1 Corinthians 10:14

Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak as to wise men, judge you what I say. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we, being many, are one bread and one body... You cannot drink of the cup of the Lord and of the cup of demons. You cannot be partakers of the Lord's table and of the table of demons. Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he? All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient. (1 Corinthians 10:14–23)

A father's heavy but loving plea: you cannot dine at the Lord's table and the table of demons at the same time.

A Heavy Word from a Loving Father

I confess that studying through this passage—and the whole of 1 Corinthians—has been difficult for me. Not because the passages are too overwhelming, but because the messages the Lord keeps drawing out are heavy: rebuke, discipline. Part of me would honestly like to bring something more humorous and happy, but it's just not 1 Corinthians. I told my wife Andrea that teaching this book sometimes feels like one of those days where all you've done is discipline your kids, and you're hoping they still like you by the end of it.

I'm not desirous of being liked. God wants to speak to us, and our aim is not popularity but to hear from the Lord. So I ask that you would be open to His word today.

It's important to recognize that Paul's opening words in verse 14 are the exhortation of a father who loves his children: "Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry." You can sense the emotion. He's some distance from them now, writing from Ephesus to the church he had founded, having heard what had become of it. Moved with compassion, he pleads with them to return to a walk in Christ that would bring real fruitfulness and true joy. Love, joy, peace, kindness, gentleness—these were lacking at Corinth, and certain things were hindering them. To recover that blessing, they had to flee.

Flee—From Immorality and Idolatry

The same Greek word translated "flee" here in chapter 10 appears at the beginning of this section in chapter 6:18—"flee from immorality." Through chapters 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10, Paul deals with two primary subjects: immorality and idolatry, because the city of Corinth was completely given over to both.

It could rightly be said that the church of 1 Corinthians could be called 1 Californians, because the things that dominate our culture are the same: immorality and idolatry. When we think of idolatry, our minds go to images carved out of metal, wood, or stone—but idolatry is all around us in 21st-century California.

The word "flee" literally means to seek safety by flight, to run away until you are safe. The clearest picture is Joseph in Genesis. Sold into slavery, he ends up in Potiphar's house, and Potiphar's wife keeps trying to entice him. At one point she takes hold of his cloak and says, "Lie with me." He lets the cloak go and runs. That is the perfect image of fleeing—running away from the opportunity to sin.

Liberty Is Not License

The liberties the Corinthians had taken were in no way helpful or constructive; they had divided the church. Sadly, some of these liberties sprang from a misinterpretation of Paul's own teaching. He had taught that there is liberty in Christ, that they had been set free. He says it again in this passage: "All things are lawful" (v. 23; cf. 6:12). They carried that idea so far that they indulged in immorality and idolatry.

The teaching of grace, as revealed in the New Testament, is by some considered a dangerous doctrine, because people can misapply it and continue in carnality. So Paul writes to Rome: "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid" (Romans 6:1–2). And again in verse 15: "Shall we sin because we're no longer under the law but under grace? God forbid." Twice he says, "God forbid."

If you meet someone who claims to be a Christian yet lives in carnality and defends it by saying, "I have grace, I have liberty in Christ," that is a person who has misinterpreted the grace of God. They don't understand what grace truly means.

The New Testament repeatedly exhorts us to use liberty rightly. In Galatians 5:13, Paul says, "You have been called unto liberty; only use not your liberty as an occasion for the flesh, but by love serve one another." On the surface it seems a paradox: God sets you free from slavery to sin, then calls you to be a servant. But it's the difference between a slavery you had no choice in and becoming a bondservant of Christ by choice. Peter says the same in 1 Peter 2:16: be free, yet not using your liberty as a cloak for maliciousness, but as servants of God.

It is the ungodly who turn grace into an opportunity to sin. Jude says certain men "crept in unaware," and what classifies them as ungodly is "turning the grace of God into lasciviousness"—a license to sin. So Paul tells Corinth: you are not to use your liberty to involve yourself in immorality or idolatry.

"I Speak as to Wise Men"

In verse 15 Paul says, "I speak as unto wise men; judge what I say." This is the fourth jab he takes at the Corinthians' boasted wisdom. They prided themselves on being wise, knowledgeable, tolerant, and loving, and they even looked down on Paul because his speech was not as polished as his writing—perhaps stammering, in a language not his own. So he says, in effect, "If you're so wise, then judge what I have to say."

