1 Corinthians 12
Lipscomb1 Corinthians 12:1
Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren,—When Jesus told his apostles that he was going away to prepare a place for them, he told them also that if he went away he would send them another Comforter to guide them into all the truth and prepare and fit them for the place he would make ready for them—that the Spirit would guide them into all the truth and call to their remembrance all things whatsoever he had commanded them. (John 14:26; John 16:13). The Holy Spirit came upon the apostles on the day of Pentecost; took up his abode in them to guide them in teaching to others the things Jesus had taught them.
The Holy Spirit in the apostles bestowed gifts upon disciples qualifying them for the performance of the different duties arising in their Christian life. These gifts were to remain and make known the will of. God, and continue until the perfect will was come. In speaking of these partial gifts, Paul says: “For we know in part, and we prophesy in part; but when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away.” (1 Corinthians 13:9-10). The gifts which bestowed the partial knowledge were to be done away when the perfect will of God was made known. (Ephesians 4:11-16). The different gifts are enumerated in the order of their importance and the measure of the Holy Spirit bestowed. (Verse 28).
These gifts carried with them ability to know and to make known the will of God, and to confirm it by signs and wonders. These gifts were to serve until the full and perfect will of God was made known and confirmed to the world. The will of God was made known and confirmed through these gifts; then they passed away and left men to be governed by the word of God, to be led by the Spirit in that word. The Corinthians had been bountifully supplied with these gifts, but difficulties concerning their use had arisen.
I would not have you ignorant.—They had no doubt inquired of Paul concerning the use of these gifts and the privileges of those possessing them.
1 Corinthians 12:2
Ye know that when ye were Gentiles ye were led away unto those dumb idols, howsoever ye might be led.—[He contrasts their former miserable condition as idolaters with their present state in order to make them sensible of their advantages as Christians and that they might be led more highly to appreciate their present condition.]
1 Corinthians 12:4
Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.—The Holy Spirit came to the apostles, and through them bestowed a number of gifts or powers on others. The gifts differed in the work they enabled each to perform, and the degree of spiritual power they bestowed; but the same Spirit is the giver; it is he who is the immediate and proximate author of all these various endowments.
1 Corinthians 12:5
And there are diversities of ministrations, and the same Lord.—There are different services, such as rendered by apostles, prophets, teachers, discerners of spirits; but they are all from the same Lord in whose service and by whose authority these various gifts are exercised.
1 Corinthians 12:6
And there are diversities of workings, but the same God, who worketh all things in all.—It is the same God, who having exalted the Lord Jesus, and “put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all” (Ephesians 1:22-23), and having sent the Holy Spirit, works all these things.
1 Corinthians 12:7
But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit to profit withal.—But whatever gifts or manifestations of the Spirit are given to any one, are given for the instruction and profit of all. No gift was bestowed by the Spirit for the personal good of him alone on whom it was bestowed. These gifts were never so used. The most highly gifted suffered persecution, hunger, and sickness; but no one used the gifts for personal relief or help. Nor did the possession of the gift bestow moral strength or spiritual power to free from or resist temptation, save as it gave them knowledge of the will of God and left them to contend with the temptations the same as those not gifted. Hence Peter dissembled and did wrong (Gal. 2; 11, 12), and Paul prayed that he might not, after having preached to others, be rejected (1 Corinthians 9:27).
The gift bestowed on each one was for the instruction and help of all the church, and not for the private benefit of the gifted. The apostle now gives the separate gifts bestowed by the Spirit. It is difficult to define the scope, as they have all disappeared in the appearance of the completed word of God contained in the New Testament.
1 Corinthians 12:8
For to one is given through the Spirit the word of wisdom;—The word of wisdom is generally construed to mean the gospel, which is the power of God to save. It is God’s wisdom. [This was the gift which enabled its recipients to reveal the whole plan of salvation. It stands first in the list of spiritual gifts as the most important, as the characteristic gift of the apostles, and was peculiar to them, having been promised to them by Christ, as the effect of the constant indwelling of the Spirit. (John 14:17; John 15:26-27; John 16:13-15). And of Paul an apostle has said: “Account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom given to him, wrote unto you.” (2 Peter 3:15). And besides this, Paul says: “We have the mind of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 2:16).]
and to another the word of knowledge,—The word of knowledge enabled the gifted to understand and teach the truths revealed by the apostles.
according to the same Spirit:—[The Spirit governs these manifestations giving the law of them. The fact, that in the same Spirit in all these manifestations, is emphasized throughout the paragraph, in order to show the unity as well as purpose of these gifts.]
