Unified and Diversified
12: 12-19

Unified and diversified DIG: In what ways are the various members of the Church dependent on one another? In what ways have you and your local congregation functioned like a human body – with each part depending on each other? How did that serve to bring unity? Paul warns against any part of the body considering itself less important or more important than the others. What kind of parallel behavior in the Church does this warn you about? Believers are to honor one another as parts of the same Body. In light of this, how does ADONAI want you to treat other members of your local congregation?

REFLECT: Why should we resist the temptation to compete with, or compare ourselves with other believers (Second Corinthians 10:12)? In what ways do petty arguments and divisions in the Church tarnish the message of the Good News? How can believers in Messiah learn to appreciate the differences of others in the Church instead of allowing them to divide the congregation? What threatens the unity where you worship? What steps can you take to promote peace and harmony there? In what ways can you honor someone in your congregation this week who may feel unappreciated or insignificant?

All believers are baptized by one Spirit, into one Body, one time, at the moment of salvation.
There is simply no such thing today as a believer who has not been baptized by the Spirit.

The Corinthians’ misuse of spiritual gifts was one of many reflections of their carnal worldliness, and was closely related to their divisiveness, which Paul now continues to rebuke. While illustrating the diversity of spiritual gifts (to see link click Cj – The Varieties of Spiritual Gifts), Paul repeatedly stresses their One source and purpose in ADONAI, revealing the Ruach Ha’Kodesh’s work and power for the common good of the Church (see Ci – The Source and Purpose of Spiritual Gifts). These unifying realities lead the apostle’s thought to a general discussion of the oneness of the Body of believers.

In these verses Paul explains and illustrates the nature and importance of the unity of the Church itself, and then again the importance of diversity as the key factor in that unity. The diversity of the invisible, universal Church made up of believers all over the world, is the God-ordained means of bringing the fellowship to oneness. But unless each diverse member recognizes and accepts his or her part in the whole Body, diversity will divide rather than unite, destroy rather than build up, and bring discord rather than harmony. In verse 12 Paul gives an illustration of unity, and in verse 13 he explains its origin.³⁷⁶

Unified in one Body: For just as the body is one but has many parts; and all the parts of the body, though many, constitute one body, and so it is with the Messiah (12:12). Once again (10:17) Paul uses the human body to picture the unity and interdependence of the members of the Body of Messiah, the Church. The human body has many parts, even though there is only one body. Each part has a different function, but they all work together to make the body function as a unit. This is the key way the Church ought to function.

Baptized by One Spirit: For it was by one Spirit that we were all baptized (Greek: baptidzo, meaning to dip or immerse, often used of a piece of cloth being immersed into dye) into one Body, whether Jews or Gentiles, slaves or free; and we were all given the one Spirit to drink (12:13). In order to stress how wide a diversity is actually incorporated into that one Body, Paul picks out two of the most obvious social distinction in ancient society: Jews and Gentiles, and slave and free people. If these sorts of people can come together into one Body, then anything that divides us as human beings – such as social status, economic level, ethnic distinction – should play no role in dividing the Church.³⁷⁷

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You for the many blessings that You bestow on those who love and follow You as their Lord and Savior. You not only rescue us from sin’s awful punishment of death (Romans 6:23), but by so graciously indwelling each believer and giving them Messiah’s righteousness (Second Corinthians 5:21), thereby opening heaven’s door for all who love You. And He raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Messiah Yeshua (Ephesians 2:6). How fantastic that You not only forgive our sins (First John 1:9), but you raised the bar of love even higher by both the Ruach Ha’Kodesh living in us and by Yeshua preparing an eternal home for us in heaven. Thank You for being such a gracious and loving Heavenly Father. I can’t wait for the joy of praising You for all eternity! In Yeshua’s holy name and power of His resurrection. Amen

Your baptism is a physical picture of a spiritual truth. It represents what happened the moment God brought you into His family. Baptism doesn’t make you a member of God’s family; only faith in Yeshua Messiah does that. Baptism shows you are a part of God’s family. Like a wedding ring, it is a visible reminder of an inward commitment made in your heart. It is an act of initiation, not something you put off until you are spiritually mature. The only biblical condition is that you believe.³⁷⁸

Despite their old sin nature (see the commentary on Romans Bm – The Consequences of Adam) all of the Corinthian believers had been baptized into one Body. There is simply no such thing today as a believer who has not been baptized by the Ruach Ha’Kodesh. As Paul told the believers in Rome: Anyone who doesn’t have the Spirit of Messiah doesn’t belong to Him (Romans 8:9). However, the modern charismatic movement says that is not enough. Their belief that Spirit “baptism” as “evidenced” by the speaking in tongues (see Dm – Tongues are a Sign), is a second work of grace, the next crucial step after salvation. Unfortunately, this has become the cardinal doctrine of the charismatic movement. However, the Bible teaches that there is no special blessing of the Spirit that only some believers receive; there is no imagined spiritual elite who have what the rest of us do not.

The real “evidence” of the Spirit’s baptism at conversion is the witness of the Spirit from within (see the commentary on Romans Ci – The Leading of the Ruach). It is not speaking in tongues. All of the believers in the Corinthian congregation had been baptized by the Spirit, but not all of them spoke in tongues (12:30). The “evidence” of the Spirit’s filling are power of witnessing (Acts 1:8), joyfulness and submission (Eph 5:19-20), the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-26) and a growing understanding of the Word (Jn 16:12-15).³⁷⁹

All believers receive the Spirit and His blessings. The number of times Paul stresses the universal gift of the Spirit to all believers hints that some in Corinth may have claimed a “greater measure of the Spirit” than others. To summarize, we either have the Spirit or we do not, and if we have received Messiah as our Lord and Savior, then we have been baptized into the Body of Messiah, or as Paul puts it here, we were all given the one Spirit to drink.³⁸⁰

After salvation, there are two distinct ministries of the Ruach:

First, YHVH seals us with His Ruach (Ephesians 1:13-14; Second Corinthians 1:21-22), and baptized (in the Greek aorist tense, pointing to a past completed action) in, by, and with the Ruach Ha’Kodesh (Matthew 3:11; Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16; John 1:33; Acts 1:5, 11:16), into the Body of Messiah (Galatians 3:27; First Corinthians 12:13) at the moment of salvation. Nowhere does the Scripture command us to seek this baptism, since we have already experienced it, and it need not be repeated. Hence, there is only one baptism (Ephesians 4:5). It is something that we don’t cooperate in with God, it is His sovereign act.

Secondly, there is the filling of the Ruach. You are sanctified, this is something that you cooperate with God and is ongoing. This speaks of your daily walk with the Lord. Through filling, God pours out His love through your life to others and sets you apart for His holy use. In the Scriptures to be filled is used to mean to be controlled by, or be under the influence of something or someone else. To be filled with the Spirit, therefore, is to be controlled or strongly influenced by the Spirit. Don’t get drunk with wine, because it makes you lose control. Instead, keep on being filled (in the Greek imperfect tense, pointing to continuous action) with the Ruach (Ephesians 5:18). As drunkenness affects behavior for evil, being filled with the Ruach affects a person for good. As a drunken person is under the control of wine, so a Ruach filled person is under the control of the Ruach. This does not make you a robot, without your own will. Rather, you freely comply with the Ruach and His purposes and His Word. That is what it means to be “spiritual.”

The filling of the Ruach is commanded by God: keep on being filled with the Ruach, literally, stay filled (Ephesians 5:18). As imperfect humans, we are leaky vessels of clay, and we need to be constantly refilled. This was true even for the apostles (Acts 2:4, 4:8 and 31, 9:17, 13:9). This continuous condition of being filled with the Ruach is dependent on our submission to the Spirit. You may wonder, can a believer resist the Ruach and still be a believer? Yes, people can resist the filling of the Ruach. Therefore, the challenge we have as believers is to be controlled by the Ruach and not our flesh. This is why we have believers at so many different levels of relationship with Yeshua. Some have a closer walk with the Ruach than others. Some believers have love, joy, and peace while others are depressed and anxious.³⁸¹

Diversified in one Body: The most important characteristic of the Body is unity; but diversity is essential for that unity. The Church is one Body, indeed the body is not one part but many. Unfortunately, many of the Corinthian believers were unhappy with their gifts. They wanted the showy ones, like speaking in tongues, instead of being glad for, and faithfully using, the many diverse gifts that the Ruach had given them. Envy is a sure sign of worldliness, and it seems that everyone wanted a gift that someone else had. Paul’s somewhat humorous analogy extends the illustration of the human body. If the foot says, “I’m not a hand, so I’m not part of the body,” that doesn’t make it stop being part of the body. And if the ear says, “I’m not an eye, so I’m not part of the body,” that doesn’t make it stop being part of the body. Continuing with his analogy, Paul reminds us that a body could not possibly function if it were all the same part. If the whole body were an eye, how could it hear? If it were all hearing, how could it smell (12:14-17)? No matter how important any one part may be, there can be no body formed from it alone. That would be a monster, not a body.

Gifted by one Lord: Discontentment with their spiritual gifts, however, was much worse than the lack of common sense. By wanting gifts they did not have, the Corinthian believers questioned God’s wisdom and goodness by implying He had made a mistake. They also opened themselves up to fleshly and pagan counterfeits (see Ce – The Pagan Background of Counterfeit Spiritual Gifts). Their primary problem was not intellectual, but spiritual. As Creator and Lord, God arranged each of the parts in the body exactly as he wanted them (12:18). ADONAI has created us, re-created us, and placed each of us in His Body exactly where He wants us to be, and equipped us to do exactly what He wants us to do. However, because of the discontentment and disobedience of the Corinthian believers, they were also unproductive. They did not use the gifts they had, and, in light of Paul’s repeated emphasis in 12:4-11 that every believer is gifted, apparently some thought they didn’t have a gift at all. In any case, their gifts were not being used or were being misused.

Now if they were all just one part, where would the body be (12:19)? Paul expands on his point in verse 17. A body that had only one part would not be a body. A Messianic congregation or church whose members all had the same gift and same ministry would not really work. It is foolish and immature not to be content with or use what the Lord has given us. Diversity does not suggest inferiority. We are not perfect, but His gifts to us are perfect and the ministry in which He has called us to use them is perfect. His design for the Church is perfect and His gifting of the Church is equally perfect.³⁸²

As believers, we share one Lord, one Body, one Father, one Spirit, one purpose, one hope, one faith, one baptism, and one love. We share the same salvation, the same life, and the same future – factors far more important than any differences we could count. For unity’s sake we must never let differences divide us.³⁸³

The Distinguishing of Spirits
12: 10c

Even in the Dispensation of Torah (see the commentary on Exodus, to see link click Da – The Dispensation of the Torah), Isra’el had false prophets (see the commentary on Jeremiah Et – The False Prophet Hańaniah), and false teachers (see the commentary on Deuteronomy Dk – A Prophet Like Moses). The same has been true of the Church since its inception. Behind these false prophets and teachers are demons (see the commentary on Jude Ah – Godless People Have Secretly Slipped in Among You). So, it was valuable to have the ability to distinguish between the Spirit of God and the demons of Satan, especially in the early Church where the Scriptures were scarce.³⁷⁴ Thus, ADONAI provided an important gift for the protection of the Church: the distinguishing of spirits, or the gift of discernment.

The basic meaning of discernment is the ability to distinguish truth from error or falsehood by judging whether the behavior or teaching is from God, Satan, human error or human power. One might call it the supernatural ability to avoid being deceived. The Church needs those with the gift of discernment to warn believers in times of danger or keep them from being led astray by false teaching (also see Acts 5:3-6, 16:16-18; First John 4:1). Satan is the great deceiver, the father of lies (John 8:44), and ever since the Fall he and his demons have counterfeited the message of ADONAI and His work.

All believers should judge carefully what they hear and read and not trust every spirit. On the contrary, test the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. Here is how you recognize the Spirit of God: every spirit which acknowledges that Yeshua Messiah came as a human being is from God, and every spirit which does not acknowledge Yeshua is not from God – in fact, this is the spirit of the Anti-Messiah. You have heard he is coming. Well, he’s here now, in the world already (First John 4:1-3). That is what the God-fearing and noble-minded Jews of Berea did when they first heard the gospel from Paul (Acts 17:11). They tested Paul’s word against what they knew of God’s Word, and because the two matched up, they believed that what he preached was from God and not from demons. That is what every believer should do with every message that claims to be from God. No preacher or teacher of the gospel should ever resent having what he or she says be judged against Scripture.

Dear Heavenly Father. Praise You, Father, for Your great wisdom! You knew that deceptive prophets would try to deceive Your children and so in Your lovingkindness, You provided the gift of discernment so Your children would know if the message is righteous or is a lie. Do not judge by appearance, but judge righteously (John 7:24). You enable those with this gift to ask for your wisdom if something is true or not. There are many gifts that you give Your children, but the greatest is the gift of salvation (Ephesians 2:8-9). We look forward to worshiping and praising you for all eternity ! Love You always! In Yeshua’s holy name and power of His resurrection. Amen

Those to whom God has given the gift of discernment have a special ability to recognize lying spirits – this gift is the Spirit’s watchdog. Some ideas that are given as scriptural and on the surface seem scriptural actually are clever counterfeits that would deceive most believers. Those with the gift of discernment are the Ruach’s inspectors, His counterfeit experts to whom He gives special insight and understanding. The gift was especially valuable in the Messianic Community (see the commentary on Acts At – Ananias and Sapphira Lie to the Ruach) because the B’rit Chadashah had not been completed. Because of the difficulty and expense of copying, for many years after its completion the Bible was not widely available. Believers with the gift of discernment were the Church’s protectors.

