The Christian Shema: One God, One Lord Text: 1 Corinthians 8:4-6
Introduction: The World's Pantheon
The city of Corinth was a bustling, cosmopolitan port city, a crossroads of the Roman Empire. And like any such city, it was lousy with gods. You couldn't throw a rock without hitting a temple, a shrine, or an idol. There was Aphrodite, Apollo, Poseidon, and a host of lesser deities. Religion was public, it was civic, and it was woven into the fabric of daily life. This meant that a significant portion of the meat sold in the marketplace, the agora, had first been offered up in a pagan temple as part of a sacrifice. Some of it was burned on the altar, some was given to the priests, and the rest was sold for public consumption. This created a significant practical problem for the new Christian community. Can a believer, in good conscience, eat a steak that had been dedicated to Zeus?
This was not a merely theoretical question. It was a question of discipleship that impacted daily commerce, social relationships, and public witness. The Corinthian church was divided on the issue. On one side, you had the "strong," those who had a robust theological understanding. They knew idols were nothing and that the meat was just meat. On the other side, you had the "weak," likely new converts from paganism, whose consciences were still tender. For them, eating that meat felt like a compromise with their old life of idolatry, a life from which they had just been rescued.
Paul addresses this issue head-on, but he does not begin with a simple "yes" or "no." He begins, as he always does, with theology. Before we can know what to do, we must first know who God is. Right practice flows from right doctrine. The practical problem of the meat market in Corinth can only be resolved by ascending to the highest truths about the nature of God and the universe. Our text today is Paul's foundational statement, a creedal thunderclap that functions as the Christian Shema. It is the bedrock reality upon which all Christian liberty and all Christian ethics are built.
In our day, we may not be worried about meat from the temple of Apollo, but we are surrounded by a pantheon of modern idols that demand our allegiance and seek to define our reality. The idols of the State, of sexual autonomy, of materialism, of scientism, all have their temples, their priests, and their sacrificial systems. And so Paul's answer to the Corinthians is God's answer to us. If we are to navigate the idolatries of our own age, we must be grounded in this same magnificent, world-altering confession.
The Text
Therefore, concerning the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no God but one. For even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords, yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.
(1 Corinthians 8:4-6 LSB)
Theological Nullification (v. 4)
Paul begins by agreeing with the "strong" party in Corinth, establishing the central theological premise.
"Therefore, concerning the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no God but one." (1 Corinthians 8:4)
The first point of knowledge is that "an idol is nothing in the world." This is a statement of ontological nullity. The idol, the block of wood or stone, is nothing. It has no power. It cannot hear. It cannot act. It is a theological vacuum. The idol itself is a fiction, a carved lie. To the one true God, Jupiter is a joke. This is the consistent testimony of Scripture. Isaiah mocks the idol-maker who uses one part of a tree to cook his dinner and the other part to carve a god to which he then prays for deliverance (Isaiah 44:14-17). It is the height of absurdity.
But we must be careful here. When Paul says an idol is "nothing," he does not mean there are no spiritual realities involved. He will clarify later in this letter that what the pagans sacrifice they "sacrifice to demons and not to God" (1 Cor. 10:20). So, the idol is nothing, but the idolatry is something. The carved image is a nullity, but the worship offered to it is directed toward real, malevolent spiritual beings. The gods of the nations are demons. So there is a paradox: the gods are not real gods, but they are real demons. The idol itself is a zero, but the transaction of worship is demonic. The "strong" Corinthians had grasped the first part of this truth, that the idol is nothing. Paul wants to ensure they, and we, understand the whole picture.
The second point of knowledge is the foundation of the first: "there is no God but one." This is the Shema: "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one" (Deut. 6:4). This is the bedrock of biblical faith and the great dividing line between Israel and the pagan nations. Reality is not a cosmic committee. The universe is not the result of a divine turf war. There is one sovereign, transcendent Creator who made all things. Because He is one, and because He is the only God, it follows necessarily that all other claimants to deity are fraudulent. An idol's claim to divinity is null and void because the position is already filled.
So-Called Gods and Real Allegiances (v. 5)
Paul then acknowledges the reality of the pagan worldview before demolishing it with the Christian confession.
"For even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords," (1 Corinthians 8:5 LSB)
Paul is not conceding that other gods actually exist as deities. He uses the term "so-called gods" (lego,menoi theoi). These are gods by reputation, gods in name only. He is acknowledging the sociological and psychological reality of paganism. People believe in these gods. Cultures are built around them. They have real influence in the world, not because they are real gods, but because men treat them as real gods. There are "many gods and many lords." The world is full of things that demand ultimate allegiance.
