Sunday 25 March 2012

The Cup of the Lord & the Cup of Demons

Tradition and position counted for nothing under the Law of Moses and they count for nothing under the new covenant of Christ either. Being born into the church, attending each Sunday, baptized as a child, even regular participation at the communion table, count for nothing unless our lives are also completely surrendered to Christ.

Paul's warning in 1Cor.10 is not for unbelievers, but aimed at those who have as Jesus said in Luke 9:62, "put their hands to the plow and looked back". God was displeased with the Israelites in the wilderness precisely because they had returned to the way of idolatry and began once again to worship the created instead of the Creator.

This admonition didn't just apply in the first century. The warning is equally for those of us who call ourselves by Christ's name today. Paul takes it even farther and suggests that, just like the Israelites, our participation in the forms of religion will not protect us from God's wrath if we succumb to the temptation of idolatry. Why?

When we share at the communion table, we participate in the body and blood of Jesus - when we pursue idolatry, we participate in things demonic. Those two cannot exist together. When we share in the idolatry of our age we demonstrate that we are not totally surrendered to Jesus and have returned to the practices of our previous unredeemed life.


Sent on the TELUS Mobility network with BlackBerry

No comments:

Post a Comment