Holy Spirit Series 2000
How God Works Among His People
1 Corinthians 12
Dr. Roger W. Thomas, Preaching Minister
First Christian Church, Vandalia, MO
How does God work among his people? That’s an important question. How you answer it affects your view of the Christian life. It determines what you think of the church and its importance in your life. It determines your idea of Christian service and Christian maturity. It sets the standard for what you expect to do and be as a follower of Jesus.
Ask a dozen people how God works among his people and you may get a dozen different responses. Some might suggest—he doesn’t. A secular materialist, the most common religious perspective of our day, has little room for a god who gets involved. Others might say—God used to work among his people, but not now. This is similar to what philosophers call deism. This person thinks God the creator is like the watchmaker who made the watch, wound it up, and then set it down to run on its own. God used to be involved, but no longer, they say.
Others insist that God doesn’t really work among his people in general, only in certain groups, like priests or ministers. Others seem to contend that God works in the church building, but nowhere else. Some argue that God is at work, but only through miracles, signs and wonders. If those things aren’t present, then God is not at work. Others point to some special feeling. I know God is at work, they say, when I feel that cold chill run down my spine or I am overwhelmed with tears or giggles or a strange tingling.
How does God work among his people? That question affects your whole definition of faith, religion, and spirituality. That is the issue we will explore today.
This is the second of five messages from 1 Corinthians 12-14. The first overviewed the Book of 1 Corinthians in order to keep our study in context. I want reemphasize how important context is. Any clever teacher or preacher can make the Bible say anything, absolutely anything, if it is presented out of the context in which the Holy Spirit placed it. Beware of teachers and preachers who present strange teachings with great gusto and authority based on their ability to creatively string together isolated verses and words. The Bible was given in a context; it must be understood in that same context.
A second thing to beware of is preachers or teachers who claim some secret, spiritual knowledge. The message of the Bible is available on the same terms to anyone who is willing to read and study it. Don’t let anyone deceive you with lines like “the Holy Spirit told me” or “God revealed to me.” The Lord may indeed reveal himself to us in very personal and special ways, but those revelations will always be consistent with the Written Word, subject to the discernment and judgment of other believers, and available to all.
The message of God is not a secret mystery only available to a few special people. This doesn’t mean understanding the Bible is always easy. There are parts that are just plain difficult to figure out. But the important message of the Bible should be available on the same terms to anyone willing to invest in reading and studying it. If you aren’t willing to read and study it, don’t be surprised that you can’t understand it. Don’t ever swallow the secrets of self-proclaimed authorities just because they say that God has revealed to them what nobody else knows. Don’t let them tell you that if anyone wants to unlock the mysteries of the Bible they must follow them. The Bible is God’s Word for his people, not mysteries revealed only to the elite.
These warnings and concerns are very much related to the issues of 1 Corinthians 12-14 and the larger problems behind 1 Corinthians. Let’s review for a moment. 1 Corinthians was written by Paul the missionary/church planter about 25 years or so after the cross and resurrection and about 3 years after the planting of the first Christian congregation in the southern Greek commercial city of about 80,000 people.
Apparently, these new believers were struggling with a hangover from their pre-Christian life. Paul’s letter addresses two kinds of matters: 1) topics reported to him by the couriers of the letter (chapters 1-6); and 2) questions raised by the Corinthian Christians in their letter to Paul (chapters 7-16). It is not always possible to understand fully what was going on in the congregation, but based on Paul’s responses, one thing is clear: it was a mess. Christians were fighting and quarreling and even suing one another. Basic principles of Christian morality were in doubt. Open, flagrant sexual sin was tolerated within the fellowship of the church, with the attitude—who are we to judge. Marriages were breaking up; families were in disarray. Believers were flirting with non-Christian religious practices.
When they gathered for worship, the problems continued. Some of their number fought, separated in clichés, argued over who was the most spiritual, and didn’t seem to care what outsiders thought of them or whether the gospel was changing the lives of unsaved people—as long as they got to be up front in their gatherings and a long their way prevailed. Some in the church failed to keep their financial commitments to help other believers and had difficulty grasping even one of the most basic doctrines of the faith—the bodily resurrection of Jesus.
We don’t know how widespread the problems were. Perhaps it was only a minority of people who were keeping things upset, but it was enough to have an impact. As is often the case, the problem causing minority was much more evangelistic about their issues than the majority were about the gospel.
How could the situation get to such a point? What caused so many serious problems in one congregation of people? We simply don’t know the full answer to that. We do know that these were new Christians, less than three years out of the lost world. We also know that Corinth was a tough place. It was one of the most notoriously evil, dark cities of the ancient world. Even non-Christian philosophers and leaders denounced the moral and spiritual climate of the city.
