1 Corinthians 10:14-22

Butler's Comments

SECTION 3

Indulgence (1 Corinthians 10:14-22)

14 Therefore, my beloved, shun the worship of idols. 15I speak as to sensible men; judge for yourselves what I say. 16The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? 17Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. 18Consider the people of Israel; are not those who eat the sacrifices partners in the altar? 19What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be partners with demons. 21You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. 22Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?

1 Corinthians 10:14-18 Gregariousness: Paul is not teaching a lesson on Christian communion or the Lord's Supper here. He is using Christian communion as an analogy or an illustration of the principle of fellowship. It should be logically apparent to any thinking individual that the congeniality of dining and drinking with someone indicates the diners are like-minded, agreed in aims and purposes. This was certainly true in ancient cultures more than in modern American culture. People do not participate, continually, at meal-tables with their enemies; at least they are not that congenial with enemies by their own free choice. For example, when Christians eat and drink with Christ at his Supper they are testifying to all they are in fellowship with Christ. They demonstrate they have freely chosen to participate in what he is, in what he is for and against, and in what his aims and purposes are. As Paul will show, the Corinthians, by attending the pagan feasts dedicated to idols were testifying to all they were in fellowship with that for which the idol stood.

This passage in no way teaches the idea that the emblems of the Lord's Supper become the actual body and blood of Jesus Christ. Neither does it teach that should we miss participation in the emblems due to circumstances beyond our control we lose contact with the blood of Christ. The death of Christ becomes efficacious to us through obedient faith, to be sure, but a person might have perfect attendance at the Lord's Supper and still lose contact with the blood of Christ if he is trusting in the ritual to make him meritoriously fit for salvation. The Pharisees never missed a tithe, never missed a fast, never missed a regulated time of prayer, but they were trusting in their own self-righteousness for approval before God rather than in God's mercy. The real issue here is not the observance of the Lord's Supper, per se, but that of divided loyalty. A man cannot participate with Christ and participate (or indulge) with the devil at the same time. A man cannot serve two masters. A man cannot serve God and mammon.

Another illustration is presented. The priests of the old covenant gave testimony to the fellowship they had with God when they participated in the ritual of offerings upon the altar of God. They did not partake, literally, of the altarthe altar itself was emblematic of the spiritual fellowship they had by faith. This meaning must be applied to all physical acts of New Testament Christianity. There is nothing supernatural or miraculous in the water in which a believer is immersed. The participation the believer has with the efficacious death of Christ is by faith. Immersion in water, in obedience to the command of Christ, symbolizes that faith. Refusal to be immersed, since that is the express act commanded in the New Testament for demonstrating initial faith, would symbolize unbelief. Partaking of immersion in water and the Lord's Supper testifies to, demonstrates and symbolizes the spiritual (unseen) reality of the believer's oneness with Christ. But the things themselves have no efficacy because things are amoral. Persons are moral. The efficaciousness of Christ's death is appropriated through the exercise of a person's faith. Proof that the altar itself contained no efficacy in which priests participated is clearly established by the prophets of the Old Testament who denounce the unbelieving priesthood of their day as enemies of God all the while they are performing the rituals at the altar.

1 Corinthians 10:19-22 Guilt: The preceding principle is exactly what Paul says he is trying to communicate to the Corinthians. Is the food, per se, offered to idols anything? No! Are the wooden or stone or metal images, in themselves, anything? No! A person is not defiled by touching an image or a piece of food sacrificed to an image. The issue is that what those pagans deliberately, willingly, and with personal, moral choice sacrifice to images is really (by their own understanding and choice) sacrifice to demons. These pagans know that the stone image is not a god in itself, but they are worshiping the personal being (an evil being) which it represents.

These strong Christians at Corinth had lost sight (from their misunderstanding of Christian liberty) of the fact that deliberately joining in the festivities and meals around the altar to an idol indicated they were willing to participate in the worship of the evil being represented by the image. They may have been strong enough not to have thought of their actions this way, but everyone else (including Christians more sensitively scrupulous) saw in it Christians willing to join in the worship of demons.
An idol or image may be only a piece of wood or stone, but it is a ready tool for the devil and his demons by which to deceive and seduce men into unbelief. We repeatthings are amoral. But evil persons may use things to corrupt and condemn men. Although Christians may understand that a thing is neither right nor wrong in itself, when they participate in the wrong use of an object, they become partners with the evil person who is using that object to destroy goodness. This is not guilt by association, but guilt by participation. Can we buy, sell, attend, defend things and places devoted to sin and destruction of mind and body without sharing in the devil's work?

