THE CUP OF THE LORD…THE CUP OF DEVILS

In verses 15-20 the apostle points out that eating food in a religious context is expressive of fellowship. Then, in verses 21-22, he declares the exclusive nature of fellowship. It is not possible to have fellowship with the devil and God. We are either in one camp or the other. The whole idolatrous system of Corinth was to be avoided at all costs, including: the idol itself; the sacrifice offered to it; the sacrificial meal consecrated thereafter; and any associated and ensuing sensual rituals.

The whole system was designed to seduce men from the living and only true God and place them under the spell of demons. In chapter 8 he had touched before on the eating of things offered to idols. He had mentioned that they should refrain if a weaker brother would be stumbled, v. 10. However, in this chapter he brings home the overriding truth that they should steer clear of idols altogether and anything associated with them. He makes absolutely clear the complete incompatibility of Christianity with idolatry of whatever variety.

The cup of the Lord would speak of all that we enjoy because of the person and work of Christ. ‘The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup’, Ps. 16. 5. The Christian’s cup surely ‘runneth over’, Ps. 23. 5. In contrast the cup of demons, whether used to pour out a libation or to drink wine from, is in honour of an idol. The truth is that although the idol is nothing of itself, behind the idol there are evil spirits. It is impossible to have fellowship at the same time with that which is true and of God and that which is false and of the devil.

Separation from every form of moral and spiritual evil is vital to the sanctity of the believer. It is a positive witness to those around that we will have nothing to do with evil. Often, when we refuse to become involved, others notice and this often provides opportunities to testify. It is not that we should be taken out of the world altogether, but rather to remain separate from the evil. The Lord, in His great High Priestly prayer, asked of the Father, ‘I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world’, John 17. 15-16.