The gift of discernment is also especially valuable when the Church and the gospel are considered acceptable in society. When the Church is persecuted, counterfeit teachers are usually scarce because the price for being identified with the gospel is too high. They are much more likely to appear in times and in places where the gospel is considered respectable or at least tolerated. In parts of the world today, evangelism is popular and often profitable. All sorts of teachers, preachers, writers, and counselors claim to be evangelical and biblical. Although any thinking person realizes that all the ideas cannot be biblical, simply because many of them are so contradictory of each other, it is not always easy to know which are true and which are not. Most often they are a mixture. Counterfeit teachers used by Satan usually have some truth in what they say. Unfortunately, many basically sound teachers sometimes unknowingly pick up ideas from psychology, philosophy, or popular thinking that seem biblical but are not. It is the ministry of those with discernment to help separate the true from the false. Bank tellers are not trained how to recognize false currency. They are trained to recognize the real thing, so when they see false currency they recognize it immediately. Those with discernment are so gifted.

The Corinthian believers who had the gift were either not using it or were being ignored. Otherwise, the perverted ideas and practices that Paul deals with in this letter could not have flourished as they did. Discernment is the gift, along with prophecy (see Cp – The Gift of Prophecy), that Paul urged the Corinthians to use in relation to judging the use and interpretation of tongues (see Dn – Order in Public Worship). Those with discernment are to judge even those who prophesy (14:29).

Even the phrase of “the gospel” can be deceitful and misleading. When Paul and Silas began to minister in Philippi, Luke reports that once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved” (Acts 16:16-17). What the girl said was not only true, but seemed to be favorable to the gospel and those who were proclaiming it. But the purpose and motivation of what she said was exactly the opposite. The demons who controlled her meant to attack the people, and gain their trust, then ridicule and undercut God’s Word and the work of His servants. In that case, Paul could not judge by what she was saying, because the girl’s words were true. He knew she was a demonic instrument only because the Ruach Ha’Kodesh revealed the false spirit that controlled her.

False teaching can be judged by comparing it with Scripture, but false spirits can be judged only by the true Spirit’s gift of discernment. That gift may be called the Spirit’s gift of gifts, because God uses it to reveal to His Church whether or not a display of the other gifts is of Him. All imitation of the gifts is not demonic. Much of it is simply the work of the flesh, carnal believers trying to serve the Lord in their own power and for their own benefit and glory. Summarizing, it can be said that the gift of discernment is given to tell if the other gifts are merely natural imitations, or if they are demonic counterfeits. ADONAI empowers some of His children to unmask false prophets, false teachers, and carnal hypocrites. He gives them the spiritual insight to expose imitations and deceptions that most believers would take as genuine.³⁷⁵

The Gift of Prophecy
12: 10b

Prophecy, like the gifts of healing, effecting of miracles and tongues, was a temporary sign gift (Romans 12:6; First Corinthians 12:10; Ephesians 4:11). The simplest definition of the gift of prophecy is speaking on God’s behalf. There were prophets during the B’rit Chadashah; Agabus (Acts 11:27-28, 21:10-11); Anna the prophetess (Luke 2:36-38); Barnabas, Simon called Niger and Lucius the Cyrene (Acts 13:17); Judas and Silas (Acts 15:32); the four daughters of Philip who prophesied (Acts 21:9); and the apostle John who prophesied in Revelation. Prophets foretold either near historical events or far eschatological events. But, once the last book in the Bible was written, the canon of Scripture was closed and there was no need for any further revelation. The Ruach Ha’Kodesh has equipped us with everything we would need to live a victorious life (see the commentary on Hebrews, to see link click Ai – The Superiority of Messiah to the Prophets). Therefore, prophecy has ceased (13:8).

There is no continuous revelation. John declares to us: I warn everyone hearing the words of this prophecy in this book that if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues written in this book. And if anyone takes anything away from the words in the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the Tree of Life and the holy City, as described in this book (Revelation 22:18-19). Pat Robertson of the 700 Club, and many others like him have made false political prophecies. That is the rotten fruit of the “prophets” we have today. They are all charlatans. Why listen to any of them? Why continue to listen to people who have not been truthful and speak falsely? When wrong, they make excuses. Cults, like the Mormons, believe in continuing revelation. People who are referred to as “prophets” today make up the “social-justice movement,” and other political factions. To think of them as “prophets” is at best confusing, and at worst a demonic distraction.

If prophecy has not ceased then the judgments of prophets has not ceased: If a prophet presumptuously speaks a word in My Name which I didn’t order him to say, or if he speaks in the name of other gods, then that prophet must die. You may be wondering, “How are we to know if a word has not been spoken by ADONAI?” When a prophet speaks in the name of ADONAI, and the prediction does not come true – that is, the word is not fulfilled – then ADONAI did not speak that word. That [person] spoke arrogantly (Deuteronomy 18:20-22). Significantly, this passage follows on Moshe’s prediction that a prophet like me would arise, that prophet being Yeshua (Acts 3:22).

Dear Wise Heavenly Father, Praise You that you know the future as though it was a past event. Though I cannot see in the dark – You see perfectly in the dark. You discern my thinking from afar. You observe my journeying and my resting and You are familiar with all my ways. . . Even darkness is not dark for You, and night is as bright as day – darkness and light are alike (Psalms 139:2b-3, 12).

How incredibly wise of You to send Your prophets to proclaim future kingdoms hundreds of years before they come to power (Daniel 2 and 7). Thank You that Your kingdom power and rule is eternal for You will rule with Your children forever. God’s dominion is an everlasting dominion that will never pass away, and His kingdom is one that will not be destroyed . . . Then the kingdom, power, and greatness of the kingdoms under all heaven will be given to the people of the kedoshim of the Most High. Their kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions will serve and obey him (Daniel 7:14 and 27). I keep my eyes fixed on You when problems and trials come, for I trust with confidence that Your kingdom which You predicted is one-hundred percent sure and will definitely come to pass. In Yeshua’s holy name and power of His resurrection. Amen

Prophets in the Dispensation of Torah were well known . . . Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezeki’el, Dani’el, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obediah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. We have their names. If there are prophets today, who are they? What are their prophecies? Do their “prophecies” align with God’s Word? That is how we can determine which are true prophecies or false, Satanic delusions!

Because the canon of Scripture was closed at the end of the first century with the book of Revelation, we don’t need any more insights into divine mysteries, for the Bible explains what we need to know. Since teaching and preaching carry the burden to edify and exhort, there is really no need for prophecy to exist. Even Timothy was to study the Word so that he could rightly teach it (Second Timothy 2:15 and 4:2) and to read it publicly (First Timothy 4:13). Thus, the Word that Paul was most concerned with Timothy speaking and teaching was what had already been written. Some prophecy could have still been going on at this point, but once the written Word was finished, the need for it slowly diminished. This can be seen through the Scriptures. The original language in Hebrews 1:1-2 infers that when God spoke through Messiah as recorded by His servants the apostles and prophets, He spoke once for all. In other words, there will be no more revelation or prophecy until the Second Coming of Messiah. Joel indicates that prophesy will be reactivated at that time: After [the Second Coming] I will pour out My Spirit on all humanity. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions (Joel 2:28-29).

In the meantime, Messiah has spoken, and His Church has been established. Ephesians 2:20 says that the household of God, the Church, has been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Yeshua Messiah Himself being the cornerstone. Ephesians 3:5 also indicates that God revealed the mystery of Messiah and the foundation of the Church through the apostles and prophets. Thus, prophesy through the TaNaKh, prophesy through Messiah, and prophesy through the apostles and prophets in the B’rit Chadashah was all part of what we now have as God’s written and complete Word. Prophesy will happen again when Messiah returns; but until then, we need to take advantage of all that the Lord has given us in this time through His finished Word and the leading of His Spirit. God’s power has given us everything we need for life and godliness (Second Peter 1:3).    

This does not make the Church boring or dead, for we can still seek the Ruach Ha’Kodesh. ADONAI still speaks through His Word and by His Spirit to our hearts according to His Word. Scripture is alive, and our Savior is alive. See, the Word of God is alive! It is at work and is sharper than any double-edged sword – it cuts right through to where soul meets spirit and joints meet marrow, and it is quick to judge the inner reflections and attitudes of the heart (Hebrews 4:12). Life in Messiah is a living and active experience with our risen Savior as He guides us into all truth by His Spirit and works to conform us into His image (Romans 8:29). We need to pay attention to the Ruach Ha’Kodesh within our hearts, not grieving Him or quenching Him. He has plenty of ministry to do aside from prophetic ministry given that we have an entire Bible to study and learn. We need to let God’s Word dwell in us richly (Colossians 3:16) so that we can have the wisdom that we need. We can count on ADONAI to supply us with whatever wisdom that we may be lacking. Messiah is sufficient and His Word is sufficient. We truly have all that we will ever need until Yeshua returns.³⁷³

The Effecting of Miracles
12: 10a

The effecting of miracles was also a temporary sign gift. It refers to God’s power in mighty deeds. A miracle is a supernatural intrusion into the natural world and its natural laws, explainable only by divine intervention. ADONAI often leads us, or warns us by working through other believers, through ordinary circumstances, or through natural laws. These are supernatural workings of providence by God, but they are not miracles. A miracle is an act of God that is contrary to the ordinary working and laws of nature, an act that only He could accomplish by overruling nature, and that could not otherwise occur through any normal circumstances.

John tells us that Messiah’s turning water into wine was the first of Yeshua’s miraculous signs that He did in Cana of Galilee; He revealed His glory, and His apostles came to believe in Him (John 2:11). That was the purpose. The miracle was not to improve the party or to show off great power to the curious. Even with Yeshua, the working of miracles, just as the working of healing (to see link click Cn – The Gifts of Healing), was confirmation of His coming as the long awaited Messiah. Near the end of his gospel, John says: In the presence of the talmidim Yeshua performed many other miracles which have not been recorded in this book. But these have been recorded here so that you may trust that Yeshua is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by this trust you may have [eternal] life because of who He is (John 20:30-31). Yeshua performed miracles to prove that ADONAI was being revealed in Him. At Shavu’ot, Peter told the crowd to whom he was preaching: Men of Isra’el! Listen to this! Yeshua of Nazareth was a man demonstrated to you to have been from God by the powerful works, miracles and signs that God performed through Him in your presence. You yourselves know this (Acts 2:22).

Yeshua performed miracles and healed the sick for only about three-and-a half years of His ministry. Contrary to certain myths and legends that have cropped up through the centuries, the Bible indicates that Yeshua lived a quiet, normal life as a child and as a young man, exercising absolutely no supernatural powers until the wedding at Cana. As is clear from the quotation from John 2:11 above, Yeshua’s miracles began when His ministry began.

The apostles and a few other early leaders in the Messianic Community also performed miracles as confirming signs of the gospel message. In Iconium Paul and Barnabas remained for a long time, speaking boldly about the Lord, who bore witness to the message about His love and kindness enabling them to perform signs and miracles (Acts 14:3). Paul later wrote to the Corinthians, “For the signs of the apostle were performed among you in all perseverance, and in signs, and wonders, and miracles” (Second Corinthians 12:12 BLB). Miraculous signs were the mark of an apostle, authenticating the apostles’ message and work as being of the Lord. In Hebrews we read: The Good News was first declared by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him; while God also bore witness to it with various signs, wonders and miracles, and with gifts of the Ruach Ha’Kodesh which he distributed as He chose (Hebrews 2:3-4). The apostles performed miracles just like Yeshua did (see Acts Ap – Peter Heals a Lame Beggar: A Closer Look at Miracles in Acts). But even the miracles in Acts were not normative that time. They were highly unusual and only used to authenticate the message of the apostles. The early church was not a miracle working church, it had miracle working apostles. Once the apostles passed away, those authenticating miracles were no longer needed because God’s Word and the Church had been established.

But just what kind of miracles did the apostles do? Yeshua made wine, made food, walked on water with Peter, took a coin from the mouth of a fish, disappeared from a hostile crowd, and ascended into heaven in a cloud. All those miracles related to nature and done only by Him. No apostle is ever reported to have done a miracle of nature. Then, what miracles did they do? The answer is in the word for miracle (Greek: dunamis, meaning power). In fact, the term is translated power in the gospels, and is frequently connected with the casting out of demons (Lk 4:36, 6:18, 9:42). It is precisely that power, to cast out demons, that the Lord gave to the Twelve and to the seventy (Lk 9:1, 10:17-19). We have no such power today by which someone can successfully go about commanding demons to come out of unsaved people, as the apostles and the seventy did. Philip and Stephen demonstrated the effecting of miracles (Acts 6:8, 8:7). Paul used it to confirm the hand of the Lord and bring a man to faith (Acts 13:6-12). Some Jews who tried to cast out demons without the true gift were beaten up and chased out by the demons they were trying to exorcise (Acts 19:14-16).

