Book of Common Prayer

¹⁵ I’m speaking as to intelligent people: you yourselves must weigh my words. ¹⁶ The cup of blessing which we bless is a sharing in the Messiah’s blood, isn’t it? The bread we break is a sharing in the Messiah’s body, isn’t it? ¹⁷ There is one loaf; well, then, there may be several of us, but we are one body, because we all share the one loaf.

¹⁸ Consider ethnic Israel. Those who eat from the sacrifices share in the altar, don’t they? ¹⁹ So what am I saying? That idol-food is real, or that an idol is a real being? ²⁰ No: but when they offer sacrifices, they offer them to demons, not to God. And I don’t want you to be table-partners with demons. ²¹ You can’t drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You can’t share in the table of the Lord and the table of demons. ²² Surely you don’t want to provoke the Lord to jealousy? We aren’t stronger than him, are we?

Do everything to God’s glory

²³ “Everything is lawful,” but not everything is helpful. “Everything is lawful,” but not everything builds you up. ²⁴ Nobody should seek their own advantage, but the other person’s instead.

Reconciliation and prayer in the community

¹⁵ “If another disciple sins against you,” Jesus continued, “go and have it out, just between the two of you alone. If they listen to you, you’ve won back a brother or sister. ¹⁶ But if they won’t listen, you should take with you one or two others, so that ‘everything may be established from the mouth of two or three witnesses.’ ¹⁷ If they won’t listen to them, tell it to the assembly. And if they won’t listen to the assembly, you should treat such a person like you would a Gentile or a tax-collector. ¹⁸ I’m telling you the truth: whatever you tie up on earth will have been tied up in heaven; and whatever you untie on earth will have been untied in heaven.

¹⁹ “Again, let me tell you the truth: if two of you come to an agreement on earth about any matter that you want to ask, it will be done for you by my father in heaven. ²⁰ Yes: where two or three come together in my name, I’ll be there amongst them.”