s going to pause and think, “I wonder what he means by flee. I wonder if I just moved back a row, if that would be okay.”

No, I think the next time we had any discussion, we’d all be standing out in the parking lot. We know what the word flee means.

And whatever conclusions we come up with regarding chapters 8 through 10, if our conclusions suggest that some or all of the Corinthian Christians could ignore the command to flee idolatry, then our conclusions are wrong. They or we no more have the right to ignore that command than we do to ignore the command to flee fornication. No Christian has the right to engage in either idolatry or fornication.

And it’s really surprising the number of commentaries that take the opposite view on that, at least when it comes to idolatry, in 1 Corinthians.

Verse 1: Knowledge vs. Love

So let’s look at the chapter, starting with verse 1. “Now, as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth.”

The word “now” in that verse tells us that Paul is about to turn to another topic that was raised by the Corinthians in their letter to him. He did that in chapter 7, verse 1. “Now, concerning the things whereof you wrote unto me, it’s good for a man not to touch a woman.” Again, the word “now” in chapter 7, also in chapter 8.

And I think there’s another similarity here also. I think Paul is quoting their letter here, just as I think he quoted their letter in chapter 7, verse 1. I think they had said to him, “it is good for a man not to touch a woman.” And he quoted it back to them. And I think they have said to him, “Paul, we all have knowledge.” And I think he is now quoting that back to them as he’s about to address that point.

Paul’s Strategy

Paul is finally going to forbid them from going to these pagan temples and participating in these pagan ceremonies, but he’s not going to begin that way. We talked a little bit about that in the introduction. Rather than starting with that imperative, he’s first going to try to correct the serious misunderstanding on their part that has caused them to try to justify this behavior. He’s going to try to correct that, and we see him doing that in chapter 8.

Rules work well up to a point until you get to a point where what you’re trying to do is not covered by the rules. And then what? If Paul can correct their flawed understanding of the Christian life and what it means, then perhaps they’re going to be ready when the next big issue comes up, and Paul is not around to tell them what to do. They’re going to understand the principles involved, and they’ll be able to figure that out for themselves. And I think that’s where Paul’s aiming with chapter 8.

The Problem is Not Knowledge Itself

We know Paul is not an enemy of knowledge. The problem that Paul is dealing with here is not too much knowledge. The problem is an arrogant attitude that places knowledge above everything else. They know that an idol is nothing, I’m sure they told Paul, and they know that all food is clean. And thus they can eat food offered to an idol in an idol’s temple without regard to anybody else because they know these things.

And it’s their advanced knowledge, their gnosis. Remember, think of the Gnostics that causes them to believe that they are strong enough to be able to do these things. I think that’s the attitude Paul is combating here, not knowledge.

We know that to a Christian, knowledge is of the utmost importance. Knowledge is a requirement for our salvation. We have to know that Jesus is the Son of God. We have to know that we are dead in our sins. We have to know we need to repent. We have to know what we need to do to be saved. That’s knowledge. It’s vital, apart from knowledge, we’re going to die in our sins and be eternally lost, but knowledge alone is not enough. Knowledge is necessary, but knowledge is not sufficient. It’s not alone, it’s not enough.

Isaac Asimov: An Example

I tried to think of a good example of that, and the best one I could come up with is a science fiction author named Isaac Asimov. You may have heard of him, pretty famous in some circles. And if you’d known me back when I was walking the halls of Katy High School—and that was back when Katy High School was the only high school in the district, if that lets you know how long ago that was. Been a while.

You would have seen me with at least one Isaac Asimov book, probably two, because if I finished one during the day, I had to have another one to start reading. And he wrote hundreds of books. And he wrote Asimov on Math, Asimov on Physics, Asimov on Chemistry, wrote science fiction, Asimov on Shakespeare. One of his books is called Asimov’s Guide to the Bible. And in that book, he goes through the Bible. It seems like it’s verse by verse, and he picks off every little fact and he ties them all in. And I mean, he must have spent years working on that thing. It’s a huge book.