The cup of blessing we bless—is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread we break—is it not the communion of the body of Christ? When Paul founded the church, he delivered to them what he had received from the Lord regarding communion (which we'll see in chapter 11): the Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, took bread and broke it, saying, "This is my body broken for you," and took the cup, saying, "This is my blood, the blood of the new covenant. As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes."

That meal set the church apart. There were many false gods and feasts in Corinth, but this was unique to the body of Christ—a sign of their unity. Being many individuals, they all partook of one cup and one loaf, remembering and declaring that they were united to Christ and to one another. He is the one who made one those who were formerly not one.

The Altar, the Table, and the Communion They Bring

Paul reminds them of Israel in the same way. When an Israelite brought a sacrifice—a bull, a goat—a portion was burned to God, a portion given to the priests, and the rest taken and eaten by the worshiper. All who ate were united together as one. There is a fellowship, a communion—Paul uses the Greek word koinonia—brought about by partaking.

The altar represents the old covenant; the table represents the new. One was brought about by the law and a sacrifice offered by people; the other by grace and the sacrifice of God Himself on our behalf. One was consumed under legal obligation; the other is shared openly to any who would come. The way is open.

But this is not the only table. There are many other tables in the world where people are united in fellowship—many other temples. So in verse 19 Paul asks, "What do I mean? That an idol is anything?" No. Back in chapter 8 he established that an idol is nothing, and food sacrificed to it is no big deal. "But I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God. And I would not that you should have fellowship with demons."

That word "fellowship" in verse 20 is the exact same Greek word, koinonia, translated "communion" in verse 16. In the cup and bread we commune with the Lord and one another; you should not commune with demons.

Meat in the Market vs. Practice in the Temple

In Corinth, temples sold their surplus sacrificial meat in the open marketplace—the agora—at a discount. It was like the Walmart of Corinth: everybody loves a good deal, so people bought the cheaper meat. Paul said in chapter 8 it doesn't matter; the idol is fake, so the meat isn't contaminated. If your conscience is clear, you can buy it.

There was also a false teaching among the Gentiles that demons attached themselves to food and could get inside you when you ate. So people would offer food to an idol to make it "clean." For believers who knew idols were nothing and these little devils didn't exist, the meat was both cheap and "clean beef"—sounds good.

So Paul reaffirms: the idol itself is nothing—just gold, silver, or stone. As the psalmist said, the idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of men's hands: eyes that don't see, mouths that don't speak, ears that don't hear; and those who make them become like them—deaf, dumb, and blind. Idolatry is foolishness. In Isaiah 40–46, God repeatedly mocks it: a man cuts down a strong tree, grows tired and cold, burns part of it to warm himself, cooks his meal on it—and then bows to the rest, saying, "Thank you for feeding me, thank you for warming me." How foolish.

But the idolatry behind the idol is a real problem. The idols themselves were not demons, but that which was behind them was demonic, and Paul did not want the Corinthians to have anything to do with idolatrous temple practices. To take part in them was to join themselves in fellowship with those temples and the demonic entities behind them.

"You Cannot"—Not "You Should Not"

If the food from the Lord's altar and the Lord's table means something, then the food eaten in the temples in worship of false gods means something too. Notice Paul does not say, "You shouldn't" or "I'd prefer you wouldn't." He says, "You cannot." It is emphatic. It is impossible to both fellowship with God and fellowship with demons through idolatry.

Remember Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:24): "No man can serve two masters... You cannot serve God and mammon." Mammon there is wealth, but the deeper principle stands: you cannot be involved in idolatry and at the same time serve and please God.

Paul makes a clear distinction. Eating meat once sacrificed to an idol is not, in itself, idolatry. But involving yourself in the practice that takes place at the temple is—and you cannot do it. "You cannot drink of the cup of the Lord and of the cup of demons. You cannot be partakers of the Lord's table and of the table of demons."

The Danger of Compromise

Last week, in the first thirteen verses, we saw the danger of presumptuousness—"I'm part of the church, I'm elect, so I'm safe to indulge in the world." Here we see the danger of compromise. There are non-negotiables for the Christian, areas we cannot compromise.