Those miracles accompanied God’s Word only so long as He was revealing the Word. When the revelation stopped, the sign gifts stopped. B. B. Warfield (1851-1921), the great biblical theologian wrote, “These miraculous gifts were part of the credentials of the apostles, as authoritative agents of God in founding the Church. Their function confined them distinctly to the apostolic Church, and they necessarily passed away with it.”³⁷² Nothing in Scripture indicates that the miracles of the apostolic age were meant to be continuous in subsequent ages. Nor the Bible exhort believers to seek any miraculous manifestations of the Ruach Ha’Kodesh. In all the B’rit Chadashah there are only five commands relating to the believer and the Spirit.

Walk by the Spirit (Galatians 5:25)

Do not grieve the Spirit (Ephesians 4:30)

Be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18)

Do not quench the Spirit (First Thessalonians 5:19)

Pray in the Spirit (Jude 20)

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You for Your wisdom and great love, bearing our sin so we could have Your righteousness (Second Corinthians 5:21), and also caring so lovingly for the Church that was birthed from Messiah’s resurrection. Thank You for providing different gifts used for building up the body of Messiah, as each individual part produces the body’s growth, for building itself up in love (Ephesians 4:12 and 16c).

Your presence in each of Your children (Romans 8:9-10) is so helpful to guide each of Your children how they should live for you, including how to use their gift for You. Your presence also gives strength to conquer temptations and is comforting in times of trial. For I consider the sufferings of this present time not worthy to be compared with the coming glory to be revealed to us (Romans 8:18). How wonderful that we have a sure hope in heaven where our trials will all be past and we will praise You for all eternity! Thank You for being such a loving and caring Father, In Yeshua’s holy name and power of His resurrection. Amen

The Gifts of Healing
12: 9b

There is not the slightest doubt that gifts of healing existed in the Messianic Community, the early Church; Paul would never have cited them unless they were real.³⁷⁰ It is interesting to note that gifts here is plural, pointing to the fact that Paul is speaking of categories or giftedness in which there may be great variety. The gifts of healing were the first temporary sign gifts that Paul mentions in Chapter 12. And since all these gifts were in operation then, the sign gifts are not placed in a separate category. The word healing is also plural in the Greek (iamaton), emphasizing the many kinds of afflictions that needed healing. These gifts were for Messiah (Matthew 8:16-17), the apostles (Matthew 10:1), the seventy (Luke 10:1), and some associates of the apostles such as Philip (Acts 8:5-7).

God may still heal directly and miraculously, in response to the faithful prayers of His children, when consistent with His will. But no believer has the gifts of healing today. This is obvious because no one today can heal as did Yeshua or the apostles. Those who claim they have the gifts of healing today should be able to heal just like Yeshua and the apostles did. They healed with a word or a touch (Acts 9:32-35, 28:8), they healed instantly (Acts 3:2-8), they healed totally (Acts 9:34), they were able to heal anyone (Acts 5:12-16, 28:9), they healed organic disease from birth (Acts 3:2-8, 28:8) and they raised the dead. In Acts 9:36-42 we learn that Peter brought Dorcus (Tabitha) back to life. Note especially verse 42: This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord. Again, we see a healing giving credence and impact to the gospel message. In Acts 20:9-12 a young man named Eutychus died in a fall; however, Paul brought him back to life. Not every believer at that time had the gifts of healing, only Messiah, the apostles, the seventy, and some associates of the apostles such as Philip. Despite all the claims being made today, no one is exhibiting these six traits in any healing ministry. If people had this gift today, why aren’t they clearing out hospital wings?

The gifts of healing, like the other sign gifts, were temporary, given to the early Messianic Community for authenticating the apostolic message as the Word of God. The Great Commission does not include a call to heal bodies, but only to heal souls through the preaching of the gospel. It is not that God became no longer interested in our physical health and well-being, or that the Church today should have no such concern. Medicine has long been blessed by God and part of ministering to others and is one of the cutting edges of modern missions. But God’s healing work, whether through medicine or a miracle, is no longer an authenticating sign. The apostles have all died. The canon of Scripture is closed. His word has been authenticated.

As did all the others with gifts of healing, Paul used it sparingly and only for its intended purpose. It was never used solely for the purpose of bringing physical health. Paul himself had an eye disease called ophthalmia (see Acts, to see link click Bo – Paul’s Message in Pisidian Antioch), yet he never healed himself nor asked a fellow gifted believer to heal him. Paul’s dear friend and fellow worker Epaphroditus had been terribly ill and would have died but for God’s intervention. Indeed, he was ill, close to death; but God had mercy on him – and not only on him, but also on me – otherwise I would have had sorrow piled on sorrow (Philippians 2:27). God miraculously healed Epaphroditus, but if the apostle had freely exercised the gifts of healing, he would not have had to make a special plea to God. When Timothy, another co-worker, had stomach trouble and other ailments, Paul did not heal him, but rather advised him to drink some wine (First Timothy 5:23). Paul left Trophimus, still another associate, sick in Miletus (Second Timothy 4:20). Thus, he did not exercise the gifts of healing except when necessary to confirm the power of the gospel, nor to make anyone healthy.³⁷¹

In some circles there is much talk about the casting out of demons today. However, there is no casting out demons from believers. There are those who talk about “the demon of lust,” or “the demon of gluttony,” and so on. Demonic activity is real enough, but no demon ever inhabits any believer. In each instance in the Bible, when Yeshua (God in the flesh) is present, the demons flee in fear. The Bible also teaches us that God is light, and in Him, there is no darkness at all (First John 1:5). Therefore, with Messiah in you (Ephesians 1:10), neither Satan or his demons can be “in you.” Demons still try to influence believers, but if a believer has a problem with lust or gluttony, it is the old sin nature (see the commentary on Romans Cc – The Reality of the Inner Conflict) that is the problem, not demons living within.

God heals today. We should take our case directly to the Great Physician for the healing of any illness. He may choose to heal in order to accomplish some purpose of His and to show His glory. But He is under no obligation to heal, because He has made no blanket promise to heal during any age (Numbers 12:9-10; Deuteronomy 28:21-22; Second Kings 5:15-27; First Corinthians 11:30), and He no longer is authenticating His Word, because the completed Word is its own verification. It is extremely important, however, to understand that when the Lord chooses not to heal a faithful believer, it is not the result of a lack of faith on his or her behalf. Joni Eareckson Tada is a great example of this. We can rest assured that God will never leave us or abandon us (Hebrews 13:5).

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise you for your mighty power of healing. Amazing how you healed with only a word (Matthew 8:13), and you healed such a wide variety of diseases. Yeshua replied: Go report to John what you hear and see: the blind see and the lame walk, those with tzara’at are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised and the poor have good news proclaimed to them (Matthew 11:4-5). And Lord, I praise You, that You continue to heal today according to Your will. Thank you for your greatest act of healing when by your dying and rising from the dead, you healed from sin all who choose to love and to follow you. And by His wounds we are healed of our sins (Isaiah 53:5c). He made the One who knew no sin to become a sin offering on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God (Second Corinthians 5:21). We love You! In Yeshua’s holy name and power of His resurrection. Amen

The Gift of Faith
12: 9a

While it is true that Paul considers the “faith” that leads to salvation to be the work of the Ruach Ha’Kodesh in the believer’s life (see the commentary on Revelation, to see link click Cc – For We Must All Appear Before the Bema Seat of Christ), what he has in mind here is the special gift of supernatural faith that can move mountains.³⁶⁷ Those with this gift of faith have a special ability to lay claim to the promises of God. It is an unusual amount of trust in God not exercised by most believers that results in tangible results. It is a faith that looks where nothing exists and sees what can be. They are firmly persuaded of God’s power and promises to accomplish His will and purpose, and to display such a confidence in Him and His Word that circumstances and obstacles do not shake that conviction. They expect God to move and are not surprised when He answers a prayer or performs a miracle (Hebrews 11:1-40).

When Paul was sailing to Rome as a captive, the ship encountered a terrible storm. After throwing all the cargo and tackle overboard, they went for many days without food and without any relief from the storm. At the height of danger, Paul told his fellow travelers: But now, my advice to you is to take heart; because not one of you will lose his life – only the ship will be lost. For this very night, there stood next to me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve. He said: Don’t be afraid, Sha’ul! you have to stand before the Emperor. Look! God has granted you all those who are sailing with you (Acts 27:22-24). Paul’s confidence took special faith. His great faith exercised in the midst of disaster laid hold of God’s promise and brought hope and safety to everyone with him. Abraham was also strengthened by his faith (Romans 4:20).

The gift of faith is primarily expressed toward ADONAI through prayer, appealing to and trusting in God to do that which is His normal provision. Yeshua said: I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, “Move from here to there” and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you (Matthew 17:20). Paul alludes to that type of faith later in this letter: If I have all faith – enough to move mountains; but if I lack love, I am nothing (13:2). Paul was not disparaging faith but simply pointing out its emptiness without love. His phrase all faith seems to indicate that it is possessed in degrees.

On the basis of one person’s strong faith others are always helped and served. Throughout the history of the Church, thousands of believers with the gift of faith have believed in God in the face of great danger and often death. And in exercising their faith have strengthened the faith of their brothers and sisters in the Lord. Hudson Taylor believed ADONAI would win many Chinese converts through him, and without any money or support, refusing to ask for a penny of help, he began what became the great and fruitful China Inland Mission. George Muller, solely through trusting God in prayer, continually saw Him provide for his orphanage in miraculous ways. Countless missionaries have claimed tribes or nations for the Lord, and evangelists have claimed cities for the Lord, and seen Him faithfully respond to their faith. Their prayers are answered and their faith itself strengthened and multiplied.³⁶⁸

It is possible that faith stands at the head of this next grouping of gifts because they especially depend on the power of faith. Indeed, it would seem that it would not be possible to differentiate them. Healing (see Cn – The Gifts of Healing) and miracles (see Co – The Effecting of Miracles) are plainly related to faith (Matthew 16:8, 21:21; Mark 5:34, 10:52, 112; Luke 17:5-6; Acts 3:16, 27:25; Hebrews 11:29-30; James 5:15). We may also assume that the gift of discernment also takes root in faith.³⁶⁹

The Word of Knowledge
12: 8b

Paul begins with two gifts that sound very much alike, the word of wisdom (to see link click Ck – The Word of Wisdom) and the word of knowledge. The Greek word for knowledge is gnosis. As with the first term, this is Paul’s way of rescuing the Ruach’s gifting from the Corinthians’ own fascination with “knowledge” and it related pride (see Bl – Let Love Control Knowledge). The word of knowledge is a broad term, which basically refers to perceiving and understanding truths of God’s Word, especially the gift of communicating insight into the mysteries of His revelation. Those truths that could not be known apart from the Spirit’s revelation (Romans 16:25; Ephesians 3:3; Colossians 1:26, 2:2, 4:3; First Corinthians 13:2).

ADONAI gives certain believers a special ability to study His Word and discover the deeper meaning of the text and context that pastors and teachers read about in commentaries and systematic theologies. This is how the word of knowledge differs from the gift of teaching (Romans 12:7; First Corinthians 12:28; Ephesians 4:11). The person that is gifted with the word of knowledge is usually well-versed in the Scriptures and often has committed much of it to memory. They give insights into individual words and phrases and of related passages and truths, and thereby providing understanding to others. Perhaps the best insight on this is found in the phrase know all mysteries and all knowledge (13:2). The word mystery always signifies divine truth that God was hidden at some point in time. Most often it refers to truths hidden from the righteous of the TaNaKh during the Dispensation of Torah (see the commentary on Exodus Da – The Dispensation of the Torah) that have been revealed in the Dispensation of Grace (Ephesians 3:3-5). This gift is the capacity of grasping the deeper meaning of God’s Word, which is a mystery to the natural mind.

This gift is foundational for all biblical teaching and preaching, as well as for the proper exercise of counseling, leadership, wisdom and other ministries and gifts. If a person does not have the ability himself, he must rely on those who do in order to exercise his own gifts rightly. The teacher or preacher is especially dependent on knowledge, because he is commissioned to teach or preach God’s truths to others.

A believer with the gift of knowledge may be highly trained in biblical languages, history, archaeology, or theology. But another person with the same gift may have limited formal education. In either case, the ability to comprehend spiritual truth is God-given. The gifted person is supernaturally enabled not only to discover truths from the facts of Scripture but to explain and interpret those truths in order to help others understand them. As with all the other gifts, it comes in many forms and degrees. One believer may have greater ability in this one area alone, while another may have a moderate, or secondary, ability here, mixed with another, stronger, spiritual gift.

The human writers of Scripture had the gift of knowledge in a unique way. God gave them truths directly, which they recorded as part of His written Word. Since the closing of the canon of Scripture, however, the gift has not involved the receiving of new truth, but only the understanding of truth previously revealed. Anyone today who claims to have a divine revelation is a deceiver and contradicts God’s own Word, which expressly warns that if anyone adds or takes away from it will suffer the judgment of God (Revelation 22:18-19). Any word of divine knowledge or wisdom must be based on the Word of God, which was once and for all passed on to God’s people (Jude 3).³⁶⁵

First Corinthians 13:8 says the gifts of prophecy, tongues and knowledge will cease. Although knowledge appears in the same verse, it is not in the same category as prophecy or tongues, which are temporary sign gifts. Knowledge will cease when the perfect comes, which is the Eternal State (see the commentary on Revelation Fq – The Eternal State), when we will not even have the Bible. We will no longer need the written Word because we will be eternally in the presence and full comprehension of the Living Word.

