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1 Corinthians 12
From
its beginning at Pentecost, the gospel seed spawning the body of
Christ has been spreading all across the world. However, it was
not long before the old minister of confusion was up to his
deceitful tricks. His weapon of choice was to confuse the true
nature and purpose of the grace gifts – especially the sign-gift
of tongues. If he can distort the proper understanding of this
gift, he could diminish the overall effectiveness of the church
in equipping believers for service.
Paul wrote a portion of one of his thirteen
letters to the church to deal with this very problem. Paul's
letter to the Corinthians was written in 58 A.D., twelve years
before the fall of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.
Therefore, the
sign-gift of Gentile languages was still being used by God to
warn Israel of His impending judgment and to inform the new
church (Jew and Gentile) that He had brought in a new age.
Over
and over Paul emphasized the extreme importance of the grace
gifts for the growth and unity of the church (Romans 12:3-8, I
Corinthians 12-14, Eph. 4:11-16). Peter echoed Paul's emphasis
as to their importance in 1 Peter 4:7-11. Paul was painstakingly
clear in Ephesians 4:11-16 that the proper use of grace gifted
people are God's method for edifying (spiritually building up)
and unifying (bringing together) the church. Because of their
importance, a misunderstanding or misuse of gifts would be
devastating to the church.
Following Pentecost, many in and around Jerusalem properly
understood the nature and purpose of the sign-gift of tongues.
They found their way to the local meeting of the church seeking
more information. Because the graphic nature of the gift it was
an immediate attention getter. It may was most likely flaunted
by those who had the gift and sought by those who wished that
they had it. Even more tragic, many probably falsely attempted
to reproduce its manifestations by mimicking the gift in order
to bring attention to themselves. This is made clear by Paul’s
opening remarks to the Corinthian church.
"Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do
not want you to be ignorant (1 Corinthians 12:1). This was
said because Paul anticipated that his readers did not have
sufficient knowledge of the use of spiritual gifts. Paul
reminded them that they were Gentiles, carried away to these
dumb idols, however you were led. The new believers could have
very well been involved in the use of ecstatic utterances in
their worship practices.
By trying to falsely reproduce
the gift, some of these pretenders may have been reverting back
to mindless ecstatic utterances and in the process unknowingly
calling Jesus accursed.
Only the ones who called Jesus Lord (deity) were
properly being led by the Holy Spirit and most likely using
spiritual gifts in the proper manner (1 Corinthians 12:1-3).
Rather than emphasizing and encouraging the use
of all the gifts in a proper balance, the Corinthians clamored
after and misused one gift – the sign gift of languages. They
did so at the expense of being severely misunderstood by the
rest of the body and minimizing the effectiveness of all the
other gifted members.
Paul's strategy for dealing with this sensitive
subject was to make sure that everyone had a general knowledge
of the purpose of grace gifts and how they were to be used. He
began by teaching that just as there was diversity in the
Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) in the design and
distribution of the gifts there was also unity, one God. There
was, likewise, diversity in the body of Christ (many gifts) yet
unity, one body.
“Now there are varieties of gifts, but the
same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the
same Lord. There are varieties of effects, but the same God
who works all things in all persons.” (1 Corinthians
12:4-6)
There was to be no organizational hierarchy or
division in the body as a result of the misuse of gifts. And one
gift was not to be emphasized above another (1 Corinthians
12:7-10).
It is God who decides what particular gift or
gifts each believer receives, and God distributes the various
gifted members into the body as it pleases Him, and it is God
who energizes these gifts (1 Corinthians 12:4-6; 1 Corinthians
12:11, 18; Ephesians 4:11). Nowhere does the Bible teach that
a believer is to seek for any one particular gift.
When used out of proportion to the other gifts,
the gift of tongues was inferior to the gift of prophecy for the
spiritual edification of the church. For instance, God gave the
church the gifts of administration, faith, teaching, mercy,
evangelism, exhortation, giving, helps, etc. - all designed by
Him to work together in perfect harmony to bring immature
believers to maturity and promote unity in the body.
God by design did not give everyone the same
gift, yet every gifted person is necessary and must cooperate if
the church is to grow (Ephesians 4:11-16). Paul was teaching
that every believer should not expect to have the gift of
tongues, but should discover the gift that God has been pleased
to give him or her and use it to benefit the entire body.
Shouting with his pen that no one gift is to be
emphasized at the expense of any of the others, Paul reminded
the Corinthians (and us) that the gift of tongues was not
superior in any way to the other gifts (1 Corinthians
12:14-26). As a matter of fact, because of the way it was
misused, the church was experiencing confusion and disunity
rather than growth.
