BIG IDEA:
THE VARIETY OF EXPRESSION OF GENUINE SPIRITUAL GIFTS WILL CONSISTENTLY EXALT JESUS CHRIST AND BUILD UP HIS BODY
INTRODUCTION:
David Prior: We need to remind ourselves of the pagan background from which most of the Christians in Corinth had been delivered. This was essentially based in the Greek mystery-religions, in which spiritual experiences were the norm. They had grown accustomed to being enticed by some kind of supernatural or demonic force, either into a state of trance, or into ecstasy, or into some strange course of action. Such ‘inspiration’ was regarded not merely as normal and to be expected, but as a clear authentication of the reality of the divine force involved. If there was no such clear manifestation of inspiration, the power of the relevant divinity was suspect.
Robert Gundry: The problem is almost certainly an abuse of the charisma of tongues. This is made clear first of all by the structure of the argument itself, which is basically in three parts, following the A-B-A pattern noted in previous sections (and basically corresponding to our current chapter divisions). Thus the argument begins with a more general, descriptive presentation (chap. 12), which is followed by a theological interlude (chap. 13) and concludes with a very specific response to the matter in hand (chap. 14).
David Garland: In chapter 12, Paul puts in proper perspective the nature of spiritual gifts and the role of the bearers of spiritual gifts. He makes clear that there are diversities of gifts, diversities of services, and diversities of activities, but only one Spirit, who distributes them as he wills. Each gift is given to different persons for the common good. Consequently, each person is needed in the community. Inspired speech is only one among many ways the Spirit works in the body of Christ. The body cannot be all eye with no sense of smell. It cannot be all nose with no vision. No individual member should be valued as superior to another, though Paul will argue that prophecy is superior to tongues because it contributes more to building up the community. No one should feel left out in the community because he or she lacks a particular spiritual endowment. No one should feel superior because he or she possesses a particular spiritual endowment. All are gifted by God in some way, and all are encouraged to contribute their gifts in ways that will build up the community. The Spirit decides who gets what gift and apportions them according to the need in the community, not according to the value of the recipient. There is to be no spiritual elite in the church. Spiritual gifts are not indicators of one’s spiritual status.
Paul Gardner: Main Idea: Spiritual people are those who possess the Holy Spirit and are thus enabled to affirm the total lordship of Christ. They must recognize their dependence on one another as the body of Christ, and each must build up the body of Christ as they employ the grace-gifts given them by the Spirit.
Daniel Akin: YOU ARE A GIFTED CHILD
(:1-6) Main Idea: Every believer has spiritual gifts that are to be exercised, not for personal gratification, but for corporate edification in the church.
I. How the Gifts Are Described (12:1,4,7)
A. They are spiritual gifts (12:1).
B. They are supernatural gifts (12:4).
C. They are service gifts (12:7).
II. How the Gifts Are Distributed (12:5-7,11)
A. They are distributed individually (12:5-6, 11).
B. They are distributed intentionally (12:7).
III. How the Gifts Are Distinguished (12:4-6)
A. There is a motivation for the gifts (12:4).
B. There is a ministry with the gifts (12:5).
C. There is a might behind the gifts (12:6).
UNWRAPPING SPIRITUAL GIFTS
(:8-31) Main Idea: Different gifts are given to different believers, and all gifts are for the glory of God and the good of the church.
I. The Gifts of Wisdom (12:8,10)
A. The message of wisdom (12:8)
B. The message of knowledge (12:8)
C. The work of distinguishing between spirits (12:10)
II. The Gifts of Worship (12:9-10)
A. The work of faith (12:9)
B. The word of prophecy (12:10)
III. The Gifts of Wonders (12:9-10)
A. The work of healings (12:9)
B. The performing of miracles (12:10)
C. The word of tongues (12:10)
D. The work of interpretation of tongues (12:10)
IV. Unity in Diversity (12:11-31)
A. The unity that binds the body (12:11-13)
B. The diversity that blesses the body (12:14-31)
(:1) IMPORTANCE OF THE TOPIC
A. Transition to a New Topic = Spiritual Gifts
“Now concerning spiritual gifts”
Important to the community of believers
David Garland: Paul takes up a new topic — “now concerning” (περὶ δέ, peri de)—that he will address in chapters 12–14. . .
Either the Corinthians want to know, “Which spiritual gift is the highest and best?” or some are touting their own spiritual gift as “the highest and best.”
