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Today we want to take the terror out of 1 Cor 11:27-30. Paraphrasing, “Whoever, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself. Partaking unworthily brings judgment on you. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.” This passage has been used to scare and condemn the body of Christ for too long!
Consider 1 Cor 11:23-25. There Paul reminds us of that first Communion night, when Jesus instructed us to break bread and to drink of the cup “in remembrance of Me.” That’s right – we partake of the Eucharist (which means ‘giving thanks’) with Thanksgiving – duh – remembering what Jesus has done for us: His life given so that we would be saved, healed, delivered, restored, our sins wiped away, the punishment due us paid in full, adopted as sons of God, a holy habitation for the Spirit of God – and more!
His blood has cleansed us from sin, from ALL unrighteousness. FOREVER. So how can we partake unworthily of communion? As a believer, you CANNOT.
“Examine yourself?” For sin? Will sin disqualify you from taking communion? From the body and blood of Jesus? Jesus GAVE His body and blood and died for sinners! In the Old Covenant when a sinner came to the priest, he brought an offering. The priest examined the offering, NOT the sinner. If the offering was accepted, the sin of the person bringing it was covered! Your offering – is JESUS. Think about that.
“Examine yourself?” Is Jesus your sin offering? As a believer He surely IS! You have already passed out of judgment and into eternal life with God. BUT if you do not believe in Jesus, yet take communion, you are saying Jesus died for nothing, that His death is irrelevant. Indeed, unbelievers bring judgment upon themselves!
So an unbeliever can’t take communion then? Not so fast – in doing so we proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. 1 Cor 11:26. So, if the unbeliever knows this, and wants to proclaim the Lord’s death applying to him, they are in fact declaring themselves BELIEVERS, and they will have — COME ALIVE!
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