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For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
2 Corinthians 5:21
When I was a young Christian, I was a victim of a flawed, legalistic teaching based on a misinterpretation of the apostle Paul’s teaching on the holy Communion in 1 Corinthians 11:27–30:
“Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep.”
I was taught and warned, as perhaps you were, that if there was any sin in my life, including ones I didn’t know about or had forgotten to confess, that sin made me unworthy to partake of the holy Communion. I would bring judgment and sickness on myself, and I might even die before my time!
But how could I ever know if I was “worthy” enough? I was not living in sin or anything like that, but I knew that to God, sin is sin, and if anyone fails in even one area, he is counted guilty of all (James 2:10).
As a result, I was so fearful of the Communion I did not partake of it for many years. After all, I was no fool. Why would I risk it?
I was robbed of my inheritance because of well-meaning but erroneous preaching that put an invisible fence around what was meant to be a source of health and healing and a blessing for God’s people. A fence was put around it saying, “Don’t come near unless you are worthy.”
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