1 Corinthians 12:9
to another faith, in the same Spirit;—A faith that enabled one to remove mountains, of which Jesus speaks. It enabled one to exert power.
and to another gifts of healings, in the one Spirit;—The gift of healing diseases is one of the powers bestowed by the Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 12:10
and to another workings of miracles;—All the gifts here enumerated enabled them to work miracles as we use the term. To know all things without learning, to heal diseases, to speak with tongues, to discern spirits are all miracles. Why, then, among these should one special gift be called the working of miracles? The word here translated “working” literally means the “inworking” of powers. That is, the bestowing on persons the ability to impart the power of working miracles to others. Simon Magus offered Peter money for this power. (Acts 8:18-19).
Macknight says: “The word energius does not signify to work simply, but to work in another. Thus verse 11: ‘All these (gifts) the one and the same Spirit (energei) inworketh,’ namely, in the spiritual men.” One and the same Spirit inworks all the different powers into the gifted persons, distributing to each severally as he will. It is generally contended that none save the apostles could impart the power to work miracles. That they possessed it in common with all Spiritual powers is not doubted. The apostles were endowed with all the power and gifts of the Spirit. But to others these gifts were distributed.
All other gifts of the Spirit were distributed to one or another person, why not this also? Ananias, having been instructed by the Lord to go to the house where Saul abode, “departed, and entered into the house; and laying his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, who appeared unto thee in the way which thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mayest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 9:17-18). While it is not said that the Holy Spirit was imparted by the imposition of his hands, it is certain that he was to be filled with the Holy Spirit by the coming of Ananias, and that Ananias laid his hands on him, and he did receive his sight and a gift of the Spirit that enabled him at once to proclaim Jesus, “that he is the Son of God.”
And when Simon the sorcerer proposed to purchase the power to bestow miracle working power on others, Peter did not tell him that no one but an apostle could have such power. But he said to him: “Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter.” (Acts 8:21). This implies that it might have been possible for him to have part or lot in the matter had his heart been right in the sight of God.
Once more, I quote from Macknight: “Though the inworking of powers be the spiritual gift which most forcibly struck the minds of mankind, and raised the apostles highest in their estimation, the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, and faith, are placed before it in the catalogue. The reason is, by these gifts the gospel was communicated to the world; whereas it was only confirmed by the inworking of powers.” Those placed before the inworking are greater than this. If the apostles bestowed the greater gifts, why not this less one?
and to another prophecy;—[This was the speaking of the message of God under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, whether with reference to the past, the present, or future. The purpose of this ministry was to edify, to comfort, and to encourage the believers (1 Corinthians 14:3), while its effect upon unbelievers was to show that the secrets of man’s heart are known to God, to convict of sin, and constrain to the worship of God (1 Corinthians 14:24-25). With the completion of the canon of Scripture this gift passed away. (1 Corinthians 13:8-9). In his measure the teacher has taken the place of the prophet. The difference is that, whereas the message of the prophet was a direct revelation of the mind of God for the occasion, the message of the teacher is gathered from the completed revelation contained in the Scriptures.]
and to another discernings of spirits:—The power bestowed on certain persons by the Spirit to discern the secret dispositions of men. It was one of the gifts peculiar to that age, and was especially necessary at a time when God’s revelation was not fully established or generally understood, and when many deceivers were abroad. (2 John 1:7). This seemed to have been exercised chiefly upon those who came forward as teachers of others, and whose real designs it was important that the church should know.
to another divers kinds of tongues; and to another the interpretation of tongues:—The ability to speak different tongues. Some spoke in tongues they did not understand and could not interpret, and so Paul commanded them to be silent, unless they or some one else present could interpret. (1 Corinthians 14:28).
1 Corinthians 12:11
but all these worketh the one and the same Spirit, dividing to each one severally even as he will.—This unity of the source of all spiritual gifts, in the midst of their variety, he presses as against those who valued some and undervalued others, or who deprecated them all.
