Refocusing on Gospel Activity (Part 1 of 2)

Refocusing the Church on the Gospel

The whole goal in reconstructing the Corinthian church with respect to the Lord's Supper is to refocus the gathering of the church on the gospel and on gospel activity. The Apostle Paul wants to refocus the church back on the gospel. As he said in 1 Corinthians 2, he determined to know nothing among them except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. This is another way Paul derives his theology, practices, and doctrine from that principle, using the gospel as the means of correcting the problems the Corinthian church experienced, including extreme issues like sexual sin, fornication, immorality, and tolerating incest.

Paul has been refocusing the gathering of God's people on the gospel and gospel activity. One issue is their mishandling of the Lord's Supper, something he does not commend but rebukes. Last week, he commended them for maintaining traditions on roles of men and women, demonstrated through head coverings. That softened the blow before transitioning to this harsh rebuke: their lack of focus on the gospel and failure to participate in gospel activity rightly.

Understanding Proper Divisions in the Church

Refocusing on the gospel means understanding when division within the church is proper—proper divisions. Paul says in the following instructions, he does not commend them because when they come together, it is not for the better but for the worse. Their gathering as a church is negative, worse than not gathering at all.

When you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and I believe it in part, for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized.

Earlier, Paul addressed divisions like "I am of Paul" or "I am of Cephas." Now, he acknowledges divisions that reveal genuine believers. The term for factions is the Greek word for heresy. There must be heresies among you so the genuine may be recognized. Heresy relates to divisive doctrine or practices that rift genuine from non-genuine Christians.

When Christians gather as a church, especially one standing firm on doctrine and practices without compromise—like the Lord's Supper—divisions inevitably arise. It is assumed they gathered intending to eat the Lord's Supper.

When you come together, it is not the Lord's Supper that you eat, for in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, and another gets drunk. Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not.

This likely involved a love feast followed by communion, where some got drunk, leaving nothing for the poor, humiliating them. These divisions, factions, and heresies allow God to demonstrate who is genuine. A church or youth group standing solidly on biblical principles risks losing people rather than gaining them, revealing who truly belongs.

Proclaiming the Lord's Death

Refocusing on the gospel means proclaiming the Lord's death. The Corinthians treated it as a mere meal to eat and get drunk, losing sight of its spiritual benefit. Communion has intention, instruction, and consequences—positive or negative. Viewing it only as physical food misses its spiritual reality pointing to the gospel.

Communion is one of the means of grace, alongside preaching the Word, baptism, and the Lord's Supper—environments where God gives grace. It is not the elements giving grace but God working through them when seen with eyes of faith. Just as faith comes by hearing the gospel (Romans 10), God sovereignly operates in these means for salvation and sanctification.

The gospel pertains to our salvation and ongoing sanctification. God provides assistance through means like the Lord's Supper to strengthen faith, understanding our weakness. If someone does not understand the gospel, they cannot understand communion. Believers recognize the reality of Christ's crucifixion for their sins and trust it for righteousness.

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

It is the Lord's Supper, received from the Lord. Jesus took bread, gave thanks, broke it—symbolizing His body broken, crushed for our sins as in Isaiah 53. “This is my body” is representational, like saying “this is my wife” of a picture. The breaking foreshadows His crucifixion.

The cup symbolizes the new covenant in His blood, shed for forgiveness (Hebrews 9:22). The life is in the blood, poured out so we live. Every participation reminds us of God's promise to remember our sins no more.

Thus, eating the bread and drinking the cup proclaims the Lord's death until He comes. It preaches the gospel visibly: Christ's broken body and shed blood accomplishing salvation. If we have never grasped this, we have done communion wrong.

Luke 22:13-20: And they went and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover... And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.”

This command ties to Passover imagery: a lamb slain to spare death. Jesus earnestly desired this Passover before suffering, pointing to His suffering. Do you know the gospel experientially, trusting Christ's work for salvation? Participating rightly is solemn yet celebratory, a memorial of His death. If you do not leave with greater remembrance of the gospel, you have missed it.

Proper Self-Examination

Refocusing on the gospel means proper self-examination. On the foundation of this spiritual reality:

Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged.