1 Corinthians 10:14-22

 

I want to remind you that we are still under the general problem of food offered to idols. In relation to this issue, Paul laid out the Principle of Renunciation—that sometimes a Christian should give up his privileges or avoid doing something permissible. In chapter 9, Paul showed how he had used this principle in his ministry and why—one of his reasons was that he was living a life of carefulness and self-discipline because he didn't want to lose out spiritually. He continued with this idea in the first 13 verses of chapter 10, showing the Corinthians the danger of temptation, showing how they could fall and be lost just as many of the Children of Israel were. Now he brings this issue to a sharp and personal point.

Paul's main proposition is stated in verse 14, and it follows directly from the previous verse. "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." (1 Corinthians 10:13) God always provides a way of escape, and you'd better start taking it. You should start running as far away as you can from idolatry. No Christian is exempt from temptation, from falling away—and for the Christians of the first century, idolatry was one of the biggest dangers. That is why Paul comes down with this clear, concise injunction: flee from idolatry. 

We have seen that the Corinthians boasted of having great wisdom and knowledge. Paul here uses that as an argument—if you're so smart, you should see the logic of what I say. (This is verse 15).

Paul begins to build his main argument in verses 16-17 by talking about Communion. I'm not going to get in-depth on these verses because we'll be talking about Communion more in chapter 11. For our present purposes, the main point to grasp here is that Communion is, in fact, communion. The Greek word translated communion in verse 16 means: “partnership, i.e. (literally) participation, or (social) intercourse, or (pecuniary) benefaction.” (Strong 2842) The act of communion is or is representative of a partnership or participation in the person and the work of Christ. Robertson says verse 16 can be literally translated “a participation in... the blood of Christ.” The NET Bible has “a sharing in the blood of Christ.” 

It seems that in Communion, they would use a single loaf of bread which would be broken up and distributed among the celebrants. Though they were separate individuals within the church, they all ate of the single loaf, and so they could be said to be one body, all connected to each other through the act of communion and through their connection to Christ, which was strengthened and/or symbolized by the act of Communion. They ate of one loaf; they were saved by one life. There was a fellowship, a participation with one another and with Christ.

Communion is a very special and unique thing, but the same point was broadly true of the Jewish religious system outside of Christianity. The Jews would offer a sacrifice on the altar in the temple and then (depending on the sacrifice) would eat of the sacrifice. And in this, there was also a sense of communion or fellowship. A Jew declared himself, identified himself with the altar and, therefore, with the entire system of Jewish religion and identity. He was declaring himself part of something bigger than himself. He was becoming a part of something.

That is the point. Religious actions make us a part of something. Religion is not merely something in the heart between the individual and God, though that is a vital part of it. In the social action of worship, we identify with, we participate in, we become part of something more. We have fellowship.

And here we have the payoff for Paul's argument in chapter 10. Back in chapter 8, Paul established this principle: “As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one.” (1 Corinthians 8:4) And then a few verses later, “But meat commendeth us not to God: for neither, if we eat, are we the better; neither, if we eat not, are we the worse.” (1 Corinthians 8:8)

This was the point Paul started at—a point shared by a certain portion of the Corinthians—the fact that idols are not real and, therefore, food offered to an idol has no moral property, no spiritual quality.

Here, Paul brings that around. An idol is a nonentity. Food offered to idols is a non-issue. But idolatry is not a nonentity or non-issue. Idolatry is a very serious matter. Paul painted that fact earlier in chapter 10, but he connects it back here. To understand his point, we must go to Romans and review the genesis of idolatry in Paul's thought. “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.” (Romans 1:21-23)

Idolatry, in its genesis, was not an ignorant, uncertain groping after truth. It was a deliberate rejection of truth. It was not man's search for God but man's flight from God. It was when man rejected the reality and revelation of God and set sail on his own that he was swallowed by the whale of idolatry.  Probably there were still gleams of truth within it; perhaps some found arrows pointing to something better. But idolatry, as a system, is false. Regardless of the particular state of any given person within that system, idolatry, at its heart, is anti-God. It is rebellion.

And therefore, whatever reality there was within idolatry, whatever spiritual power there was there, was not divine but diabolical. The idol is nothing but the spiritual force--the pride and lust and cruelty that underpinned the idolatrous system--was something and not something good. The eyes of a god never looked through the mask of the idol, but perhaps sometimes the eyes of a demon did. That is why Paul, quoting from Moses' words in Deuteronomy, says that idolatrous worship is given to devils and not to God. 

Idolatry, as a system, is of Hell and not of Heaven. And that is why idolatry is such an important issue. Because when we participate in religious activities, we are fellowshipping, communing, partaking in something more than ourselves. And when the thing in which we are participating is something ultimately demonic, that becomes a problem.

Paul agreed that the mere fact that food had been offered to an idol meant nothing—it didn't change the food. It wasn't a big deal. But for a Christian to go to an idol temple and take part in an idolatrous feast, that would be a big deal because they would be taking part in something evil, something sinful.

Suppose that I had a paper containing sensitive military information—the plans for the army's movements or the designs of some powerful weapon. If I gave that paper to one of our nation's enemies, I would be accused of treason. And if I were brought to trial for that crime, how well do you think this defense would go: well, a piece of paper is just a piece of paper. It doesn't have any moral qualities; paper and ink can't really be good or evil, so it doesn't really matter what I did with it. Obviously, that wouldn't fly. Paper may be amoral, but giving that particular paper to an enemy means something more. It is an act of treason.

And participation in an idol feast, in idol worship is spiritual treason. You can't participate in both Christian worship and also idol worship. You have to pick one or the other. That is the point. Matthew Henry writes: “One must be renounced, if the other was maintained. He who held communion with Christ must renounce that with devils; he who held communion with devils must by that very deed renounce communion with Christ.”

That is the big takeaway from what Paul has said from the beginning of chapter 10 to here. The Christian must flee from idolatry. It is a serious matter. When we take part in it, as trivial as the thing may be in itself, we are committing treason against God. We are, like the Israelites in the wilderness, tempting God. 

All of this is written in the context of explicit, polytheistic idolatry. But there is a more general application—as Christians, we should be careful about participating in anything that will compromise our loyalty to God, anything that involves fellowship with unChristian things or principles. As we've stated before, one of the main ideas of 1 Corinthians is the idea of separation, the idea that a Christian should live differently from the world. And that will often mean avoiding things that the world does because to participate in them would go against our commitment to God.

And that brings us to Paul's final question. If we are going to risk ticking somebody off; if we are going to make somebody mad; if we are going to offend someone; if we are going to pick a fight with someone—do we really want it to be God?