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Tag: 1 Corinthians 12

Members in Christ’s body the Church
And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.

1 Corinthians 12:11 KJV – Paul quoting the Lord Jesus

Paul now draws a picture of the human body in order that members of the body of believers might see our own part in the larger Church in Corinth and all places where the saints gather in Christ’s Name.

Spiritualities – ‘I would not have you ignorant’

Previously, when we departed from here in the Apostle’s instructions to the Corinthians, Paul instructs:

And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.

1 Corinthians 12:5 KJV

One Body, many Members, different spiritual Gifts

Now to each is given the manifestation of the Spirit, for the common profiting.

1 Corinthians 12:7 BLB

The first implication of this: EACH member of the body of your church and mine will show (manifest) some fruit of the Spirit.

But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.

1 Corinthians 12:11 LSB

Who belongs as members?
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IF someone in your church does not yet manifest any fruit of the Spirit, is it possible that the Lord has not given them the Spirit OR made these a part of His Body - a member of His Church? 

Are even the best spiritualities of faithful jews and religious adherents of Islam connected to the body of our Lord Christ Jesus? 

Do the best of Hindus Buddhists and other pagan worshipers not oppose Christ? 

Yet some are drawn by the Spirit. 
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The Body of Christ

For just as the body is one, and has many members, and all the members of the body being many are one body, so also is Christ.

1 Corinthia n s 12:12 Berean Standard Bible

Jews and Gentiles
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What is the overriding context of this epistle Paul writes to a church on the Achaian peninsula of Greece ? 

The Apostle to the Gentiles (Hellenists or Greek or Roman) -- seeks to heal long-standing differences in this large Roman city of Corinth situated in the philosophic and cultural center of ancient Europe. 
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- To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom – v.8 (quite Hellenist)
- to another faith.. to another gifts of healing v.9 (the One God of the Jews and ignored signs of the Messiah)
For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.

1 Corinthians 12:13 NKJV

Invisible fruit pictured in the body

For the body does not consist of one part, but of many. 1 Corinthians 12:14 BSB

If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body?

And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body.
- If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be?
  - (Now think of the body of Christ, the church.)
- If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?
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Laughable! Hyperbole, yet logical.
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But now hath God set the members

(And the Spirit of God has distributed your spiritual gifts.)

But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.

How strange a body would be if it had only one part!

1 Corinthians 12:18 KJV and 12:19 NLT
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Do you get both the seriousness and Paul's practical ridicule of members di-vi-ded by spiritualities God granted to others? 
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The Apostle to the gentiles continues his illustration: 
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- The eye cannot say to the hand, “I do not need you.”
- Nor can the head say to the feet, “I do not need you.”
Here is Paul’s appeal to draw near to your members divided by opinions concerning spiritual gifts and an order of regulating the body (so to speak).

On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts we consider less honorable, we treat with greater honor. And our unpresentable parts are treated with special modesty, whereas our presentable parts have no such need.

But God has composed the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its members should have mutual concern for one another.

If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

1 Corinthians 12:22-26 BSB

Has the Great Physician not set the parts of the body into their proper place?

Appointment of the Greater Gifts
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The Apostle sent out to the Corinthians, Achaeans, Greeks, Romans and displaced Jews suggests an order of importance in the A.D. first century church. Yet Paul has just instructed the saints that it is the Spirit which places us in our place in the Church -- and that spiritual GIFTS are not ours to choose. 
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27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each of you is a member of it. And in the church God has appointed
1. first of all apostles,
2. second prophets,
3. third teachers,
4. then workers of miracles,
5. and those with gifts of healing, helping, administration, and various tongues.
A local (Corinthian) understanding of roles and spiritual gifts

Acts of the Apostles 1-28
1. ἀπόστολος – apostolos
2. προφήτης – prophētēs
3. διδάσκαλος – didaskalos
4. δύναμις – dynamis
5. χάρισμα – charisma
Apostles, Prophets and Teachers

ἀπόστολοι (apostoloi)
Noun – Nominative Masculine Plural
Strong’s 652: From apostello; a delegate; specially, an ambassador of the Gospel; officially a commissioner of Christ.

Am I not an apostle?^G652 am I not free? have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? are not ye my work in the Lord? If I be not an apostle^G652 unto others, yet doubtless I am to you: for the seal of mine apostleship are ye in the Lord.

