The Blessed Hope Podcast -- with Dr. Kim Riddlebarger

"The Bread, The Wine, and the Glory of God" Season Three/Episode Eighteen (1 Corinthians 10:14-11:1)

Nov 11, 2024

Paul’s stern call to abandon idolatry and why you cannot mix Christian communion with pagan sacrifices. A look at the Lord’s Supper as participation in Christ’s body and blood and its role in church unity. Practical guidance on eating meat linked to pagan rituals and when to abstain for conscience’s sake. A closing appeal to choose love and glorify God over personal liberty.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Books

Transcript

Episode notes

ADVICE

Flee Idolatry Without Hesitation

Flee idolatry immediately and avoid all occasions that might pull you back into pagan practices.
Kim Riddlebarger warns that half-measures risk eventual compromise and calls for decisive separation from pagan rites.

INSIGHT

Supper As Covenant Participation

The Lord's Supper signifies participation (koinonia) in Christ's body and blood, a covenantal fellowship.
This spiritual participation contrasts with pagan rituals that seek communion with demons and false gods.

INSIGHT

One Bread, One Body

Because there's one bread, believers form one spiritual body united in Christ through the Supper.
The Lord's Supper therefore functions as a sacrament of Christian unity, binding diverse believers together.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

Episode Synopsis:

We’ve come to 1 Corinthians 10:14-11:1, as Paul wraps up his discussion of idolatry. In the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, Christian believers drink the cup of blessing and eat the broken bread–described by Paul as a participation in Christ’s body and blood. Since so many in Corinth were still hanging on to remnants of their pagan past, from what Paul says here it seems many were still attending both the Christian sacrament as well as pagan sacrifices. To those claiming to worship Jesus but still engaging in pagan practices, Paul extends a very stern warning. You cannot partake of Christ’s body and blood and still participate in pagan sacrifices. If you do so, you will provoke the Lord to jealousy just as Israel did in the wilderness. Paul is emphatic in his warning to the Corinthians–flee from idolatry or face the consequences.

Paul reminds the Corinthians that since an idol is nothing, what benefit can people gain from eating at the pagan feast where sacrifices are offered to demons? The apostle’s concern is that for Christians, the Lord’s Supper is a sacrament of unity–one cup, one bread, one body. Christians all partake of the same elements together–bread and wine–as one body, which Paul describes as a participation in Christ’s body and blood. How can members of Christ’s body still offer sacrifices to imaginary idols while professing faith in Christ? They cannot.

In 1 Corinthians 10:23-11:1, Paul deals with the very practical matter of buying meat or eating in another’s home. How do you know whether what you are consuming has been used in a sacrifice to idols? Paul offers a very practical solution–don’t ask. If the source of the food is unknown then go ahead and eat without so much as a twinge of conscience. But if you are told that the food had in fact been used in a pagan sacrifice, then do not eat it as a matter of conscience. His conclusion is simple and profound, whatever you eat or drink, says Paul, do all to the glory of God.

For show notes and other recommended materials located at the Riddleblog as mentioned during the Blessed Hope Podcast, click here: https://www.kimriddlebarger.com/