To be sure, it is valuable for believers to confess their sins, and appropriate to prepare for worship by doing so. But Paul’s focus in this passage was much narrower. The unworthiness he had in mind was participating in the Lord’s Supper in a way that failed to exhibit the unity of the church in Christ. That this was his meaning can be seen quite clearly in his exhortation in 11:33–34. To prevent unworthy eating and subsequent judgment, he did not advise the Corinthians to confess their sin, or
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