This fact stands as warning to all of us who live in post-Christian America. We can no longer afford the luxury of assuming that what most people believe or think is all right. Even though our grandparents did not live in a society where a majority of people were Bible believing followers of Jesus, they could still count on the fact that a Christian way of looking at things still influenced most things. They lived in what Christian philosopher Francis Schafer called “a cut-flower world.” Like a flower that had been cut and placed in a pretty vase, the society of our grand parents’ day still had the bloom of faith long after the roots had been cut. Today the flower has largely faded. Our children are growing up in a world where even the pretense of Christian belief and morality has long ago been deserted. We are once again in a non-Christian world where nothing can be taken for granted.
Perhaps for that reason, many churches today are rediscovering the same issues and problems that plagued the first century Corinthian congregation. Hopefully, they will also discover Paul’s answers.
Our section, 1 Corinthians 12-14 stands as a unit. It provides Paul’s answer to a specific topic or question raised for him by the Corinthian’s letter. 12:l begins: Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant. (12:1) This begins Paul’s answer to a question. What was the question they had asked? Frankly we don’t know for sure. We must reason backwards from what he says in response. First, a couple of factual details may help. The word “gifts” is not in the original language. It is probably a fair addition, but it is an addition. The Greek reads, “now concerning the spiritual ____.” The word spiritual is an adjective. It could be spiritual people, spiritual ideas, spiritual teachings, or spiritual abilities. Most translations insert the word “gift” because it is used later in verse 4.
Whatever the precise term that should be understood here, I believe that the question went something like this: How does God work among his people? What is the evidence of true spirituality? Some in the church are claiming that they are more spiritual than everyone else. They make this claim because they say they have special abilities that the Lord has given them. They say this shows that they are spiritually head and shoulders above those who can’t do what they say they can do. They even claim that since they are so superior to the common people in the church that they don’t have to listen to anyone else. They justify this condescending and self-righteous attitude by pointing to their special religious activities—claiming that these are evidence of the Holy Spirit’s falling on them.
Some of them even claim that they no longer have to bother with normal Christian behavior and even morals because now that they are spiritual they are above such concerns. Some of them are acting downright rude in church and telling everybody else they can’t help it because the Spirit made them do it. Some even claim that their teachings no longer have to agree with the Apostles or even with Jesus because their teachings come directly from the Holy Spirit as evidenced by the spiritual abilities that they claim. What about this, Paul? What about these claims to special spiritual status?
What was feeding this concern and the surrounding problems in the Corinthian congregation? Based upon what we can gather from the letter and from the history of the times, I think there are three primary pieces to the Corinthian way of thinking—three way of thinking like a Corinthian that posed a problem for the church and that Paul seeks to correct in his answer. First, there was rabid individualism. “It is me and the Spirit and I don’t need anyone else. I do what the Spirit tells me and I don’t need to listen to you or anyone else. You can’t tell me what to do, think, or how to live.” To that Paul emphasizes body-life and the fact that each believer is a part of something bigger than himself.
Second, there was elitism. Most religious systems around the Corinthians emphasized the need to progress until you reached a spiritually elite status. Once in that upper group, you could understand the mysteries of the gods. Until you arrived at that place, there would be special secrets that would always be beyond you. If you weren’t in this special class, you must listen to those who are and never question them. After all, they are more spiritual than normal people.
Many of the pagan religious of ancient Greece were led by people who claimed to be in the “know.” Their connection with the gods gave them access to the secrets that others needed to pay them to reveal. Sometimes those in the know were priests or philosophers; sometimes they were commoners who have reached a special spiritual plane. Most of Paul’s references to “wisdom” are about this problem and not just learning or biblical knowledge in general.
As we noted last week, the message of the cross freely available to all on the same terms, regardless of status or spiritual position, was scandalous to this elite. The gospel of the cross called into question their claims to something nobody else could achieve until they became like them.
There is a third piece to thinking like a Corinthian. For the most part, pagan Corinthians believed that spirituality was defined by ritual, ceremony, or emotion. Paul, on the other hand, will say it is defined by a clear belief in Jesus, by holy living, and by a servant-hearted attitude toward other people. They said it was about “enthusiasm.” Let me explain.
Our English word “enthusiasm” used to be a technical religious term. We use it differently now. For us, it means an attitude of high motivation or high energy. Originally, it had a special spiritual connotation, especially in the ancient world. The term comes from two Greek words: en—which means “in” and theos for “god.” Most Greek pagan religions were based on the notion that in worship a person came in contact with the gods and that was demonstrated by ecstasy or emotion. The more ecstasy or emotion the more evidence the gods were in you, hence the idea of religious enthusiasm.