This is as true today as it was in Corinth. Our world is filled with "many gods and many lords." The State is a god that demands total allegiance, offering salvation through legislation and security through surveillance. Mammon is a lord that promises happiness through accumulation. Aphrodite is alive and well, a goddess promising fulfillment through consequence-free sexual expression. These are not blocks of wood, but they are powerful ideologies and systems that function as gods. They demand worship, they require sacrifice, and they promise a form of salvation. Paul's analysis is not just for ancient history; it is a diagnosis of the fallen human condition. Man is an incorrigible idolater. If he will not worship the true God, he will worship something else. He will worship a so-called god.
The Christian Shema (v. 6)
Having acknowledged the world's pantheon, Paul delivers the Christian creed. This is one of the most potent and condensed theological statements in the entire New Testament.
"yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him." (1 Corinthians 8:6 LSB)
This is a brilliant Christian adaptation of the Jewish Shema. Paul takes the singular confession of Deuteronomy 6:4 and reveals its Trinitarian structure. The one God of Israel is the Father, and the one Lord (Adonai) of Israel is Jesus Christ. This is a breathtaking claim. Paul is identifying Jesus of Nazareth with the God of the Old Testament in the most direct way possible.
Notice the parallel structure. "For us," in stark contrast to the world's "many gods and lords," our reality is radically different. We have "one God, the Father." He is the source of all things, the ultimate origin, the architect. "From whom are all things." This is the doctrine of creation. Everything that is not God came from God. This establishes the fundamental Creator/creature distinction. And what is the purpose of this creation? "And we exist for Him." We are not cosmic accidents. We were made by Him and for His glory. Our purpose is not self-determined; it is assigned by our Maker.
Then, Paul mirrors this with the Son. "And one Lord, Jesus Christ." Just as there is one God, there is one Lord. The title "Lord" (Kyrios) is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew "Adonai," which was used as a substitute for the sacred name of God, Yahweh. To call Jesus "Lord" was to call Him God. This is the central Christian confession: Jesus is Lord. And if Jesus is Lord, then Caesar is not. The State is not. Your feelings are not. He is the singular, exclusive authority.
And what is His role? He is the agent of creation: "by whom are all things." The Father is the source from whom all things come; the Son is the agent through whom all things are made. As John tells us, "All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made" (John 1:3). And just as we exist for the Father, we exist "through Him." He is not only our Creator but also our Sustainer and our Redeemer. We were made through Him, and we are saved through Him. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end of all things.
This verse is a wrecking ball to all idolatry, ancient and modern. It establishes a comprehensive worldview. There is one God, the Father, who is the ultimate source and purpose of everything. There is one Lord, Jesus Christ, who is the divine agent and mediator of everything. There is no room for any other god, any other lord, any other ultimate authority. All of reality is defined by its relationship to the Father through the Son. This is the grammar of the universe.
Conclusion: Liberty, Love, and the Lordship of Christ
So what does this high theology have to do with a piece of meat? Everything. Because there is only one God and one Lord, and because idols are nothing, the meat is just meat. The pagan ceremony did not magically infuse the steak with demonic cooties. The Christian who knows this is free to eat it. This is Christian liberty, and it is grounded in the absolute sovereignty of our God.
However, Paul will go on to argue that this liberty must be governed by love. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. Your theological knowledge that the idol is nothing might be perfectly correct, but if you flaunt that knowledge and cause a weaker brother to violate his conscience and stumble, you have sinned against your brother and therefore sinned against Christ. Your liberty is not the highest good; the health of the body of Christ is.
The application for us is direct. We live in a world of "many gods and many lords." We are constantly pressured to bow, to compromise, to participate in the rituals of the secular, pagan state. We are told we must celebrate what God condemns, we must call evil good, we must offer our pinch of incense on the altar of sexual autonomy or racial politics. The Christian response must be grounded in this text. For us, there is one God, the Father, and one Lord, Jesus Christ.
Therefore, we know that the claims of these modern idols are nothing. They are ontological nullities. The moral authority of the sexual revolution is a sham. The salvific promises of the socialist state are a lie. They are "so-called gods." Our fundamental confession that Jesus is Lord of all things, by whom all things were made, gives us the backbone to stand and say "no." It liberates us from the fear of man and the tyranny of the urgent. We are not defined by the ever-shifting demands of the culture, because we exist for the Father and through the Son.
This confession is the foundation of our freedom, but it is also the boundary of our freedom. We are free from the idols of the world, but we are not free to disregard our brothers and sisters in Christ. We must use our liberty to build up, to serve, and to love, all for the glory of the one God and Father, through the one Lord, Jesus Christ.