Isaac Asimov was an atheist. He died an atheist. He’s no longer an atheist because he’s dead, and there are no dead atheists. Atheism is just something that living people can be, because once they’re dead, they know there is a God. But he died in atheism. That knowledge did nothing for him. Nothing. And I dare say he knew the Bible better than many, many Christians do. He’d been through it in great detail. All the history, all that sort of thing, did nothing for him.

Knowledge Puffs Up, Love Builds Up

Knowledge puffs up. That’s what it says here. It’s like a balloon filled with hot air. The word “puffed up” occurs seven times in the New Testament, six times in this letter. Doesn’t that tell us something about these Corinthians?

Love is different. Love builds up. It doesn’t puff up, it builds up. Love has been called the mortar between the bricks in the Christian building. It’s used to build up the building.

The entire section of the letter we’re seeing here shows us a beautiful interplay between proper love and proper knowledge. Paul, of course, has knowledge about what they need to do. But he doesn’t simply force that knowledge upon them with some sort of apostolic mandate here. Instead, he begins by reasoning with them as a father would to a child. Trying to get them to see the proper behavior, see what they’ve been doing wrong. You can see Paul’s love for them shining through along with his knowledge. It’s a beautiful example of that.

Knowledge is Important

Now some have taken verse 1 completely out of context to argue that knowledge is not important. But if Paul agreed with that, why is he writing this letter at all? Isn’t the purpose of a letter like this to convey knowledge to the recipients? I mean, that’s why he’s writing this thing.

The whole point of this is to tell these Corinthian know-it-alls that there are many things they don’t know that they need to know. Hosea 4:6, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” And people today can be destroyed for lack of knowledge.

Some of the longtime members here may remember Marion Williams, and if you ever met her, you remember her. And I inherited her Bible. And next to Hosea 4:6, she wrote, “What you don’t know can kill you.” Isn’t that the truth? That’s how important knowledge is.

These Corinthians had a mere surface knowledge of Christianity, and yet they thought they knew all there was to know, all they needed to know. And sadly, I think that’s an attitude we still combat today as well.

Psalm 119:162, the psalmist says that, “I rejoice at your word as one who finds great treasure.” Isn’t that a wonderful description of Bible study? There’s always more to know. You’re digging for treasure when you read the Bible, read the Word of God.

But saying there’s always more to know doesn’t mean that we can’t know anything, because the Bible tells us just the opposite in John 8:32. We can know the truth, and the truth sets us free. And that promise would be hollow indeed if we were unable to know the truth.

Paul is not fighting knowledge in these verses. Instead, he’s fighting the same thing he’s been fighting all along, which is arrogance and lovelessness. He’s not fighting knowledge. The same Paul that wrote verse 1 also wrote Romans 10:2. “For I bear them record they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.” And he also wrote Philippians 1:9. “And this I pray that your love may abound more and more in knowledge.” And knowledge is something we all need and needs to abound.

Verse 2: Incomplete Knowledge

Verse 2. “And if any man thinks he knoweth anything, he knoweth nothing yet, as he ought to know.”

These Corinthians thought they had everything worked out. They thought they knew everything they needed to know and they didn’t need to get anything more from Paul. They would have been perfectly happy to give Paul a crash course on liberty and a few things, but they didn’t think there’s anything Paul could teach them.

In their minds, being spiritual meant to have this advanced knowledge, this gnosis. And Paul does not really tell them that they don’t really know anything at all. He tells them they don’t know as they ought to know, as they ought to know. There’s something missing.

And Paul really basically agrees with their knowledge. Paul certainly agrees there’s one God. Paul certainly agrees that idols are not real, but it’s interesting that when we get to chapter 10, Paul is going to point to a demonic reality behind those idols that aren’t real. And Paul certainly agrees that food is not a matter of importance to God. But Paul knows that what they’re doing with that knowledge was dead wrong. And that’s what he’s trying to correct here.

Once we understand something, if there’s a temptation for us to use it as a club on somebody, and I think that may have been what was going on here, but we must preach the truth in love, Ephesians 4:15. And knowledge without love is what leads to this puffed up, this pride, this disregard for your fellow Christians.

