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NASB | 1 Corinthians 10:14 ¶ Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | 1 Corinthians 10:14 ¶ Therefore, my beloved, run [keep far, far away] from [any sort of] idolatry [and that includes loving anything more than God, or participating in anything that leads to sin and enslaves the soul]. |
Bible Question:
I have been pondering 1 Cor. 10:14-22 for a while and I wanted some other takes on it. In this passage Paul is teaching on staying away from Idolatery. As you know eating food sacrificed to idols was one of the three prohibitions given to the gentiles by the council of Jerusalem in Acts 15:29. In the 1 Cor passage Paul in his warning to not get involved with idols uses the analogy to communion. In it Paul is saying eating food offered to idols brings us into the similar relationship with demons just as taking communion does with Christ. The Greek word Koinonia used here means communion, partaker, or to form a partnership. I guess you are wondering where I'm going with all of this. Well in Protestant church we view communion as ceremony of rememberance. This is based mostly on 1 Cor. 11:25 nowever this passage in 1 Cor 10:14-22 infers a much deeper meaning of communion. Just as eating food sacrificed to idols puts the eater into a relationship with demons, taking communion puts the participant into a relationship with Christ. It is this relationship and what really transpires in our spiritual lives when we take communion is something I think has been grossly overlooked or at least not fully taught. To the early church all indications are that the act we now call communion had a much richer, much fuller, much more important meaning. In fact Paul in 1 Cor 11:27 warns aboout taking of Communion in an unworthy manner. Many claim this means with unconfessed sin but I when read in connection with 1 Cor. 10:14-22 I now believe it means in an ignorant or manner where we don't realize the full significance of the action. Thoughts????? |
Bible Answer: Dear EdB, I think the passage you are asking about (1 Corinthians 10) is not asserting some kind of spiritual connection that is effected when a person eats food offered to idols. Now, considering the historical context: Certainly the Corinthians were a people struggling with their Christian identity in a very religious world. Had we the opportunity to have walked the streets of Corinth, I suspect that that idolatry would have been obvious to us -- just as it might be to us today to walk the streets of cities in India. However, living and having been raised in that context, might make things a lot less clear. The ancient Corinthian were just beginning to navigate those waters. They did not have the benefit of the history of the church that we enjoy. I have friends, for example, who are Chinese. They live in a unique cultural context that gives rise to many of these questions every day. The celebration of holidays, exercising traditional practices, and steering clear of ancient superstition involves quite a bit of thought. There are some things that we would find as things to obviously eschew, but when they do that, they my easily offend neighbors and family. Of course, that assumes that they even recognize some of those things. The fish is often last to notice the water. Look at our own culture and how we deal with Christmas. It is not easy to know clearly how we should live. That there is no supernatural activity involved here is further evidenced by Paul's words in vv24-25. I think the clear message in this passage is to live your faith clearly as a believer and distinct from the world (v21). Don't blur the lines. Be diligent to seek your neighbor's good, ahead of your own (vv24, 33). Furthermore, be sensitive to the conscience of others (v29). Don't go out of your way to brashly display your liberty and bring offense to Greeks, Jews, or even brethren in the church (v32). Finally, I don't think there is some sort of "deeper meaning of communion." When we participate in this ordinance of Christ, we are picturing the gospel. In fact, even in churches that have lost the clear preaching of Christ, there is a sense in which the gospel is pictured when they partake. Now, of course, this picture requires further explanation -- that's what preaching the Word is all about. I think you will clearly see that the same can be said of the ordinance of baptism: it pictures the gospel, but also must be clarified with explanation. Now, does eating the little, piece of bread, drinking the little cup of grape juice, or being washed in water actually effect anything? No, those are physical activities. (We do not do things in the natural and expect supernatural results -- that is what is called magic, something that we are commanded to avoid.) To the unbeliever they are nothing and accomplish nothing. Nevertheless, I think scripture is clear that these ordinances are means of grace for believers; for to the believer, they are a matter of congregational obedience in the church. They are expressions to the church and to our Lord that we submit to and identify with the gospel, wholly and actively and continually. Yes, I agree with you that the modern church often takes these things for granted, or even obscures their significance. But then, the modern church can hardly articulate the gospel. People in ignorance or in error concerning the fundamental doctrines of law and gospel, certainly cannot be expected to find richness and fuller meaning in the ordinances of the church. In Him, Doc |