1 Corinthians 8:6 says that for Christians there is one God the Father, the source of all things, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things exist and through whom believers live. Paul wrote this to the church in Corinth, a city crowded with temples and idols, to answer a practical question about whether it was wrong to eat meat that had been offered to those idols.
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 (WEB)
What 1 Corinthians 8:6 Means
The verse begins with “yet to us,” a contrast with the many so-called gods and lords mentioned in verse 5. Paul is saying that the Corinthian believers, unlike their neighbors, have one God in view. That God is named as “the Father,” the one from whom everything comes. The phrase “of whom are all things, and we for him” means that creation starts with God and that people are made to belong to him and to serve him.
The second half makes the same claim about Jesus Christ. He is called “Lord,” a title that in the Old Testament was reserved for the God of Israel, and Paul says that all things come “through” him. In the same breath he says believers “live through him.” Paul does not say the verse settles every question about food, idols or money. He uses this truth as the foundation for a specific ethical argument, and the rest of the chapter applies it.
The Context of 1 Corinthians 8:6
First Corinthians was written by the apostle Paul, traditionally dated to the mid-50s AD, to a congregation he had founded in Corinth. The church was made up of people from varied backgrounds, some wealthy and well educated, others poor, and they disagreed about how to live out their freedom in Christ. Chapter 8 deals with a dispute over whether believers could eat food that had been sacrificed to idols, which was often sold in the markets or served at dinners held in temple settings.
Verses 4 and 5 set the stage by admitting that idols are nothing in themselves, and that many gods and lords are worshiped. Verse 6 supplies the reason this matters: believers have been brought into a relationship with the one true God through Christ. Verses 7 through 9 then warn that some believers still feel their conscience pulled by the old associations, so the freedom to eat must be used carefully. Read this way, verse 6 is less a freestanding statement about the Trinity and more the theological basis for Paul’s instruction on love and conscience.
Key Phrases in 1 Corinthians 8:6
Romans 11:36
For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things. To him be the glory for ever! Amen.
(WEB)
Paul writes that all things are from God, through God and to God, using language that echoes the structure of 1 Corinthians 8:6. Reading the two together shows how central this understanding of God as source and goal was to his teaching.
Colossians 1:16
For by him all things were created, in the heavens and on the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things have been created through him, and for him.
(WEB)
This verse describes Christ as the one through whom and for whom all things were created. It expands the thought of 1 Corinthians 8:6 and places the Son firmly within the work of creation.
A Short Prayer From 1 Corinthians 8:6
Father, you are the source of everything I have and everything I am. Thank you that I am not left to guess at who you are, because you have shown yourself through your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Help me to live in that knowledge each day, grateful for the gifts you give and careful not to use my freedom in ways that harm a brother or sister. Keep my heart anchored in you alone, and let my life point back to you, the one from whom all things come. Amen.
