1 Corinthians 11:32 - Printer Friendly

ESV: But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.

NIV: Nevertheless, when we are judged in this way by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be finally condemned with the world.

NASB: But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world.

CSB: but when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined, so that we may not be condemned with the world.

NLT: Yet when we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned along with the world.

KJV: But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

NKJV: But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.

Though it may shock some of us to hear it, Paul had been clear about the effect of God's wrath on His own children. God had brought some Corinthian Christians to sickness or death; this was in judgment for their unworthy participation in the Lord's Supper. How were they unworthy? For one, they treated the observance of communion as if it were any other meal, even eating and drinking too much. For another, the wealthy believers humiliated the poorer Christians at their Lord's Supper gatherings by not providing them with enough food or treating them respectfully (1 Corinthians 11:17–30).

Nothing in the text suggests that Paul is talking about people who are not legitimately Christians. These are born-again believers God has judged with sickness and death for their sin. Paul clarifies that this judgment does not include a loss of salvation. These believers will share eternity with Christ in glory based on their faith in Him and God's gracious forgiveness for their sin.

Paul describes judgment on this side of eternity as discipline. God may step into the life of a believer with loving discipline, even to the point of death, to keep us from experiencing the level of condemnation of those who have rejected Christ. The writer of Hebrews describes it this way, "My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives" (Hebrews 12:5–6).

This does not mean every illness and death comes as a result of the Lord's discipline (John 9:1–3). It does, however, mean God may use suffering to discipline the children He loves.

First Corinthians 11:17–34 contains Paul's rebuke of the church in Corinth for their application of the Lord's Supper. They had turned it into a gathering at which the wealthy ate and drank too much, leaving the poorer Christians hungry and humiliated. Paul warns that communion should be a time of sober self-reflection about our sin and Christ's sacrifice, as well as a time to unite the body of Christ, the church, while taking in representations of the blood and body of Christ. Some in Corinth were sick and others had died as part of God's judgment for participating in communion in an unworthy manner.

Paul confronts two issues the church in Corinth was failing to practice correctly. First, some women were not wearing head coverings while praying or prophesying in their meetings. Paul insisted they must do so, and that men must not, based on mankind's relationship to God and the social implications of that covering. Second, Paul describes the reasons for observing the Lord's Supper and how it should be done. The Corinthian Christians had brought God's judgment on themselves for practicing communion in a way which dishonored Christ's sacrifice for sin and humiliated the poor among them.

After concluding his teaching on meat offered to idols, Paul turns to two issues the church in Corinth was getting wrong. The first was head coverings when praying or prophesying in their meetings. Differences between men and women in that regard are because of both spiritual and social reasons. Paul also corrects the disastrous way in which they were practicing the observance of the Lord's Supper. They were dishonoring Christ's sacrifice for sin as well as the poor in the body of Christ, the church. Despite having more to say on communion, Paul will move on to the topic of spiritual gifts in chapter 12.

First Corinthians is one of the more practical books of the New Testament. Paul writes to a church immersed in a city associated with trade, but also with corruption and immorality. These believers are struggling to properly apply spiritual gifts and to resist the ungodly practices of the surrounding culture. Paul's letter gives instructions for real-life concerns such as marriage and spirituality. He also deals with the importance of unity and gives one of the Bible's more well-known descriptions of love in chapter 13.