Introduction
Have you worshipped demons lately? Perhaps hung out with evil spiritual forces? No? The Corinthian Christians didn’t think so either, but Paul had a different perspective.
Text
Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.
Idolatry is the subject of chapter 10. It is the temptation that Paul is concerned with. The form in which the Corinthians are engaging in idolatry is participation in religious meals at the many pagan temples. Paul’s admonition: “Flee.” Get away from this practice as fast as you can. He has already demonstrated what happens to idolaters. He now explains how it is that they are committing idolatry.
15 I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. Follow Paul’s logic. 16 The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.
Take the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. Our partaking of the two elements – the cup and the bread – is a ritual by which we participate in the blood and body of Christ. Let’s carefully interpret Paul’s meaning. The “cup of blessing” is the communion cup. The term is taken from the Passover meal’s designation for the fourth cup of wine. It is called the “cup of blessing” because the host raises it and recites a blessing of God. Note the phrase “that we bless.” We will discuss it further when we get to verses 19ff.
The word for “participation” is “koinonia.” It is a significant word used in other passages about Christian fellowship. In verse 16, the emphasis is on our participation, or communion, with the blood and body of Christ. What does that mean? It means that through the sacraments, we by faith participate in the benefits of Christ’s new covenant.
When Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper, he referred to the cup as symbolizing his “blood of the covenant” (Mark 14:24). The sacrifice he would make by shedding his blood would serve to make and ratify a new covenant with God on our behalf. We then participate in that new covenant ratified by Christ’s blood. In the same manner, we share in the benefits of his body given for us.
But the sacrament also conveys to us the mystical union we have with Christ. As Paul says in 1:9, we were called into the fellowship (the koinonia) of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. In chapter 12, he will develop a theology of us forming the body of Christ. Thus, to participate in the blood and body of Christ has to include the concept of being united with Christ both through contract (the covenant) and through the union of the Holy Spirit.
Verse 17 takes this concept of koinonia with Christ and extends it to include koinonia with fellow Christians. 17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. Paul speaks in verse 16 of the bread broken. The bread is broken for what purpose? So that all the believers may partake. The bread represents what? The body of Christ. Therefore, the act expressions that we have fellowship together through Christ. The one loaf makes us one body in Christ.
So what do we have so far? The observance of the Lord’s Supper is a participation with Christ and, through Christ, with one another. The feast is a religious ritual expressing our collective union with our God. Now, hold that thought and consider another scenario.
18 Consider the people of Israel: are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? Paul is referring to the practice in which the worshippers, after offering an animal for sacrifice, would then eat a portion of the animal not consumed or given to the priests.
Leviticus 7:15 gives the following instruction to the worshipper: the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving shall be eaten on the day of his offering. He shall not leave any of it until the morning. If you were a Jew in Jerusalem, you would take your lamb to the temple, give it to a priest to slay it and place a portion of it in the fire on the altar as an offering to God. Then, you would sit down with your guests and make a meal of the remaining portion. Thus the meal was a participation in the worship ritual. You and your guests participated (had koinonia) with God through the offering and meal. You participated in the benefits of the altar, redemption and fellowship with God.
The Jews would never had regarded the meal as eating and drinking God. But they would have participated in the meal with the concept of sitting in the presence of God to whom they had made their offering. The meal represented, for example, what really did happen in Exodus 24 where Moses and the elders of Israel ate a meal in the visible presence of God on Mt. Sinai. That meal also was described as an act of worship.
Do you see the connections? Religious meals – be they the Lord’s Supper or the Jewish temple meals – are acts of worship. Furthermore, they denote koinonia – participation in the benefits of being reconciled to God and thus having fellowship with him. Finally, as a group act, they express a common bond among the worshippers found in their Lord.
What, then, is your point, Paul? That the idols really are gods whom we are worshipping? 19 What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything?
Idols are not true gods, but… 20 No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons.
Don’t be naïve to what is taking place spiritually. True, the Greek goddess Aprodite does not exist. There is no Apollo or Zeus or Artemas; no Diana or Mars or Mercury. The gods of the pagans are no gods. But, don’t be so naive as to think there is no spiritual activity behind false worship. Do not forget Satan and his demons. Remember, as Paul told the Ephesians, We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12).
The Corinthian saints considered themselves enlightened. They laughed at their pagan neighbors with their idols. They worshipped the one true God and knew that the idols were nothing but imaginations of men. That is why they thought it was fine to go to the temple meals. There were no real gods there. And certainly they were not offering worship to what they knew did not exist. Perhaps in their minds they were even mocking their pagan neighbors while the feasts were going on.
But you, says Paul, are the fools of Satan, for you have unwittingly had koinonia with demons who are behind these false religions with their idols. Your neighbors are caught up in an illusion, worshipping demons when they think they are worshipping true gods. But you also are under illusion if you think nothing but imagination is happening at the feasts. Whether you know it or not, you have joined in a demonic ritual.
21 You 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.
Think of what you are doing. You partake regularly of a sacrament that identifies you as belonging to Christ and his church. You drink the cup of the Lord that testifies to his atoning work on the cross and the making of a new covenant for God’s people. You partake of a meal that binds you to Christ and his people. How then can you even think of participating in a meal that exalts demons and links you as being their followers?
