Avoid false gods to glorify God

¹⁴ So then, my dear friends, run away from the worship of false gods! ¹⁵ I’m talking to you like you are sensible people. Think about what I’m saying. ¹⁶ Isn’t the cup of blessing that we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Isn’t the loaf of bread that we break a sharing in the body of Christ? ¹⁷ Since there is one loaf of bread, we who are many are one body, because we all share the one loaf of bread. ¹⁸ Look at the people of Israel. Don’t those who eat the sacrifices share from the altar? ¹⁹ What am I saying then? That food sacrificed to a false god is anything, or that a false god is anything? ²⁰ No, but this kind of sacrifice is sacrificed to demons and not to God. I don’t want you to be sharing in demons. ²¹ You can’t drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you can’t participate in the table of the Lord and the table of demons. ²² Or should we make the Lord jealous? We aren’t stronger than he is, are we?

⁴³ “A good tree doesn’t produce bad fruit, nor does a bad tree produce good fruit. ⁴⁴ Each tree is known by its own fruit. People don’t gather figs from thorny plants, nor do they pick grapes from prickly bushes. ⁴⁵ A good person produces good from the good treasury of the inner self, while an evil person produces evil from the evil treasury of the inner self. The inner self overflows with words that are spoken.

⁴⁶ “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord’ and don’t do what I say? ⁴⁷ I’ll show what it’s like when someone comes to me, hears my words, and puts them into practice. ⁴⁸ It’s like a person building a house by digging deep and laying the foundation on bedrock. When the flood came, the rising water smashed against that house, but the water couldn’t shake the house because it was well built. ⁴⁹ But those who don’t put into practice what they hear are like a person who built a house without a foundation. The floodwater smashed against it and it collapsed instantly. It was completely destroyed.”