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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