How did a Greek pagan get en-thused or become in touch with the gods. Several things might happen, all depending on the particular religion or pagan temple to which one was devoted. Some used alcohol or drugs to create a sense of euphoria or put worshipers in a trance like state. Others used music, repetitive chants, fasting or physical abuse, or other rituals to create a mind-altering mood. Some temples even organized sexual orgies in an attempt to achieve momentary ecstasy. Whatever the means, the doctrine was that when one achieved ecstasy, arrived at a state of emotional euphoria, or went into a trance in which strange things were said or done—that was the moment of contact with the gods—the proof of true spirituality.
If this all sounds strange, it is only because we are largely uneducated about the practices of religions around us. The same doctrine exists among voodoo religions, the peyote smoke rituals of certain southwestern Native Americans, the practices of yoga to bring one into an altered state of consciousness, swamis who lay on beds of nails or walk on fire, the swirling dervishes of some Asia cults, or the beat of the drums of many African religious dances. The snake handling and poison- drinking Pentecostal sects of Appalachia generally teach the same notion. They are all designed to demonstrate the presence of the gods by enthusiasm, emotionalism, or ecstasy.
Let me make it very clear—there is nothing wrong with Christians displaying emotion and enthusiasm. That is not the point. Of course, emotion and enthusiasm is much preferred to apathy, indifference, and dead, sterile religion. But on the other hand, emotion and enthusiasm alone do not make a Christian. Neither does participating in a ritual or ceremony, even baptism and communion. These are not the standards by which spirituality is measured. To make either ritual or ecstasy the definition or standard is to open a floodgate for religious distortion and deception. The biblical standards of spirituality are: wholehearted faith in the Gospel of Jesus, a holiness of life, and loving service to others.
The topic that will consume most of 1 Corinthians 12-14 is what is commonly called in English—speaking in tongues. It appeared to be the supernatural ability to speak a language that one had never studied or learned. In Acts 2, peoples from over a dozen different language groups all heard the message about Christ and the cross from Galileans who knew one or two languages but not the native tongues of the crowd. The same thing happened two or three other times in Acts (cf. chapters 10, 11, 19), each time demonstrating a new advance of the message of Jesus to a group that desperately needed to hear it.
Some at Corinth had received a “gift of languages.” The authentic variety was from God, contained an understandable message, was capable of and was supposed to be interpreted into the language of the hearers, and was always subject to the self-control of the speaker. The details of this will be noted in our study of 1 Corinthians 14 in two weeks.
I bring this up here because this gift of languages was at the heart of the Corinthians’ question to Paul. A similar phenomenon was quite common to the pagan religions that surrounded the church. Many are surprised to learn that ecstatic speaking was one of the most common characteristics of the pagan cults of Bacchus, the oracle of Delphi, the Greek religion of Dionysus, and others. Going into a religious trance in which strange sounds came forth was the proof that one had contacted the gods, so the pagan believers thought.
All of 1 Corinthians 12-14 is Paul’s effort to acknowledge that God sometimes gives a gift a languages but that gift must never be confused with the pagan counterfeit. He also wants to totally demolish any argument or notion that true spirituality is proven by the level of one’s religious enthusiasm, emotionalism, or having arrived at a state of ecstasy or a mind-altering trance. That is pagan-think, not Christian practice. Likewise, he wants to arm the Corinthian believers against the self-proclaimed spiritual people who said they were the Spirit’s elite because they had these special evidences of spirituality. For Paul, even the real gift of languages was not proof of spirituality or evidence that one was a cut above ordinary believers who “only” believed in Jesus and were “just” endeavoring to obey his teachings.
That is the background of this chapter. Now let’s read it for Paul’s answer to this question/problem. We don’t have time to analyze it in detail. I will simply outline it for you and read representative sections. I encourage you read the entire chapter yourself. There also many good Bible commentaries that help you put the details together. I will note a few of these at the end of the written transcript of this study.
The chapter divides into five basic sections plus a concluding exhortation that provides the bridge to the next chapter.
Vss. 1-3 provides the introduction to the section and sets forth an important principle.
Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant. 2You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. 3Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.
The issue is Jesus, not ecstasy or enthusiasm. For pagans, it was the emotion of the religious experience not the content. Not so with Christians. The New Testament else where makes it clear that there is more to discerning the spirits than just mouthing certain expressions using the word Jesus. But what we believe about Jesus is the heart of the matter.
Vss. 4-5 emphasizes that the ways of God cannot to be limited to one or two methods. God works in lots of ways. 4There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. Paul introduces a new word to the discussion—gifts. Remember, the word gift is not actually found in vs. 1. The term carries the idea of a free benefit, not a reward for special achievement. Likely, the Corinthian spiritual enthusiasts would never have used this word, but Paul puts it front and center in the discussion. Don’t let anyone tell you that unless God works in you the way he says God has worked in his life that God isn’t at work.
