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Pathways Through Paul
Daily Devotional
August 11
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Today's Pathway:
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Yesterday we saw that Paul listed out some of the various spiritual gifts that were given to believers. He has mentioned in the past that the Corinthians were far more interested in the "showy" gifts like Speaking in tongues than they were in the "behind the scenes" gifts like "Helps" or "Mercy". Those that had the "up front" gifts often saw themselves as superior, and those that did not have them wanted to have them, and probably in some cases tried to pass themselves off as possessing them even though they did not. We know that this is the case because Paul writes in I Corinthians 14:26,
"How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation."
Paul is starting to deal with that issue in this passage. He first asks if everyone in the church was an apostle or prophet or teacher. The answer, of course, is "no". The Corinthian church members knew that they were not apostles, and probably knew that they were not all prophets. So, by asking this question, Paul is showing them that they do not ALL have the same spiritual gifts, at least not the same office gifts. He then asks if they can all do the same spiritual works. While it would certainly be possible to pretend to speak in tongues or give an interpretation, it would be practically impossible to fake the performance of a miracle or a miraculous healing. So the church members also knew that they could not all do the same things, thus they did not all have the same gifts. This is going to become important when Paul talks about speaking in tongues in chapter 14. It is also relevant today as many of the Pentecostal/Charismatic churches of today teach that all believers should speak in tongues as an evidence of being spiritual. If not everyone had the gift of tongues, then it would be foolish to expect everyone to speak in tongues. We will spend more time on this topic later.
Verse 31 is a little more difficult to interpret. It seems that Paul is telling the church to covet the "more important" gifts. However, that seems strange in light of Paul's teaching that all the gifts are important and necessary, and that if all the members of the body had the same gift there really wouldn't be a body at all (I Corinthians 12:19). John MacArthur preached the following explanation of what Paul is trying to say.
"In Greek you have what is called the indicative, which is a statement of fact; and the imperative, which is a command. The form they take in Greek is the very same. So in the Greek, this is either a command or a statement. It either says, 'Covet earnestly the best gifts,' or it says, 'But you are coveting the showy gifts'. Now which do you think fits the context? There’s no question. 'But you are coveting the showy gifts, and yet I show you a more excellent way'. The indicative sense is the normal sense of the Greek in this passage, and it fits the context. So it should be translated this way: 'But you are coveting the showy gifts, and yet I am showing you a more excellent way'. Do you see the point? He’s not saying, 'Go chase after spiritual gifts.' He’s saying, 'That’s what you’re doing, and that’s what’s wrong with you. Stop doing that, and do the excellent thing.'"
In light of the fact that the believer receives his spiritual gift at salvation, and thus he can't change it or get more, this seems to make the most sense.
Paul concludes by stating that he is going to show the Corinthians that there is something that is better than having or desiring flashy gifts. We will begin looking at that tomorrow.
Pastor Mark J Montgomery
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