Who should be received for the breaking of bread?
Well, every believer – who is not disqualified. Why every believer? Because this is a privilege of every member of the body of Christ (1 Cor. 10:17). So what about the ‘disqualification’? How can this happen? Well, there are mainly three reasons: • moral evil: the man in 1 Cor.5 for instance, had to be ‘put out’. • Doctrinal evil: if someone does not bring the doctrine of the Christ (2 John 9-11) you must not even receive him into your house, even less can you celebrate the memorial meal with him. Doctrinal evil is ‘leaven’ (Gal.5:9). • Association with evil. The one who greets the heretic in 2 John 9-11 becomes a ‘partaker of his evil works’. Those who visit the idol temple in Corinth become ‘partakes of the table of demons’ (although they did not believe in the idols themselves, 1 Cor. 10:19-22). See also 1 Cor. 15:33; Rev. 2:14.