Mark Taylor: Thus, Paul begins and concludes the discussion with reference to “spiritual persons.” In other words, in these chapters the primary concern is what it means to be “spiritual” in the context of public worship. Paul is not necessarily sorting out Corinthian confusion over spiritual gifts in general, but in order to address the issue of what true spirituality entails, he broadens the discussion considerably in order to clarify the role of the Spirit among all believers. Therefore, before making the case for intelligible prophecy over against unintelligible tongues so that the church might be edified (14:1–40), Paul reminds the Corinthians that it is only by the Holy Spirit that believers confess Jesus as Lord in the first place (12:1–3), that all believers are gifted individually by the Spirit for the common good (12:4–31), and that love, the more excellent way, is the only proper context for the exercise of the gifts (13:1–13).
B. Target Audience – Fellow Believers in the family of God
“brethren”
C. Teaching Opportunity Critical in light of the Danger of Ignorance regarding this important topic
“I do not want you to be unaware.”
Believers can be taken by surprise; some things look much better than they are; need to get behind the effects to the motivating spiritual forces at work
John MacArthur: It was an idiomatic phrase often used to introduce an exceptionally important subject. Paul used it to encourage his readers to pay close attention to a critical truth.
I. (:2-3) RIGHTLY DISCERN THE GENUINE WORKING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD
A. (:2) Reality of the Deceptive Power of Satanic Spirits
“You know that when you were pagans, you were led astray to the dumb idols;
however you were led.”
Gordon Fee: His initial concern is to set their former experience as idolaters in contrast with their present experience as Christians, who speak “by the Spirit of God.” . . .
He is reminding them of what they well know, that in some of the cults “inspired utterances” were part of the worship, despite the “mute idols.” If so, then his concern is to establish early on, as the next sentence seems to corroborate, that it is not “inspired speech” as such that is evidence of the Spirit. Many of them had already known a similar phenomenon as pagans. Rather, what counts is the intelligible and Christian content of such utterances.
Robert Gundry: “Voiceless” describes the idols not so much in contrast with the living God as in contrast with the Holy Spirit’s giving believers a voice to say, “Jesus [is] Lord.” As a leadup to that Spirit-inspired confession, Paul denies that anyone speaking by God’s Spirit says, “Jesus [is] anathema.” “Anathema” means “accursed,” and the statement as a whole represents what an unconverted Jew would say about Jesus because the Mosaic law pronounced a curse on anyone hanged on a tree, as Jesus was in crucifixion (see Deuteronomy 21:23; Galatians 3:13). So as idolatry characterized the pre-conversion past of Gentile Christians, an estimation of Jesus as accursed characterized the pre-conversion past of Jewish Christians. “Therefore” makes idols’ voicelessness, which renders them unable to speak, the basis for Paul’s mentioning both the speaking of a curse and the speaking of a confession. . . The main point: since “no one can say, ‘Jesus [is] Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit,” everyone who makes this confession has the Holy Spirit, so that no Christian (by definition a confessor of Jesus as Lord) can rightly look down on another Christian as not having the Holy Spirit (compare 12:13). Chapter 14 will make it look as though some Christians in Corinth thought that if you don’t speak in tongues you don’t have the Holy Spirit.
David Garland: His point is to establish from the outset that all Christians are spiritual. The contrast is between then, when they were pagans and led to dumb idols, and now, when they confess that Jesus is Lord. Paige (1991: 62) concludes that “the pompē becomes a symbol for all the attractions of pagan life: the attractions of political power, religious cult, social ties and the need to belong, not to mention the enticing feast. At the same time, Paul uses the pompē as a symbol of the delusion involved in all of this.” The “dumb idols” symbolize only their former ignorance.
B. (:3) Reliability of Indicators that Distinguish Between Counterfeit and Genuine Spiritual Powers
- Apostolic Revelation Can be Trusted
“Therefore I made known to you”
- Test for Rightly Discerning the Operation of the Spirit of God = the Exaltation of Jesus Christ
a. The Holy Spirit Cannot Blaspheme the Person of Christ
“that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says,
‘Jesus is accursed’”
Paul Gardner: In our view, the clause “Jesus is accursed” (ἀνάθεμα Ἰησοῦς) must be understood in the light of the Christian confession “Jesus is Lord” that, in various forms, is so frequently seen in the New Testament and was clearly part and parcel of the identification of true Christians (cf. 8:6; Rom 10:9; Phil 2:9–11). It is submission to the lordship of Jesus that is key. Paul has made this clear in many ways through the epistle, but especially as he has contrasted this lordship with the activity and worship of demons in chapters 8 and 10. Any explanations of v. 2 that avoid the compulsion to follow idols implicit in the passive voice of “being led away” easily miss the contrast between v. 2 and v. 3 and fail to do justice to Paul’s insistence that those who eat with idols “covenantally participate” with them (10:20). To follow another lord is to curse Jesus.
b. Only the Holy Spirit Can Truly Confess the Lordship of Christ
“and no one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit.”