All a person has to do to become a partner of the devil and his work is to refuse to become a partner with Christ and his work! Some people think they may be neutral, not an enemy of Christ, yet not a friend of the devilso they think. Wrong! Jesus said (Matthew 12:30-31) He that is not with me is against me; he that gathereth not with me, scattereth. Paul says it, You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. To refuse to surrender to the Lordship of Jesus is not neutralityit is the enthronement of self, The person who rejects Jesus as king, makes himself king. To worship man is idolatry and, actually, demonolatry (see Romans 1:22-25). Rejection of Christ is immoral because it is a rejection of absolute truth. To refuse to participate in the work of Christ is to join in the work of the demons of hell. There is no middle ground!

Applebury's Comments

Text

1 Corinthians 10:14-22. Wherefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. 15 I speak as to wise men; judge ye what I say. 16 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a communion of the body of Christ? 17 seeing that we, who are many, are one bread, one body: for we all partake of the one bread. 18 Behold Israel after the flesh: have not they that eat the sacrifices communion with the altar? 19 What say I then? that a thing sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20 But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have communion with demons. 21 Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of demons: ye cannot partake of the table of the Lord, and of the table of demons. 22 Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he?

Flee From Idolatry (14-22)

Commentary

All that the apostle has said on the subject of idolatry in answer to the question of the Corinthians is now brought to focus on his concluding exhortation.
In itself, he has indicated, there is nothing to an idol. Therefore, meats used in idol worship are not affected as items of food. But the Christian has an obligation to his brother in Christ who may not possess this knowledge. Love builds up; Paul pleads the cause of love as he urges his beloved fellow-members of the body of Christ to flee from idolatry.

Flee from idolatry.Idolatry is like a plague; it is a fearful evil; in it lurks a hidden danger. If the fathers were overcome by the sins that accompanied idolatry, how could the church hope to escape a like fate except by fleeing from this evil?

I speak as to wise men.That is, to men who were able to think. This is not the same word translated wise in 1 Corinthians 1:26 where Paul says that there were not many among them who were wise according to human standards. Greeks were worshippers of wisdom, but theirs was a wisdom of the immature as opposed to the mature wisdom which Paul preached in the message of the cross.

But these brethren were capable of using the minds God had given them. Paul appeals to them to do so in this matter of idolatry. He gives them concrete cases dealing with the subject that will help them as thinking men to make the right decision.

The cup of blessing which we bless.Since he has discussed idolatry and its feasts, it is appropriate that he call their attention to the church and its worship of Christ in the Lord's Supper.

When the supper was instituted, Jesus took the cup and said, This is the new covenant in my blood, even that which is poured out for you (Luke 22:20). In so doing He set it aside for a holy, purpose, that is, blessed it by pointing out it's meaning. Matthew says that He took bread, and blessed, and brake it; and He gave to the disciples, and said, Take eat; this is my body (Matthew 26:26). The act of blessing was in the consecration of the cup to serve as the reminder of the blessing which Christ brought to His followers through His death.

The cup was not only blessed, it also contained the symbol of-' the blessing of remission of sins which Christ provided for us through His blood.

Christ also gave thanks for the bread and the cup (Luke 22:17; 2 Corinthians 11:24). So we also give thanks for the cup, and, in doing so, we should remember that it was set aside for the holy purpose of reminding us of the blessing of remission of sins through the blood of Christ. Thus, we both give thanks and bless (consecrate) the cup in the Lord's supper.

is it not a communion of the blood of Christ?This is said to show the thinking men among them that they cannot be idolaters and at the same time partake of the Lord's table. Communion means fellowship, or participation in a thing. Its root is a close synonym of the word partake which is found in verses 17 and 21. To say that the cup is a communion in the blood of Christ is to say that it is a means by which the Christian has a share in the blessing that comes from the pouring out of the blood of Christ, that is, remission of sins.