1 Corinthians 12:12
For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of the body, being many, are one body; so also is Christ.—He now introduces the human body with the different members performing different offices, yet altogether composing the one body, to illustrate the body of Christ or the church with its different members, and these different gifts performing the different offices needful to the well-being of the body.
1 Corinthians 12:13
For in one Spirit were we all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether bond or free;—As the body is animated by one spirit and under the guidance of one spirit, the different members of the body act, so guided or ruled by the one Spirit, all the members of the church, the body of Christ, were baptized into the one body, whether Jews or Greeks or bond or free.
The baptism is that commanded by Christ and the Holy Spirit, but inasmuch as it is done by the disciples under the direction of the Holy Spirit, it is said that the Spirit baptizes. God sent his Son, his Son sent the Holy Spirit as the abiding guest of the church of God, and he is ever present to guide and help every one walking under the guidance of the word of God. If we could realize that in deed and in truth Jesus baptizes every one that is baptized according to his will, that we are baptized by the directions of the Spirit, that this is God’s work, it would be a security and safety to us, and would help us to walk with him that he might be our God and dwell in and with us.
Some expositors think that being baptized in one Spirit refers to the baptism in the Holy Spirit. The example of the body led by one Spirit does not bear this interpretation. For it could not be said that they were all made to drink of one Spirit if they had all been baptized or overwhelmed by the Holy Spirit as the apostles had been on the day of Pentecost. Beside this, there is no evidence that all the disciples at Corinth had been baptized in the Holy Spirit. There is no evidence whatever that any of them had been.
and were all made to drink of one Spirit.—The drinking into one Spirit is gradually imbibing the Spirit of Christ that we may be animated and led by it and become like him in character.
1 Corinthians 12:14
For the body is not one member, but many.—The human body, like the church, is not all one member, but is composed of many different members. [The word members means a constituent part having a function of its own.]
1 Corinthians 12:15
If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; it is not therefore not of the body.—There seems to have been some strife between the spiritually endowed as to the standing of each. Some seemed to contend that because they did not have certain of the more important gifts, they were not essential to the body. He corrects this by saying that each of the members of the human body constitutes an important part of it.
1 Corinthians 12:16
And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; it is not therefore not of the body.—All the members are essential to the performance of all the functions of the body. [The point is that the humble members as well as the more honored are all members of the body. Each, because of this fact, must perform his function to the best of his ability.]
1 Corinthians 12:17
If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling?—[The very existence of the body as an organism depends on the union of the members of the body endowed with different functions, and it would be absurd to require or expect all the members to perform the same function; and the application to the church is equally plain. It, like the human body, requires a diversity of gifts and offices; all, therefore, are to be satisfied with their allotment; all are to be honored in their proper place.]
1 Corinthians 12:18
But now hath God set the members each one of them in the body, even as it pleased him.—God set each in its proper place in the body, to perform a needed office as God saw was good, and if they were all one member, even the most important or honorable, they could not constitute the body.
1 Corinthians 12:19
And if they were all one member, where were the body? —The different members, with their distinct functions and offices, are each needful to the completion of the body.
1 Corinthians 12:20
But now they are many members, but one body.—[He here repeats this truth, for on it everything which he desires to indicate turns. From the oneness of the whole the mutual dependence of the parts follows of necessity.]
1 Corinthians 12:21
And the eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of thee: or again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.— One member of the body cannot do without another. The eye needs the foot, the hand, the head. The eye is a member of the body, and depends upon the health and life of the body for its own good and vigor. The body could not maintain its life without the offices of the hands and feet. So the eye depends on the hands and feet for ability to perform its office. So of the ear. So of all the members. They depend one upon the other as members of the body.
1 Corinthians 12:22
Nay, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be more feeble are necessary;—The vital organs, as we call them, are the more weak and helpless, and must be carried, protected, supplied by the other members, yet the body is more dependent upon these members for life and strength than upon others. The body can lose the hand, the foot, the eye, and live; but it cannot lose any of those dependent organs and live.
1 Corinthians 12:23
and those parts of the body, which we think to be less honorable, upon these we bestow more abundant honor;— [Naturally no member of the body is dishonorable or uncomely, since God has made each and all to subserve the purposes for which the whole frame of members is put together; but we esteem some members less honorable than others.] The honor which seems to be comparatively wanting to the parts themselves we clothe, giving them in the clothing we put on them and the body a more comely appearance.
and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness;— [The parts referred to, that in themselves are unseemly and immodest, have for that very reason more pains bestowed on them to give them seemliness.]
