1 Corinthians 10:20 teaches that when people offer sacrifices to idols, they are really offering them to demons, not to the true God. Paul then warns the Corinthian believers that he does not want them to share in fellowship with demons. The apostle Paul wrote this letter to the church in Corinth, a bustling Greek port city where temples, meat markets and dinner parties were closely tied to the worship of many gods.
But I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons, and not to God, and I don’t desire that you would have fellowship with demons.
1 Corinthians 10:20 (WEB)
What 1 Corinthians 10:20 Means
Paul begins with “the things which the Gentiles sacrifice.” In his setting, non-Jewish people brought animals and grain to temples dedicated to local gods, and much of that meat was later sold in the marketplace or served at feasts. Paul does not treat those idols as powerful rivals to God. He says the real force behind those offerings is spiritual evil, which he calls demons. The idol itself is nothing, as he has just said in verse 19, but the worship directed toward it is not neutral.
The phrase “and not to God” makes the contrast sharp. Anyone who gives worship to a false god is, in effect, giving it to something that opposes God. Paul then says, “I don’t desire that you would have fellowship with demons.” The word fellowship means shared participation, a deep partnership. He is not claiming that every believer who eats meat is secretly serving demons. He is warning that knowingly joining in idol worship draws a believer into a relationship that belongs to the enemies of God.
The verse does not promise that idols are harmless to ignore, nor does it tell believers to fear demons at every turn. It draws a clear line between worship of the living God and participation in the worship of false gods, and it asks the church to take that line seriously.
The Context of 1 Corinthians 10:20
First Corinthians was written by Paul, traditionally dated to around the mid-50s AD, to a church he had founded in Corinth and that was facing many internal problems. Some believers thought their knowledge freed them to eat anything, including meat that had been offered to idols. Others were troubled by this and felt eating such meat was a sin. Paul addresses the question directly in chapters 8 through 10.
The verses just before and after 10:20 explain why the warning matters. Paul compares the Lord’s Supper to the shared meal of Israel at the altar, and he says that eating together at a table means taking part in what that table represents. Verses 21 and 22 then state plainly that a person cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons at the same time. Verse 23 returns to the Corinthians’ slogan that “all things are lawful,” which Paul answers by asking what truly builds people up. Read in this setting, verse 20 is not a side comment about pagan religion. It is the center of Paul’s argument that Christian faith and idol feasts cannot be combined.
Key Phrases in 1 Corinthians 10:20
Deuteronomy 32:17
They sacrificed to demons, not God, to gods that they didn’t know, to new gods that came up recently, which your fathers didn’t dread.
(WEB)
This verse speaks of sacrifices offered to demons and not to God, echoing Paul’s language. It shows that the connection between idol worship and spiritual opposition was already part of Israel’s Scripture, which helps explain why Paul speaks so firmly.
1 Corinthians 10:21
You can’t both drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You can’t both partake of the table of the Lord, and of the table of demons.
(WEB)
The verse right after Paul’s warning states that you cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. It turns the warning into a clear choice that believers must make in daily life.
A Short Prayer From 1 Corinthians 10:20
Lord, you are the only true God, and everything that sets itself against you is empty of real power. Search my heart and show me any place where I have given my loyalty, time or worship to something that does not belong to you. Give me the courage to turn away from false allegiances and the wisdom to recognize them early. Let my life be shared with you alone, and let my fellowship be only with the One who gave himself for me. Amen.
