1 Corinthians 13:1-13

¹ If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Paul continues from the previous two passages on the gifts of the Spirit and introduces love, which is above all else. That although we can have all the gifts given to us, and be able to do amazing things with these gifts, if we don’t have the love of God then everything is meaningless and in vain.

Just like Abraham was propelled by his love for God and produced the fruit of faith, we also produce fruits of the the same Spirit: tongues, prophecy, knowledge, wisdom, faith, etc but love should be the forefront of why we do these things for other people.

 ⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Paul describes love with a list several attributes: patience, kindness, contentedness, humble, servant heart, honourable, slow to anger, forgiving, truthful, protecting, hopeful, and persevering. These are the attributes every believer in the Corinthian church should uphold while serving their brothers and sisters with their spiritual gifts. Without showing these attributes of love there is no point to exercising their gifts.

 ⁸ Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰ but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.

Love never fails. No matter what the Christians do, if they go out with an intention to love then they won’t fail to accomplish their goals. If they go out with the intention to prophecy, to speak in tongues, or do great acts but without the intention to love then they may fail in what they do.

Paul continues to talk about the other gifts and how temporary they all are compared to love. All of them will pass away, be stilled, will eventually cease, but love lasts forever because love completes everything. And God completes everything.

¹¹ When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. ¹² For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

Paul gives an analogy of a child who grows up to become a man in the process putting away the former to develop into maturity. In the same way, we only see in part just as a child, but when God makes all things known to us then we will know Him completely.

 ¹³ And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

The three remaining gifts Paul seems to group together in importance. Faith in God with what was promised, hope in God with things unseen yet revealed, and the everlasting and abounding love of God, which is the greatest of all three gifts and all other gifts mentioned in this passage.

Filed under: 1 Corinthians, Apostle Paul, Bible study, Christianity, corinthians, God, Jesus, New Testament, Scripture

1 Corinthians 12:12-31

¹² Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. ¹³ For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. ¹⁴ Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.

Continuing from the previous passage Paul gives this analogy of a human body for the Corinthians to show them how the body of Christ is one and not divided amongst themselves. It doesn’t matter whether they were Jewish or if they are Gentile, God is not partial to anyone but accepts them all into his kingdom. All of them were baptised into the same Holy Spirit although each of them may have different gifts. Paul doesn’t want them to be confused with idolizing different gods for each of the different gifts they received, but that all the gifts came from the same one God.

 ¹⁵ Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. ¹⁶ And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. ¹⁷ If 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? ¹⁸ But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. ¹⁹ If they were all one part, where would the body be? ²⁰ As it is, there are many parts, but one body. ²¹ The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” ²² On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, ²³ and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, ²⁴ while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, ²⁵ so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. ²⁶ If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

Paul describes the different parts of the human body in likeness to how the church ought to view each other. Although they are all different, they all need each other to become a functioning church. They are all dependant upon each other and carry each others burdens and joys as he mentions in v26 if one suffers all suffer with it, and if one is honored everyone rejoices with it. Everyone has a place and are all important in God’s church. 

 ²⁷ Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.²⁸ And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. ²⁹ Are 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? ³¹ Now eagerly desire the greater gifts.

Paul goes through a list of different types of people in the church and gives them a hierarchy depending on the type of work they would be doing. First are the apostles, second prophets, teachers, miracles, healing, helping, guidance, and tongues. All of them have a place and are all important to the working of the church. In verses 29-30 Paul poses these questions asking if everyone in the church were apostles, prophets, teachers etc. In the case that they all have acquired the same gifts they should all then desire the greater gifts.

Filed under: 1 Corinthians, Apostle Paul, Bible study, Christianity, God, Jesus, New Testament, Scripture

1 Corinthians 12:1-11

¹ Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. ² You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. ³Therefore I want you to know 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.

It seems that in the church there may have been people who claimed to be in the Spirit of God yet they would curse the name of Jesus. Paul corrects this by saying that no one in the Spirit of God would say such a thing, neither can no one say that Jesus is Lord unless they have the Holy Spirit within them. Our dependency on knowing God is through God and not through our own effort.

 ⁴ There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. ⁵ There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. ⁶There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.

Paul makes it clear that although there are different gifts, service, and works to God that are presented amongst the believers, it is the same Holy Spirit that does all these things. Paul probably had to tell them this because of their past in which they worshipped false idols of different gifting. Instead Paul says that God is one, and all these gifts are from the same God not many different gods.

 ⁷ Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. ⁸ To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, ⁹ to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, ¹⁰ to 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. ¹¹ All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.

Paul gives an account of the different types of gifts from the Holy Spirit for the good of the church. Wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, distinguishing between spirits, tongues, and interpretation of tongues. The Holy Spirit gives these gifts to each of the believers to whom He chooses to give the gifts to. So not everyone may have the same gifts, some may very well have more than one gift, and its possible that all may have the same gift. It is all dependent on God but the emphasis of this passage is that all these powerful gifts are given by the same Holy Spirit and not many different gods.

Filed under: 1 Corinthians, Apostle Paul, Bible study, Christianity, corinthians, God, Jesus, New testatment, Scripture