1 Corinthians 12:24
whereas our comely parts have no need:—-The comely parts of the body—the ear, the eye, the nose, the mouth—add of themselves comeliness to the body, so do not need to be ornamented or covered up.
but God tempered the body together, giving more abundant honor to that part which lacked;—God has put the members of the body in such relation to each other that the stronger and the more beautiful are compelled, for their own good and indeed for their existence, to defend and care for, and thus to honor, the weaker members.
1 Corinthians 12:25
that there should be no schism in the body;—That there should be no divisions in the body, and that all the members mutually depending one upon the other for its own good would look to the common good of all.
but that the members should have the same care one for another.—[Each member should be moved by anxious care for the well-being of all. And it was in order to evoke this harmony and mutual care that God so joined the members together that we are compelled to treat them not according to their beauty but their need; and has done this that [here may be complete harmony in the body, and that each member may put forth its peculiar powers for the general good, thus securing for every part of the body the benefit of all the various powers with which its various members are endowed.]
1 Corinthians 12:26
And whether one member suffereth, all the members suffer with it;—[So wonderfully is the nervous system diffused through the body that every part sympathizes with every other part, and the whole with any part. They are not only physically joined together, but they are so united as to feel together.]
or one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.—[All the members partake of the benefit. If one member is sound and healthy, the benefit extends to all. If the hands, the feet, the heart, the lungs, the brain be in a healthy condition, the advantage is felt by all the members, and all derive advantage from it.]
1 Corinthians 12:27
Now ye are the body of Christ,—-The ye referred to the membership at Corinth as a whole. They constituted the body of Christ. Not a part of it, but the body complete and entire, within itself a complete body of Christ. To another church Paul says: “In whom ye also are builded together for a habitation of God in the Spirit.” (Ephesians 2:22). The Bible clearly recognizes each separate congregation as the body of Christ, as builded together for a dwelling place in the Spirit. So that God in his Spirit dwells in each distinct and separate church.
The church is the body of Christ in the community in which it is situated. It is not a foot in Corinth, an arm in Colosse, an eye in Ephesus, and an ear in Thessalonica; but each was a complete integral body of Christ composed of all the different members needed to make up his body. Take the church at Jerusalem, it was in existence before any other church. Was it not the body of Christ when it was the only church on earth? Did the planting of another and another church take from it any of its parts, and of its functions, despoil it of its integralism and completeness as a body of Christ? Certainly not.
What about the eunuch? My conviction is that he possessed within himself all the elements of a church of Christ when no other churches were in reach of him, and the multiplication of the seed or the word of God in him would produce a church of God wherever he went, and the same is true of every child of God. A child of God in a strange land has only to worship God himself, multiply the word of God in the hearts of others and the result is a church of the living God, complete in itself without reference to any other organism in the world.
and severally members thereof.—That is, each has his own place and function in the body of Christ. All the members constitute the one body as the human body is composed of the separate and distinct members and is dependent upon the others for happiness, and should have the same care one of another as the members of the fleshly body. One cannot suffer but all must suffer with it. The members that are most lacking in Christian graces, that are most helpless, need our care. And those most helpless are necessary for the good of all. This may seem strange at first, but the object of church service is to discipline the members into characters that please God and make the persons like unto Jesus Christ in character.
The poor, the sickly, the helpless, the wayward, and sinning are needful to school the more comely members. Without the patience and self-denial developed in looking after and helping the poor, the sick, and the wayward, the members of the church could never be fitted in character to dwell with God.
As the church, the body of Christ, is here compared to the human body, an apologist for the innovations that are being introduced into the churches makes the following argument: “The human body is composed of different organs and members. Some of these organs or members are vital, necessary to the life of the body—such as the heart, the liver, the lungs, and the stomach. Without these the body cannot live or exist. Then there are other members—as the hands, the feet, and the eyes—that are not vital organs; they are not necessary to the life or existence of the body. The body may exist and live without these. So the church, as the body of Christ, is composed of parts or organs.
