If I can thank God for the food and enjoy it, why should I be condemned for eating it?
Parallel translations
- WEB If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced for that for which I give thanks?
- KJV For if I by grace be a partaker, why am I evil spoken of for that for which I give thanks?
- BSB If I partake in the meal with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks?
- NKJV But if I partake with thanks, why am I evil spoken of for the food over which I give thanks?
- NASB If I partake with thankfulness, why am I slandered about that for which I give thanks?
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Food received with thanksgiving should not bring reproach upon the believer. Gratitude sanctifies what God has freely given.
Overview
Paul affirms that thankful participation in God's gifts is good and should not be a cause for being maligned. This protects genuine Christian liberty even as he counsels restraint for love's sake. The verse upholds thanksgiving as the proper posture toward God's provision, consistent with the broader biblical teaching that gratitude consecrates our use of creation.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 2
- Rom 14:6He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks. He who doesn’t eat, to the Lord he doesn’t eat, and gives God thanks.
- 1 Tim 4:3–4forbidding marriage and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ crucified is the wisdom and power of God; he is our Passover sacrificed for us, the firstfruits of resurrection, the foundation on which everything is built.
How 1 Corinthians 10:30 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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