1 Corinthians 10
10
1FOR I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea.
2And all in Moses were baptized, in the cloud, and in the sea:
3And did all eat the same spiritual food,
4And all drank the same spiritual drink; (and they drank of the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ.)
5But with most of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the desert.
6Now these things were done in a figure of us, that we should not covet evil things as they also coveted.
7Neither become ye idolaters, as some of them, as it is written: The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.
8Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed fornication, and there fell in one day three and twenty thousand.
9Neither let us tempt Christ: as some of them tempted, and perished by the serpents.
10Neither do you murmur: as some of them murmured, and were destroyed by the destroyer.
11Now all these things happened to them in figure: and they are written for our correction, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
12Wherefore he that thinketh himself to stand, let him take heed lest he fall.
13Let no temptation take hold on you, but such as is human. And God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that which you are able: but will make also with temptation issue, that you may be able to bear it.
14Wherefore, my dearly beloved, fly from the service of idols.
15I speak as to wise men: judge ye yourselves what I say.
16The chalice of benediction, which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? And the bread, which we break, is it not the partaking of the body of the Lord?
17For we, being many, are one bread, one body, all that partake of one bread.
18Behold Israel according to the flesh: are not they, that eat of the sacrifices, partakers of the altar?
19What then? Do I say, that what is offered in sacrifice to idols, is any thing? Or, that the idol is any thing?
20But the things which the heathens sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God. And I would not that you should be made partakers with devils.
21You cannot drink the chalice of the Lord, and the chalice of devils: you cannot be partakers of the table of the Lord, and of the table of devils.
22Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he? All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient.
23All things are lawful for me, but all things do not edify.
24Let no man seek his own, but that which is another's.
25Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, eat; asking no question for conscience' sake.
26The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof.
27If any of them that believe not, invite you, and you will be willing to go; eat of any thing that is set before you, asking no question for conscience' sake.
28But if any man say: This has been sacrificed to idols, do not eat of it for his sake that told it, and for conscience' sake.
29Conscience, I say, not thy own, but the other's. For why is my liberty judged by another man's conscience?
30If I partake with thanksgiving, why am I evil spoken of, for that for which I give thanks?
31Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever else you do, do all to the glory of God.
32Be without offence to the Jews, and to the Gentiles, and to the church of God:
33As I also in all things please all men, not seeking that which is profitable to myself, but to many, that may be saved.
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An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.
1 Corinthians 10
10
1-5Remember our history, friends, and be warned. All our ancestors were led by the providential Cloud and taken miraculously through the Sea. They went through the waters, in a baptism like ours, as Moses led them from enslaving death to salvation life. They all ate and drank identical food and drink, meals provided daily by God. They drank from the Rock, God’s fountain for them that stayed with them wherever they were. And the Rock was Christ. But just experiencing God’s wonder and grace didn’t seem to mean much—most of them were defeated by temptation during the hard times in the desert, and God was not pleased.
6-10The same thing could happen to us. We must be on guard so that we never get caught up in wanting our own way as they did. And we must not turn our religion into a circus as they did—“First the people partied, then they threw a dance.” We must not be sexually promiscuous—they paid for that, remember, with 23,000 deaths in one day! We must never try to get Christ to serve us instead of us serving him; they tried it, and God launched an epidemic of poisonous snakes. We must be careful not to stir up discontent; discontent destroyed them.
11-12These are all warning markers—danger!—in our history books, written down so that we don’t repeat their mistakes. Our positions in the story are parallel—they at the beginning, we at the end—and we are just as capable of messing it up as they were. Don’t be so naive and self-confident. You’re not exempt. You could fall flat on your face as easily as anyone else. Forget about self-confidence; it’s useless. Cultivate God-confidence.
13No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he’ll never let you be pushed past your limit; he’ll always be there to help you come through it.
14So, my very dear friends, when you see people reducing God to something they can use or control, get out of their company as fast as you can.
15-18I assume I’m addressing believers now who are mature. Draw your own conclusions: When we drink the cup of blessing, aren’t we taking into ourselves the blood, the very life, of Christ? And isn’t it the same with the loaf of bread we break and eat? Don’t we take into ourselves the body, the very life, of Christ? Because there is one loaf, our many-ness becomes one-ness—Christ doesn’t become fragmented in us. Rather, we become unified in him. We don’t reduce Christ to what we are; he raises us to what he is. That’s basically what happened even in old Israel—those who ate the sacrifices offered on God’s altar entered into God’s action at the altar.
19-22Do you see the difference? Sacrifices offered to idols are offered to nothing, for what’s the idol but a nothing? Or worse than nothing, a minus, a demon! I don’t want you to become part of something that reduces you to less than yourself. And you can’t have it both ways, banqueting with the Master one day and slumming with demons the next. Besides, the Master won’t put up with it. He wants us—all or nothing. Do you think you can get off with anything less?
23-24Looking at it one way, you could say, “Anything goes. Because of God’s immense generosity and grace, we don’t have to dissect and scrutinize every action to see if it will pass muster.” But the point is not to just get by. We want to live well, but our foremost efforts should be to help others live well.
25-28With that as a base to work from, common sense can take you the rest of the way. Eat anything sold at the butcher shop, for instance; you don’t have to run an “idolatry test” on every item. “The earth,” after all, “is God’s, and everything in it.” That “everything” certainly includes the leg of lamb in the butcher shop. If a nonbeliever invites you to dinner and you feel like going, go ahead and enjoy yourself; eat everything placed before you. It would be both bad manners and bad spirituality to cross-examine your host on the ethical purity of each course as it is served. On the other hand, if he goes out of his way to tell you that this or that was sacrificed to god or goddess so-and-so, you should pass. Even though you may be indifferent as to where it came from, he isn’t, and you don’t want to send mixed messages to him about who you are worshiping.
29-30But, except for these special cases, I’m not going to walk around on eggshells worrying about what small-minded people might say; I’m going to stride free and easy, knowing what our large-minded Master has already said. If I eat what is served to me, grateful to God for what is on the table, how can I worry about what someone will say? I thanked God for it and he blessed it!
31-33So eat your meals heartily, not worrying about what others say about you—you’re eating to God’s glory, after all, not to please them. As a matter of fact, do everything that way, heartily and freely to God’s glory. At the same time, don’t be callous in your exercise of freedom, thoughtlessly stepping on the toes of those who aren’t as free as you are. I try my best to be considerate of everyone’s feelings in all these matters; I hope you will be, too.
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.