1 Corinthians 10:21

21 And you can't have it both ways, banqueting with the Master one day and slumming with demons the next.

1 Corinthians 10:21 Meaning and Commentary

1 Corinthians 10:21

Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils,
&c.] Not only they ought not, but they could not rightly, truly, and really drink the cup of wine in the Lord's supper, in the true faith of Christ's bloodshed, and his sacrifice offered up for them, in remembrance of his love, and to the honour of his name; and also the cup of wine of libations, poured out and drank to the honour of the Heathen deities; these things are utterly inconsistent; no man can serve two masters, God and mammon, or God and Baal; nor is there any concord between Christ and Belial, or agreement between the temple of God and idols:

ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of
devils;
no man can spiritually, however he may externally partake of the entertainment provided, on the table of the Lord, at his supper instituted and kept in commemoration of him; and also with gust and pleasure, and without any concern for the peace of weak minds, and the honour of God, eat things set upon a table in an idol's temple, and before the idol, and as sacrificed unto it.

1 Corinthians 10:21 In-Context

19 Do you see the difference? Sacrifices offered to idols are offered to nothing, for what's the idol but a nothing?

20 Or worse than nothing, a minus, a demon! I don't want you to become part of something that reduces you to less than yourself.

21 And you can't have it both ways, banqueting with the Master one day and slumming with demons the next.

22 Besides, the Master won't put up with it. He wants us - all or nothing. Do you think you can get off with anything less?

23 Looking at it one way, you could say, "Anything goes. Because of God's immense generosity and grace, we don't have to dissect and scrutinize every action to see if it will pass muster." But the point is not to just get by.