John Calvin Commentary 1 Corinthians 10:29

"conscience, I say, not thine own, but the other`s; for why is my liberty judged by another conscience?" — 1 Corinthians 10:29 (ASV)

Conscience, I say, not thine own. He always carefully takes heed not to diminish liberty, or to appear to take from it in any degree. “You ought to bear with the weak conscience of your brother, so that you may not abuse your right, so as to cause offense to him; but in the meantime your conscience remains, nevertheless, free, because it is exempted from that subjection. Let not, therefore, the restraint which I impose upon you as to outward use, become by any means a snare to entangle your conscience.”

It must be observed here, that the term conscience is taken here in its strict meaning; for in Romans 13:5, and 1 Timothy 1:5, it is taken in a larger sense. “We ought,” says Paul, “to obey princes, not merely for the sake of wrath, but also for that of conscience” — that is, not merely from fear of punishment, but because the Lord orders it so, and it is our duty.

Is it not reasonable, too, that we should for the same reason accommodate ourselves to weak brothers — that is, because we are to this extent subject to them in the sight of God?

Further, the end of the commandment is love out of a good conscience. Is not the affection of love included in a good conscience? Hence its meaning here is, as I have already stated, more restricted, since the soul of a pious man looks exclusively to the tribunal of God, has no regard to men, is satisfied with the blessing of liberty procured for it by Christ, and is bound to no individuals, and to no circumstances of time or place.

Some manuscripts repeat the statement — The earth is the Lord’s. But the probability is, that some reader having put it on the margin, it had then crept into the text. It is not, however, a matter of great importance.

For why is my liberty It is doubtful whether Paul speaks in this way of himself, or whether he makes this objection in the name of the Corinthians. If we take it as spoken in his own name, it will be a confirmation of the preceding statement: “In restricting yourself for the sake of another man’s conscience, your liberty is not thereby made subject to him.” If in the name of the Corinthians, the meaning will be this: “You impose upon us an unjust law, in requiring that our liberty should stand or fall at the caprice of others.”

I am of the opinion that Paul says this of himself, but explains it in another way, for until now I have been stating the views of others. To be judged, then, I explain here as meaning — to be condemned, agreeably to the common meaning of the word in Scripture.

Paul warns us of the danger that must follow if we use our liberty unreservedly, so as to cause offense to our neighbors — that they will condemn it. Thus, through our fault and our unreasonableness, the consequence will be that this special benefit from God will be condemned.

If we do not guard against this danger, we corrupt our liberty by our abuse of it. This consideration, then, greatly tends to confirm Paul’s exhortation.