1 Corinthians 12:1-2

1 Corinthians 12:28 – And God has set…

You’ve just studied the list.

So what does the Apostle Paul (#1 on the authoritative list) ask as he further questions the Corinthian saints of differing opinions about their own roles in the local church?

1 Corinthians 12:29-30
- Are all apostles? (#1)
- Are all prophets? (#2)
- Are all teachers? (#3)
- Do all work miracles? (#4)
- Do all have gifts of healing?
- Do all speak in tongues?
- Do all interpret?
  - (these 3 grouped in #5)
SO WHERE DO I FIT IN?

and Who is in charge of who, here in our local gathering of saints in Corinth?

Perhaps in the hearing of Paul’s first letter being read to the Corinthian Church these saints might have wondered what the APOSTLE would prescribe next as a solution to OUR divisions.
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READ the literal Greek text below.
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12:31 ζηλοῦτε δὲ τὰ χαρίσματα τὰ κρείττονα Καὶ ἔτι καθ᾽ ὑπερβολὴν ὁδὸν ὑμῖν δείκνυμι

But covet earnestly the best gifts: – 31a KJV

Now eagerly desire the greater gifts. – 31a NIV

But earnestly desire the higher gifts.- 31a RSV

But now let me show you a way of life that is best of all.

1 Corinthians 12:31 b – NLT

NEXT – Paul’s connection of GIFTS

Beloved fellow saint, you may know where the Apostle proceeds in his much-quoted list from 1 Corinthians 14.

Perhaps with love in mind you may have a COMMENT here on what the Apostle Paul has instructed us so far.

Comment on Scripture + Share the Gospel
February 26, 2025
Spiritualities – ‘I would not have you ignorant’
Spiritualities – πνευματικός

Spiritual:

“always connotes the ideas of invisibility and of power. ..it is in fact an after-Pentecost word.

the activities Godward of regenerate men are ‘spiritual sacrifices,’ 1Pe 2:5; their appointed activities in the churches are also called ‘spiritual gifts,’ lit., ‘spiritualities,’ 1Cr 12:1; 14:1;

Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words Adjective Strong’s Number: g4152 Greek: pneumatikos

Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant.
First Epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians 12:1 King James Version

I want to begin HERE by proceeding with the Apostle’s letter to the church in Corinth because SPIRITUAL GIFTS seem not only mysterious, but frequently misused in preaching and therefore confusing to Christians growing in our faith.

So in addition to working our way through 1 Corinthians 12 we will also examine and hopefully clarify the context of these spiritualities of which the Apostle writes throughout his epistle.

The Corinthian connection of Spiritualities

Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant.

You know that when you were pagans, to mute idols you were led, as being carried away.

Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking in the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is accursed,”

and no one is able to say, “Jesus is Lord,” if not in the Holy Spirit.

Ignorant?
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21st century Common Era christians don't use such offensive self-evaluation of ANYONE in our church, do we? Yet the Apostle Paul did in asking church members to examine themselves.
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ἀγνοέω – agnoeō – verb
- to be ignorant, not to know
- not to understand, unknown
- to err or sin through mistake, to be wrong
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We may eventually acknowledge what we formerly did not know or did not understand. But how we avoid confession of current err and continuing sin.

Yet the Apostle consistently corrects the Corinthian church in these things pointing to Christ in a Spiritual sense: 
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For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea; and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and all ate the same spiritual food; and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them, and the rock was Christ.

1 Corinthians 10:1-4 :: Legacy Standard Bible (LSB)

The Idolatry of Baptism – the Idolatry of Communion

In 1 Corinthians 10 Paul outlines the SIN and ERR of IDOLATRY
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Soon the Apostle warns the Corinthians that God may not recognize some worshippers gathering for their communions:
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But if anyone remains G50 ignorant G50 about this, he is ignored G50 by God.

1 Corinthians 14:38 LSB

Spiritual Gifts

Let’s clear this up FIRST through basic and ROOT definitions of this important adjective.

REMINDER that an adjective describes a person (you, me, a fellow saint).

pneumatikos

relating to the human spirit, or rational soul, as the part of man which is akin to God and serves as his instrument or organ
- opposed to ἡ ψυχή: hence, τό πνευματικόν, that which possesses the nature of the rational soul, opposed to τό ψυχικόν,
The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual.