Verse 3: Being Known by God

Verse 3. “But if any man love God, the same is known of him.”

Well, those who love God are known by God. This is the flip side of our own knowledge. We see this throughout the New Testament, 2 Timothy 2:19, “the Lord knoweth them that are His.” Galatians 4:9, “after this you’ve known God, or rather are known of God,” Paul says.

Later in this very chapter, 1 Corinthians 13:12, “for now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face. For now I know in part, but then I shall know, even as I am also known.” So, Paul is going to come back to this very point when he gets to the beautiful chapter on love.

Some of the earliest manuscripts, instead of what I read there in verse 3, say, “if anyone loves, this one truly knows.” That’s another possible rendering, and it has some support in the earliest manuscripts. Either reading is certainly true. I favor the one we just read in the King James, though, because I think Paul comes back to that in 1 Corinthians 13, verse 12.

The Beginning of Gnosticism

One final point on the knowledge issue we see here is we’re seeing the beginning of the Gnostic heresy that is such a tremendous problem in the New Testament. We see it starting here in Corinth. We see it, of course, throughout the New Testament, particularly in the Epistles of John, written later. The Greek word for knowledge, gnosis, occurs six times in the first three verses of this chapter. So, yes, we are seeing Gnosticism here.

The Gnostics saw themselves as the truly spiritual and the knowledgeable elite, and they knew everything, and they had the special secret knowledge that was required to be pleasing to God. And if you didn’t have that special secret knowledge, you weren’t going to make it. That was the Gnostic heresy. And that heresy is, of course, very strongly condemned in the Bible, and rightly so.

But you know, I was thinking maybe we need to be just a little bit grateful to the Gnostics. You think, well, why would we be grateful to the Gnostics? Think about all the beautiful and powerful parts of the New Testament that we have that were written specifically to combat the Gnostic heresy. Epistles of John, Colossians, what we’re reading here. There is so much that was told to us in combating Gnosticism that we might not have if there had never been the Gnostics.

I think this is another example of God taking something that’s evil and turning it into something good. We have wonderful parts of the New Testament that were written specifically to combat Gnosticism. And maybe that sheds a little light on a difficult passage in chapter 11 of this letter, verse 19. “For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.” I’ll let whoever has chapter 11 deal with that verse, but that’s possible that it has something to do with the Gnostics we’re reading about in chapter 8.

Verses 4-6: One God vs. Many False Gods

Verse 4: “As concerning, therefore, the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one. For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, as there be gods many, and lords many, but to us there is but one God, the Father of whom are all things, and we in him, and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.”

The Corinthians were correct that idols have no real existence. The psalmist told us the exact same thing in Psalm 115, verses 4 through 8. So we know that, that the idols are not real. They’re not real. And so since there’s no reality to an idol and there’s no God but one, then they would say, How can we be faulted in going to an idol’s temple? It’s not real. So how can we be faulted for that?

The Demonic Reality Behind Idols

Well, Paul is going to explain to them later in chapter 10 that their premise is only partly true. Partly true. Idols are nothing, but there’s something very real standing behind those idols. Pagan religion is the locus of demonic activity. And Paul is going to say that when we get to chapter 10, John will broaden that point when we get to Revelation, because he talks about the synagogue of Satan. And he refers to a Greek shrine as Satan’s throne. And Deuteronomy 32 also links idol worship to the sacrifice to demons. So Paul is pointing that out to them. You may think idols are nothing, and they’re right. There’s no real idol, but there’s a demonic reality behind those idols.

The Pantheon Code

There’s a very interesting book on this called The Pantheon Code. You know, we’re talking here about the Greek gods. Do you ever wonder where the Greek gods came from? I mean, where did they come from? Who came up with the Greek gods?

The Pantheon Code makes the argument that the Greek gods actually are the pre-flood characters in the Bible looked at from pagan eyes, looked at differently. In other words, if you want to know what really happened before the flood, of course you pick up the Bible and read the historical account of Adam and Eve, etc., etc. But the pagans looked at the same characters and they used them to create these false Greek gods.

