Food is nothing. Idols are nothing. That much, Paul and the Corinthians agreed.
But eating food offered to idols is something!
Paul reasons that such an act constitutes participation with the demons.
Such an act is tantamount to idolatry.
And so, besides thinking about others (how they can be stumbled if we eat food offered to idols), and
about ourselves (how our unwillingness to give up our rights may reveal a lack of love and therefore, a lack of the assurance of God's grace in our lives),
Paul says we need to think about God- how this act of eating food offered to idols is idolatry and will provoke his jealous wrath.
Instead of just saying no, Paul therefore lovingly and patiently reasons why this is wrong, so that they may understand the principles and implications and thereby obey from their heart. He also lays down the great fundamentals of loving God and loving man, and convinces most powerfully by his own life in servant leadership.
