Stars in Heaven Directing Steps to Bethlehem

Paul possessed a rare gift that modern preachers often lack: he never isolated his theology from his ethics. The greatest truths burned high in the heavens like the star that guided the Magi, yet they directed Christians to the humblest details of daily conduct. When the Corinthians pressed him about eating meat sacrificed to idols—a question that "inextricably intertwined itself with daily life"—he did not merely pronounce rules. Instead, he wrapped practical solutions in wrapping of large principles.

His method was instructive. Verses 23-24 establish general principles; verses 25-30 give specific answers; verses 31-33 return to principles "wide and imperative enough to mould all conduct." Paul combined two virtues rarely found together: willingness to go as far as possible in liberty, joined with inflexible determination not to transgress principle even one step farther. He possessed what Maclaren calls "the immense gift of saving common-sense."

Where conscience was uninformed, Paul counseled mercy: "Don't ask where the joint came from." He would not allow inflamed consciences to manufacture scruples. Yet where idolatry was known and certain, "Paul is as rigid and strict as" his strictest critics. This combination—yieldingness wherever principle does not enter, iron fixedness wherever it does—demonstrates that true Christian liberty is never lawlessness, but obedience flowing from the heart through the mind to every act. The smallest duty receives its light from the greatest truth.