Do not be ignorant of Spiritual Gifts
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| English: Gian Lorenzo Bernini - Dove of the Holy Spirit (ca. 1660, stained glass, Throne of St. Peter, St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican) (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant. You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. Therefore 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.
“Now” indicates Paul is taking up another new topic, that of pneumatikōn, “spiritual things,” by which he means spiritual gifts. Yet it is not entirely new. He is still concerned about the fruit of the Spirit, and he has already said that the Corinthian believers did not lack any spiritual gift, so he does not mean they are totally ignorant of them. But there are certain aspects of the gifts and their use the Corinthians need a better understanding of.
What he proceeds to say leads to the problem of the misuse of tongues. By listing tongues last, he does not mean it is unimportant—he means “it is the problem.”
He does not question the gifts themselves. They are from God, supernaturally distributed by the Holy Spirit. But they needed to be exercised with love. They also needed to be exercised in a way that would honor Jesus and recognize Him as Lord. The Holy Spirit always wants to honor Jesus. He is the living Word who came to make the Father known to us (John 1:18). Now that Jesus has ascended to the right hand of the Father’s throne, the Holy Spirit makes Jesus known to us.
How different this is from the former state of the Gentile Corinthian believers, who had been “influenced and led astray to mute idols,” small idols (“the little bronze statues in pagan homes”) that could not speak and had no word for them. “Somehow or other” apparently sensible people are still led astray by pagan worship, even devil worship, and it is happening even in America.
Because the Spirit always honors Jesus, no one speaking by the Spirit will ever say, “Jesus be cursed!” A demon spirit might say that. False teachers with the spirit of Antichrist might say it, trying to make a difference between the man Jesus and the spiritual Christ (cf. 1 John 4:2–3). Even some who misunderstood Paul’s teaching of Christ “becoming a curse for us” (Gal. 3:13) might say it.4 Or, backslidden Christians might say it.5 Whatever the case, we must understand that spirits other than the Holy Spirit can “inspire” someone’s utterance (1 John 4:1).
On the other hand, only the Holy Spirit can enable anyone to say “Jesus is Lord,” that is, divine Lord, the exalted King of kings and Lord of lords (Rom. 14:9; Phil. 2:9–11). Many may say the words only to hear Jesus say, “ ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matt. 7:22–23). Calling Jesus “Lord” is meaningless unless the Holy Spirit makes Jesus Lord personally in our lives so that we are fully committed to Him as divine Lord and we truly love, follow, and obey Him. But we do not need to be afraid.
When we seek the Holy Spirit and His gifts, and yield to Him, He will always honor Jesus and help us keep Jesus central in our lives. Then we will “do His will instead of following our own plans and desires.… as the Holy Spirit begins to transform us into the image of God.”
Horton, S. M. (1999). I & II Corinthians: A Logion Press Commentary (pp. 109–111). Springfield, MO: Logion Press.