Just as it is important to understand what the word of knowledge is, it is equally important to understand what it is not. What do I say to a friend who is attracted to the charismatic “word of knowledge” that can give insight into one’s future? The first question is, “Is this really true to the Bible?” It must conform to the rest of the teachings of the Word of God. There are those today that will come up to you and say, “I have a word of knowledge for you from the Lord,” and proceed to tell you things about your personal life that are supposed to happen now or in the future. I get very concerned about present day “revelations,” which, in practical terms, seem to carry more weight than the Word of God. Further, I think that godly counsel is a good source of input as to God’s will, as opposed to consulting a kind of “spiritual guru,” who tells you God’s will for your life.³⁶⁶

Dear Wise Heavenly Father, Praise You that Your wisdom is not limited to known facts. Nothing is hidden from Your all-knowing and all seeing eyes. No person no matter how clever can pull something over on You. You see thoughts. Whenever I sit down or stand up, You know it. You discern my thinking from afar (Psalms 139:2). You know what a person will say even before he knows it himself! Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, ADONAI, You know all about it (Psalms 139:4). More important and amazing is that You know the purposes of our hearts. The Lord . . . will bring to light the things hidden in darkness and also make clear the motives of the hearts (First Corinthians 4:5b). 

Rewards in heaven will not be based on what looks to the world like a great deed, but rather You will test the heart motive of the deed with fire. For no one can lay any other foundation than what is already laid – which is Yeshua the Messiah.  Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear. For the Day will show it, because it is to be revealed by fire; and the fire itself will test each one’s work – what sort it is.  If anyone’s work built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward (First Corinthians 3:11-14). Thank You for Your love which forgives those who fear You (Psalms 103:11-12) and rewards those whose hearts love You. I desire to lovingly serve You with all my thoughts, actions and money. My whole being. You are worthy! In Yeshua’s holy name and power of His resurrection. Amen

The Word of Wisdom
12: 8a

Paul begins with two gifts that sound very much alike: the word of wisdom and the word of knowledge. They apparently were of particular interest to the Corinthians. The Greek word for wisdom is sophia. Some of the Corinthians worshiped “the wisdom” of the world. In Gnosticism, a heresy in the early Christian church, Sophia is sometimes portrayed as a divine being superior to God, who reprimands God for arrogance. In other Gnostic texts, Sophia is a mischievous spirit who indirectly creates a world so evil that God has to rescue it by sending another person named Yeshua. According to these texts, Yeshua taught that we are rescued from evil and returned to God through knowledge (gnosis).

More recently, the Shakers have understood Sophia as the fourth person of the Godhead. A Russian Orthodox priest named Sergei Bulgakov has taught that Sophia is the essence of the Trinity, the glue that binds Father, Son and Holy Spirit together. Thus, Sophia has been gaining popularity in some pseudo “Christian” circles for many years. For a growing number of misguided “Christians,” Sophia is the feminine symbol of divinity desperately needed to balance the patriarchal emphasis of the Church and is worshiped as a goddess!

The gift of wisdom clearly takes us back to the problem addressed at the beginning of the letter (to see link click Am – False Wisdom vs the Good News), where on the basis of worldly “wisdom” the Corinthians were rejecting both Paul and His gospel. Indeed, in contrast to their own criterion for “spiritual” excellence, Paul says he deliberately rejected coming to them either in “wisdom” that consisted of mere rhetoric (1:17), or the eloquence of human “wisdom” (2:1 and 5). With a considerable stroke of inspiration from the Spirit, Paul now used one of their own terms to begin his list of gifts and redefines that term in light of the work of the Ruach so as to give it a significantly different context than their own.³⁶³

The word of wisdom is a broad term. The use of word (Greek: logos) indicates this is a speaking ability. In the apostolic age it may have been revelation at times. In Bri’t Chadashah, wisdom is used most often to refer to the ability to understand God’s will and to apply it obediently (Matthew 11:19 and 13:54; Mark 6:2; Luke 7:35; Acts 6:10; James 1:5, 3:13 and 17; Second Peter 3:15). Therefore, the word of wisdom is the God given ability to apply practical biblical truth to daily life situations for yourself or others. Wisdom doesn’t end with knowledge, but is expressed in transformed hearts and lives. It is an ability a counselor must have in order to apply God’s truth to the questions and problems brought to her. It is a feature of the gift that a shepherd of the flock (Ephesians 4:11), who must know, understand, and be able to apply God’s Word in order to lead his people as he should.³⁶⁴

People with this gift are able to take from their own life experiences and share what God has taught them through those things. They can easily recognize where a decision of action may lead and can warn against those that may be harmful or unfruitful. They can see through the confusion of a situation and can give direction that would help an individual or a group obtain a God-glorifying goal. The Church needs those with the word of wisdom to guide Her through uncertain or difficult times.

Dear Wise Heavenly Father, Your perfect knowledge (Job 37:16) is such a comfort! Praise You that You so generously give wisdom to some of Your children as a gift. Praise You for giving Your wisdom in many ways (Hebrews 1:1). Praise You that when wisdom is needed right away – you are only an arrow’s prayer away. How awesome it is that You, who rule the universe, always have time to listen to those with this gift and to guide their path. Thank You for having such a deep and caring heart and for generously giving Your presence and wisdom for Your Church. In Yeshua’s holy name and power of His resurrection. Amen

The Varieties of Spiritual Gifts
12: 8-11

The varieties of spiritual gifts DIG: The Ruach Ha’Kodesh distributes spiritual gifts to all believers. Why then is there such a variety of gifts? What is the ultimate purpose of spiritual gifts from God? Although there are different gifts, there is only one God. Why is that important for us to remember (Romans 12:3-8; Ephesians 4:1-13). What is your responsibility in regard to your spiritual gift? If all believers receive at least one spiritual gift, why do you think there are some who feel they have nothing to offer? How can you help other believers to identify their gift?

REFLECT: What prevents believers from using their spiritual gifts? What explanations or excuses have you heard people use about not using their gifts? In what ways can believers help one another identify their spiritual gifts? What is the one thing you could do this week to share your thoughts? What is wrong with saying that some gifts are superior to others? How can you use your gifts in a way that draws attention away from yourself and gives glory to God? How can you be challenged to serve where you worship?

After addressing the believers’ responsibilities when it comes to their freedom in Messiah, Paul turns to another problem in the Corinthian church. The believers’ public worship practices had become distorted, chaotic, and dishonoring to God. The church was so splintered, in fact, that it could function as a Body in worship. Their attitudes in the way members dressed – and especially the way they celebrated the Lord’s Supper – betrayed deep dysfunctions. In addition, their use of spiritual gifts, which should be a point of strength in the church, had become a point of weakness, confusion, and competition. Paul would now seek to step back and show his readers the big picture of God’s gifts.³⁶¹ Paul mentions nine spiritual gifts here in First Corinthians. Other lists of spiritual gifts can be found in First Corinthians 12:28-30, Romans 12:6-8 (see the commentary on Romans, to see link click Dc – Responding to the Mercies of ADONAI), Ephesians 4:8-12, and First Peter 4:11. While this list here isn’t exhaustive, it is interesting to look with a little more depth at some of the gifts that Paul mentioned.

1. To one, through the Spirit, is given a word of wisdom (to see link click Ck);

2. To another, a word of knowledge, in accordance with the same Spirit (see Cl);

3. To another, faith, by the same Spirit (see Cm);

4. And to another, gifts of healing, by the one Spirit (see Cn);

5. To another, the working of miracles (see Co);

6. To another, prophecy (see Cp);

7. To another, the ability to discern between spirits (see Cq);

8. To another, the ability to speak in different kinds of tongues (see Dm – Tongues are a Sign);

9. And to yet another, the ability to interpret tongues (see Dp – Order in Public Worship).

One and the same Spirit is at work in all these things, distributing to each person as he chooses (12:11). This verse summarizes verses 4-10. Just as he did when illustrating the differences in the nature, ministries, and effects of spiritual gifts, Paul continues to stress that each gift, though different in many ways from the others, is supernaturally and sovereignly given by one and the same Spirit. In fact, this is the fifth reference to the Ruach as the giver. He also emphasizes again that every believer (distributing to each person) is spiritually gifted. Those with gifts are not the spiritual elite, but make up the whole church, the entire Body of Messiah. All of us are gifted, and all of us are called by the Lord to minister the gifts He has supplied.³⁶²

The Source and Purpose of Spiritual Gifts
12: 4-7

The source and purpose of spiritual gifts DIG: What is the source of our spiritual gifts? What is the purpose of our spiritual gifts? How is the Trinity seen in these verses? Since the Corinthians tended towards spiritual pride, how might these verses surprise them?

REFLECT: What is the source of our spiritual gifts? What do you think is God’s purpose in giving the Church spiritual gifts? How have you seen spiritual gifts abused? What is the position on spiritual gifts where you worship? How can you best use your spiritual gift?

ADONAI is the source, and building up the Body of Messiah is the purpose of spiritual gifts.

After reminding the Corinthians of the pagan and idolatrous lives most of them had once lived, Paul gave two tests, one negative and one positive, for determining if what was being said in public worship was of the Spirit, or of the flesh (to see link click Cg – The Source and Testing of Counterfeit Spiritual Gifts). Because the Corinthian believers were behaving in response to the flesh rather than to the Spirit, they quarreled, became divisive, took each other to court, fell back to immoral and idolatrous practices, corrupted marriage relationships, abused their freedom in Messiah, and became self-centered, overconfident, and worldly. Their misunderstanding and misuse of spiritual gifts was a major result of their carnal divisiveness.

The Ruach Ha’Kodesh gives gifts (capacities for spiritual ministry) to believers to express and strengthen the unity they have in the Lord Yeshua Messiah. But misuse of those gifts shatters unity, divides believers, ruins their testimony before the world, and short-circuits their growth and effectiveness in the Lord’s service. There can be no doubt that Paul had fully instructed the Corinthians about spiritual gifts when he ministered among them for a year-and-a-half. But they had forgotten or perverted much of what he had taught. So, he now reiterated and reinforced what they already should have known.³⁵⁴

The word “Trinity” is never used in the B’rit Chadashah, but the elements which led to the early Church fathers to develop such a concept are seen in passages like this one, where Spirit, Lord and God refer respectively to the Ruach, Messiah, and the Father. There seems to be less significance in the three activities seen here – the giving of the Spirit, being served by the Lord, and the working of God (the Father) – than in the oversight of all the activities by the same God.³⁵⁵ Just as there is a unity and a diversity in the Trinity, there is also a unity (source) and a diversity in our spiritual gifts (purpose). Therefore, although we tend to talk only about gifts of the Spirit, they are fundamentally the gifts of the Trinity.

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You for Your great love! You not only forgive the sins of those who love You (Psalms 103:11-12), You also live within them (Romans 8:9-11), and are preparing an eternal home in heaven (John 14:1-6) for them! Gifts bring joy. What a comforting and joyful thought that the Trinity gives gifts to all believers to build up the community of believers. How thoughtful You are to guide the growth of Your children by giving so many different gifts and also by living within each believer to guide them how to build with that gift. Thank you for Your example of how each member of the Trinity has different functions, yet You all work perfectly together in love. May each believer follow Your example and use His gifts for the benefit of others to build them up. In Yeshua’s holy name and power of His resurrection. Amen

The Corinthians, it seems, had been disputing about the relative value of the different gifts and valued some of them, such as speaking in tongues (languages), more highly than others. In his response to those disputes, Paul deliberately lumps all the gifts together, and to describe them, he uses four different Greek words as though they were synonyms. Each of the words is used to describe all the gifts given by the Ruach for building up the community. Each of the words brings out a different characteristic of one same reality. In this passage, gifts, serving and working are all different synonyms for pneumatikon, the spiritual gifts which build up the Body of Messiah. And Spirit, Lord, and God are the one source of all the gifts.³⁵⁶

Different kinds of gifts: Now concerning spiritual (Greek: pneumatikon) gifts (12:1), there are different kinds of gifts (Greek: charismata, the word is from the same root as charis, or grace), but the same Spirit gives them (12:4). Some in the charismatic movement try to make this word apply to tongues. But this is not the case, as the word refers to all the gifts which the Ruach gives to believers. The Corinthians had evidently regarded the possession of such gifts as a matter of pride and had set one believer against another on the basis of the possession of this gift or that gift. They had created division. Paul insists that this is the wrong attitude. There are different kinds of gifts, but it is the same Spirit that gives them, and the Spirit does not fight against Himself, for God is not a God of confusion (14:33a).

