|
|
Pathways Through Paul
Daily Devotional
August 3
Click on verses for Full Scripture
|
previous - - - - - - - - - -
next
|
Today's Pathway:
|
In chapters 12-14 Paul discusses another area of worship where the Corinthians were behaving improperly. His topic is spiritual gifts. The word "gift" is translated from the word "charismatos", from which we get our English word "charismatic". The church at Corinth was a very "gifted" church. I Corinthians 1:6-7 states,
"Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."
There was no spiritual gift that the church did not have, and there was no other church that could be considered to be "more gifted" than they were. However, the Corinthian church was a very carnal church. In I Corinthians 3:1 Paul specifically says,
"And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal."
There is no question that the church at Corinth was not spiritual, but they had spiritual gifts. Part of their problem was that they believed themselves to be spiritual because they had gifts. Paul wants to dispel that notion in these chapters, and also give them direction on the proper use of the gifts that they had.
It is important to notice how verse 1 begins. The King James Version reads,
"Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant."
You will notice in your Bible that the word "gifts" is italicized. This means that this word does not appear in the Greek manuscript, but has been added by the translators to aid in understanding the passage. While it is true that the next three chapters deal with spiritual gifts, it would be fair to say that Paul's real emphasis here is not the church's gifts, but rather the church's spirituality. They were ignorant about what true spirituality was, and this was being evidenced by their misuse of their gifts. Paul wants them to become spiritually mature, and that is ultimately his goal in this section of Scripture.
In verse 2 Paul gives a series of contrasts between their lives before salvation and their lives after salvation. He starts by saying that they "were" Gentiles. Many (but not all - I Corinthians 12:13) in the church in Corinth were Gentiles by race, but he is emphasizing that they had been heathens, or unsaved. The contrast, though unwritten, is that now they are now saved. The second is that they used to follow "dumb" idols, which is saying that the idols that they worshiped were not alive. The unwritten contrast is that now they served the living God, and had the indwelling Holy Spirit Who would actually teach them (I Corinthians 2:13). The third contrast is that while they were serving other gods they were "carried away unto them". Various commentators defined this expression this way: They were
"Caught up in a whirlwind; Out of control in paganism; Controlled by a force they could not understand nor resist."
Now, as believers, they were to be under the control of the Spirit, but never "out of control". I Corinthians 14:32 states that "the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets." When a believer is under the leadership of the Spirit, he is never carried away or disorderly in his actions. Paul will discuss this in more detail later.
In verse 3 Paul gives the example of someone speaking heresy and claiming to be led by the Spirit to do so. It is obvious to any Bible believer that this could never be valid. But it seems that the Corinthians were willing to accept false prophecies and false doctrines if the speaker said that the Spirit was leading him. John MacArthur explains it this way:
"The Corinthians had come to judge the nature and use of gifts on the basis of experience rather than content. The more impressive it was, the more the practice was accepted. As long as it took place in the church and was presented by someone who claimed to be a Christian, any teaching was accepted without question, even to the extent of approving that which was obviously immoral and blasphemous."
We must always judge the content of any message and the correctness of any actions by the Scriptures. The Holy Spirit will never lead us in any other direction.
Pastor Mark J Montgomery
|
|
You Are Here: 