is it not a communion of the body of Christ?What is true about the share we have in the cup is equally true of the bread. The bread is a symbol of the body of Christ. In His discourse on the Bread of Life, Jesus explained His relation to His followers as the source life. As the fathers ate the mannathe only food available to them at the timeso the believers are to eat the living bread that came down out of heaven, that is, believe on Him to have life. He said, the bread which I will give is my flesh, for the life of the world (John 6:51). The bread of the Lord's supper is a symbol of our participation or sharing in the blessing of eternal life. See John 6:40; John 6:51; John 6:53.

one bread, one body.Not only do we as Christians participate in the life that is given through Christ, but we also have a relation to each other which is suggested by the one body of which we are members. There is only one bread which represents the one body which is the church. There are many members, but only one body. This is an important lesson on the unity of the members of the church and particularly so for the Corinthians in view of their divisions. In this context, the lesson is clearly one that shows the impossibility of being members of the body of Christ and at the same time being members of the demon that was worshiped in idolatry. All of us share in the blessings that come from the one loaf, the symbol of the unity of the body of Christ.

One bread means one kind of bread, not just one piece of bread. The bread Jesus used in the institution of the Lord's supper was the unleavened bread of the passover feast. It is altogether fitting that we should use only unleavened bread in the Lord's supper. The very principle of excluding leaven from the feast of passover suggests the necessity of the church excluding sin from its life. See 1 Corinthians 5:6-7. To force this phrase to mean one piece of bread is to go beyond the requirements of the symbolism. There are congregations that are too large to be served by one piece of bread. But the one kind, unleavened bread, serves to remind them that they are one in Christ.

Behold Israel after the flesh.The church as the spiritual Israel of God is to take a lesson from the history of the fathers. They who had a share in the sacrifice offered on the altar were in fellowship (partnership) with God. The worshiper shares in the sacrifice and becomes a partner of the deity who is thus worshiped. That is true whether they worshiped God or some demon represented by an idol.

to demons, not God.The apostle has carefully laid the ground for the main thrust of his argument against Christians participating in idolatrous feasts. He did not say that the meat used in such feasts was thereby made unfit for food, nor did he say that an idol was anything in itself. But there is more to idolatry than appears in the external ceremony of worshiping it: Gentiles sacrifice to demons and not to God.

communion with demons.Christians should have fellowship or partnership with Christ, not demons. The enemies of Jesus attempted to discredit Him before the multitudes by saying that He was in league with Beelzebub, the prince of demons or Satan. See Matthew 12:24-30. Jesus easily refuted their charge by (1) showing that a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand, and (2) indicating that the pretended work of the Jewish exorcists was clearly counterfeit, and (3) presenting the illustration of the strong man's house. But no doubt there were some who did believe the false charge in spite of His defense.

Paul had the same difficulty at Philippi (Acts 16:11-18). He had to reject the testimony of the soothsaying girl who followed him saying, These men are servants of the Most High God. This, of course, was true, but the apostle could not afford to have it said that he was an associate of demons.

This was the problem faced by the church at Corinth. If Satan could make some believe that the Christians were actually worshiping demons, then he would be able to discredit the church in the eyes of the pagans. Therefore, Paul said, I would not that ye should have communion with demons.

Ye cannot.There are some things that are impossible. To attempt to do two things that are absolutely opposite to each other such as drinking the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons simply results in demon worship. The worship of Christ is nullified. Jesus said, Ye cannot serve God and mammon (Matthew 6:24). God will not tolerate the worshiper who owns allegiance to demons.

Or do we provoke the Lord?The reference is to the history of Israel as suggested in Deuteronomy 32:21. Israel was continually going astray by worshiping idols. Like a husband who is made jealous because of an unfaithful wife, God is said to be jealous because Israel worshiped what was a no-god. This was an insult to God. Were the Corinthians trying to make Christ jealous by paying homage to demonsevil spirits under the control of Satan?

are we stronger than he?The quotation in Deuteronomy suggests that the Lord would provoke Israel that worshiped the no-god by giving consideration to those who were no peoplethat is, to those who had no standing in their eyes, the Gentiles. Did the Corinthians suppose that they could safely provoke the Lord by worshiping demons? Did they assume that they were strong enough to keep Him from rejecting them and turning to others who would be faithful to Him?