For example, Athena could be linked with Eve and Zeus with Adam. Athena, for example, was born fully grown from Zeus. Remind us of Eve coming from the rib of Adam. And in fact, every time you see Athena, she’s always pictured with a snake.

So the thought is that maybe the pagans were looking at the same characters, but from a false worldly perspective, and used that to create the Greek gods. That book goes through all the Greek gods and makes some very interesting arguments. If that’s true, then that really explains the demonic reality here, that this is the false religions of the world, the pagans of the world, looking back at the true historical characters, but twisting them and creating these false gods.

Four Fundamental Truths About God

Verse 6 tells us four things about God that are fundamental to a Christian. God is our Father. We know that concept existed in Judaism before Christ came, but no one really understood what it meant until Christ came and told us about that.

Second, God is our Creator, tells us that. Unlike all these false gods, God is real, and God created us and everything in the universe, the entire universe. That’s important.

It tells us that Jesus is Lord. He’s equal with God the Father. In the same breath that Paul asserts there’s only one God, he applies the designation Lord to Jesus. In the Old Testament, that designation was only applied to God the Father. So, in fact, Paul is saying here that Jesus is equal with God. We’re seeing that here.

And also in verse 6, we find out that it’s through God and for God that we exist, that we’re here. That’s not just a creed. That’s a personalized creed. He’s pointing to us and pointing to the church, specifically, the new creation. But it’s really true of all creation. We’re here because God made us. We’re His creation.

Verses 7-8: The Weak Conscience

Verse 7. “Howbeit there is not in every man that knowledge. For some with conscience of the idol, unto this hour, eat it as a thing offered unto an idol, and their conscience being weak is defiled. But meat commendeth us not to God. For neither if we eat are we the better, neither if we eat not are we the worse.”

The word conscience appears 20 times in Paul’s letters. 20 times in all his letters. Eight of them are in chapters 8 and 10 of this letter. It refers, of course, to a moral compass. So, a weak conscience is someone who doesn’t really have a moral compass. They don’t know which way to go. They’re easily led astray because they’re faced with a situation and they don’t know if it’s right or wrong. They have a weak moral compass. That’s what it means to have a weak conscience, as that word is used here.

What Do We Need to Know to Be Saved?

Look at verse 7. We could ask how anyone could be a Christian and not know these things, not have this knowledge that he said they didn’t have. It appears from that that not every believer in Corinth had full knowledge of the doctrines of God, of Christ, of creation that Paul had taught them.

You know, I’ve known many people who were just agonized over whether they knew enough when they were baptized. And they worry that their baptism didn’t count because they didn’t know enough. And I’ve seen people who were re-baptized after they learned some more. You know, what do we need to know to be saved?

These Corinthians didn’t know some things that we might think would be on the list. I mean these are some things we might think they should have known. Well look at Acts chapter two if you ever have that question or if you’re ever talking to someone who asks you that question because those people in Acts chapter two heard one gospel sermon. They’d never heard another one because we know that because that was the first gospel sermon. They heard the first one.

And you have to ask, well, what did they know? They knew they were lost in their sins. They knew Jesus was the Son of God. They knew he had been raised from the dead and they knew what they needed to do to be saved. And they did it. They were baptized. They knew those things. And they knew enough.

And they may not have known these things, these Corinthians didn’t know, but they knew enough to be saved. And you can look at Acts chapter 2 if anyone asks you that question. But if after 40 years that’s still all you know, then, yes, you have a problem.

Intellectual vs. Experiential Knowledge

Now, some have seen a contradiction between verses 1, “all of us possess knowledge,” and verse 7, “not all of us possess this knowledge.” But of course, there’s no contradiction. Anyone following along with Paul’s argument here knows there’s no contradiction. The statement in verse 1, as I’ve mentioned, is likely a Corinthian slogan. I think he’s quoting back to them. And Paul agrees with it up to a point, but there are some qualifications in verses 2 and verses 7.

