“All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience. For “the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.” 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. 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— I do not mean your conscience, but his. For why should my liberty be determined by someone else’s conscience? If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks?
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, 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.
Comment: You may have noticed that I sometimes remove the verse numbers from a passage. They weren’t in the original – they are certainly helpful in indicating to find a certain quoted passage of the Bible, but here I am looking at a ‘slab’ of thought. Today’s portion opens with “All things are lawful,” and the quotation marks, as I understand, weren’t there in the original. I think that the translators have put them there to indicate that this phrase is from common societal usage but needs to be thought about seriously. It sounds good! And ‘freedom’ is what we have in Jesus. I remember years ago hearing a debate between church leaders and the pick of some of the the very bright students of an English University. I clearly remember Lord Ramsay, then Archbishop of the Anglican Church saying “You talk about ‘freedom’ as if it means ‘liberty’ to do what pleases yourself. For the Christian it means ‘freedom to do what you know is right!'”. Then Paul talks about ‘conscience’ which means ‘with knowledge’. There is an innate aspect to conscience but it needs to be trained as well. The Bible is a good place to get that training. Then Paul discusses some of the things which affect our freedom as Christians.
Prayer: Thank You for the freedom that I have in Jesus.
As I read it! 
Thank you Barry for your comments on this passage. Thank you for the comment from Lord Ramsay the Anglican Bishop. He makes it very clear that we are not FREE to do whatever WE want to do, but the freedom to do what is right as we follow Christ. Because whatever we do affects the lives of those around us – Believers and unbelievers. God bless you.
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