Expert: Marilyn - 8/26/2010

Question
QUESTION: i was wondering if you could tell me will God punish us in THIS LIFETIME if we eat the Lords supper in an unworthy manor if you didnt understand that it is a sin?
  
27 Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood[d] of the Lord. 28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner[e] eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s[f] body. 30 For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. 31 For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged.
also if an unbeliver sins while in church will they be punished in THIS LIFETIME? thank you.

ANSWER: Hello Simon;

The passage to which you refer is I Corinthians 11. It must be read in context. What were the Corinthians doing that was unworthy? Paul says in verse 17 that they did more harm than good in their meetings. Apparently, given the information we have in this passage, the early church combined taking communion with a meal. When Jesus first instituted communion, He did it as part of the Passover meal.

The Corinthians were supposed to be doing a similar thing, but they weren't. The Corinthians had divisions, or schisms, which indicates they spent a lot of time arguing with one another in unproductive ways that didn't bring insight, but instead brought strife. Sometimes persons can learn a lot from loving discussion, even if the parties don't agree with one another after they're finished. Paul's not talking about that kind of disagreement, he's talking about people who are ugly to one another. People who end up angry and hateful toward one another bringing disharmony and disunity.

In verse 20 Paul describes a crowd of people who do not display love for one another, they lack simple politeness. They crowd to get to the food, they rush ahead leaving some behind and some eat their fill ignoring the fact that others haven't even made it through the line yet and those people are left hungry. Some were even getting drunk during their church meals, verse 21.

Paul brings them back to the purpose of their feast: the Lord Jesus and His sacrificial death for us, verses 23-26. Jesus said in John 6:53-56, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is real food and My blood is real drink. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood remains in me,and I in him." It is Jesus' blood that cleanses us of sin. His blood is the very thing we need when we are sinners! Jesus is the Word made flesh, John 1, so it is by consuming the Word of God that our minds are cleansed. It is not sin, per se, which causes a person to consume the Lord's supper in an unworthy manner, but the attitude with which he approaches it which may cause him to consume it in an unworthy manner.

The Corinthians had no respect for the Lord's supper. It is fine to combine taking the Lord's supper with a meal, but to turn it into a meeting where people are arguing hatefully, shoving one another around, failing to share what is available so that all may have some, getting drunk...these are a total lack of respect for the Lord, His table and His sacrifice.

It is wise to examine one's self before taking the Lord's supper and confessing any known sin and asking for forgiveness of any unknown sin, that would be only polite! But to allow sin to keep a person away from the Lord's table is the same as saying we have to first stop sinning before Jesus can save us. If we could be good enough through our own efforts, Jesus would never have had to die on the cross in the first place.

The church is the place where all persons should be able to go no matter how awful their sin, meet the Lord and find salvation. But, as Paul points out, a group of believers who have no respect for what the Lord has done cannot lead anyone to salvation, their feasts do more harm than good.

It is not possible to keep all persons who are in a church building at any given moment from sinning! Someone is going to gossip, someone is going to covet, etc. But even for believers, the church is the place where we go to reconnect with the Lord through fellowship with one another, through reminding one another of what He has done for us, through studying His Word together, through sharing a meal together, through taking communion together. If we wait until we are good enough, or run away when we sin, the church would be an empty place!

The Lord accepts us as we are, covers us with His blood to wash away our sins and fills us with His Word so that we will be transformed into new people--not into someone other than who we are, but into the people we were originally intended to be. We may not ever reach the point where we never sin at all, but we can be more like the people God created us to be every day and the church is the place where we learn to do that together.

For those who approach the Lord's table with no respect, as the Corinthians did, Paul makes very clear, they will suffer illness and even death. It is not so much that the Lord does this to those who behave in this manner, but that they have separated themselves from Him. The Lord seldom must punish us, we cause bad things to happen to ourselves all by ourselves. The Lord cannot be part of such a feast as Paul describes, He will withdraw from such people and the benefits they should have received if they had approached Him with proper respect are not available so they receive what they deserve instead.

We do not deserve any good thing, we cannot earn any good thing. Our righteousness is as filthy rags before God, Isaiah 64:6. We can do nothing to deserve God's unmerited favor, but we can do our best to love one another, love Him and show Him proper respect.

Sincerely,

Marilyn

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: To marlyn thank you for awnsering my question about corithians 11.I have read it through and found it to be helpful.I was just wondering if you could clarify something for me with a yes or no awnser.If someone makes out they are a beliver just so they can feel part of the church and as a result sined in church will God punish them for this in this life time. Also regarding the Lords supper, if they take it being an unbeliver will they be punished for it even though they didnt know it was a sin. This is a two part quesion and i was wondering if you could awnser this with the awnsers yes or no.This will also make it less work for you to awnser.Best wishes simon.

Answer
Hello Simon;

Sinning is sin, regardless of where it occurs. Unless the sin is confessed and forgiven--we may need to ask the Lord to forgive sins we're not aware of from time to time--the penalty would be the same regardless of location.

I do not know what the Lord thinks of an unbeliever who has no intention of becoming a believer taking the Lord's supper. Sin is not defined by what we understand as sin, or what we might define as sin, but by what God defines as sin. The Lord is merciful and I think He does cut ignorant people some slack; Jesus seems to imply this in some of His discussions.

All sins will be forgiven, when the person confesses and asks for forgiveness, except the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which, by the way, is not an easy sin to commit--it requires conscious, willful and concerted effort.

Sincerely,

Marilyn