David Prior: The burning desire of the Holy Spirit to glorify Jesus is Paul’s overall criterion of genuineness in this matter of spirituality. Indirectly but cardinally, it pervades all these three chapters.
- Thus chapter 12 concentrates on the church as the body of Jesus Christ;
- chapter 13 unfolds the essential character of Jesus Christ;
- chapter 14 takes two particular gifts (speaking in tongues and prophecy) and shows how any spiritual gift exercised with true Christlikeness serves to build up his body, the church — at Corinth or anywhere.
As the church is thus consolidated and begins to function effectively, so Jesus of Nazareth is seen to be Lord of the universe.
Gordon Fee: The presence of the Spirit in power and gifts makes it easy for God’s people to think of the power and gifts as the real evidence of the Spirit’s presence. Not so for Paul. The ultimate criterion of the Spirit’s activity is the exaltation of Jesus as Lord, which in turn expresses itself in loving concern for others. Whatever takes away from that, even if they be legitimate expressions of the Spirit, begins to move away from Christ to a more pagan fascination with spiritual activity as an end in itself.
David Garland: This confession is not some spontaneous, ecstatic utterance that anyone could blurt out. It affirms the majesty of Jesus as the one raised from the dead to become the one universal Lord above all other so-called lords (8:6). It declares absolute allegiance to him and accepts his absolute authority over every aspect of life. Paul’s purpose is to identify who qualifies as spiritual (cf. 14:37). He is not dealing with the question of how to judge inspired speech (contra Barrett 1968: 281). He counters those who think that the true mark of the spiritual person is that one engage in inspired speech. He wants to affirm from the start that all the members of the body of Christ are spiritual. He argues in Gal. 4:6 that because they cry “Abba, Father,” it is proof that God sent the Spirit into their hearts and that they are “sons.” In the same way, he argues here that all who confess Jesus as Lord are spiritual. Bassler (1982: 416; see also Schrage 1999: 125) gets at the truth:
Since Paul is concerned to refute those Corinthians who claim their gift of glossolalia is a special, perhaps unique, demonstration of spirit possession, he opens his response in vv 1–3 by presenting a radically different perspective. Noting the simple baptismal confession, Jesus is Lord, can only be uttered under the influence of the Holy Spirit (v 3b), Paul undermines any pneumatic elitism. All Christians make this confession, thus all Christians, not a tongue-speaking few, are πνευματικοί.
The term “spiritual” does not apply exclusively to those who, according to the Corinthians’ yardstick, had this or that conspicuous speech gift, but to all Christians. This point serves to relativize “all claims to greater or lesser spiritual attainment” because a person demonstrates or lacks certain gifts (M. Mitchell 1993: 267–68). In this introduction, Paul sets the stage for his argument that “each person has his or her own individual gifts and roles to play, each of which in its own way benefits the community” (M. Mitchell 1993: 268). He seeks to correct those in the church who see themselves as a Spirit-bearing elite to be set apart from the rest of the congregation.
Mark Taylor: The confession “Jesus is Lord” is made with full meaning and understanding only at the prompting of the Spirit. Anyone can “say” the words “Jesus is Lord,” but what Paul has in mind here is speaking with full conviction and complete personal allegiance.
David Prior: To be truly ‘spiritual’ drives a person neither to ecstasy nor to individualism nor to other-worldliness, but into the life of the local church as an expression of his or her personal commitment to Jesus as Lord and to his body here on earth. It is there that the implications of what it is to be ‘spiritual’, men and women of the Spirit, will be worked out. In times of persecution and martyrdom, such as many of Paul’s contemporaries were to face in the days of Nero and Domitian, the meaning and the inspiration of being members of the body of Christ begin to make themselves felt. To distance ourselves from other Christians is to waver in our allegiance to Jesus as Lord: this is the unmistakable thrust of what Paul now proceeds to unfold in the ensuing three chapters.
II. (:4-6) APPRECIATE THE VARIETY OF EXPRESSIONS OF THE WORKING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT – ALL CONSISTENT WITH THE UNITY OF THE TRIUNE GOD
Robert Gundry: “Gracious” describes the gifts as ill-deserved but given anyway, and these gifts refer to authorized abilities. “Services” connotes the uses to which the abilities are put and implies an obligation to use the gifts in service to others. “Activities” connotes the effort required to use the abilities in such service and implies an assurance of God’s working in and through the use of gifts in serving others.
