1 Corinthians 15:1-11

¹ Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. ² By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. ³ For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, ⁴ that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, ⁵ and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. ⁶ After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. ⁷ Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, ⁸ and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.

Paul changes his topic here from the previous passage on the gifts of the Holy Spirit, to the resurrection of the dead. He reminds the Corinthian church that he had preached a resurrected Christ, that after Christ’s death on the third day he rose again and appeared to many witnesses, including Paul himself on the Damascus road on the way to Emmaeus. Paul removes any notion that after death there would be nothing else and proves this by Christ’s very own resurrection and those that are witnesses to this event.  

 ⁹ For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. ¹⁰ But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. ¹¹ Whether, then, it is I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.

Paul, who is known well for speaking about the grace of God shown to him, again reminds the Corinthian church of God’s grace, giving God the glory for all the works of his hands. That everything he and the other apostles achieved, God did it all.

Paul states that God appeared to him last as if he was abnormally born, yet God’s grace was so great that even though Paul was persecuting the Christians at the time, God chose him to preach the gospel to all the Gentiles, and not to mention majority of the letters/books in the New Testament were written by Paul.

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

1 Corinthians 14:26-40

²⁶ What then shall we say, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. Everything must be done so that the church may be built up. ²⁷ If anyone speaks in a tongue, two—or at the most three—should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. ²⁸ If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and to God.

Paul instructs the Corinthian church on proper order when they come together as a congregation. In regards to speaking in tongues, one person should speak and the one who can interpret tongues should then tell the church what is being said. Otherwise, if no one in the church interprets tongues then the person who speaks in tongues should just do speak in tongues to God and himself and not to the entire church.

 ²⁹ Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. ³⁰ And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop. ³¹ For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged. ³² The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets. ³³ For God is not a God of disorder but of peace—as in all the congregations of the Lord’s people.

In regards to prophecy, anyone who can prophecy should speak out to the church one at a time so that everyone can hear what is being said. Rather than having several people speak at the same time, so that there is order in their congregation. This goes for both speaking in tongues and prophecy when they are together.

 ³⁴ Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says. ³⁵ If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church.

The women who didn’t understand what was being said in the church should wait until the church service had ended and they could ask their husbands afterwards or at home. This would prevent any disruptions during the service where women would speak amongst themselves at inappropriate times. 

 ³⁶ Or did the word of God originate with you? Or are you the only people it has reached? ³⁷ If anyone thinks they are a prophet or otherwise gifted by the Spirit, let them acknowledge that what I am writing to you is the Lord’s command. ³⁸ But if anyone ignores this, they will themselves be ignored.³⁹ Therefore, my brothers and sisters, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. ⁴⁰ But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.

Paul seems to address those in the Corinthian church who may doubt what he is saying. He poses rhetorical questions as if to target those who have prided themselves into thinking that they are ‘the’ church where all Godly things came from. However Paul then challenges their doubts about him by stating that anyone who is a prophet should ask God about what he is saying and then acknowledge whether or not what he has written is truly from God.

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

1 Corinthians 14:1-25

¹ Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy. ² For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people but to God. Indeed, no one understands them; they utter mysteries by the Spirit. ³ But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort. ⁴ Anyone who speaks in a tongue edifies themselves, but the one who prophesies edifies the church. ⁵ I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be edified.

Continuing from the previous passage on the gifts of the Holy Spirit, Paul exhorts the church telling them to always act out of love when using their spiritual gifts. He focuses here on corporate ‘church’ worship and in particular the gift of tongues and the gift of prophecy and explains how the purpose of each gift is different from each other. On one hand the gift of tongues is to edify oneself where the person speaking in the spirit of God speaks in a language unknown to them. Although that person is praying and uttering mysteries to God, in the corporate sense no one else in the church is edified unless they can interpret what is being said. Whereas the gift of prophesy is spoken in their native language so the whole church will be able to understand what is being said. Paul doesn’t discredit speaking in tongues, in fact he wants all of them to speak in tongues, however he would rather have them be able to prophesy so that the whole church will be edified.

 ⁶ Now, brothers and sisters, if I come to you and speak in tongues, what good will I be to you, unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or word of instruction? ⁷ Even in the case of lifeless things that make sounds, such as the pipe or harp, how will anyone know what tune is being played unless there is a distinction in the notes? ⁸ Again, if the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle? ⁹ So it is with you. Unless you speak intelligible words with your tongue, how will anyone know what you are saying? You will just be speaking into the air. ¹⁰ Undoubtedly there are all sorts of languages in the world, yet none of them is without meaning. ¹¹ If then I do not grasp the meaning of what someone is saying, I am a foreigner to the speaker, and the speaker is a foreigner to me. ¹² So it is with you. Since you are eager for gifts of the Spirit, try to excel in those that build up the church.

It seems that by verse 12 the people in the Corinthian church were eager to learn and grow in the spiritual gifts, Paul emphasises the importance of building up the church rather than just having a focus on building oneself. He also describes what it’s like to speak in a tongue in verse 7-11. The speaker nor the hearer doesn’t know the language they are speaking, it will be a language from a foreign country to them. Though there is meaning in what is being said, no one else can understand, hence Paul’s focus on them being able to prophecy as well.

 ¹³ For this reason the one who speaks in a tongue should pray that they may interpret what they say. ¹⁴ For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. ¹⁵ So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my understanding; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my understanding. ¹⁶Otherwise when you are praising God in the Spirit, how can someone else, who is now put in the position of an inquirer, say “Amen” to your thanksgiving, since they do not know what you are saying? ¹⁷You are giving thanks well enough, but no one else is edified.

Paul now describes what it is like to interpret tongues. If you pray in tongues then you are speaking in the spirit of God but your mind will have no understanding of what you are saying. But if you speak in a tongue and also pray with understanding in your native tongue then those around you can also understand what you are saying. You would start by praying in tongues in a foreign language, then start to pray from your understanding in your native language.

 ¹⁸ I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. ¹⁹ But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue. ²⁰ Brothers and sisters, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults. ²¹ In the Law it is written: “With other tongues and through the lips of foreigners I will speak to this people, but even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord.” ²² Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is not for unbelievers but for believers. ²³ So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and inquirers or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind? ²⁴ But if an unbeliever or an inquirer comes in while everyone is prophesying, they are convicted of sin and are brought under judgment by all, ²⁵ as the secrets of their hearts are laid bare. So they will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, “God is really among you!”

Paul emphasises here that he is speaking in regards to corporate church worship and the gathering of people as a community. When they come together he would rather have them say something that people can understand. Especially if they as believers are coming together. Because prophecy is a sign for those who believe in God.

He quotes Isaiah 28 when Paul tells the church to stop thinking like children but to think like adults. He says this because in the book of Isaiah the purpose of God using people of foreign countries to speak to the Israelites was because they did not believe in God. God wanted them to listen so he would bring people of foreign nations to speak to his people, yet they would not listen. In the same sense, speaking in tongues for the Christian church is a sign for those who don’t believe in God.

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