Why were many of the Corinthians sickly and some dead in 1 Corinthians 11?
They were sickly and some had died because they abused the Lord’s Supper through physical excesses. Paul says many were sickly and many slept, meaning they had already died. God took their physical life, but not their spirit, leaving their spiritual relationship with Christ intact.
Les explains that Paul was dealing with the Corinthians’ abuse of the communion table, the Lord’s Supper, and told them, “Many are sickly among you, and many sleep”—that is, many had already died. The reason was their physical excesses. God took their physical life, but not their spirit. This fits the same principle Paul applied to the gross sin in the Corinthian church: delivering such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh would not touch the man’s spiritual relationship with Christ. As with Job, Satan could go only so far, and God drew the line. Les also applies this generally: when a person defiles or excessively abuses the physical body, sooner or later there are physical consequences, as with drug addicts.
For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.
More Questions
Why were many of the Corinthians sick and weak and asleep?
Because the Corinthians were guilty of so many things that should have kept them from partaking, many of them were sick and weak, and many were asleep; in other words, God was already chastising them by taking away their health.