A. (:4) Variety of Gifts – bestowed by the One Spirit of God
“Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit.”
Gordon Fee: It seems likely, therefore, that even though at points the two words are nearly interchangeable (as 12:31a and 14:1 would imply), the emphasis in each case reflects the root word (pneuma, Spirit; charis, grace). When the emphasis is on the manifestation, the “gift” as such, Paul speaks of charismata; when the emphasis is on the Spirit, he speaks of pneumatika.
B. (:5) Variety of Expression of the Gifts in Ministries – Directed by the One Head of the Church, the Lord Jesus Christ
“And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord.”
C. (:6) Variety of Effects of the Ministries – Accomplished by the Power and Will of the One Sovereign God the Father
“And there are varieties of effects,
but the same God who works all things in all persons.”
Gordon Fee: Paul’s point seems clear: Not uniformity (their model) but diversity in the context of unity (God’s model) is essential for a healthy church. At the same time he urges that all of this is God’s doing and part of the divine purposes, a point he repeats throughout (vv. 6, 7, 11, 18, 24, 28). The eternal God who is characterized by diversity within unity has decreed the same for the people who are to bear God’s likeness, the church. Very likely this emphatic theological framework is part of the corrective. Had their emphasis on a misguided “spirituality,” manifested by tongues-speaking, become an end in itself, so that they were focusing more on these things than on the one God who alone is to be worshiped? In any case, the opening paragraph (vv. 1–3) put the work of the Spirit into a proper christological perspective; this section puts it into a proper theological one. Everything, absolutely everything—gifts, persons, church—owes its origin to the one God who works all things in all of God’s people (v. 6).
III. (:7-11) UNDERSTAND THE SOURCE, PURPOSE AND EXERCISE OF THE SPIRITUAL GIFTS
A. (:7) Simple Statement of Fact — The Source, Purpose and Exercise of the Spiritual Gifts
- Every Believer has a Spiritual Gift
“But to each one”
One or Multiple??
- Every Gift is Bestowed by and Controlled by the Spirit of God
“is given the manifestation of the Spirit”
- The Exercise of Every Spiritual Gift is for the Good of the Body
“for the common good.”
Steve Zeisler: The apostle gives some tests that will help them know if their gifts were from the Spirit or not. The first test is that any such manifestation be “for the common good.” It should benefit everybody, in other words. If you have a special ability that is from God, it is not given to make you richer, more prominent, or anything like that. It is not merely for your own good, in other words. If it is in fact from the Spirit of God, it will benefit all. Your using your gift will spread joy, truth and knowledge of Christ everywhere.
Gordon Fee: Paul concludes with the reason for this great diversity: “for the common good.” By so doing, he anticipates the concern to follow (chaps. 13 and 14), namely that “the different kinds of gifts” are for the building up of the community as a whole (= the outflow of love), not primarily for the benefit of the individual believer through whom the charisma is given expression, which unfortunately all too often becomes the emphasis or interest of a later time.
Daniel Akin: Spiritual gifts are given to every believer to bless the church, build up the body of Christ, and edify believers. But if a spiritual gift does not in some way edify the church, it is no longer a used gift; it is an abused gift. My mentor, Dr. Adrian Rogers, used to say, “Spiritual gifts are not given for your enjoyment, but for his employment.” They are not toys for playing; they are tools for building.
To be sure, this does not mean there would not be any private benefit to the one exercising the gift. But this verse would certainly rule out using any gift strictly or merely for personal gain or self-satisfaction. It certainly does not rule out any and all benefits for an individual (Carson, Showing, 35).
B. (:8-10) List of Spiritual Gifts that are Especially Prone to Counterfeiting, Abuse, Misunderstanding and Misapplication – Emphasis is on the Variety
God has uniquely gifted each of His children; He does not intend for us to function as carbon copies; the body is healthy as we all make our unique and significant contribution
Jeffries: A complete list of around 20 specific spiritual gifts can be compiled by adding to the two 1 Corinthians 12 lists specific gifts listed in Ephesians 4:11 and Romans 12:6-8. It has been suggested that since none of the lists is identical they were not intended to be comprehensive.
Gordon Fee: Attempts to classify the several items are numerous and varied. Some have suggested that they reflect a descending order of value, while others have rearranged the items conceptually. A popular grouping is
(1) gifts of instruction (wisdom and knowledge);
(2) gifts of supernatural power (faith, healings, miracles); and
(3) gifts of inspired utterance (prophecy, discerning prophecies, tongues, interpretation of tongues).
