Bible Questions Answered: Godly Separation

Bible Questions Answered:
What did Paul mean by his words “you cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils?”
Paula/ Colombo, Sri Lanka

Bible Answers:
The scripture to which you refer, and one should know the whole chapter, is....

I Corinthians 10:1-33 NLT
1 I don’t want you to forget, dear brothers and sisters, about our ancestors in the wilderness long ago. All of them were guided by a cloud that moved ahead of them, and all of them walked through the sea on dry ground.
2 In the cloud and in the sea, all of them were baptized as followers of Moses. 3 All of them ate the same spiritual food,
4 and all of them drank the same spiritual water. For they drank from the spiritual rock that traveled with them, and that rock was Christ.
5 Yet God was not pleased with most of them, and their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.
6 These things happened as a warning to us, so that we would not crave evil things as they did,
7 or worship idols as some of them did. As the Scriptures say, “The people celebrated with feasting and drinking, and they indulged in pagan revelry.”
8 And we must not engage in sexual immorality as some of them did, causing 23,000 of them to die in one day.
9 Nor should we put Christ to the test, as some of them did and then died from snakebites.
10 And don’t grumble as some of them did, and then were destroyed by the angel of death.
11 These things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age.
12 If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall.
13 The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, He will show you a way out so that you can endure.
14 So, my dear friends, flee from the worship of idols.
15 You are reasonable people. Decide for yourselves if what I am saying is true.
16 When we bless the cup at the Lord’s Table, aren’t we sharing in the blood of Christ? And when we break the bread, aren’t we sharing in the body of Christ? 17 And though we are many, we all eat from one loaf of bread, showing that we are one body.
18 Think about the people of Israel. Weren’t they united by eating the sacrifices at the altar?
19 What am I trying to say? Am I saying that food offered to idols has some significance, or that idols are real gods?
20 No, not at all. I am saying that these sacrifices are offered to demons, not to God. And I don’t want you to participate with demons.
21 You cannot drink from the cup of the Lord and from the cup of demons, too. You cannot eat at the Lord’s Table and at the table of demons, too.
22 What? Do we dare to rouse the Lord’s jealousy? Do you think we are stronger than He is?
23 You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is good for you. You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is beneficial.
24 Don’t be concerned for your own good but for the good of others.
25 So you may eat any meat that is sold in the marketplace without raising questions of conscience.
26 For “the earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.”
27 If someone who isn’t a believer asks you home for dinner, accept the invitation if you want to. Eat whatever is offered to you without raising questions of conscience.
28 (But suppose someone tells you, “This meat was offered to an idol.” Don’t eat it, out of consideration for the conscience of the one who told you.
29 It might not be a matter of conscience for you, but it is for the other person.) For why should my freedom be limited by what someone else thinks?
30 If I can thank God for the food and enjoy it, why should I be condemned for eating it?
31 So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
32 Don’t give offense to Jews or Gentiles or the church of God.
33 I, too, try to please everyone in everything I do. I don’t just do what is best for me; I do what is best for others so that many may be saved.

Romans 14:7 KJV
For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.

Whatever we do as Christians, influences some one else, so let us be very careful, that our influence of ours is for the good and for God!

At the Lord's Supper, we come together as followers, as believers of the Lord Jesus Christ.
As Christians, we are called to be a “separated people.”

II Corinthians 6:14-18 KJV
[14] Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?
[15] And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
[16] And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
[17] Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
[18] And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

Amos 3:3 KJV
Can two walk together, except they be agreed?

21 “You cannot drink from the cup of the Lord and from the cup of demons, too...”

“The cup of,” a phrase that speaks of fellowship.
Who is “our-fellowship,” with?
Is it with the Lord, or with the works of idolatry, and demonic allegiance?

Matthew 7:15-20 KJV (Jesus said that....)
[15] Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
[16] Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
[17] Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
[18] A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
[19] Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
[20] Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

What is the “cup of your fellowship?”
If it is with the Lord Jesus, then it cannot be with any one, or anything else!

Exodus 20:1-6 KJV
[1] And God spake all these words, saying,
[2] I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
[3] Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.
[4] Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
[5] Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them:
for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me;
[6] And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me, and keep My commandments.

The “cup of the Lord,” speaks of spiritual life through Jesus Christ our Saviour.
The “cup of devils,” speaks of all the spiritual things that bring about spiritual death, and separation from God.

21 “...You cannot eat at the Lord’s Table and at the table of demons, too.”

The Lord's Table, speaks of the Eucharist/ The Lord's Supper/ Holy Communion.
This is where the consecrated, bread, and wine represent, the sacrificially broken body and, blood of our Lord.
As Christian people, we are a part of His body, the church, the bride of Christ, through His perfect, once for all, sacrifice.

The Table of Demons, represents heathen feasts of idolatry, and their fellowship, their oneness with the powers of darkness.

Joshua 24:15 KJV
And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.