20Rather, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons. 21You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord’s table and of the table of demons. 22Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He?
10:20
Rather,
The word “rather” is a strong adversative. It is a denial of the thesis of verse 19. Indeed, idols do not exist, but what they represent does exist.
that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God,
Idols represent the demonic. There is only one devil but many demons. Demons operate under the authority of the devil. When Gentile pagans sacrifice to demonic idols, they show their solidarity with those idols. Satan is always behind false religion. Although idols are not real, they do represent satanic evil.
and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons.
If a Christian worships in a pagan setting by eating meat offered to idols, he shows solidarity with the demonic realm. The word “fellowship” means congeniality of mind, a community of interest, things in common. Fellowship with demons means to have things in common and community. Worship in non-Christian religions is no neutral activity but sacrifice to demons.
10:21
You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons;
Belief in the Lord and belief in other religions are mutually exclusive. The word “cannot” indicates a stark difference. The cup of libation poured out to the gods was a consecration to those gods.
Christians can be influenced by demons but not possessed by demons. However, we are not impervious from demonic power. By participating in religion without the Word of God, we undergo the influence of demons.
you cannot partake of the Lord’s table and of the table of demons.
From God’s viewpoint, it is irreconcilable to participate in the Lord’s table and the table of demons (pagan festivals) because Christians would show solidarity with demons by doing so. The “Lord’s table” is the communion service. It denotes all that God provided for believers in Christ on the ground of His death. At the Lord’s table, we remember the Lord’s death. People who belong to the Lord commemorate His death.
We identify ourselves with the Lord and His people when we participate in communion. God’s people are our crowd in contradistinction to people who do not know Him. There is a unity under the blood of the Lamb. Partaking of the table of demons is partaking of their sacrifices as a result of influence by demons.
10:22
Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy?
The third warning is against provoking the Lord to jealousy by dividing our loyalty between Him and something else. God does not tolerate competition, because He is absolute. Playing around with paganism or demonism, or false religion will incur God’s discipline. Idolatry is a rejection of the mutually exclusive truth of Christianity. We cannot two-time God. Legitimate jealousy is a good thing. God is always jealous of people who commit spiritual adultery with false religion.
Are we stronger than He?
Does the Christian think that he can play with the idolatry of religion and not incur the wrath of God? We cannot contest Him. God will not put up with rivals to His glory.
PRINCIPLE:
What we believe is what we are.
APPLICATION:
People say, “What you eat is what you are.” The Christian counterpart to that is, “What you believe is what you are.” False religion is the devil’s system for misleading Christians from the truth. There is only one truth, not multiple truths in a pluralistic society that mutually contradict each other. Therefore, we cannot have it both ways. The devil is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44), and his chief weapon is deception through religion. Behind all false religion is the enemy who will destroy us by religion.
