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1Cor. 11:17-33

While i do not see holding that the elements of the Lord supper literally become Christ's body and blood is necessarily a salvific issue in and of itself, to resort to attempting to invoke texts such as 1Cor. 11:17-33 to support it is such a wresting of Scripture that it is an argument against it and against sound exegesis.

The context in 1Cor. 11:17-33 is not at all what the physical elements that are consumed consist of, but the effectual unity of the members of the body of Christ, and thus what the communal supper commemorating Christ's utterly selfless death is to consist of as to practice, relating to its correspondence to the sacrifice of Christ for His body, the church.

This section begins with Paul's words in vs, 17, 18: “Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better, but for the worse. For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it.” He then (1Cor. 11:19) then affirms that divisions manifest who is approved and who is not, and in the next verse (20) reveals the issue that makes this manifest: “When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord's supper.” Notice that Paul actually denies that they were validly celebrating the Lord's Supper, and the reasons which he proceeds to give is that in the feast of charity, which was an actual communal meal, some members of the body were being treated something akin to being lepers:

“For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken. What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not.” (v. 21,22)

Paul's criticism of them is that they are really not commemorating the Lord's unselfish sacrifice of Himself due to the selfish manner in which they are practicing it, eating the food up while leaving others to go hungry, which was a practical denial that those who were left out were members of the body, which is a sin resulting in judgment. Thus he will tell them, “Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat, tarry one for another. And if any man hunger, let him eat at home; that ye come not together unto condemnation. (vs. 32,33)

But first Paul provides the instructions given in instituting the supper, (1Cor. 11:23-25) and thus "as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew [manifest] the Lord's death till He come." (v. 26)

Christians manifest His death for them by dying to self in serving God and therefore serving others. Paul “died daily,” and wrote, “the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.” (2Cor. 5:14,15) and “use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.” (Gal. 5:13) Thus these selfish Corinthians were not manifesting recognition of Jesus death for them because they were not mindful and caring for the valid welfare of others. And because “as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew [manifest] the Lord's death till he come," therefore the next verses state,

"Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. {28} But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. " (1 Cor. 11:27-29)

Examining oneself in this context primarily concerns how you were treating each others, which recalls Jesus words about being reconciled before offering sacrifice. (Mt. 5:23,24) There is nothing at all here about the composition of the physical bread they ate, rather, “not discerning' or judging the "Lord's body" refers to effectively denying what His death represents by their selfishness by failing to recognize the other members as part of the body and treating them according. In further confirmation in the next chapter Paul further elaborates on the interdependence of the body, “For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ." "That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another." (1Cor. 12:12,25)

How far I have to go.

Paul next reveals that this hypocritical miscelebration was the reason that they were being chastened and judged, including death, which capital punishment for lack of care is consistent with O.T. penalty about not caring for the poor. (Ex. 22:22-24) “For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.” (v. 30)

Therefore Paul provides the remedy needed to avoid chastening, which was not by recognizing that the bread was really Jesus flesh, but by rightly judging what the sacrifice of Christ which they commemorated represented and acting accordingly; "Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat, tarry one for another. And if any man hunger, let him eat at home; that ye come not together unto condemnation. And the rest will I set in order when I come. " (1 Corinthians 11:33,34) "

This corresponds to what Paul said in the previous chapter, that "For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread. " (1 Corinthians 10:17) To be in communion with Jesus broken body and shed blood in His death is to be communally consistent with Him who died for us and purchased us with His blood.

"For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: {15} And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again. " (2 Corinthians 5:14-15)

Note also that one who does not provide for the legitimate (not selfish, or as a result of indolence) needs of his own family has denied the faith. (1Tim. 5:8)

Thus in context what “not discerning the body” refers to is not that they did not recognize what is supposed to happen in transubstantiation, but that of members of the body of Christ commemorating the unselfish sacrificial death of the Lord in a very selfish hypocritical manner, thus eating and drinking damnation to themselves. Jesus gave Himself for the church, purchasing it with his own blood, (Acts 20:28; 1Cor. 6:20) and the disobedient here let others go hungry while they feasted, a communal meal which was supposed to signify oneness with Christ and each other. Thus they failed to recognize the corporate body of Christ for what it was.

The hypocrisy here would be somewhat akin to someone celebrating a wedding anniversary by consorting with a prostitute. Yet today, while we are commanded to, “Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; [and] them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body,” (Heb. 12:3) yet we seldom seem to be and perhaps may try to put them out of mind. Those who are born again by faith (not being by sprinkling as an infant) are to pray for them (see Ps. 70) and here is one organization (not affiliated with me except spiritually) that such can give to as the Lord leads. TOC

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