1 Corinthians 8:9

But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become. stumblingblock to the weak.

'But' -Yes food may be morally neutral, and food is. "liberty", but you can push this "right" in the face of. brother, and spiritually kill him with it.

'take heed' -a warning to the "Knowledgeable". Present tense, we must always take heed.

'this liberty' -

Points to Note:

1. "Liberty,freedom, rights"-is an area in the life of. Christian that must be carefully guarded. Yes, self-control must be exercised in this realm too (1 Corinthians 6:12). In fact, one could make the case that Paul's buffeting of his body is in the realm of "personal liberties" (1 Corinthians 9:24-27); i.e. Paul is saying that He could be rejected if he "abused" his rights.

2. 'For the Corinthians "knowledge"..means "rights" to act in "freedom". Thus for them freedom became the highest good, since it led to the exaltation of the individual. For Paul the opposite prevails: "Love" means the "free giving up" of one's rights for the sake of others (cf. 1 Corinthians 9:19-23)..' (Fee p. 385)

3. Love doesn't insist upon it's rights (1 Corinthians 13:5 'seeketh not its own..'

'stumblingblock' -'is something that lies in. path, against which an unwary foot may strike and cause. person to stumble or to fall; metaphorically, anything that may cause. person to sin and to suffer injury to his soul.' (Lenski p. 344)

Jesus had some stern words to say about "stumblingblocks" (Matthew 18:7)

We should note that. "stumblingblock" isn't something that "offends" you, rather is it something that leads you into sin, something that would encourage or move you to violate your conscience.

The next verse seems to explain "how" this liberty of theirs was being abused.