Eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an UNWORTHY manner will be guilty

[tonychanyt]

How can anyone eat the bread or drink the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner?

1 Corinthians 11:

17 In the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. 18 For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you. And I believe it in part, 19 for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized.

Paul complained about the lack of unity. Then he gave an example:

20 When you come together, it is not the Lord’s supper that you eat. 21 For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk.

They were being disorderly.

22 What! 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.

That's wrong. Paul then reminded the Corinthians what Jesus said:

23 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, 24 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.”

Break the bread. Eat it. Recognize that Jesus's physical body was broken for us on the cross. We could consume the true bread from heaven.

25 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.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
27 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. 28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body

the physical and spiritual body of Christ, the Church as a spiritual reality in oneness and unity

eats and drinks judgment on himself.

That's what happened to Judas Iscariot.

30 That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. 31 But if we judged ourselves truly,

Ask ourselves: Do I see the true bread from heaven? Do I belong to the Body of Christ? Am I at peace in the oneness of the Body of Christ?

we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.
33 So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another— 34a if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home—so that when you come together it will not be for judgment.

Pointing back to the beginning of this passage, Paul stressed the importance of unity in doing things in unison, even when partaking in the Lord's Supper. We are to love one another in the Body of Christ.

Jesus affirmed this oneness in Christ in John 6:

54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.

The Latin root of communion is communionem, meaning "fellowship, mutual participation, or sharing." 1 Corinthians 10:

16 Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?

It connotes oneness in the Body of Christ.

How can anyone eat the bread or drink the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner?

If you do not see the true bread from heaven broken for you or don't belong to the spiritual unity of the Body of Christ, you are not worthy to participate. Jesus' physical body was broken on the Cross for us so that we can join the spiritual Body of Christ.

 

[BobRyan]

If we engage in the communion service in any way other than a humble repentant spirit, confessing sin and relying on the work of Christ to cleanse us from all sin-- then it is in an unworthy manner.

This is why the foot washing service precedes the part where we break the bread and drink the fruit of the vine representing Christ's blood sacrifice.