We must distinguish between cultural matters and what is scripturally wrong. Tattoos, piercings, foods, musical styles—these are cultural differences. Idolatry and immorality are scripturally wrong. In Corinth, idolatry and immorality were culturally accepted—it was the ancient world's Las Vegas: what happens in Corinth stays in Corinth. But culturally accepted is not scripturally permitted. Liberty quickly becomes licentiousness when it lays hold of that which is scripturally forbidden.

Some at Corinth reasoned: if the food is okay and the idol is nothing, it shouldn't matter if I partake at the temple. Others, since Paul taught that sex is good and okay (within marriage), extrapolated that they could involve themselves with the harlots of Corinth. No—that is scripturally forbidden.

We can apply this today. You can scripturally argue that simply partaking of alcohol is not in itself sin; Ephesians 5 says, "Do not be drunk with wine, which is excess." Drunkenness is sin, but drinking is not necessarily. Yet it would be a gross compromise to extrapolate, "Drinking isn't a sin, so it doesn't matter where I drink it—I'll go down to Pounders or a gentlemen's club." You'd be hard pressed to argue you're in the center of God's will while pounding another one back.

You may argue you have liberty to get a tattoo or a piercing; I see nothing in the New Testament forbidding it—even Pastor Mark has a couple. But there are certain aspects of the scene behind some of these things—immorality, idolatry, even demonic influence—that we should not be involved with. You may have liberty to listen to certain styles of music, and I wouldn't fight you on it; but involving yourself in what's practiced at some of these concerts crosses into immorality and idolatry. There is liberty in Christ, but there are areas where we move into sin.

So if you find yourself defending your actions—"I'm a Christian, I go to church, I partake of communion, God sanctified me, therefore it's okay for me to be in this environment"—be careful. As we saw last week in verse 12: "Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall."

The Lukewarm Cannot Stand

Remember Jesus' words to Laodicea in Revelation 3:16: "Because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth." The Laodiceans were compromised—one foot in the world, one foot in the church. I don't know where we got the idea of a "lukewarm Christian." It is inconsistent to be both lukewarm and Christ-like. You cannot wholeheartedly partake of the things of this world and at the same time please God.

Who can argue that when Jesus says, "You are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked" (v. 17), He is describing someone Christ-like? If you're compromised, know that Jesus is not part of it. In verse 20, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock"—He is not at your table, and you are not at His. You are the temple of the Holy Spirit, and you've closed Him out. Yet grace is there: "If any man hears my voice and opens, I will come in to him."

In 2 Corinthians 6:14, Paul says, "Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers." We usually apply this to marriage, but that's not its primary meaning. "What fellowship has righteousness with unrighteousness? What communion [koinonia] has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial?... What agreement has the temple of God with idols?... Wherefore come out from among them and be separate." Paul uses six different Greek words—yoke, fellowship, communion, accord, part, agreement—to say: do not have anything to do with idolatry. Could he be more emphatic?

Provoking the Lord to Jealousy

Then Paul lays the heavy one on us in verse 22: "Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He?" Idolatry strikes at the very heart and character of God. The first two commandments deal with it. Exodus 20: "You shall have no other gods before me... You shall not bow down to them nor serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God."

Years ago, Oprah Winfrey said she left the church when she heard her pastor describe God as jealous—"If God is jealous of me, then He shouldn't be God." She totally missed it. God is not jealous of us, as if He envied our wealth. He is jealous for us, because He alone is worthy of worship and alone has the authority to be enthroned. To put anything else in that place is wrong.

The one who worships an idol declares by his actions that God is not all He has revealed Himself to be. Idolatry impugns the character of God, and so it provokes His rivalry, His jealousy, His wrath. Are you prepared to defend your false god before the one true and almighty God? Your false god, being nothing, will not defend you on the day of Christ Jesus.

James 4:4 says, "You adulterers and adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God." And he asks, "Do you think the Scripture says in vain, 'The spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously'?" None of us wants to make himself the enemy of God—yet the surest way to do it is to live a compromised, lukewarm Christian existence.

If a person willingly chooses to live lukewarm, do not expect the abundant Christian life. Do not claim the lovely promises we print on bookmarks and greeting cards. Do not be upset when your prayers are hindered. And do not wonder why, when your children grow up, they say, "I don't want to go to church—it's full of hypocrites," because that's what you showed them.

What Idolatry Really Is

Idolatry is worshiping something other than the true God in the true way—we understand that. But idolatry is also placing confidence in anything other than the one true God revealed in Scripture. When someone responds to the gospel by saying, "My God is a loving God; He would never send anyone to hell," they have created a god of their own making. That's an idol, not the God of Scripture.

Idolatry is distrust of God. When we fail to trust Him for our protection and provision, we are still trusting in something—most likely ourselves. Even the atheist believes in something; he believes in himself.

And idolatry can mean worshiping the true God in the wrong way—unbiblical forms of worship. When Israel worshiped the golden calf in Exodus 32, they used the name of the true God but worshiped in the wrong way. Worshiping angels, demons, heroes, ancestors, persons, possessions, power, or pleasure—all of it is idolatry, even if it's not a carved image. Christ is to be worshiped, not the likeness of Christ. As John MacArthur said, idolatry does not begin with the sculptor's hammer; it begins in the worshiper's mind and heart.

Lawful, but Not Expedient

So Paul says in verse 23, "All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient; all things are lawful for me, but all things do not edify." Can you go to that concert? Be involved in the scene? Have a drink at Pounders? Maybe a scriptural case could be made—but you have wisdom; you judge. Is it building you up in Christ? Strengthening your walk and character? Drawing you near to Him? Is it expedient? Is it edifying? Can you do it all to the glory of God (v. 31)? Can you do it openly before the body of Christ and say, "Let God be glorified—I'm drunk"? It doesn't fit.

"Let no man seek his own, but every man another's wealth" (v. 24). The Corinthians were self-focused; Paul says seek to build up another. As for the meat in the marketplace—"whatever is sold in the shambles, eat, asking no question for conscience' sake, for the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof" (v. 25–26). If an unbeliever invites you to dinner and you're disposed to go, go, and eat whatever is set before you.

But verse 28: if someone says, "This was offered in sacrifice to idols," then eat it not—for the sake of the one who told you and for conscience' sake. You have freedom to decline, to bear witness: "No, I shouldn't be involved in idolatry." For their conscience and for the opportunity to witness, abstain. "Whether therefore you eat or drink, whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God."

Does living this way mean we never enjoy what God has given us in this world, that we walk around like somber prudes? No. God said to Peter, "Rise, kill, and eat"—who doesn't like bacon? "Give none offense, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God... not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved." We seek every opportunity to witness for Christ and glorify Him.

Imitate Me as I Imitate Christ

The chapter break here is unfortunate, because 11:1 belongs with this passage: "Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ." That's a heavy statement. I endeavor in my life to live so that I can point my children and the church to it and say, "You want to know what it is to live as a Christian? Watch my life." Do I fail? Absolutely—and I'm sure Paul did too. But that was his aim.

This is as much an encouragement as an exhortation, because God wants every one of us to live in such a way that we can say to the world, "You want to know what a Christian is? Look at my life." I ask you honestly—this is what I've struggled with all week—can you say to the world, "I'm a Christian; watch me"? That's a heavy thing, and if it hasn't yet, it will challenge you this week. It kept me up all night last night—or maybe that was the coffee.

Closing Prayer

Lord, it is with humility that we even stand in Your presence. We know that in ourselves we are not worthy to come before You. What grace You have shown that we, who were dead in trespasses and sins, have been made alive and brought near to commune with the only wise, the only true God, the King of kings. What an awesome reality that we can have fellowship with You. Teach us what it means to walk in the light as You are in the light. Work this out in our lives so that we can honestly say to those around us, "Imitate me as I imitate Christ."

Lord, if there is anything in our lives that needs to be stripped away—an area of immorality or idolatry—Your word makes clear that idolatry always tends toward immorality, and we want to flee from it. We are powerless in ourselves, so teach us to walk in Your Spirit and to put off the old man. Convict us when we fail, and Lord, may the time between our failure and our confession be short.

Thank You for Your grace and mercy. We who deserved wrath and punishment—You set it upon Your own Son, who knew no sin and became sin for us, that we would receive righteousness. Having been set free and given Your righteousness, help us to walk in a way that glorifies You, so that people in this world see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.