Also, I think verse 7 includes kind of an experiential knowledge, doing something and understanding something. These weak Christians intellectually knew there was no idol. But they had grown up in this temple. They’d grown up celebrating things there. And it was very hard for them to detach themselves from that. So it’s kind of that experiential knowledge that was lacking.

Now, Paul agrees with them that food is just a matter of indifference to God. We’re not going to be commended by God based on what we eat. But the irony of that is that it was far from indifference to these Corinthians, right? They were treating it of the utmost importance. In fact, it was so important to them that it looks like they were willing to place it above the eternal destiny of some of their fellow Christians.

I mean, they had taken the meat and almost made it an idol themselves. So in fact, they were doing the opposite of what they claimed. They were claiming, oh, food’s nothing. Oh, but we’re going to make it so important that we’re not going to have any regard for our fellow Christians. I think Paul is kind of pointing that out to them here.

Verses 9-13: The Danger to the Weak

Verse 9. “But take heed, lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to them that are weak. For if any man see thee which hath knowledge sit at meat in the idol’s temple, shall not the conscience of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols. And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died. But when you sin so against the brethren and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. Wherefore, if meat makes my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend.”

Well, we talked about the word in verse 9, “this liberty of yours,” or “this right of yours.” That was something we talked a lot about in the two introductory classes, so I won’t go back over that.

The Real Issue: Causing Others to Perish

But verse 11 later is certainly a strong challenge to those Corinthians who thought they had such a right to eat in an idol’s temple. What they were doing was causing their fellow Christians to be eternally lost, or putting them in danger of that.

Now, the issue here does not revolve around the one with the weak conscience. Instead, Paul’s goal is to change the behavior of the so-called strong. And remember, he doesn’t call anybody strong here. I think they were calling themselves strong. These so-called strong were in danger of being partners with demons. And causing others to also have that partnership.

Now, the net effect of this chapter, as we talked about, is to prohibit eating food in an idol’s temple. Now, some have argued that if there were no weak brothers, in other words, if no one was there to see them, then maybe they could go in and eat in the temple. So maybe if they snuck in and made sure no one was watching, then they’d be all right for them.

How could that possibly be the case when Paul is later going to say that’s fellowship with a demon? And he tells them to flee idolatry.

The Battle Within the Church

Now, the Corinthians were in danger here of causing other Christians to fall back into idolatry and lose their eternal life. This Corinthian church was engaged in this battle with idolatry, just as we saw earlier they were engaged in a battle with immorality and fornication. But some, it seems, were consorting with the enemy, and others, it seems, were threatened with being killed by friendly fire. That seems to have been the situation here, these verses tell us.

Paul reminds them that the person they’re endangering is a person for whom Christ died. And he’s contrasting their loveless knowledge with the greatest love imaginable. That’s the contrast Paul is painting here.

And in fact, in verse 12, he tells them who they’re really sinning against. They were sinning against Christ. Their sin was against Jesus. That’s what he tells them in verse 12. The church is the body of Christ, and those who harm the church are sinning against Christ. That’s what he’s telling them.

And by causing some to reject Christ and return to their former lives of sin and idolatry, they were causing him to crucify Jesus all over again, just as we read in Hebrews 6, verse 6.

Now, Paul knew exactly what this meant, didn’t he? Because what did Jesus say to him on that road to Damascus in Acts 9, verse 4, “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou the church?” No. “Why are you persecuting me? Me, me?” And Paul remembered that, I’m sure, as he told them the same thing.

Why Paul Started Here

Why did Paul begin with this argument we see here in chapter eight, when we know how he’s going to end up in chapter ten with a strict prohibition? Why not just start with the rule that he’s later going to give? Why did he start here?

Well, Paul started this way, I think, because this is how the Corinthians started. This is how they started. Paul is, I think, quoting their letter back to them. You can see him kind of going through it point by point. I think that’s where we see the word “now.” Now this, now this, now this. And I think now he’s gotten to the point where they’re trying to justify this behavior.

We talked about it in the introductory classes. We know Paul had talked about this to them before. Paul never talked to anybody without talking about idolatry. It was a big topic, and particularly in these pagan cities that were filled with idolatry. We know Paul had talked to them about this many times. So, this was not the first time.

