E. Spiritual gifts and spiritual people chs. 12-14

Paul had been dealing with matters related to worship since 8:1. He had forbidden the Corinthians from participating in temple meals but had allowed eating marketplace meat under certain circumstances (8:1-11:1). Then he dealt with two issues involving their own gatherings for worship: head coverings and the Lord's Supper (11:2-34). The issue of spiritual gifts (chs. 12-14) was the third issue involving their own gatherings for worship. This is the most important of the three as evidenced by the amount of text Paul devoted to it and by the issue itself. Paul explained that being "spiritual"at present, for the perfect state has not yet come (13:8-13), means to edify the church in worship.

"More than any other issue, the Corinthians and Paul are at odds over the role of the Spirit. For them Spirit' has been their entrée to life in the realm of sophia(wisdom') and gnosis(knowledge'), with their consequent rejection of the material order, both now (7:1-7) and for the future (15:12), as well as their rejection of the Christian life as modeled by Paul's imitation of Christ (4:15-21). Their experience of tongues as the language(s) of angels had allowed them to assume heavenly existence now (4:8), thought of primarily in terms of nonmaterial existence, rather than ethical-moral life in the present. Thus Paul tries to disabuse them of their singular and overly enthusiastic emphasis on tongues (the point of chaps. 12-14); but in so doing, he tries to retool their understanding of the Spirit so as to bring it into line with the gospel."²⁶⁶

Paul wanted to correct the Corinthians in this section, not just provide more teaching, as he did throughout this epistle. This becomes clear in chapter 14. They were abusing the gift of tongues. The whole section divides into three parts and structurally follows an A-B-A chiastic pattern, as do other parts of this letter (i.e., chs. 1-3; 7:25-40; chs. 8-10). First there is general instruction (ch. 12), then a theological interlude (ch. 13), and finally specific correction (ch. 14).

". . . there is not a single suggestion in Paul's response that they were themselves divided on this issue or that they were politely asking his advice. More likely, the crucial issue is their decided position over against him as to what it means to be pneumatikos(spiritual'). Their view apparently not only denied the material/physical side of Christian existence (hence the reason why chap. 15 follows hard on the heels of this section), but had an element of spiritualized (or overrealized) eschatology' as well.

"The key probably lies with 13:1, where tongues is associated with angels. As noted elsewhere (7:1-7; 11:2-16), the Corinthians seem to have considered themselves to be already like the angels, thus truly spiritual,' needing neither sex in the present (7:1-7) nor a body in the future (15:1-58). Speaking angelic dialects by the Spirit was evidence enough for them of their participation in the new spirituality, hence their singular enthusiasm for this gift."²⁶⁷

 1. The test of Spirit control 12:1-3

The apostle began his discussion by clarifying the indicators that a person is under the control of the indwelling Spirit of God. With this approach, he set the Corinthians' former experience as idolaters in contrast to their present experience as Christians. "Inspired utterance"in itself does not identify what is truly "spiritual."The intelligible content of such an utterance does when the content is the basic confession that Jesus Christ is Lord.

12:1 The presence of the phrase peri de("Now concerning"or "Now about") plus the change in subject mark another matter about which the Corinthians had written Paul with a question (cf. 7:1; 8:1). It had to do with the gifts or abilities the Holy Spirit gives those believers He indwells.²⁶⁸This subject is the focus of all that Paul wrote in chapters 12-14 including the famous thirteenth chapter on love.

As in 10:1, Paul implied that what followed was instruction his readers needed. "Spiritual gifts"is literally "the spirituals"(Gr. ton pneumatikon).²⁶⁹This is a broader term than the gifts themselves, though it includes them. It appears to refer primarily to the people who are spiritual (cf. 2:15; 3:1). Evidently the Corinthians' question dealt with the marks of a spiritual Christian. A spiritual Christian is a believer under the control of the Holy Spirit compared with one under the control of his or her flesh (Gal. 5:16) or a demonic spirit (10:20-21).²⁷⁰

12:2 Many of the Corinthian believers had been pagans. Various influences had led them away from worship of the true God and into idolatry.

"Corinth was experience-oriented and self-oriented. Mystery religions and other pagan cults were in great abundance, from which cults many of the members at the Corinthian church received their initial religious instruction. After being converted they had failed to free themselves from pagan attitudes and they confused the true work of the Spirit of God with the former pneumatic and ecstatic experiences of the pagan religions, especially the Dionysian mystery or the religion of Apollo."²⁷¹

Dumb idols are idols that do not speak in contrast with the living God who does speak. Paul previously said that demons are behind the worship of idols (10:20). He did not say that the prophecy or glossolalia (speaking in tongues) being spoken in the Corinthian church proceeded from demonic sources. He only reminded his readers that there are "inspired"utterances that come from sources other than the Holy Spirit. Probably some of them had spoken in tongues when they were pagans.

