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NASB | 1 Corinthians 11:29 For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | 1 Corinthians 11:29 For anyone who eats and drinks [without solemn reverence and heartfelt gratitude for the sacrifice of Christ], eats and drinks a judgment on himself if he does not recognize the body [of Christ]. |
Subject: How is comunion only symbolic? |
Bible Note: Hi Debbie, If we partake of the Lord’s Supper with “no real feeling of thankfulness” then I think we partake unworthily. Unresolved sin should not be in our lives anyway Debbie. We should be confessing it right after it happen It shouldn’t take the Lord’s Supper to bring out the remembrance of any sin in our lives. I know sometimes we let things slip to the back of our mind. It’s great that you dealt with the bitterness you were harboring. The main thing about the Lord’s Supper is in remembering how Jesus gave his life and shed his blood. If the “solemnity of the time calls to remembrance sin that needs to be resolved” then that’s fine, but I don’t believe it should stop someone from partaking. It’s obviously a personal issue whether or not to partake but none of us are pure when we partake of the Lord’s Supper anyway. I’m not saying that you can’t confess your sin to God before you partake, that’s certainly between you and the Lord. I’m just saying that Paul was not speaking of sitting there and trying to recall any sin we might have when he said to “examine himself”. The sin that the Corinthians committed was that they partook of the Lord’s Supper unworthily and they did it unworthily because they went there to stuff their faces and get drunk, not to remember what the Lord did for them. They had no respect for the meaning of the feast. This is what Paul was writing about. examples: Someone is at Church and is partaking in Communion. If while holding the elements in his hand, he’s thinking about the upcoming golf match, instead of what our Lord did then that person is partaking unworthily no matter how pure his life has been up to then. Suppose a parent gets mad at one of his kids for something the child did. He then apologizes to that child for losing his temper. Now comes the Lord’s Supper and he won’t partake because he still feels upset with the Child even though he apologized for losing his/her temper. This should not stop someone from partaking in communion. Being upset with ones child but partaking in the Lord’s Supper is not partaking unworthily as long as your mind and heart is on what the Lord did for you. If that person decides not to partake then that’s fine, but it’s not a prerequisite for us to sit in Church and drudge up any ill feelings we’re harboring or any other impure thing in our lives that doesn’t make us feel good when we think of them anyway, in order to take communion. More often than not, people won't take communion. As I said, none of us are pure so if this were the case then none of us could partake in the Lord’s Supper but Paul wasn’t speaking of sin when he said, “ let him examine himself”. Hopefully I’ve explained myself well. Love in Christ, bgg |