The gross immorality that was taking place in Corinth caused Paul to focus most of the message in his first letter to the Corinthians on idolatry. Many of the members of the Corinthian church had recently been converted from paganism and were having difficulty breaking habits of their former lifestyles (Introduction to the first letter of Paul to the Corinthians). After he talked about the prize he expected to receive for his faithful service to God (1 Corinthians 9:24-27), Paul went on to explain that participation in idol worship was a form of demonism. Paul told the Corinthian believers, “I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?” (1 Corinthians 10:20-22). The Greek word that is translated partake, metecho (met-ekhˊ-o) means “to share or participate; (by implication) belong to” (G3348). Paul connected participation in certain activites to membership in an organization or belonging to a cultural group. Celebration of the Lord’s Supper was an exclusive practice of believers in Christ and Paul wanted the Corinthians to understand that pagan sacrifices were intended for those who were worshippers of Satan.

Paul said that he didn’t want the Corinthians to be participants with demons. The Greek word that is translated participants, koinonos (koy-no-nosˊ) is derived from the word koinos (koyˊ-nos) which means “common, i.e. (literally) shared by all or several, or (ceremonial) profane” (G2839). According to the Mosaic Law, priests were expected to distinguish between the holy and the common. Something that was considered to be holy had been sanctified or set apart, something that was consecrated to God (H6942). No one that was common or unsanctified could be in the presence of God (Exodus 19:9-25). When Paul talked about participation in the Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 10:16), he used the word koinonia (koy-nohn-eeˊ-ah). Koinonia is derived from the Greek word koinonos and means “partnership, i.e. (literal) participation, or (social) intercourse” (G2842). Koinonia is most often translated as fellowship. Paul used the word koinonia in 1 Corinthians 1:9 where he said, “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” The fellowship of believers was first discussed in the book of Acts. Not long after the church in Jerusalem was established, Acts 2:42-47 tells us:

And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Luke indicated that “all who believed were together and had all things in common” (Acts 2:44). The Greek word that Luke used that is translated common is koinos. Koinos is believed to be derived from the word sun (soon) which denotes “union; with or together i.e. by association, companionship, process, resemblance, possession, instrumentality, addition etc…Particularly of society, companionship, consort, where one is said to be, do, suffer with someone, in connection and company with him” (G4862). Sun is often used in the gospels to indicate that Jesus’ disciples were with him. Luke used the word sun the most of any other New Testament writer. Sun appears 24 times in the gospel of Luke and 51 times in the book of Acts. One of the things that may be connected with the Greek term sun is culture. It’s possible that culture is a byproduct of sun or that the development of culture is evidence that the type of union that sun represents has actually taken place. The four activities that are mentioned in Acts 2:42, the apostles’ teaching, the fellowship, the breaking of bread, and the prayers could be identifying features of the Christian culture and would thus be evident whenever sun has taken place in a group of believers.

Paul used the example of the Israelites journey through the desert after God delivered them from slavery in Egypt to explain to the Corinthians that the activities associated with a culture do not in and of themselves make someone a participant or sharer in that particular society. Paul said:

For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. (1 Corinthians 10:1-5)

Paul noted that all of the Israelites had done the same activities and made special mention of the fact that they had all drank from the spiritual Rock that was Christ. “Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased” (1 Corinthians 10:5). What Paul meant by God not being pleased was most likely related to his comment about receiving the prize in 1 Corinthians 9:24. Paul asked, “Do you not know that in a race all runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.” Paul went on to say, “But I discipline my body and keep it under control lest after preaching to others, I myself should be disqualified” (1 Corinthians 9:27). The point that I believe Paul was trying to make was that God is not pleased with fake Christians. Being disqualified means you complete the race, you participate in all the activities, but don’t get any credit for it because you were just going through the motions, you weren’t really saved.