The seventh item (distinguishing between spirits) is the one that tends to give trouble to most of these arrangements. If grouping is legitimate at all, it is most likely to be found in some clues Paul himself has given, by starting the third and eighth items (faith and tongues) with a different word for “another.” If so, then the first two are chosen for very specific ad hoc purposes; “wisdom” and “knowledge” held high court in Corinth. He then adds a random list of five items that have as their common denominator a supernatural endowment of some kind, and concludes with the “problem child” and its companion, tongues and interpretation.
What distinguishes this listing is their concretely visible nature, especially of the last seven. These, after all, are not only “gifts”; they are above all manifestations of the Spirit’s presence in their midst, most likely chosen because they are, like tongues itself, extraordinary phenomena. It would scarcely do for Paul at this point to attempt to broaden their perspective by listing less visible workings of the Spirit. That will come in time (esp. through the analogy of the body and in the lists in vv. 28–30); but for now the emphasis is on the supernatural.
- Word of Wisdom
“For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit”
Robert Gundry: “A word of wisdom” consists in counseling others what they should do and comes first because the topic of wisdom came up prominently in the first main section of 1 Corinthians (1:10 – 2:16).
Gordon Fee: This language clearly harks back to the problem addressed at the beginning of the letter (1:17 – 2:16), where on the basis of “wisdom” the Corinthians were rejecting both Paul and his gospel. Indeed, in contrast to their own criterion for “spiritual” excellence, Paul says he deliberately rejected coming to them either in “wisdom characterized by word (rhetoric)” (1:17) or “with excellence of word or wisdom” (2:1, 5). With a considerable stroke of inspiration Paul now does two things:
(a) He uses one of their own terms to begin his list of “manifestations” in the assembly that demonstrate the great diversity inherent in the one Spirit’s activities; and
(b) he reshapes that term in light of the work of the Spirit so as to give it a significantly different content from their own.
- Word of Knowledge
“and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit.”
Robert Gundry: “A word of knowledge” consists in informing others what they should understand and comes next because knowledge relates to wisdom and came up prominently within the second main section of 1 Corinthians (chapter 8).
- Faith
“to another faith by the same Spirit”
Mark Taylor: The gift of faith is to be distinguished from faith as a possession of all believers that brings one into relationship with God (12:3). Paul must have in mind a particular kind of faith that believes God for extraordinary things, or a faith that guides the church through exceptional circumstances (1 Cor 13:1–3). If Paul has intentionally categorized the gifts, then there may be some relationship between the gift of faith and gifts of healings and miraculous powers that immediately follow.
- Healing
“and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit”
- Miracles
“and to another the effecting of miracles”
- Prophecy
“and to another prophecy”
Gordon Fee: The prophet was a person who spoke to God’s people under the inspiration of the Spirit. The “inspired utterance” came by revelation and announced judgment (usually) or salvation. Although the prophets often performed symbolic acts, which they then interpreted, the mainstream of prophetic activity, at least as it came to be canonized, had very little to do with “ecstasy,” especially “frenzy” or “mania.” For the most part, the prophets were understood only too well! Often the word spoken had a futuristic element, so in that sense they also came to be seen as “predicters”; but that was only one element, and not necessarily the crucial one.
- Discernment
“and to another the distinguishing of spirits”
- Speaking in Tongues
“to another various kinds of tongues”
Anthony Thiselton: At least five distinct views about speaking in tongues find a place in scholarly literature. These include tongues as:
(1) angelic speech,
(2) miraculous power to speak foreign languages,
(3) liturgical or archaic utterances,
(4) ecstatic speech,
(5) mechanisms of release, especially in releasing longings or praise.
- Interpretation of Tongues
“and to another the interpretation of tongues”
C. (:11) Fuller Explanation — Understand the Sovereign Distribution and Operation of the Variety of Spiritual Gifts — to Each Believer by the One and Only Holy Spirit
“But one and the same Spirit works all these things,
distributing to each one individually just as He wills.”
Gordon Fee: The gifts, even though they are “given” to “each person,” are ultimately expressions of the Spirit’s own sovereign action in the life of the believer and the community as a whole.
Craig Blomberg: Verse 11 provides a crucial caution against the natural human tendency to want or expect everyone else to be gifted in the ways we are. It completely refutes all claims that any one gift is necessary for someone to be a Christian, or to be a mature Christian, or to be in the center of God’s activity in some part of the world. Just as there are no ‘one-member churches,’ neither are there any ‘every-member gifts.’