Why Does Paul Call Communion a Sharing in Christ?

Paul calls Communion a sharing in Christ because receiving the bread and cup joins believers to the crucified and risen Lord—and to one another.

What Paul means

In 1 Corinthians 10, Paul is warning Corinthian Christians not to take part in idol feasts. He points to the Lord’s Supper:

“Is not the cup of blessing that we bless a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?” (1 Corinthians 10:16).

The Greek word is koinōnia: fellowship, communion, participation, a real sharing.

Paul’s point is not that the elements are mere religious reminders with no spiritual significance. At the Lord’s table, Christians receive and confess their communion with Christ—his body given and his blood poured out for them.

Why this matters in Paul’s argument

Paul compares three kinds of sacrificial meals:

• Israel ate sacrifices and thereby shared in the altar (1 Corinthians 10:18).
• Pagan worship meals could involve fellowship with demons behind idolatry (1 Corinthians 10:20).
• The Lord’s Supper is fellowship with Christ himself (1 Corinthians 10:16).

A shared meal expresses covenant belonging and spiritual allegiance. So they cannot belong at “the table of the Lord” while also treating idol worship as harmless (1 Corinthians 10:21).

Sharing in Christ also makes one people

Paul immediately adds: “Because there is one loaf, we who are many are one body” (1 Corinthians 10:17).

Communion is never private spirituality. Christ gives himself to his people, and by sharing one bread, they are formed as his one body.

At the table, Christ’s saving death is not left in the past: his Church receives it in faith, gives thanks, and lives as those who belong wholly to him.