1 Corinthians 14
"Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts but
especially in order that you may prophecy. For he who speaks
in a language does not speak to men but to God, for no one
understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks
mysteries." (1 Corinthians 14:1-2)
The gift of tongues alone because of its nature
and unique purpose of being a sign to warn unbelieving Jews of judgment
and that Gentiles were to be included in the church, was
an inferior gift for building up the body of Christ. It was
inferior in communicating truth because, unlike the gift of
prophecy, it needed an accompanying translator.
Paul's comment in 1 Corinthians 14:2 was meant to
be an encouragement but was accompanied by a small criticism.
He was not suggesting that tongues was to be used as
some sort of secret prayer language to God, but was stressing
the inferiority of tongues as an edifying gift without the use
of the gift of interpretation. Spiritual gifts were not given by
God to be used for the personal benefit of any particular
individual, but for the spiritual profit of the whole church.
Paul then added to his argument.
"He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself,
but he who prophesies edifies the church." (1 Corinthians
4:4)
For the edification of the church the sign-gift
of tongues was simply inferior. The gift itself, when used
according to its purpose, was not inferior. But when wrongly
used (and it was being wrongly used), it was not the best gift
for edification.
"I wish that you all spoke with languages."
(1 Corinthians 14:5)
This is not a command but a personal wish or
desire on the part of Paul. Paul used the same phrase in 2
Corinthians 7:7 when he said that he wished that everyone at
Corinth had the gift of celibacy like him. Obviously, they all
did not! It would be wonderful if all had the supernatural
sign-gift of languages, but they all did not. But it would
have been even more wonderful if all worked together to
communicate spiritual truth in order that the church might grow.
Paul then pled with those Corinthians who
insisted on using the gift of languages for the purpose of
edification to always interpret them. Please understand
that many in the church were not cooperating with Paul at all.
This is why he found it necessary to write this portion of his
letter to the Corinthians.
Paul said that he spoke with tongues more than
them all (1 Corinthians 14:18).
Paul evidently
used many languages! He never seemed to have a language barrier
as he preached the gospel to the Jews, the Iconians, the Greeks,
or the Romans.
He
closed his argument against using the sign gift of tongues for
edification with a final plea for the use of gifts that
communicate clear, understandable truth. The result would be
more knowledge and unity in the church, which would help to
bring about the spiritual growth of all.
“What is the outcome then, brethren?
When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has
a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all
things be done for edification. If anyone speaks in a
tongue, it should be by two or at the most three, and
each in turn, and one must interpret; but if there is
no interpreter, he must keep silent in the church; and let
him speak to himself and to God. Let two or three prophets
speak, and let the others pass judgment. But if a revelation
is made to another who is seated, the first one must keep
silent. For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may
learn and all may be exhorted; and the spirits of prophets
are subject to prophets; for God is not a God of
confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the
saints." (1 Corinthians 14:26-33)
This passage is simply not heeded by those who
claim the gift of languages is for today. Not at all! Those whom
God has evidently not been pleased to give the gift of tongues
often become second classed citizens in groups that practice
them. They are privately or publicly prodded and given the
impression that they are not really seeking the gift as they
should or they are simply not "spiritual enough." This
attitude is divisive to the body of Christ.
There are many
sincere believers
that will disagree with this article and many who teach that the
gift is still being used by God today. A host of them preach a
clear gospel of grace. With this there is agreement. But there
are other views of the nature and purpose of the gift of tongues
and believers should understand this.
There
is evidence from Scripture, as well as from history, that the
gift of tongues as a sign to Israel and to the church has ceased
(1 Corinthians 13:8). Paul wrote at least 12 other books in the New
Testament. He never mentioned tongues again. He wrote about the
nature and purpose of spiritual gifts in two of his later books,
but he did not mention tongues (Romans 12:3-6; Ephesians
4:11-16). Peter never mentioned tongues. James never mentioned
tongues. John never mentioned tongues nor did Jude. Jesus Christ
never mentioned the gift of tongues. The gift appeared briefly
in Acts and 1 Corinthians. Once the predicted judgment of God
came upon Israel in 70 A.D. and the body of Christ began to grow,
the sign diminished.
The confusion over them
has not! We should recognize that this misunderstanding has
taken much needed attention from other gifts and gifted members
of the body at the expense of church maturity and unity.
Shouldn't we rekindle our desire to know and use the
supernatural abilities that God has given us by His grace?
Shouldn't we commit ourselves to make a much-needed spiritual
contribution to His body?
"As each one has received a gift, minister it
to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of
God." (1 Pet. 4:10)
Sources
New American Standard Bible
John MacArthur
Robert Gromacki
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