As we mentioned, they’re not saying, “can we eat in the idol’s Temple?” They’re saying, “why can’t we eat in the idol’s Temple?”

Paul’s Teaching Method

Paul works his way through their argument point by point and shows them that the Christian ethic, the Christian theology moves in an entirely different direction from how they’re moving. That if you understand Christ and His teachings, you’re not going to be moving in the direction they’re moving. You’re instead going to turn around and move in the opposite direction.

And Paul’s response here also fits perfectly with the pattern he’s used elsewhere in this letter. In other situations, we’ve seen in this letter, and we’ll see. He ends with a prohibition, yes. But he starts trying to correct the problem at a deeper level. That’s what we’re seeing here in chapter 8. Starting with their misunderstanding. How did they end up in this situation?

You know, I used to be a teacher, and when I graded exams and stuff, you know, it’s tempting just to draw a big X through it and move on. But you want to understand how did they possibly get such a bad answer? I mean, what happened? How did they get here? And you then want to work your way back, and ah, here’s where they messed up. And then that’s what you go. You taught about that. You don’t just say, oh, you put down eight, it should have been seven, out the door. No, you go back and you say, well, here’s where you turned left, you should have turned right. Then they understand.

And that’s what Paul’s doing here. Later, he’s going to get over here to this point and say, look, it’s 8, it should be 7. But here, he’s gone back to correct the mistake. Where did they get off the road? That’s where he’s going back to fix that.

Principles Beyond Rules

With Paul, the imperative often follows the indicative. He’s trying to teach them something before he gets to the command. Sexual immorality is wrong and absolutely wrong. Idolatry is wrong. It’s absolutely wrong. But Paul doesn’t start there, here. I think he told them all that before. He doesn’t start that here, here. He’s starting earlier, trying to correct what is causing them to try to justify this behavior.

The Christian life is not determined by a list of rules and prohibitions. We know that. That’s what religion had become for the Pharisees. And when this was going on, and particularly when Jesus was teaching, what were the Pharisees, what did they spend all their time trying to do? Find loopholes.

And isn’t that the way with a rule? Isn’t that the way a rule? I mean, I’m a lawyer. I can tell you that’s, I get paid to find loopholes. I mean, that’s the way it works. You get a rule, you try to get around the rule with a loophole. And that’s what the Pharisees had spent all their time doing.

And Paul wanted to avoid the follow-up letter. He gives them another rule. Then the follow-up letter. Well, why can’t we do this, this, this, and this? You know, why about this? You didn’t mention that. Why can’t we do that?

He’s trying to avoid that by going back and having them understand. If you can understand the basis behind Rule A, B, and C, then when situation D comes up, you can come up with your own rule because you understand the basis behind it and why the A, B, and C are wrong.

Some things are totally incompatible with a life in Christ. And a true follower of Christ will flee from those things. And Paul has mentioned idolatry. Paul has mentioned fornication. There are other things that we have to flee from. And we need to know that. We need to understand those dangers and be able to flee from those things. And I think that is why Paul has started with chapter 8.

And again, we’re going to now go through chapter 9 where Paul is going to deal with their attack on his authority. “Who are you, Paul, to even tell us anything?” And we’re going to get to chapter 10, where Paul finally gets back to something I think he’d told them many, many times before, and that is to flee them. Flee these things. These things are wrong. You’re consorting with demons when you go in that idol’s temple. Run, flee. And he’s going to do that when he gets to chapter 10.

That’s not what he did in chapter 8.

Paul’s Love Shines Through

And Paul’s personality shines through so much in this beautiful letter and how he deals with this problem. We can see the love that Paul had for them, the love that Paul had for them. Yes, of course, everything in this letter is inspired, down to the smallest letter. We know that. But also, the way inspiration works. Paul’s personality is shining through in these letters.

Paul himself says, “You must understand that what I write are the commands of God.” Paul was writing this. And his personality shines through every word, every syllable inspired by God. Wonderful, beautiful, chapter eight.

And next week, chapter nine. Thank you very much for your attention.