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1 Corinthians 8 Bible study: Love builds up

1 Corinthians 8 says, "Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up." (8:1), and in the Greek builds up is the same verb as emboldened in 8:10. It says, "But anyone who loves God is known by him." (8:3), and calls the one who is weak "the brother for whose sake Christ died" (8:11).

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“yet to us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we live through him.”
1 Corinthians 8:6 · World English Bible

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“1 Corinthians 8:3 says anyone who loves God is known by him.”

Is that in 1 Corinthians 8, or not? Make your call.

What's really going on

Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up

In the text

The chapter opens, "Now concerning things sacrificed to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up." (8:1) (tap knowledge, puffs up, love, builds up). Favor's introduction to 1 Corinthians begins a new part of the letter here, Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up, and under Now concerning it gathers the six verses that open with those words, 8:1 among them (7:1, 7:25, 8:1, 12:1, 16:1, 16:12). Then: "But if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he doesn’t yet know as he ought to know." (8:2), and "But anyone who loves God is known by him." (8:3) (tap known).

Where the Old Testament leads here

One God, and one Lord

Interpretation

1 Samuel 5:3leads to1 Corinthians 8:6

"Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the LORD’s ark" (5:3), and the men of Ashdod said, "his hand is severe on us and on Dagon our god" (5:7). Writing "concerning the eating of things sacrificed to idols", Paul says, "we know that no idol is anything in the world, and that there is no other God but one" (1 Corinthians 8:4), and "yet to us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we live through him" (1 Corinthians 8:6). The New Testament doesn't cite 1 Samuel 5, so setting them side by side is a reading. Some read the chapter as showing in a story what Paul states: there is no other God but one. Others read each in its own setting: Paul is writing about eating things sacrificed to idols and goes on to care for "the weak" (1 Corinthians 8:9), while 1 Samuel 5 tells of the LORD's hand on the cities of the Philistines.

Honest questions

Questions people ask about 1 Corinthians 8

That was a taste

The rest of 1 Corinthians 8 is waiting in Favor

  • One God, the Father, and one Lord, Jesus Christ
  • That knowledge isn’t in all men
  • The brother for whose sake Christ died
  • A line that lands here
  • Questions asked elsewhere in Favor
  • Set beside this chapter elsewhere in Favor
  • 14 questions as you read
  • 10 more Greek words
  • A short check at the end
  • Your notes, saved as you go
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The Greek word behind it

γνῶσιςgnosissay GNO-sis

Strong's: "knowing (the act), i.e. (by implication) knowledge". "We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up." (8:1). The chapter has the noun five times, each where the WEB has knowledge: twice in 8:1, then 8:7, 8:10 and 8:11. 1 Corinthians has it ten times, more than any other book, and the New Testament 29 times (counted in RP2018). The letter's opening thanks has it too: "that in everything you were enriched in him, in all speech and all knowledge" (1:5).

For your group

1 Corinthians 8 Bible study questions

  1. 1"Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up." (8:1). When have you seen knowing something, or being right, help or get in the way of building someone up?
  2. 2"But anyone who loves God is known by him." (8:3). What does it mean to you that the verse speaks of being known by God, and not only of knowing?
  3. 38:11 speaks of "the brother for whose sake Christ died" (8:11). How might seeing someone that way change how you treat them?

Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads 1 Corinthians 8 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.

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Questions

What is Favor?

Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.

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Which Bible does Favor use?

The World English Bible, a modern, readable translation in the public domain. God's name appears as "the LORD", as in most English Bibles.

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No. Favor is non-denominational. Where Christians read a passage differently, it shows the main views side by side and doesn't pick one.

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Last reviewed October 8, 2026. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home