Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led. Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 12:1-3 ESV
Understanding the context of this section requires some understanding of the context in 1 Corinthians in general. Firstly, they were a combination of Jewish and Gentile believers. They had become significantly divided and a report had gone out that they were in division. Yet, among Paul's address to them, he switches to matters which they wrote to him:
Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.”
1 Corinthians 7:1 ESV
This section of scripture, from 1 Corinthians 12 to 14 is believed to be among those concerns that they had written to Paul, as each section afterwards starts with "Now conerning", which suggests their letter had multiple issues and this section of scripture is one of those concerns.
The concern seems to be that certain believers were considering themselves as spiritual people. They demonstrated this primarily through tongues, which Paul brings into constant criticism throughout 1 Corinthians 12 - 14, though mostly in the last chapter of the three. And while the verse reads "now concerning spiritual gifts" the word gifts is not in the original Greek.
The word that is used, the same word that inspired website, is pneumatikos. It is an adjective that means spiritual and is talking about "those that considered themselves spiritual" as opposed to spiritual gifts. Had Paul wanted to address spiritual gifts, he probably would have chosen to write "charismata hymin pneumatikos" as he does in Romans 1:11:
For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you
Romans 1:11
The following two verses give us some insight into the concern outlined by the Corinthian church, but also, what spiritual thing he was referring to:
You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led. Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 14:2-3
Paul is dealing with people that are spiritual, that even when they were pagans, they were being led by spirits. But now, they are led by the Holy Spirit that affirms the truth about Christ Jesus that He is Lord. He also concludes the chapters by dealing with people that considered themselves as spiritual:
If anyone thinks that he is a prophet, or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord.
1 Corinthians 14:37
To summarise, the opening three verses are an introduction to the section. They are one of several of concerns outlined by the Corinthians. Their concern is in relation to spiritual people within the church and Paul's objective is to inform them. During the next three chapters, Paul highlights what spiritual people look like, and then calls upon anyone that considers themselves spiritual to confirm what he has written.
You can also read more in my sermon on 1 Corinthians 12 as an introduction.
Comentários