Paul picks up on the problem that the Church faced, created by the seeming disparity in the nature of the gifts. Some of the gifts were quite spectacular, and those who possessed them had a tendency to be proud and show them off. Those gifts that were exercised in the context of public worship give high visibility and prominence to those who possessed them, and it is easy to see, knowing the very human tendency to put self forward, how these people might begin to think that they were more important than the others. On the other hand, some of the members were given gifts that were exercised in less dramatic ways – in a servant role, for example – and it is easy to see how because of the quiet and unseen way in which they did their part that they might wonder if their gift was important and if they were really needed in the church. This continues to be a problem in the Church today.³⁵⁷

Different ways of serving: Also, there are different ways of serving (Greek: diakonia), but it is the same Lord being served (12:5). God gives His gifts to be used in different ways. Even believers with the same basic gift may be led to display it in a variety of ways. One teacher may be especially gifted in teaching young children; another may have special ability with the original biblical languages and be highly qualified to teach in bible colleges and seminaries. One evangelist may be able to powerfully address large crowds, while another’s strength is in one-on-one witnessing. One person’s service of teaching may emphasize exhortation and doctrine, while others may focus on comfort and mercy. The emphasis here is on variety.³⁵⁸

Different modes of working: And there are different modes of working (Greek: energemata, meaning what is worked out, or energized), but it is the same God who inspires them all in everyone (12:6). The One who provides the spiritual gifts also provides the energy and power, as well as the faith (Romans 12:3b), to make them effective. Just as spiritual gifts are given supernaturally, they are also energized supernaturally. Believers, no matter how well trained and experienced, or how unselfishly motivated, cannot exercise their gifts in their own power. We may exercise our talents, skills, intelligence, and other natural abilities in our own power, but only the Giver of spiritual gifts can empower them and make them effective. Just as God gives no commands for which He does not also give the ability to obey, He does not give spiritual gifts for which He does not also give the power to use. A “self-made” believer is a self-contradiction. Such a one harms himself and he harms those to whom he tries to minister. More importantly, he harms the Lord’s work. For the third time, Paul brings out his point that there can be no division among believers on the ground of spiritual gifts because it is the same God who provides the gifts in the first place.³⁵⁹

One source and one purpose: Moreover, to each person is given the particular manifestation of the Spirit, or a spiritual gift, that will be for the common good (12:7). This is the key verse in this section, which contains three main points. First, if you are a child of God, you have a spiritual gift. This does not mean that everyone has recognized his or her gift, but it is there and ready to be used. Nor does it mean that we are limited to only one gift. People normally have one primary spiritual gift and secondly a gift that’s not quite as strong. God has a place in His Church where your specialties can shine and you can make a difference. It’s up to you to find that place.

Second, the gift(s) we have received are not for personal benefit but are for the common good. They have been given for the benefit of others. Those believers who proudly display their gifts for their own glory rather than for the glory of God are misusing their gifts. It is for this reason that Paul will shortly digress into his lengthy section on the Body of Messiah and how it should function (see Cs – Interdependence, Not Independence).

Third, these gifts are given. This is a passive voice, an example of what is known as the divine passive. These gifts are not necessarily innate abilities or occupations that we have, but specifically things that the Ruach Ha’Kodesh has given to us. There are several lists of spiritual gifts in the Bible (see Romans 12:4-8; First Corinthians 12:8-31a; Ephesians 4:8-15; and First Peter 4:10-11).³⁶⁰ They are there to guide us to the gift that has been given to us. No other gifts exist. People do not get to make up their own gifts, and that is exactly what would happen if the gifts were expanded beyond what is in the Bible. For example, a woman might say, “I am a counselor, my spiritual gift is counseling.” But counseling is nowhere to be found in the list of spiritual gifts. Counseling would be her occupation. Spiritual gifts are for the Body of Messiah. Now, it is possible for a teacher in a high school to have the gift of teaching in the church, but not all teachers have the spiritual gift of teaching. The danger of people making up their own spiritual gift outside of what the Bible describes as the gifts of the Spirit, is that they are actually deceiving themselves and are not really ministering to other believers. This cannot be stressed enough; you cannot add more spiritual gifts than are written in Scripture. For the inspired author himself would write: I warn everyone hearing the words of the prophecy of this book that if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues written in this book (Revelation 22:18).

Unwrapping Your Spiritual Gifts
12: 4-26

ADONAI gives every believer spiritual gifts to be used in ministry (Romans 12:4-8; First Corinthians 12:8-31a; Ephesians 4:8-15; and First Peter 4:10-11). These are special God-empowered abilities for serving Him that are given only to believers. The Bible says: Whoever does not have the Spirit cannot receive the gifts that come from God’s Spirit (2:14 TEV).

You can’t earn your spiritual gifts or deserve them – that’s why they are called gifts! They are an expression of God’s grace to you. Messiah has generously divided out his gift to us (Ephesians 4:7 CEV). Neither do you get to choose which gifts you’d like to have; the Ruach Ha’Kodesh determines that. Paul explained: It is the one and only Holy Spirit who distributes these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have (12:11). Most people have one dominant spiritual gift and a lesser, or secondary spiritual gift. Because God loves variety and He wants us to be special, no single gift is given to everyone (12:29-30). Also, no individual receives all the gifts. If you had them all, you’d have no need for anyone else, and that would defeat one of God’s purposes – to teach us to love and depend on each other.

Your spiritual gifts were not given for your own benefit, but the benefit of others, just as other people were given gifts for your benefit. The Bible says: A spiritual gift is given to each of us as a means of helping the church (12:7 NLT). God planned it this way so we would need each other. When we use our gifts together, we all benefit. If others don’t use their gifts, you get cheated, and if you don’t use your gift, they get cheated. This is why we’re commanded to discover and develop our spiritual gifts. Have you taken the time to discover your spiritual gifts? An unopened gift is worthless!

Whenever we forget these basic truths about gifts, it always causes trouble in the congregation. Two common problems are “gift-envy” and “gift-projection.” The first occurs when we compare our gifts with others’, feel dissatisfied with what God gave us, and become resentful or jealous of how God uses others. The second problem happens when we expect everyone else to have our gifts, do what we are called to do, and feel as passionate about it as we do. The Bible says: There are different kinds of service in the Church, but it is the same Lord we are serving (12:5 NLT).³⁵³

The Source and Testing
of Counterfeit Spiritual Gifts
12: 1-3

The source and testing of counterfeit spiritual gifts DIG: Why is the content rather than the experience of the speech the most important? How is the diversity of gifts related to the unity of the Father, Son and Spirit? How can you tell if a teaching or practice is from God or a counterfeit? Why is there no new revelation for believers today?

REFLECT: As far as being “led astray” by idols, what are some modern-day idols? Can a man’s job be an idol? Can a woman’s family be an idol? What other seemingly innocent idols lead people astray today? Sports? Money? Hobbies? How is your ability to discern between what is of God and what is of Satan? Have you ever been fooled? What is the remedy?

Satan will try to counterfeit the Spirit’s gifts, and he will try to induce believers to ignore, neglect, misunderstand, abuse, and pervert them, so Paul’s teaching here is critical.

Paul begins with the importance of a clear recognition of the lordship of Messiah. There are many spiritual gifts and they all bring glory to Messiah. They never oppose Him. Paul wanted to make sure the Corinthians had a clear and complete understanding of their spiritual gifts, the special ministry that the Spirit gives in some measure to all believers. The Church, made up of Jewish and Gentile believers, cannot function, and certainly not mature, without properly and faithfully using the gifts the Spirit gives to His people for ministry.

The importance of spiritual gifts: Paul wanted the Corinthians to understand there are also counterfeit gifts, so he wrote to them saying: Now concerning spiritual [gifts], brothers, I do not want you to go on being ignorant (12:1). With the phrase now concerning (Greek: peri de), Paul again cues his readers that he is taking up a new topic. In this case, it signals that the topic comes from the Corinthians’ letter to him (7:1 and 25, 8:1).³⁴⁹ Notice the affectionate address of brothers, introducing a section where there would be much rebuke.³⁵⁰ The Corinthians were not acting very spiritual, but they still belonged to Messiah.

The source of counterfeit spiritual gifts: Paul starts his instruction by reminding the Corinthians of their pagan past, before they had experienced the Spirit’s power in their lives, saying: You know that when you were pagans (see the commentary on Romans, to see link click An – The Deprived Mind of the Pagan Gentile). Paul has already called them brothers, so we know that he was addressing Gentile believers. However, they were not acting like believers, they were acting like pagans, and one of the chief characteristics of most pagan religions was, and still is, idolatry. No matter how you felt before being saved, you were being led astray (Greek: apago, often used of prisoners being under armed guard to prison or execution). Therefore, some of the Corinthian believers, like drug addicts who can’t kick the habit, were reverting back to idolatry (12:a).

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You for being our Almighty God! Thank You that You live in Your children. Yeshua answered and said to him: If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our dwelling with him (John 14:23). What a comfort that You always are with Your children, giving us the ability to win battles against sin, by the power of your Ruach Ha’Kodesh living within us. After you heard the message of truth – the Good News of your salvation – and when you put your trust in Him, you were sealed with the promised Ruach Ha’Kodesh (Eph 1:13). Addictions to sin are strong, but You are always stronger!

Thank you for Your powerful Ruach Ha’Kodesh never leaving me but always being the strength needed to win any battle. Thank you that the Ruach Ha’Kodesh cannot be bought with money or with good deeds but You give Him to all who love You.  You chose us in the Messiah. . . You predestined us for adoption as sons and daughters through Messiah Yeshua, in Whom we have redemption (Ephesians 1:4a, 5a, 7a). It is all about You dear Father God. We cannot begin to comprehend Your great power to create the world in the beginning and at the end your awesome power to win the battle against all the evil kings and satanic powers in this world (Revelation 19). Just as Yeshua will come riding in victoriously on a white horse at the last battle – so Your children can be victorious over any sin as long as we rely on Your Ruach Ha’Kodesh to fight the battle. We love You for being such a wonderful Father! In Your holy Son’s name and power of His resurrection. Amen

One of the most common misconceptions about the ungodly lifestyle – a misconception held by many immature believers – is that it is free of boundaries, in contrast to a godly lifestyle, which they believe is hemmed in by rigid restrictions. However, as Paul teaches in this passage, just the opposite is true. It is the unbeliever, or the carnal believer, who is held captive by sin and by Satan. Before conversion, when the Corinthian believers were pagans, they had no choice. But here, Paul skillfully reminds them that now they do have a choice, and he pleads with them to allow the Spirit to lead them rather than their old sin nature (see the commentary on Romans Bm – The Consequences of Adam).

Paul reminded them: “You were led astray by idols, which can’t speak at all” (see the commentary on Isaiah Hy – Worship the LORD, Not Idols). Paul is not referring to unintelligent speech, but speechless, literally without voice (12:2b). No idol, primitive or sophisticated, can answer a person’s questions, give any revelation, assure anyone of their faith, forgive sin, or give anyone dignity, meaning, or peace. Whether or not a demon is behind it (see Bs – The Truth About Idolatry), an idol is totally helpless to benefit anyone who worships it. Tragically, many of the Corinthian believers had fallen back into some of their old idolatrous practices. They could no longer distinguish the work of God’s Spirit from that of demonic spirits; God’s true spiritual gifts from Satan’s counterfeits, or the true worship of God from the perverted false worship of idols.³⁵¹

The test of spiritual gifts: Satan spends a lot of time in church. Nowhere is he more anxious to pervert God’s people than where they are worshiping. Some immature, baby believers, apparently became so fleshly and confused, and their worship so trance-like and frenzied, that in a state of ecstasy (see Ce – The Pagan Backgrounds of Counterfeit Spiritual Gifts), they even allowed themselves to curse the Lord during public worship. In that hysterical atmosphere anything might happen and be claimed to be the work of the Spirit. Therefore, Paul rebuked the entire congregation for allowing such ungodliness, and for being so confused about what was spiritual and what was demonic. Before Paul begins his discussion of the various spiritual gifts and their use, he gives two principles, one negative and one positive to help the Corinthians and us determine what comes from God and what does not. These are the first of several tests the apostle mentions in Chapters 12-14.

The negative test: The first test of a spiritual gift is doctrinal. If a person holds a derogatory view of Jesus Christ, then what he or she says or does is not of God. Therefore, I want to make it clear to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says, “Jesus is cursed (Greek: anathema)!” The word anathema is similar to the Hebrew word cherem, meaning devoted to destruction. Those who were babbling: Jesus is cursed, claimed to be speaking by the Spirit of God, demonstrating the gift of prophecy or teaching. But Paul told the Corinthians that no such blasphemy could possibly be uttered by the Holy Spirit. Nothing should have been more logical or obvious, but the Corinthians had come to judge that nature and use of spiritual gifts on the basis of experience and feelings of ecstasy. Nowhere in Scripture do we see real gifts of the Spirit operating when someone is out of control or under some sort of supernatural seizure. Nowhere does the B’rit Chadashah teach that the Spirit of God causes believers to fall into a trance, faint, or lapse into ecstatic behavior. On the contrary, the fruit of the Spirit is self-control (see the commentary on Galatians Ce – The Fruit of the Ruach is Self-Control). Therefore, get your minds ready for work, keep yourselves under control, and fix your hopes fully on the gift you will receive when Jesus Christ is revealed (First Peter 1:13).³⁵²

Even today, new immature believers, coming out of the world (First John 2:15-17), far too often fall back into worldly behaviors we cannot fathom. They sin up a storm. They ask questions like, “Is it OK if I am living with my girlfriend?” What? Of course not! But babies make messes don’t they. And that is what baby believers do when they fall back into the world from which they came. Sanctification takes a lifetime (Romans (8:29b).