But, Paul, we don’t mean to that. It doesn’t matter what you mean to do, you are doing it nevertheless by your actions. You may not mean to be worshipping demons, but neither do your pagan neighbors. You may not mean to be linking up with evil forces, but neither do they. But when you engage in practices that esteem anyone or anything other than God, you have aligned yourself with Satan.
Don’t you see what you are doing? 22 Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?
The Corinthians must have been horrified by Paul’s remarks. At least Paul wants them to be. By their actions they are provoking God just as the Israelites did in the wilderness when they set up the golden calf. They are acting with chips on their shoulders as if daring God to do something about it. “Lord, we will do what we please; and if we want to go to the temples, we will and there is nothing you can do about it.” Is that what you want to tell God? asks Paul, Because that in effect is what you are doing.
Paul, no doubt, is thinking of a passage in Deuteronomy 12:
16 They stirred him to jealousy with strange gods;
with abominations they provoked him to anger.
17 They sacrificed to demons that were no gods,
to gods they had never known,
to new gods that had come recently,
whom your fathers had never dreaded.
18 You were unmindful of the Rock that bore you,
and you forgot the God who gave you birth.
Take warning.
Interpretation
Let’s recap the issue and argument. Some of the Corinth saints are participating in meals at the local temples. They contend that this is permissible. One, they are free in Christ and therefore are no longer bound to legalistic laws that restrict their freedom. Two, idols are not real gods; thus, they are not worshipping other gods or getting entangled with dangerous allegiances. Paul argues, first in chapter 8, that though they are correct about freedom and idols, nevertheless they should think about the effect of their actions on weaker brothers and sisters. In chapter 9 he presents himself as an example of someone who restricts his own freedom so as to serve the gospel. He notes that his self-impose restrictions serve to help not only others, but keep him from abusing his freedom and failing his own race. That then leads him to warn the “freedom loving” saints about the dangers of their behavior for themselves. They are sliding into idolatry by which they are becoming entangled with enemy spiritual forces, and thus provoking God’s anger.
Lessons
The issue of the Corinthians may be more relevant to some Christians than others. Certainly Christians in cultures in which idol worship is still prevalent face the same situation. Our Japanese brothers and sisters face a common dilemma of what to do in homes where meals may be eaten in honor of the household god or ancestors. Dr. Cain has pointed out the problem with President Bush visiting a Japanese shrine and acting out a ritual. As a Christian he no doubt considered his action merely an act of courtesy; even so, he participated in a religious rite giving honor to gods that do not exist and thus participating with the forces of Satan.
That sounds overly strong but remember that sin is insidious. It takes the form of what seems harmless but has grave effect. Christians living in countries where pagan worship is in the majority know better than we the impact that such “courtesies” have on others who are watching, as well as on the participants themselves.
But we are not isolated from the same problem, especially as our society grows more culturally diverse and increasingly seduced by New Age thought. We are becoming either more enticed by cultic practices or dulled to them. I am a diabetic. The longer I am a diabetic, the less sensitive I become to signs of low or high blood sugar; thus, all the more reason I must be on guard to examine myself.
Let’s take a test. Do you dabble in horoscopes? Do you find it fun to read them in the paper? You are in danger. Do you play or own a Quiji Board, or play with horoscope cards? Again you are in danger. Witchcraft is a growing movement in our country, spurred on by TV shows of teenage witches and warlords. Go to the local bookstore, and you will find not only the usual section devoted to New Age religion, but one devoted to teenagers and adolescents. Are you watching and reading these things? Do you possess crystals, power beads, and other paraphernalia intended to convey power? Take warning.
Such a warning may sound silly. These things seem harmless. But understand. These are not fads created by companies for entertainment. These are religious objects and rituals that in our society are not being marketed – some for entertainment and others for true religious expression. It doesn’t matter the reason, Satan’s forces use these “harmless” things to entice us to the spiritual religions they represent or at least dull our senses so that we become like the Corinth saints who end up “drinking the cup” of demons.
For the same reason, I cannot participate in what are called ecumenical services that include participants who deny the Trinity and Christ. I would be joining in the worship of demons. This sermon would be mocked by the world; indeed, it would be denounced as intolerant – identifying other religions with the demonic. But understand, that Paul was not contending that the other religions were evil or that their adherents were demonic themselves. His point is that Satan uses whatever methods work to lead people away from God to himself, and he is content to use what appears to be respectable if it meets his end.
Charles Hodge in commenting on our passage writes:
Men of the world do not intend to serve Satan when they break the laws of God in the pursuit of their objects of desire. Still in so doing they are really obeying the will of the great adversary, yielding to his impulses and fulfilling his designs. He is therefore said to be the god of this world. To him all sin is an offering and an homage. We are shut up to the necessity of worshipping God or Satan; for all refusing or neglecting to worship the true God, or giving to any other the worship which is due to him alone, is the worshipping of Satan and his angels.
It all comes back to this. Our attitude and behavior towards Jesus Christ reveals our hearts. We can protest our good intentions; we can rationalize all we want. But our obedience to Christ reveals our faith in him and love for him. Following Christ is not about the bottom line: will I be okay as long as I am sincere about my faith? Following Christ is about denying ourselves, taking up our crosses, and following Jesus whatever the cost. That is not law. That is commitment. That is real faith that Jesus is all he says he is and has done all that he has promised.