Vss. 7-11 identifies many of the ways that God may choose to work and insists that they all have one purpose—the common good of God’s people. The reason God works in you is so that you can share what he has done in you with other believers. If that isn’t happening, then something is wrong. Don’t let anyone tell you that God has given him or her a certain ability to prove how good a Christian he is or how spiritual he has become. God’s gifts are given for one reason—to enable people to be servants of others. They are not rewards for special achievement.
7Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,£ and to still another the interpretation of tongues.£ 11All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.
This section also reminds us that God is the one who chooses the gifts and abilities he gives us. He gives to us graciously, freely from his life and for his purposes, not because we have forced him to or have earned status points in his kingdom. It is probably best to understand this list of God’s works as a sampling and not an exhaustive list. When this list is compared with other lists (later in this chapter, Romans 12, 1 Peter 4, Ephesians 4) important differences appear. In each case, certain works are cited that fit the discussion at hand. No list is intended to be a complete detail of everything God does when he works among his people.
Vss. 12-26 teaches the principle of unity in diversity. It is no accident that God provides a variety of abilities to his people. He has done it that way so that we will be dependent on one another. No part is unimportant; no part is better than the rest. The parable of the body parts was a well-known story in Greek literature. Paul borrowed it to paint a picture of people with different abilities all caring for one another.
12The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. 13For we were all baptized by£ one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
14Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. 15If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 16And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 17If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
21The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
Vss. 27-31 is the final conclusion to his discussion with vs. 31 providing the bridge to 1 Corinthians 13, the marvelous discussion of servant-hearted love.
27Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 28And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues. 29Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues£? Do all interpret? 31But eagerly desire£ the greater gifts.
And now I will show you the most excellent way.
In the original language Paul’s point is crystal clear. The questions in verses 29-30 are stated in such a way that they require a negative answer. It is a little harder to put them into good English, but they would go something like this—Not all are apostles, are they? Not all are prophets, are they? Not all speak in tongues, do they? Of course, not! Etc.
What is the excellent way that he will talk about next? Simply this—don’t be so concerned about what you can do or what another person can do. You need to be more concerned about how you can help each other. It is this practice of lovingly serving the needs of others that demonstrates God is at work among you, no matter what the ability or manner of that working. When God is really at work, you are not concerned about getting credit, or being noticed, being served yourself or getting your way. You are so consumed with thinking of God and thinking of others that you don’t have time or energy to worry about yourself. That’s when you will know God is at work.
Let me summarize the teachings of this chapter in very practical terms:
1) Don’t let anyone tell you that the measure of your faith is determined by emotion, enthusiasm, or religious ecstasy, either the presence of it or the absence of it. The measure is Jesus and Jesus-like service.
2) Don’t let anyone try to convince you that unless you are just like him, then you aren’t spiritual. Don’t try to tell anyone else that if they aren’t just like you then they aren’t spiritual.
3) Don’t limit God to one way or one method or one demonstration of his Holy Spirit. And don’t let anyone else do that to you.
4) Don’t let anyone tell that speaking in tongues, healings, or any other religious or spiritual claim is proof positive that they are God’s chosen messenger sent to tell you what to do.
5) Don’t let anyone tell that speaking in tongues, healings, or any other religious or spiritual claim some how makes up for a lack of Christian character or morality. It doesn’t, period!
6) Don’t let anyone tell you that God’s wants all spiritual believers to speak in tongues, see visions, work miracles, or any another single religious or spiritual manifestation. Likewise, don’t let anyone tell you that God can’t, didn’t, or doesn’t do such things when and if he chooses.
7) Don’t let anyone tell you that an experience of ecstasy or emotion, speaking tongues, healings or other miracles is a substitute for testing the spirits and discerning truth from error based on the instructions of Jesus and the teachings of the New Testament Scriptures.
For a helpful examination of this text:
Spiritual Gifts by John F. MacArthur, Moody Press, 1985.
Commentary on the First Epistle to the Corinthians by F. W. Grosheide, Eerdmans, 1953.
1 Corinthians, the NIV Application Commentary by Craig Blomberg, Zondervan, 1994.
1 Corinthians, the Expositor’s Bible Commentary by W. Harold Mare, Zondervan, 1976.
1 Corinthians, The New Bible Commentary Revised by Norman Hillyer, Eerdmans, 1970.
The Greco-Roman World of the New Testament Era by James S. Jeffers, IVP, 1999.
Older editions of the Encylopedia Brittanica had helpful information on “speaking in tongues,” “prophecy,” and “oracles.” These articles provided good material about the practices in non-Christian religions as well as a history of Christian thinking. Newer editions appear to not have as much material on these subjects.