The positive test: The second test is also doctrinal, but is simply the reverse side of the negative. Paul declares that the Holy Spirit empowers those who say, “Jesus is Lord” (12:3). Of course, Paul is speaking of a sincere confession. A sneering unbeliever may easily mouth the words, but he is not sincere. Paul reminds the Corinthians that since the confession of our faith is Jesus is Lord (Romans 10:9), anything contrary to this could not possibly be motivated by the Spirit of God, and thus, counterfeit. Paul is simply using this dramatic example of cursing Jesus to emphasize that those who are inspired by the Spirit will speak and act in ways that glorify the lordship of Jesus.

The Unity and Diversity of Spiritual Gifts
12: 1-31a

Just when you think that Paul has run out of things which unite the Church, he reaches back into his seemingly limitless resources and brings out yet another – the gifts that the Ruach Ha’Kodesh gives to every believer. This particular chapter can be of great help to believers today in their effort to build unity within their fellowship – unity through diversity. We go to an athletic event where there are several players on one team. And while they have different positions to play and different skills, that very fact is the source of their unity and the thing that makes it possible for them to play the game. The same is true when we go to the symphony. There is a great variety in the instruments played and the skills required of the musicians, but all those instruments and all those different musicians create a musical unity as they play their songs and perform their concert.

But often in the Church we have a tendency to seek unity in conformity. Rather than encouraging each person’s uniqueness we often discourage it. In the congregations of God, far too often this quest for uniformity is not satisfied with loyalty to the pastor and staff and faithfulness to all the ministries, but often there is an effort to get all the members to think alike on all issues. Where there is a certain short-term efficiency in any authoritarian approach to leadership, in the long run, it is self-defeating because it does not recognize the giftedness of each member of the congregation. The kind of unity God wants comes from the exercising of those gifts. As Paul writes to the Corinthians about their gifts, we can learn from his letter valuable lessons for ourselves and for the place where we worship.³⁴⁸

The Pagan Background
of Counterfeit Spiritual Gifts

Pagan backgrounds: As related in his commentary on First Corinthians, John MacArthur teaches that the pagan cults of Greece and Rome were part of what are commonly called the mystery religions. By Paul’s time they had dominated the near eastern world for thousands of years and indirectly would dominate much of western culture through the Middle Ages and, to some extent, even today.

These mystery religions had many forms and variations, but one common source. In his vision on the island of Patmos, John was shown the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, on whose forehead a name was written, a mystery, “Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and of the abominations of the earth (Revelation 17: 1 and 5 NASB). Here, the Lord pictures His judgment of world religion. Before the Great Tribulation begins, the true Church will have already been raptured (see the commentary on Revelation, to see link click By – The Rapture of the Church), and by the second half of the Great Tribulation the world will begin to establish a religion of its own that will be truly universal. It will embrace all the world’s false religions, which will give their power and authority to the beast, the antichrist (Revelation 17:13). The final form of that all-powerful, universal religion will represent the completion of the mystery religions that historically originated in ancient Babylon.

In its organized form, false religion started with the Tower of Babel, from which Babylon derives its name. Cain was the first false worshiper, and many people have followed after his example. But organized pagan religion began with the descendants of Ham, and one of Noah’s three sons, who decided to erect a great monument that would reach into heaven and make themselves a great name (see the commentary on Genesis Dm – Let Us Build a City and Make a Name for Ourselves). Under the leadership of the apostate Nimrod they planned to storm heaven and unify their power and prestige in a great worldwide system of worship. That was man’s first counterfeit religion, from which every other false religion has emerged.

God’s judgment frustrated their primary purpose of making a grand demonstration of humanistic unity. By confusing their language, they did not understand one another’s speech. So, from there ADONAI scattered them all over the earth, and they stopped building the city. For this reason, it is called Babel [confusion] – because there ADONAI confused the language of the whole earth, and from there ADONAI scattered them all over the earth (Genesis 11:7-9), thus halting the building of the Tower and fractured their solidarity. But those people took with them the seeds of that false, idolatrous religion, seeds that they and their descendants have been planting throughout the world ever since. The ideas and forms were altered, adapted, and sometimes made more sophisticated, but the basic system remained, and remains, unchanged. That is why Babel, or Babylon, is called the mother of prostitutes and of the abominations of the earth (Revelation 17:5 NIV). She was, and is, the mother of all false religions.

From various ancient sources, it seems that Nimrod’s wife, Semiramis (the First), apparently was high priestess of the Babel religion and the founder of all mystery religions. After the Tower was destroyed and the multiplicity of languages developed, she was worshiped as a goddess under many different names. She became Ishtar of Syria, Astarte of Phoenicia, Isis of Egypt, Aphrodite of Greece, and Venus of Rome – in each case the deity of sexual love and fertility. Her son Tammuz, also came to be deified under various names and was the companion of Ishtar and god of the underworld.

According to the cult of Ishtar, Tammuz was considered a sunbeam, a counterfeit version of Yeshua’s virgin birth. Tammuz was called Ba’al in Phoenicia, Osiris in Egypt, Eros in Egypt, and Cupid in Rome. In every case, the worship of those gods and goddesses was associated with sexual immorality. The celebration of Lent is not Scriptural, but developed from the pagan celebration of Semiramis’ mourning for forty days over the death of Tammuz (Ezeki’el 8:14) before his alleged resurrection, another one of Satan’s mythical counterfeits.

The mystery religions originated the idea of baptismal regeneration, being born again merely through the rite of water baptism, and the practice of mutilation and beating oneself to atone for sins or gain spiritual favor. They also began the custom of pilgrimages, which many religions follow today, and the paying money for the forgiveness of sins for oneself and for others.³⁴⁵ In the Catholic church, for example, purgatory is supposed to be under the special jurisdiction of the pope, and it is his prerogative as the representative of Christ on earth to grant indulgences (in other words, relief from suffering) as he sees fit. This power, it is claimed, can be exercised directly by the pope to alleviate, shorten, or terminate sufferings, and within limits it is also exercised by the priests as representatives of the pope.³⁴⁶ The Catholic church teaches that a person can shorten a loved ones time in purgatory by paying indulgences.

Several pagan practices were especially influential in the church at Corinth. Perhaps most important, and certainly the most obvious, was that of ecstasy, considered to be the highest expression of religious experience. Because it seemed supernatural and because it was dramatic and often bizarre, the practice strongly appealed to the sin nature of mankind (see the commentary on Romans Cd – The Reason for the Inner Conflict). And because the Ruach Ha’Kodesh had performed many miraculous signs in the apostolic age when God was establishing His Church, some of the Corinthian believers confused those true wonders with the false signs counterfeited in the ecstasies of paganism.

Ecstasy (Greek: ekstasis, a term not used in Scripture) was held to be a supernatural, sensuous communion with the deity. Through frenzied hypnotic chants and ceremonies, worshipers experienced semiconscious euphoric feelings of oneness with the god or goddess Often the ceremony would be preceded by vigils and fasting, and would even include drunkenness (Ephesians 5:18). Contemplation of sacred objects, whirling dances, fragrant incense, chants, and other such physical and psychological stimuli usually were used to introduce the ecstasy, which would be in the form of an out-of-body trance or an unrestrained sexual orgy. The trance is reflected in some forms of Hindu yoga, in which a person becomes insensitive to pain, and in the Buddhist goal of escaping to Nirvana, the divine nothingness. Sexual ecstasies were common in many ancient religions and were so much associated with Corinth that the term Corinthianize meant to indulge in extreme sexual immorality. The pagan temple dedicated to Bacchus still stands in the ruins of Baalbek (in modern Lebanon) as a witness to the debauchery of the mystery religions.

The situation in Corinth: B’rit Chadashah Corinth was filled with priests, priestesses, religious prostitutes, soothsayers, and diviners of the mystery religions who claimed to represent a god or gods and to have supernatural powers that provided their claims. Unbelievably, some of their dramatic and bizarre practices were mirrored in the church.

The Corinthians knew of the prophet Joel’s prediction: After this, I will pour out my Spirit on all humanity. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions; and also on male and female slaves in those days I will pour out my Spirit (Joel 2:28-29). They also knew that Yeshua had said that the coming of the Ruach Ha’Kodesh would be accompanied by amazing signs and events (Mark 16:17). Perhaps they might have even heard firsthand from Peter of the miraculous events at Shavu’ot, with the tongues of fire and speaking in other languages (see the commentary on Acts Al – The Ruach Ha’Kodesh Comes at Shavu’ot). Perhaps they were so determined to experience those wonders that they tried to manufacture them.

First Corinthians was one of the earliest written letters (see the commentary on Galatians Ae – Dates of Books in the B’rit Chadashah). Yet even in a short period of time, Satan had begun to confuse believers about many doctrines, practices, and signs. The pure water of the truth of ADONAI was being muddied, and nowhere more than Corinth. The father of lies began to passionately counterfeit the gospel and its wonders, and the gullible, worldly, self-centered, thrill-seeking Corinthians with their pagan backgrounds, ate it up.

People do not counterfeit what is not valuable. The Deceiver counterfeits the Spirit’s gifts because he knows they are so valuable to God’s plan. If the Evil One can get God’s people to become confused about or abusive of those gifts, he can undermine and corrupt the worship and ministry of the Church. Counterfeit gifts, whether through false manifestations or through misguided and selfish use, poison the Church and make it weak and ineffective.

One of the chief evidence of the spiritual immaturity of the Corinthian believers was a lack of discernment. If an occult practice seemed to have supernatural effect, they assumed it was of God. If a priest or soothsayer performed a miracle, they assumed it was by God’s power. Like many believers today, they believed that if something seems to “work” it must be right and good. Some of the believers there, however, realized that the confusion, division, and immoral practices that characterized many of the Corinthian church members could not be of God. They asked Paul to tell them how to determine what was of the Ruach and what was some other kind of spirit. The apostle John would later write: Dear friends, don’t trust every spirit. On the contrary, test the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world (First John 4:1).³⁴⁷

Spiritual Gifts During Worship
12:1 to 14:40

For a considerable time now (Chapters 8 through 11) Paul has been dealing with matters related to worship. In the opening argument (to see link click Bj – Concerning Our Freedom in Messiah), despite their protests to the contrary, he absolutely forbid the Corinthian believers to participate in temple meals where meat was sacrificed to idols – partly on the basis of their own sacred meal, the Lord’s Supper. That is followed by three distinct issues involving their own gatherings for worship. The first involved head coverings in public worship (see Bv – Head Coverings in Worship), the second centered on the Lord’s Supper (see By – Issues Surrounding the Lord’s Supper). The present section is the third of these issues. It is also probably the most important from Paul’s point of view because here, in particular, the differences between the apostle and the Corinthians come to a head, especially over gifts of the Spirit. That seems to be the reason for the close relationship between these chapters and the final issue – the future bodily resurrection of believers (see Dq – The Resurrection of the Dead). Together, these final two matters, Spiritual gifts and bodily resurrection, bring the letter to a fitting climax.³⁴³

The Answer: Wait for Each Other
11: 33-34

The answer: wait for each other DIG: Why does the phrase, “Wait for each other,” get at the heart of what Paul was saying? What changes did Paul call on the Corinthians to make in their observance of the Lord’s Supper? Why wasn’t merely “waiting” enough? Why were the Corinthians under divine judgment? What was the simple remedy for that judgment?

REFLECT: Who are the “haves” and the “have-nots” where you worship? What can you do to bring them together? What have you done for a “have-not” lately? How can you help someone this week? What in Paul’s instructions on the Lord’s Supper do you need to take to heart? What unfinished business would Yeshua come personally to talk to you about?

Only by “the haves” sharing their food and fellowship, could they ease the acute embarrassment of “the have-nots” and capture the spirit of Yeshua’s sacrifice.

Paul is ready to wrap up this discussion and move on to another topic. His words here bring a brotherly touch at the end, but at the same time shows in what spirit Paul was writing throughout. So then, my brothers, when you gather together (Greek: synerchomenoi) points us back to the verb used in 11:17-18 to open this discussion, and serves to bracket this unit (to see link click By – Issues Surrounding the Lord’s Supper). When you gather together to eat at the fellowship (Greek: agape) meal, wait for one another (11:33). This seems to get at the heart of things. Just as “the ground is level at the foot of the cross,” so it must be level when it comes to sharing at the Lord’s Supper. Paul’s conclusion was clear: the Corinthians were to wait for everyone to arrive before they began eating.

The agape feast went like this: The “haves” provided everything that was needed, the “have-nots” brought what they could, and the slaves probably brought nothing at all. The agape feast did not take place like an ordinary meal as we know of today where people eat to satisfy their hunger. Its purpose was to reveal the congregation as a loving, united Body. The fitting climax was the celebration of the Lord’s Supper.³⁴⁰

But the problem was not so easily solved because the “have-nots” brought barely anything, and what they did bring, the “haves” probably wouldn’t want to eat anyway. So, the problem of sharing would not be solved simply by the early arrivals waiting for them to show up. If everyone was to wait before unpacking their own food basket, it stands to reason that the contents of these should have been shared on common platters. Otherwise, the waiting, which was supposed to prevent some from remaining hungry, would be useless. Even if Paul meant wait until everyone showed up, it still would necessitate sharing. But that is exactly what was not happening. So only by the “haves” sharing their food, could they ease the acute embarrassment of the “have-nots” (see Bz – The Problem: The Abuse of the Poor) and capture the spirit of Yeshua’s sacrifice.