1 Corinthians 15:46
- The Apostle Paul uses pneumatikos 15 times in his first letter to the Corinthians.
Root Word (Etymology)
From πνεῦμα (G4151)

pneuma – spirit

neuter noun From πνέω (G4154)

The KJV translates Strong’s G4151 in the following manner: Spirit (111x), Holy Ghost (89x), Spirit (of God) (13x), [more]

“See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; touch Me and see, for a spirit G4151 does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.”

Gospel of Luke 24:39 LSB

What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost G4151 which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

1 Corinthians 6:19 KJV
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Paul uses the Greek πνεῦμα (pneuma) 41 times in 33 verses in 1 Corinthians, pointing to the spirit in the body and also referring to the Holy Ghost.
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Now there are diversities G1243

1 Cor 12:4a KJV

And there are differences G1243

1 Cor 12:5a KJV

And there are diversities G1243

1 Cor 6a KJV

What distinctions?
1. gifts
2. administrations
3. operations
1 Cor 12: 4b,5b,6b KJV
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OR perhaps less formally:
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- spiritual gifts
- ministries or service
- effects or workings
And the Paul’s connection of these three outlined?
1. but the same Spirit [G4151] pneuma
2. but the same Lord. [G2962] kyrios
  - Root Word (Etymology)
  - masculine noun
  - From kuros (supremacy)
3. but the same God [G2316] theos is working all things in everyone.
No matter which English translation or version of Paul’s first epistle to the Corinthians you prefer note the frequency of applying this

Higher Authority over the Church.:

πνευματικός

pneumatikos – pnyoo-mat-ik-os’
- relating to the human spirit, or rational soul, as part of the man which is akin to God and serves as his instrument or organ
- belonging to a spirit, or a being higher than man but inferior to God
- belonging to the Divine Spirit
  - of God the Holy Spirit
  - one who is filled with and governed by the Spirit of God
- pertaining to the wind or breath; windy, exposed to the wind, blowing
πνεῦμα – pneuma – Spirit

occurs 40 times in 32 verses in ‘1Co’ in the MGNT Greek.

1 Corinthians 12:7- 11 BSB

Now to each is given the manifestation of the Spirit, for the common profiting.

For truly, to one is given a word of wisdom by the Spirit, and to another a word of knowledge according to the same Spirit, and to a different one faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, and to another working of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another distinguishing of spirits, and to a different one various kinds of tongues, and to another interpretation of tongues.

Now one and the same the Spirit works all these things, apportioning individually to each as He wills.
1 Corinthians 12:11 BSB – Spirit,
Πνεῦμα (Pneuma)
Noun – Nominative Neuter Singular
Strong’s 4151: Wind, breath, spirit.

spiritualities (or spiritual gifts)

The Apostle assures that these spiritualities (or spiritual gifts) are just that: GIFTS of the Holy Spirit of God.

Therefore the Lord chooses which saint may receive what gift,

θεός – theos – God

occurs 106 times in 86 verses in ‘1Co’ in the TR Greek.
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And where in the Apostle's first letter to the Corinthians did Paul first point to the Highest Authority of God?
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Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God,^G2316 …

1 Corinthians 1:1a
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From his call by Jesus Christ after the Lord's resurrection and consequent authority 'through the will of God' the Apostle Paul will proceed to instruct Christ's body (the Church, as he will illustrate) in the humility and nature of the gifts of their spiritualities. 
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And God G2316 hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.

1 Corinthians 12:28 KJV
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MORE on that NEXT time... 
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κύριος – kyrios – Lord, lord and master

From kuros (supremacy)

occurs 69 times in 59 verses in ‘1Co’ in the TR Greek.

— he to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has power of deciding; master, lord

Lexicon :: Strong’s G2962 – kyrios
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And when does Paul first mention the Lord and at the same time extend the line of His authority and mission to Corinth?  
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To the church of God in Corinth,

to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy,

together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:

Salutation of the Apostle Paul’s first epistle to the Corinthians 1:2 BSB

Throughout his letter Paul reveals the unseen unfolding mysteries of Christ through the Spirit of the Triune God.

The Corinthian saints are no more like the communities in which they live who have spiritualities of their own.

Were the communities and spiritualities of Corinth so different from our own 21st century C.E. gatherings and communions which include all with great diversity, yet with considerable ignorance of the Spirit?

And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.

1 Corinthians 12:5 KJV
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NEXT: Members in Christ's body 
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Talk of JESUS .com

Comment on Scripture + Share the Gospel
February 20, 2025