Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatever ye do, do all things to God's glory.
Paul closes a long argument about food. He ends it with no list of allowed foods. Instead he gives one standard wide enough to cover eating, drinking, and everything else a person does.
The Rule That Closes the Argument
Paul settles the food dispute by changing the question. He moves it off what a person is allowed to do.
The apostle then lays down the still larger and golden rule of Christian conduct: "So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." … If someone does everything for God's glory, he is not chasing his own pleasure. He gives it up. So he puts no stumbling block in front of anyone — Jews, Gentiles, or God's assembly. Love alone walks that way, seeking God's glory and man's good.
Nothing Too Ordinary
Eating and drinking are the plainest things a body does. That is why Paul names them.
Let us connect the most ordinary things with Christ's will and glory. Nothing is closer to mere animal life than eating and drinking. Yet the word of God would have us take up even these things for the highest purpose. And no way is so simple and sure as the faith that looks upward and receives them in His name.
A Principle, Not a List
Under the law, categories of clean and unclean decided what was holy to eat. The New Testament works differently, and this verse shows how.
In the letters, "You shall" and "You shall not" are strikingly absent. Instead of a list of clean and unclean foods, we find a general principle. The believer applies it to each case as it comes up. "So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God" (1 Cor 10:31). Because the Christian has the "mind of Christ" (1 Cor. 2:16) and has received "not the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind" (2 Tim. 1:7), he can judge by the word whether a thing is for God's glory, and act on what he sees.
Two Opposite Mistakes
One writer sets the rule against two opposite mistakes about food.
"Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God" checks two things at once. It checks heavy indulgence in luxuries. It also checks a monk-like refusal of "foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth."
The Question to Ask
The standard applies case by case. So it becomes a working test for anything a believer is unsure about.
The question the true believer has to ask about everything that comes before him is simply, "Can I do this to the glory of God? Can I connect the Name of Christ with it?" If not, he must not touch it.
The same writer tells a reader with a divided mind to wait instead of pushing ahead.
So do not do anything with a doubtful mind. "Whatever does not proceed from faith is sin." Look to the Lord for guidance in this. See whether you can do it to His glory, and if not, lay it aside.
The Motive Behind the Act
Two people can do the identical thing. The verse reaches past the action to what drives it.
You may get two men doing exactly the same thing, only with different motives. With the Christian, Christ is his only motive, or ought to be. He may have a thousand things to do, the common duties of life. But he can serve Christ in them. There I get a motive strong enough. … The common things of life do not make a person unspiritual. I must attend to them, and do them well. But if my motive in doing them is Christ, it is a mistake to think they harm my spiritual life.
Darby links the power to obey this verse to staying close to Christ.
You will not have spiritual discernment or power of motive unless the heart is kept near to Christ.
Summary
- One rule. This is the golden rule of Christian conduct. A food dispute ends with a standard that covers every action.
- Wide reach. God's glory reaches eating and drinking, the things closest to mere animal life, and lifts them to the highest purpose.
- Real freedom. Instead of lists of clean and unclean, the believer gets one principle to apply case by case. It checks both self-indulgence and needless self-denial.
- A usable test. Ask of anything: can I do this to God's glory, can I connect Christ's name with it? If not, leave it; and never act with a divided mind.
- The motive decides. Two people may do the same act; what makes it glory to God is Christ as the motive — and that comes from a heart kept near to Him.