If the “haves” come only to fill their belly, the Lord’s Supper was not the place to do it. But to say that they should celebrate the Lord’s Supper in their own homes misses the entire point. Paul does not believe that the “haves” can retreat from the demands of the gospel in their own homes. This command to eat at home connects with Paul’s first warning that they did more harm than good when they gathered together (11:17). If they were intent only on indulging their appetites, then they should stay at home and not even show up at all (11:34a). If the agape feast was to be meaningful, it had to be an expression of real fellowship.³⁴¹

That real fellowship was Paul’s intent is supported by the fact that he warned “the haves” regarding their behavior: So that when you meet together it will not result in judgment (11:34:b). This picked up on the “judgment” motif in 11:28-32. Yes, they were meeting together to eat the Lord’s Supper, but in doing so they were “devouring” their own private meals with their privileged portions and thereby humiliating those who barely had anything. Therefore, because they had treated the Lord’s Supper so badly, neither proclaiming the salvation for which His meal is intended, nor honoring the “have-nots” who are a part of His Body, they were presently experiencing divine judgment. The remedy was simple. When they gathered together to celebrate the Lord’s Supper, welcome everyone with true fellowship.

As for the other matters, Paul would instruct the Corinthians more about them when he returned personally to Corinth (see Ea – Doing God’s Work) (11:34c). How much we are left in the dark because Paul was not writing first of all to us! Indeed, it is not possible even to know what the other matters refer to. The Lord’s Supper? Traditions that were being kept but requiring further instruction? Relationships between the “haves” and the “have-nots?” We simply don’t know. What a sentence like this does, is to remind us of how little we really do know, and to teach us to be grateful for what we have received – even if it had to be at the expense of some unfortunate abuses in the church at Corinth.³⁴²

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You for Your excellent example of sharing Your righteousness with those who love You. He made the One who knew no sin to become a sin offering on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God (Second Corinthians 5:21).Thank You for Your sure gift of righteousness for all who love You. Thank You for Moses’ example of keeping his eyes on the future rather than being caught up in treasures that would soon pass away. He considered the disgrace of Messiah as greater riches than the treasures of Egypt – because he was looking ahead to the reward (Hebrews 11:26).

Thank you for the example of the Messiah’s communities in Macedonia – that in much testing by affliction, the abundance of their joy and their extreme poverty overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part (Second Corinthians 81c-2). Often it is much easier to look at those who have more than we do and so we want to keep what we have; but if we look thru Your eyes that see everywhere, we will see brothers and sisters in Messiah who have much less than we do. Please help us to remember always that this world and its treasures are but a blink – while the treasures we will get as we share what You have given us, will last for all eternity! We love to please You in our sharing! Thank You for Your sharing. In Yeshua’s holy name and power of His resurrection. Amen

The Answer: Honor the Body
11: 27-32

The answer: honor the Body DIG: What does it mean to honor the Body? How would honoring the Body of believers honor the Body of Messiah? How might a person approach the Lord’s Supper in “an unworthy manner?” What should happen before partaking of the Supper?

REFLECT: What actions do you personally take to safeguard against abusing or ignoring the observance of the Lord’s Supper? What might one do to properly observe the Lord’s Supper? What in Paul’s instructions on the Lord’s Supper do you need to take to heart?

By honoring the Body of believers, the Corinthians would be honoring the Body of Messiah.

Having told the story of the Last Supper, Paul is now ready to draw its lessons for the Corinthians. The way they participated in the Lord’s Supper actually dishonored Him in two ways. First, the “haves” had been abusing the “have-nots” by going ahead with their own private suppers (to see link click Bz – The Problem: The Abuse of the Poor). Second, they had thereby been abusing the Lord Himself by not properly “remembering” Him (see Ca – The Problem: The Abuse of the Lord), especially in terms of the salvation He had paid for through His death, which was intended to make them one, not divided, as their current version of the Supper did. Paul’s purpose here was to correct the first abuse by warning them of the dire consequences they would face if they persisted in behavior at the Lord’s Supper that exposed their failure to understand its true nature and purpose.³³³

Therefore, whoever eats the Lord’s bread or drinks the Lord’s cup of redemption (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Kk – The Third Cup of Redemption) in an unworthy manner (11:27a). The verb unworthy manner (Greek: anaxios, meaning of unequal weights) refers to the drawing up of weights and thus signifies unequal weight, one side of the scales rising high, the other dropping low. The context demands that the side of the scales which holds the bread and the wine drops down because of its weight, while the side that holds the Corinthians attitude rises up because of its lack of weight. Then scales of the Lord’s Supper are uneven. The unworthiness of the Corinthians participation in the Lord’s Supper has already been made plain and Paul will continue to do so.³³⁴

Will be guilty (Greek: enochos, meaning liable) of desecrating the body and blood of the Lord (11:27b)! While this is Paul’s only use of the word enochos, it is used elsewhere primarily as a judicial word meaning guilt before the law. Both Matthew and Mark use the word with respect to the Jewish authorities’ agreement that Yeshua was guilty of death (Matthew 26:66; Mark 14:64). Yeshua used the word in the Sermon on the Mount of believers’ being subject to judgment (Matthew 5:22), and James insists that whoever stumbles on one point of the whole Torah, has become guilty of breaking all of the 613 mitzvot (James 2:10). Therefore, those who participate in the Lord’s supper without properly thinking of what it means in relationship to the crucified Lord and in the context of fellow believers, will have to answer to Ha’Shem for their actions.³³⁵

Paul didn’t say that we had to be worthy to partake of the Lord’s Supper, but only that we should partake in a worthy manner. The Corinthians had turned the Lord’s Supper into a hypocritical farce that heaped scorn upon the crucifixion of their Lord and His sacrifice for their sins.³³⁶ Paul’s concern was not with the bread and the wine themselves, but with how through them, the participants together remembered their Messiah.

Paul gives three key tests to determine whether one is eating worthily:

The first test: All are to examine themselves: Paul is serious when he says: So, let a person examine himself first, and then he may eat of the bread and drink from the cup (11:28). Every time we come to the Lord’s Supper; therefore, we should examine ourselves, looking honestly at our hearts for anything that should not be there and sifting out evil. Our motives, our attitudes toward the Lord, His Word, His people, and toward the Supper itself should all come under private scrutiny before Yeshua Messiah. The Lord’s Supper thus becomes a special place for the purifying of the Body.³³⁷

The second test: All were to honor their brothers and sisters in Messiah: By emphasizing the differences between the “haves” and the “have-nots” they humiliated their brothers and sisters in Messiah, His Body. Since they took the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner, it was no longer the Lord’s Supper. They needed to recognize all the believers in Corinth, rich and poor, were joined together in Messiah to share equally in His blessings and should be honored as such.

The third test: All were to honor the Body of Messiah: Humiliating fellow believers in the Body of Messiah at the Lord’s Supper was, in effect, an offense against the body and blood of the Lord. This responds to the second problem (see By – Issues Surrounding the Lord’s Supper). For if you eat the bread or drink the cup without honoring (Greek: diakrinon, meaning to distinguish or judge properly) the body of Messiah, you are eating and drinking God’s judgment (Greek: krima) upon yourself (11:29 NLT). The great difference in Paul’s use here of krima (judgment) and katakrima (condemned) is seen in 11:32, where it is clear that krima refers to discipline of the saved and katakrima refers to condemnation of the lost.

To come unworthily to the Lord’s Supper does not simply dishonor the ceremony, it dishonors the One in whose honor it is celebrated. The Corinthians had utterly destroyed the sanctity of the Lord’s Supper. Paul now states what eating and drinking a judgment really means; he does it by pointing to the judgment which had already begun among them. Perhaps the Corinthians were wondering about these afflictions. Paul gave them an explanation: A number of them had not observed the Lord’s Supper properly and paid a price for it.

This is why many among you are weak and sick, and some have died (11:30)! This took place even though some of the Corinthians had the gift of healing (see Cn – The Gift of Healings). This does not imply losing one’s salvation (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ms – The Eternal Salvation of the Believer), but physical death. The Lord will not have His good name and reputation dragged through the mud. Sin can lead to sickness or even death (5:5). One does not get the impression that death was a common occurrence, but instead they were disciplined. For this argument to have any force behind it, one would assure that the readers could readily identify those who were sick or who had died as guilty of despising and humiliating their brothers and sisters at the Lord’s Supper.³³⁸

Paul offers a means of escape from such judgment. If we would examine ourselves, we would not come under judgment (11:31). On the one hand, there is no Scriptural support that the Lord’s Supper will heal the sick; the bread and wine are not good-luck charms, nor do they serve as medications. On the other hand, the bread and wine do not act as a poison which makes the unworthy people sick or kills them. It is the sin of failing these three tests that brings on judgment. Neither does Paul say that the penalty of this unworthiness is invariably physical sickness or untimely death. The Lord alone decides what the judgment would be.

But when we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined (see the commentary on Hebrews Cz – God Disciplines His Children), so that we will not be condemned (Greek: katakrima) along with the world (11:32). Thus, the Lord’s judgments which He visits upon believers for the serious sins they commit are evidences of His Fatherly love and not of His damning wrath; in the case of unbelievers, however, the judgments which He visits on them in this life are merely the advance indications of His final consuming wrath.³³⁹

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You for being such a wonderful Father! You not only give Your righteousness to those who love You (Second Corinthians 5:21) and put their sins as far as the East is from the West (Psalms 103:12); You also lovingly guide and discipline Your children for their eternal good. ADONAI disciplines the one He loves. . .  Now all discipline seems painful at the moment – not joyful. But later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it (Hebrews 12:6b, 11).

Though discipline is never enjoyed, the fruitful outcome of godly discipline will last for all eternity. To be wisely disciplined and learn the lesson on earth, is so better than getting to an eternal heaven and find we had been on some unwise path. Thank You, Father, for always having time to walk with Your children, even in trials (First Peter 1:6-7) and in discipline to mold us to be more godly, like You in Your awesome patient and wise character! In Yeshua’s holy name and power of His resurrection. Amen

The Problem: The Abuse of the Lord
11: 23-26

The problem: the abuse of the Lord DIG: How did the plural “you” in these verses confront the selfish individualism of the Corinthians that Paul was addressing? What are we to look back on? What are we to look forward to? What does it mean to examine ourselves?

REFLECT: What must we do to prepare our hearts for participation in the Lord’s Supper? How can the Lord’s Supper be a means of sharing the Gospel with others? How does observing the Lord’s Supper give a believer confidence in his or her salvation?

The Lord’s Supper is a visible sermon that proclaims the message of the cross.

Some call it Communion, the Lord’s Supper, or the Eucharist. Call it what you will, it is a reminder of Yeshua’s Last Passover on earth with His apostles (see the commentary on The Life of Christ, to see link click Kd – The Last Passover in the Upper Room) before His arrest, tails, and execution. He then made clear His intention that the Church should remember His death on the cross with the bread and the wine, thereby remembering His sacrifice for us. From its inception in Acts 2 to the present day, the Body of Messiah around the world have regularly participated in this beautiful memorial. Thus, we can understand how horrifying it must have been for Paul to receive a report that this singularly spiritual memorial had, along with everything else in the church in Corinth, been so corrupted by the believers there.³²⁴

The Lord’s Supper is rooted in history (11:23): For what I received from the Lord is just what I passed on to you (Greek: paradidomi) – that the Lord Yeshua, on the night he was betrayed, He took bread (11:23). The Greek has a wordplay not effectively brought out into English. The word translated betrayed is also a form of paradidomi. Yeshua, on the night he was passed on [to the authorities]. Paul contrasts himself with the Corinthians. What they had received from him was different from what they were then practicing in Corinth. To address the problem, Paul could find no better way than to recall for the Corinthians the actual words of the Lord’s Supper. Paul was not striking out into new ground here; rather, he was simply passing on to them what he had received from the apostles. Because the teaching of the apostles derived from Yeshua Himself, Paul was able to say that ultimately he had received it from the Lord.³²⁵

At Pesach it is traditional for a child to ask his father, “Why is this night different from other nights?” and this would be the signal for that father to recount how ADONAI delivered Isra’el. Paul’s explanation is an effort to remind the Corinthians of the historical roots of the sacred rite they were abusing.³²⁶ Paul now goes to the upper room scene, where Yeshua ate His Last Passover with His apostles on the same night He was passed on [to the authorities].

The Lord’s Supper is about God’s gift (11:24): And after he had made the b’rakhah, which means blessing. One sentence or paragraph of praise to God, usually commencing with the formula Baruch atah, ADONAI (Praise be to you ADONAI, quoting Psalm 119:12), and continuing with a description of the specific reason for praising God at that moment.³²⁷ Yeshua broke it and said: This is my body, which is for you. Do this as a memorial to Me (11:24). The unleavened bread that had represented the Exodus now came to represent the body of Yeshua Messiah. To the Jewish mind, the body represented the whole person, not just the physical body. Yeshua’s body represents the great mystery of His whole incarnate life, His whole teaching, ministry and work – all He was and all He did. But we make a mistake if we interpret His caution to do this as a memorial to Me as a call to remember only His death. We are to remember that His death brings life.³²⁸

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise and thank You for giving Your righteousness to those who love and follow You. He made the One who knew no sin to become a sin offering on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God (Second Corinthians 5:21). Thank You for giving us this special celebration, The Lord’s Supper, to remember and celebrate your surpassing love (Ephesians 3:17-19) in dying and great power in rising (Mt 28).

