What does 1 Corinthians 10:24 mean?

Paul has rejected the philosophy that Christians are free from any and all restrictions because our sins are forgiven and we live under God's grace. This is the attitude which simply says, "everything is allowed," and stops there. In contrast, Paul now says the standard for every Christian should be what it written in this verse: "Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor." This was the theme Paul explored in chapter 9, saying that even his "rights" were not as important as the spiritual good of other people.

Paul has written earlier that he is not under the law of Moses, but he continues to live under the law of Christ (1 Corinthians 9:21). That "law" is captured in Christ's words affirming the greatest commandments: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself" (Luke 10:27).

Paul will, in the following verses, apply that law of love to the issue of knowingly eating meat that has been offered to idols.