Through the apostle Paul, the Spirit strikingly speaks of people who have fellowship with demons:
1 Corinthians 10:20 But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils.
What does it mean to have fellowship with demons?
In order to determine what it means, we need to consider closely what the Greek text of this verse says and then compare it to two other passages that have the same Greek verb and have the same Greek noun used with other Greek words in the same Greek construction (pregenitive with a genitive).
The Greek Text of 1 Corinthians 10:20
In an indirect discourse construction, Paul uses the linking verb γίνομαι as an indirect discourse infinitive with κοινωνοὺς as a predicate accusative:
1 Corinthians 10:20 ἀλλ᾽ ὅτι ἃ θύει τὰ ἔθνη, δαιμονίοις θύει, καὶ οὐ Θεῷ· οὐ θέλω δὲ ὑμᾶς κοινωνοὺς τῶν δαιμονίων γίνεσθαι.
Because the noun κοινωνός in this verse is a pregenitive that is an event word, the use of the genitive δαιμονίων here should be understood to be either subjective or objective. The context makes clear that the use of δαιμονίων here is an objective genitive.
To have fellowship with demons, therefore, seems to mean to come into spiritual communion or interaction with them in some manner.
Parallel Greek Passages
Two other passages in the NT have the same verb γίνομαι and have the same noun κοινωνός used in the same Greek construction (pregenitive with a genitive):
Hebrews 10:33 τοῦτο μέν, ὀνειδισμοῖς τε καὶ θλίψεσι θεατριζόμενοι· τοῦτο δὲ κοινωνοὶ τῶν οὕτως ἀναστρεφομένων γενηθέντες.
Hebrews 10:33 Partly, whilst ye were made a gazingstock both by reproaches and afflictions; and partly, whilst ye became companions of them that were so used.
2 Peter 1:4 δι᾽ ὧν τὰ μέγιστα ἡμῖν καὶ τίμια ἐπαγγέλματα δεδώρηται, ἵνα διὰ τούτων γένησθε θείας κοινωνοὶ φύσεως, ἀποφυγόντες τῆς ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ ἐν ἐπιθυμίᾳ φθορᾶς.
2 Peter 1:4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
As in 1 Corinthians 10:20, because the noun κοινωνός that occurs as a pregenitive in both of these parallel passages is an event word, the use of the genitive word in each passage (ἀναστρεφομένων and φύσεως, respectively) should be understood to be either subjective or objective.
An examination of the context in both passages shows that the genitive in both passages for which κοινωνός is the pregenitive is an objective genitive in each case.
Although the Greek constructions in these passages differ from the construction in 1 Corinthians 10:20, the use of the same verb (γίνομαι) and the use of the same noun (κοινωνός) as a pregenitive of an objective genitive thus is in keeping with our understanding that “fellowship with demons” in 1 Corinthians 10:20 signifies that κοινωνός is a pregenitive with δαιμονίων as an objective genitive.
Conclusion
An examination of the Greek text of 1 Corinthians 10:20 reveals that those who in a worship context partake of things offered to idols come into fellowship with demons in the sense that they have real spiritual communion or interaction with them.
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