Praise Your awesome power to completely conquer the ugly enemy of death. Yeshua proved He was God when He brought back to life: Jairus’s 12 yr. old daughter (Luke 8:41-56), the widow of Nain’s son who was being carried out of town in a casket (Luke 7:11-15), and Lazarus who had been dead for three days (John 11). What a comfort it is that we do not have to fear death, but we can look it straight in the eye and declare we are going to live with our Savior forever in His wonderful home in heaven!

Please help us to remember during trying times of problems and trials that this life will be over in a blink and we will spend eternity with You. For I consider the sufferings of this present time not worthy to be compared with the coming glory to be revealed to us (Romans 8:18). We bow before You in love and worship. In Yeshua’s holy name and power of His resurrection. Amen

For you, two of the most beautiful words in all of Scripture are given in the middle of a strong rebuke of worldly, selfish and insensitive attitudes and behavior. Yeshua gave His body and His life for us who trust in Him. It was, and is, His gift to us. It’s as if Yeshua is saying, “I became a man for you; I gave the Gospel for you; I suffered for you; and I died for you.” Our gracious loving, generous, merciful God tabernacled among us (John 1:14), not for Himself, but for you. To receive the benefits of Messiah’s gift is an individual choice; but Yeshua made the sacrifice and offers it to everyone (John 3:16). He paid the ransom to set us free.³²⁹

The Lord’s Supper celebrates a New Covenant (11:25): Likewise, also the cup after the meal. This is the cup of blessing, otherwise known as the Cup of Redemption (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Kk – The Third Cup of Redemption). Saying: This cup is the New Covenant (see the commentary on Jeremiah Eo – I Will Make a New Covenant with the People of Isra’el) affected by My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, as a memorial to Me (11:25). The wine was a poignant reminder of Messiah’s blood, without the shedding of which there could be no forgiveness of sins (Hebrews 9:22), and through which cleansing a New (relationship) Covenant was made (Hebrews 9:14-15).

Today’s Messianic community tends to widely regard the Lord’s Supper as an annual observance to take place in conjunction with the Passover seder. With the Lord’s Supper, or “communion” in the Christian vernacular, to be more or less a once-in-a-year event, this should highlight its importance for men and women of faith. As in Isra’el’s participation of Pesach, assembled believers are brought to the cross, to allow it once again to reshape our mind-set and our lifestyle. The Lord’s Supper definitely has a Passover theme to it, something which is unfortunately not often seen in many Christian churches, and is decisively lost in communion rituals which involve leavened bread.³³⁰

The Lord’s Supper institutes a new proclamation (11:26): The Lord’s Supper is a visible sermon that proclaims the message of the cross. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord, until he comes (11:26). Most of us try to forget how those we love died, but Yeshua wants us to remember how He died. Why? Because everything we have as believers centers around His death.³³¹

Using the Pesach Haggadah, Jews all over the world recount the story of the plagues and the Exodus and thus recall the central event on which their peoplehood is founded (5:6-8). Likewise, members of the Messianic Community, Jews and Gentiles alike, are to proclaim the death of the Lord as our exodus from sin and the basis for our existence. Both proclamations look back toward a past redemption from Egypt, and also look forward to a future redemption. Hence, the proclamation until Messiah comes again (see the commentary on Isaiah Kg – The Second Coming of Jesus Christ to Bozrah).³³² This was a needed reminder to all believers, but especially those in Corinth, because when they abused the Body of believers (see Bz – The Problem: The Abuse of the Poor), they were, in reality, abusing the Lord. Paul will soon have an answer to this problem (see Cb – The Answer: Honor the Body).

The Problem: The Abuse of the Poor
11: 17-22

The problem: the abuse of the poor DIG: What was the root problem with the “love feasts?” Why were they so upsetting to Paul? Why would such a scandalous report not have been hard for Paul to believe? How are the actions of the Corinthians and the actions of Yeshua contrasted? There are thousands of  Messianic Congregations in the world today, how do they view the Lord’s Supper?

REFLECT: What are some of the ways a religious observance can be misguided? What factors contribute to the observance becoming misguided? What can be done to keep the focus of a religious practice on God and His purposes? How do the “haves” treat the “have-nots” where you worship? How can you be more sensitive to the poor and needy?

The Corinthian problem was not their failure to gather,
but their failure to be a reflection of God’s people when they gathered.

There is little doubt that the various practices, rituals, attitudes, and other hangovers from the mystery religions had infiltrated the church at Corinth. Just what would it have been like to go to church there? Imagine visiting that city in the first century and you and your family went to attend the First Church of Corinth. You arrive on time and go in to find that all the wealthy people have already been there for an hour and are just finishing the love feast. There is nothing left for you, and you notice that a lot of the poor people, who are just arriving, will have nothing to eat either.

Not only do you notice that the wealthy people are gluttonous as they gobble down the last bits of food, but some of them are also stone drunk. And so there are two groups: the poor people who sit on one side of the room totally sober with their stomachs gnawing, and the wealthier people on the other side, stuffed with food and intoxicated with too much wine. Because of the division, there is arguing and discord.

Someone announces it is time for the Lord’s Supper, but this also turns into a mockery. Those who have had nothing to eat or drink become gluttons. Next you go to the worship service, and this finds many people standing up, shouting, and talking at the same time. Some are speaking in ecstatic utterances, while others are trying to give prophecies and interpret what is being said. In other words, chaos. That is close to what it was like on a typical Sunday in the First Church at Corinth. Now you understand why Paul said: I do not praise you, because when you meet together (Greek: synerchomenoi) it does more harm than good (11:17)!³¹⁶ The tragic state of affairs, which could only feed arrogance and nourish bitterness, made him wish that they had not met at all. Their love feasts were not only a waste of time, they were downright harmful.

Now Paul begins to explain how their gatherings did more harm than good, which really extends from 11:17 to 14:40, for it applies to the Lord’s Supper and the spiritual gifts. His concern is clear, and his point is singular: For, in the first place, I hear that when you gather together as a congregation you divide up into cliques (11:18a), the “haves” and the “have-nots.” Paul views these divisions as nullifying the very purpose for gathering together for worship in the name of Yeshua Messiah. It contradicted what the Lord’s Supper proclaims as the foundation of the Church: Yeshua’s sacrificial giving of His life for others. In Messiah’s Church, there was to be neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free (12:13), and as the present context strongly suggests, neither rich nor poor.³¹⁷

Paul may not have wanted to believe the scandalous report; yet, those from Chloe’s household seemed credible (1:10). So, in the final analysis, he had to conclude: To a degree I believe it (11:18b). Such a report would not have been hard to believe. Paul began his letter by strongly rebuking the Corinthians for their divisions based upon cult “fan clubs” (to see link click Ak – Splits and Division in the Church at Corinth) and immaturity (see Ar – The Immaturity of the Worldly Believer). Those divisions inevitably ended in quarrels. The Corinthians were also divided socially, as this passage indicates. The “haves” brought their food and selfishly ate it before the “have-nots” arrived. Far from having all things in common and sharing with all, as anyone might have need, as Messianic community did after Shavu’ot (see the commentary on Acts Ao – The New Covenant Community Begins), the Corinthian “haves” disdain form even sharing a “pot-luck supper” with the “have-nots.” It was every person for themselves.³¹⁸

In a statement of ironic rebuke, Paul declared: Granted that there must be some divisions among you in order to show who are the ones in the right (11:19). In the mess that Paul describes here, who is shown to be faithful and truly worshipful? The divisions at the Corinthian Lord’s Supper did not reveal which ones were in the right. Instead, they revealed a church that had failed to take to heart of the message of the cross. The Greek word for divisions here is aireseis, and comes from the verb to choose. The Corinthians had chosen to divide themselves along socioeconomic lines, and therefore stand condemned. The splits in the Lord’s Supper were imposed by prideful, insensitive believers seeking to differentiate the elite of society from the rabble. The tragedy was that they failed to honor the Body of Messiah at the memorial for Messiah.

Paul then turns to the crux of the problem at hand. Thus, when you gather together, presumably in a house large enough to accommodate the group, it is not to eat a meal of the Lord (11:20). It was their supper, not the Lord’s, because the Lord’s Supper was intended to convey to each person that he or she is someone precious to ADONAI. The Corinthians meal, however, communicated that the “have nots” were worthless nobodies. The “haves” arrived early, but instead of waiting for everyone to arrive, they immediately began to eat and drink, missing the greater purpose of the meal. But the time the “have nots” arrived, anticipating a decent meal in connection with the love feast, little was left and they went away hungry – both physically and spiritually.³¹⁹ Paul will soon have an answer to this problem (see Cc – The Answer: Wait for Each Other).

The selfish devouring of their own food contrasted with Yeshua’s taking the bread. Both “take.” The Corinthians “take” on their own behalf; Yeshua “takes” on behalf of others. The Corinthians actions will lead to condemnation; Yeshua’s action leads to the salvation of others. Each believer gets an equal share of the benefits of His sacrifice.³²⁰

So, Paul declared: Because as you eat your meal, each one goes ahead on his own; so that one goes away hungry while another is already drunk (11:21)! They mocked the very purpose of the occasion, and turned the memorial of selflessness into an experience of selfishness, and had made a symbol of unity a chaotic mess. They acted no differently than the wealthy pagans in Corinth would have acted. As a result, fellowship was broken. This was certainly no way to remember the Savior who died for all sinners, rich and poor alike. Call it what you like, but you could not call it the Lord’s Supper.

The descriptions of hunger and intoxication in this passage may sound strange to modern readers. Messianic Congregations and churches today generally celebrate communion much differently from the way believers did in the first century. Now believers observe the ordinance with a pinch of bread and a modicum of drink, but the early Church celebrated the Lord’s Supper with great banquets. These meals came to be known as love feasts and were probably climaxed in an observance of the Lord’s Supper.³²¹

How do Messianic believers handle this today? There is no unanimity of thought or practice. In general, Messianic believers do not tend to wrestle with labeling, a distinct partaking of the bread and wine, in remembrance of the Last Supper between Yeshua and the twelve apostles, as the Lord’s Supper. Messianic believers have some challenges and disagreements concerning how contemporary Christianity completely removes the Lord’s Supper from the Passover Seder. Some of this has to do with differences within the Messianic community itself. Some will remember the Lord’s Supper at a regular or semi-regular time, whereas others will only remember the Lord’s Supper once a year at the annual Passover Seder.³²²

The situation Paul had just described filled him with such indignation that he wrote a series of rhetorical questions that hammered away at the evil that the Corinthians practiced. The first question responded directly to what has proceeded and is full of irony: What! Don’t you have homes to eat and drink in? If they intended to selfishly indulge themselves, couldn’t they go home and do it rather than at the Lord’s Supper where sharing was expected?

The second question gets to the real issue regarding their behavior. Paul wrote: Or are you trying to show your contempt for God’s church in Corinth and embarrass those who are poor? By their behavior, they were casting shame on the “have-nots” and thus showing how much they despised the church and the Lord Himself. Whatever the reasons may have been, they could not justify the harm being brought to the church. If they could not show love, why have a love feast?

The third and fourth questions bring the argument full circle. What am I supposed to say to you? Am I supposed to praise you? Just the opposite. Well, for this I don’t praise you (11:22)! Thus, in the strongest kind of language Paul asserts by their actions they despise God’s Church. No church can long endure if the differences of Jew or Greek, male or female, rich or poor, are allowed to persist. Especially so at the table, where Messiah, who had made us all one, had ordained that we should visibly proclaim that unity. So, to that issue Paul now turns, and he does so by first reminding the Corinthians of what the Lord Himself said about this meal (see Ca – The Problem: The Abuse of the Lord).³²³

Issues Surrounding the Lord’s Supper
11: 17-34

Since Paul’s letters were written before any of the gospels,
this is the oldest record of the Lord’s Supper in the B’rit Chadashah.

The custom of the early Messianic Community in Jerusalem properly placed a high value on their observance of the Lord’s Supper. We read that they continued faithfully and with singleness of purpose to meet in the Temple courts daily, and breaking bread in their several homes, they shared their food in joy and simplicity of heart, praising God and having the respect of all the people. And day after day the Lord kept adding them to those who were being saved (Acts 2:46-47). Apparently, fellowship meals in connection with the Lord’s Supper were commonplace among the early believers, a tradition that no doubt expanded to other churches as they were established throughout the Roman Empire, including Corinth. Like most everything else in Corinth, the Lord’s Supper became tainted when carnal believers were involved. If you feel yet another of Paul’s sharp rebukes coming, you’re right.³¹⁵

A. The Problem: The Abuse of the Poor (11:17-22)

B. The Problem: The Abuse of the Lord (11:23-26)

B. The Answer: Honor the Body (11:27-32)

A. The Answer: Wait for Each Other (11:33-34)

The final conclusion: The Answer: Wait for Each Other, responds to the first problem: The Problem: The Abuse of the Poor; in the same way, the first conclusion: The Answer: Honor the Body, responds to the second problem: The Problem: The Abuse of the Lord.