Overcoming Idolatry

In 1 Corinthians 8:1–3, Paul argues that love for God keeps one safe from idolatry. This argument is resumed and further developed in 1 Corinthians 10:23–11:1. In 1 Corinthians 8:3, he speaks about our love for God. He says, “Let no one seek his own, but each one the other’s well-being” (1 Cor. 10:24, NKJV). This is love for others.

Paul is doing in 1 Corinthians 10 precisely what Jesus did in Mark 12:28–31; namely, he binds together the two great commandments of the law: love for God above all, and love for others. In the story of the rich young ruler (Mark 10:17–22), Jesus unites these two kinds of love, and does so by respectively alluding to Deuteronomy 6:4 (see Mark 10:18) and the second table of the Decalogue (see Mark 10:19). The problem of that rich young man is that he loved his possessions more than he loved God and his neighbors (Mark 10:22). He valued his treasure on earth above the treasures in heaven. He valued his money above the poor (Mark 10:21). He was an idolater.

Following the teachings of Jesus, Paul hints that the principle of loving God above all and the neighbor as oneself is to be applied to the hypothetical situations he mentions in 1 Corinthians 10:27, 28. This means that even lawful things may not be helpful or edifying since they can be offensive to someone else’s conscience (1 Cor. 10:23). This principle is masterly synthesized in the words “Do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31, NKJV). By saying that all must be done to the glory of God, Paul indicates that idolatry can manifest itself in the most varied forms, for anything that usurps the glory that belongs to God alone is a form of idolatry (Isa. 42:8).

Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 10:31–11:1 serve as a conclusion to chapters 8–10. He makes it clear he did not seek his own advantage, “but that of many, that they may be saved” (1 Cor. 10:33, ESV). That is how he imitated Christ (1 Cor. 11:1).

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Additional Reading: Selected Quotes from Ellen G. White

God would have His people understand that He alone should be the object of their worship; and when they should overcome the idolatrous nations around them, they should not preserve any of the images of their worship, but utterly destroy them. Many of these heathen deities were very costly, and of beautiful workmanship, which might tempt those who had witnessed idol worship, so common in Egypt, to even regard these senseless objects with some degree of reverence. The Lord would have His people know that it was because of the idolatry of these nations, which had led them to every degree of wickedness, that He would use the Israelites as His instruments to punish them, and destroy their gods. . . .
“I will set thy bounds from the Red Sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert unto the river: for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; and thou shalt drive them out before thee.” . . .
These promises of God to His people were on condition of their obedience. If they would serve the Lord fully, He would do great things for them. After Moses had received the judgments from the Lord, and had written them for the people, also the promises, on condition of obedience, the Lord said unto him, “Come up unto the Lord, thou, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship ye afar off. And Moses alone shall come near the Lord: but they shall not come nigh; neither shall the people go up with him. And Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the Lord hath said will we do.”
Moses had written—not the ten commandments, but the judgments which God would have them observe, and the promises, on conditions that they would obey Him. He read this to the people, and they pledged themselves to obey all the words which the Lord had said. Moses then wrote their solemn pledge in a book, and offered sacrifice unto God for the people. “And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people, and they said, All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient.”—To Be Like Jesus, p. 341.

Arriving in Egypt, Joseph was sold to Potiphar, captain of the king’s guard, in whose service he remained for ten years. He was here exposed to temptations of no ordinary character. He was in the midst of idolatry. The worship of false gods was surrounded by all the pomp of royalty, supported by the wealth and culture of the most highly civilized nation then in existence. Yet Joseph preserved his simplicity and his fidelity to God. . . .
The marked prosperity which attended everything placed under Joseph’s care was not the result of a direct miracle; but his industry, care, and energy were crowned with the divine blessing. Joseph attributed his success to the favor of God and even his idolatrous master accepted this as the secret of his unparalleled prosperity. Without steadfast, well-directed effort, however, success could never have been attained. God was glorified by the faithfulness of His servant. It was His purpose that in purity and uprightness the believer in God should appear in marked contrast to the worshipers of idols—that thus the light of heavenly grace might shine forth amid the darkness of heathenism.—Conflict and Courage, p. 74.\