Some of these are vital, necessary to the existence of the church- -such as faith, repentance, and baptism. Others are not vital or necessary to the life or sustenance of the church—such as instrumental music, societies, etc.”
The illustration is an apt one if properly applied. In the first place, every organ or member set in the human body by God is vital or necessary to the performance of the work God appointed it to perform. The foot is essential to walking; the eye, to seeing; and the hand, to doing the work of the hand.
That work of God ceases when the member God appointed to do it is destroyed. Sometimes when the member God appointed is destroyed, an artificial or man-made member is supplied, but fails to do the work the natural or God-made member performs. An artificial foot or hand is a poor substitute for a God-given one. An artificial eye may deceive the people, but can never see. What this man calls the organs not vital to a church are not organs or members of the church, or body of Christ. They are artificial, man-made members.
The organs God gave to do the work are the churches themselves, with the members for the work and the human voices for the worship. These, like the hands and feet of the human body, may not be necessary to the bare life or existence of the body, but are vital and necessary to the work and vigor of the body.
Sometimes the church fails to use its natural members to do the service God ordained them to do, and then substitutes artificial members or man-made substitutes to do the work the real organs or members fail to do. The whole thing is a miserable makeshift and a failure. No life or warmth or vigor can ever dwell in or pass through these artificial limbs; no spiritual life or warmth or vigor can ever dwell in or pass through these artificial additions to the church of God. The whole work of substituting these man-made or artificial organs, or works, to do the work of the church of God destroys the true work of God, drives out the Spirit and life of God. The whole business of mending the body of Christ, or patching up or changing the church of God, drives out the Spirit, and is an insult to God.
1 Corinthians 12:28
And God hath set some in the church,—This is the order in which these gifts bestowed by the Spirit are set in the church.
first apostles,—The apostles were the first and highest, endowed with the fullness of the Spiritual gifts and knowledge. They were sent as ambassadors of Christ, to be witnesses of what he did and taught. Jesus said to his apostles: “Ye are witnesses of these things.” (Luke 24:48). “And ye also bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.” (John 15:27). When one was to be chosen to take the place of Judas, Peter said that he must be one that had been “with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and went out among us, beginning from the baptism of John, unto the day that he was received up from us, of these must one become a witness with us of his resurrection.” (Acts 1:21-22). So, too, Paul had to see Jesus after his resurrection and in his glorified state before he could be an apostle. Ananias said to him: “The God of our fathers hath appointed thee to know his will, and to see the Righteous One, and to hear a voice from his mouth.
For thou shalt be a witness for him unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard” (Acts 22:14-15); and Jesus said: “I have appeared unto thee, to appoint thee a minister and a witness both of the things wherein thou hast seen me, and of the things wherein I will appear unto thee.” (Acts 26:16). No one could be an apostle unless he had seen Jesus after his resurrection from the dead.
secondly prophets,—The prophets were inspired to make known the will of God after it had been revealed through the apostles.
thirdly teachers,—Those endowed to feed and teach those already Christians the duties and obligations resting on them as the children of God.
then miracles,—The inworking of powers. (See note on 12:10).
then gifts of healings,—The power which enabled them to heal diseases.
helps,—This denotes the various kinds of relief which it was sought to procure for all sufferers, widows, orphans, and others in need.
governments,—Wise counselors, and advisors of the weak and erring.
divers kinds of tongues.—This was to speak in tongues they had never learned. It was the least and lowest of all gifts. The New Testament enumerations all begin with the greatest and end with the least. In the beginning of the church, men were enabled by the Holy Spirit to do what they were afterward trained to do by the word of God.
1 Corinthians 12:29-30
Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles? have all gifts of healings? do all speak with tongues? do all interpet?—These questions were in answer to the complaint that they all did not have the higher gifts. As in other things, the fewest number attained to them, and these questions were to impress on them this truth; and yet, all were required to make one body.
1 Corinthians 12:31
But desire earnestly the greater gifts.—If they desired the greater gifts, they must fit themselves to use them. God bestows honors and privileges as men are fitted to use them. While he admonishes them to seek the greater gifts, he tells them there is a better way than seeking or using any gifts. The gifts were temporary and would soon pass away.
And moreover a most excellent way show I unto you.—The more excellent way is doing the will of God to all “out of a pure heart and a good conscience and faith unfeigned.”