Why were many of the Corinthians sick and dying according to 1 Corinthians 11:30?
Many Corinthians were sick, weak, and some had died because they partook of the Lord’s table unworthily, with wrong attitudes and unresolved enmity. God was chastising them by taking away their health. The passage links this judgment to their guilt of things that should have kept them from partaking, and mentions a sin unto death.
Les explains that partaking unworthily means coming to the Lord’s table with the wrong attitude. The Corinthians were approaching almost with revelry, and many held bitter enmity against fellow believers, even taking them to court. Paul says that will not work; you cannot take the Lord’s table with that kind of attitude. Because they were guilty of so many things that should have kept them from partaking, God was already chastising them: many were sick and weak, and many were asleep, meaning they had died. Les also notes that John’s little epistle speaks of a sin unto death, for which John warns not to pray.
For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.