"In classical [Greek] literature, Apollo was particularly renowned as the source of ecstatic utterances, as on the lips of Cassandra of Troy, the priestess of Delphi or the Sibyl of Cumae (whose frenzy as she prophesied under the god's control is vividly described by Virgil); at a humbler level the fortune-telling slave-girl of Ac. 16.16 was dominated by the same kind of pythonic' spirit."²⁷²

12:3 Enthusiasm or ecstasy or "inspired"utterance do not necessarily indicate spirituality.²⁷³Paul's original readers needed to pay attention to what the person speaking in such a state said.

"Not the manner but the content of ecstatic speech determines its authenticity."²⁷⁴

What the person said about Jesus Christ was specially important. No one the Holy Spirit motivated would curse Jesus Christ. Probably no one in the Corinthian church had. Likewise no one would sincerely acknowledge that Jesus is Lord, Savior and or Sovereign, unless the Holy Spirit had some influence over him or her. This was true regardless of whether the person was speaking in an ecstatic condition or in plain speech. Paul was not enabling his readers to test the spirits to see if they were of God (cf. 1 John 4:1-3). His point was that "inspired"utterance as such does not indicate that the Holy Spirit is leading a person.

The Holy Spirit leads those under His control to glorify Jesus Christ, not dumb idols, with their speech (cf. 2:10-13).

"The ultimate criterion of the Spirit's activity is the exaltation of Jesus as Lord. 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."²⁷⁵

 2. The need for varieties of spiritual gifts 12:4-31

Paul planned to return to the subject of glossolalia (ch. 14), but first he wanted to talk more generally about spiritual gifts. In the verses that follow he dealt with differences in gifts in the church.

"Having given the negative and positive criterion of genuine spiritual endowments as manifested in speech, the Apostle goes on to point out the essential oneness of these very varied gifts."²⁷⁶

Diversity, not uniformity, is necessary for a healthy church, and God has seen to it that diversity exists (vv. 6, 7, 11, 18, 24, 28). Notice that the Corinthians were doing in the area of spiritual gifts essentially what they were doing in relation to their teachers (3:4-23). They were preferring one over others and thereby failing to benefit from them all. This section of Paul's argument puts the subject of gifts into proper theological perspective whereas the previous pericope put it into its proper Christological perspective.

 3. The supremacy of love ch. 13

Paul now proceeded to elaborate on the fact that love surpasses the most important spiritual gifts. Some of the Corinthian Christians may not have possessed any of the gifts mentioned in the previous three lists in chapter 12, but all of them could practice love. Clearly all of them needed to practice love more fully. The fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23) is a more obvious demonstration of the Spirit's presence in a life and His control over a life than the gifts of the Spirit.

Love is the most fundamental and prominent of these graces. The love in view is God's love that He has placed in the believer in the indwelling Spirit that should overflow to God and others. It is the love that only the indwelling Holy Spirit can produce in a believer and manifest through a believer. Fortunately we do not have to produce it. We just need to cooperate with God by doing His will so the Spirit can produce it.

"A Christian community can make shift somehow if the gifts' of chapter 12 be lacking: it will die if love is absent. The most lavish exercise of spiritual gifts cannot compensate for lack of love."²⁹⁷

This chapter is something of a digression in Paul's argument concerning keeping the gift of tongues in its proper perspective (cf. 14:1), but it strengthens his argument considerably.

 4. The need for intelligibility 14:1-25

Paul went on to elaborate on the inferiority of the gift of tongues that the Corinthians elevated so they would pursue more important gifts. His point was that intelligibleinspired speech (i.e., prophecy) is superior to unintelligibleinspired speech (i.e., tongues) in the assembly. He argued first for intelligible speech for the sake of the believers gathered to worship (vv. 1-25). In this whole comparison Paul was dealing with the gift of tongues without the gift of the interpretation of tongues.

 5. The need for order 14:26-40

The Corinthians' public worship practices not only failed to be edifying and convicting, but they also involved disorderly conduct. Paul proceeded to deal with this additional need to help his readers value these qualities over the pseudo spirituality that they associated with glossolalia.