The Word that Builds Up
14: 1-5
The Word that Builds Up DIG: What does it mean to prophecy? Why was it a more desirable gift than tongues? What did Paul mean by the term edifying, or building up the church? What mistake were the members of the Corinthian church making? Why would he say he wished that everyone spoke in tongues? What is the guiding principle throughout this teaching?
REFLECT: What is your primary spiritual gift? What is your secondary spiritual gift? How do you use it (them) to build up others in the Body of Messiah? Have you ever seen your particular giftedness abused by anyone? How can God’s Word correct those abuses? Do you feel like you know God’s Word well enough to combat false teaching or abuses in the Body?
Prophesying declares God’s infallible Word, much like today’s preachers and teachers.
The Corinthians had so abused the gift of tongues (Greek: glossei or glossais, meaning tongue or tongues) that they rivaled Babel in confusion of speaking, and the apostle devotes an entire chapter to address the problem which was so representative of their sinfulness. The tongue-speaking in Chapter 14 was commonly used in Paul’s day to describe pagan gibberish (to see link click Ce – The Pagan Background of Counterfeit Spiritual Gifts). Emotionalism all but neutralized their rational senses, and selfish exhibitionism was common, with everyone wanting to do and say his or her own thing at the same time. Services were bedlam and chaotic, with little worship and little building up of the Body taking place.
Because of the extreme carnality in the church at Corinth, we can be sure that much of the speaking in a tongue was counterfeit. The believers there were in no spiritual condition to properly use true spiritual gifts or properly display true spiritual fruit. How could a congregation so worldly, opinionated, selfish, cliquish, envious, jealous, divisive, argumentative, arrogant, disorderly, inconsiderate, gluttonous, immoral, and defiling of the Lord’s Supper possibly exercise the gifts of the Spirit? For them to have done so would have defiled every biblical principle of spirituality. You cannot walk in the Spirit while continually exercising in the flesh; you cannot swim in the toilet and come up smelling like a rose.439
Dear Holy and Pure Heavenly Father, Praise You that there is nothing that is even the slightest bit unclean in You. You totally can be trusted to always be pure in Your every thought. It is such a comfort to know for sure that You never stray from complete holiness. You never have the slightest interest in anything that is forbidden. You are a shining beacon of pure light (John 8:12, 9:5)! You are holy. For I am ADONAI your God, the Holy One of Isra’el, Your Savior (Isaiah 43:3). You want those who love and trust You to be like You and so You desire them to be holy.
You so graciously give your righteousness to 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). Your righteousness is not just an outward coat to be put on and then off, rather it is a total change of heart that seeks to live following Your example of complete holiness. Thank You for sending the Holy Spirit to convict of sin (John 16:7-11). What a privilege it is for believers to have the Ruach Ha’Kodesh living within to teach and guide. But the Helper, the Ruach Ha’Kodesh whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you everything and remind you of everything that I said to you. (John 14:26). The Ruach helps by always speaking the Truth (John 16:13) so believers will know how to live righteously before their great God and Savior. Thank You, Father God, for sending Yeshua to die in our place as the Lamb of God (John 1:29), and for sending the Ruach Ha’Kodesh to live in us (John 14:17). You are such a holy and awesome Father! It is a delight in pleasing You by trying to live my life following You in Your holy example. In Yeshua’s holy name and power of His resurrection. Amen
Here, Paul commands the Corinthians to pursue love (14:1a). The transition is simple and perfect. After what has been said about the value of love (see Dj – The Permanence of Love), above all else, the Corinthians should pursue (Greek: dioko, meaning to follow , hunt or chase with intensity) love. Lovelessness was by far their greatest problem, to which all the other problems addressed in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthian church were related to in one way or another. The only strong affection many of them had was for themselves.
The fact that love is primary, however, does not mean that everything else is disregarded. So, Paul encourages them to keep on eagerly seeking the things of the Spirit (14:1b). Love is not a substitute for the other virtues, or even for good works, in fact, love is the great motivator, the only true motivator, of good works. It is also the great motivator of every spiritual ministry and of the proper use of every spiritual gift. The strong desire the Corinthians had for gifts was not wrong in itself, but wrong in that it was selfishly directed only toward the better gifts (12:31), the showy and attention-getting gifts. They were right to have desired spiritual gifts, but their concern should have been for using the gifts they had, not for enviously wanting the gifts that others had. Their desire should have been to see their gifts minister to others, not to show off.
Especially seek to be able to prophesy (14:1c). The word for prophesy (Greek: propheteuete) is in the plural form, indicating that not all individuals should desire to prophesy, but that the whole congregation should desire that someone prophesy in public worship. It was more significant because it was able to accomplish what the true gift of tongues could not. Therefore, it does not refer to the office of a prophet like Agabus (see the commentary on Acts Ck – Paul Went on to Jerusalem Despite Warnings), which was unique to the apostolic era. Prophesying primarily has to do with the declaration of God’s infallible Word, not ongoing revelation (see Cp – The Gift of Prophecy); the task is one of forth-telling, not foretelling, much like today’s preachers and teachers. Thus, it is meant to communicate to others in rational, intelligent language, opposed to ecstatic utterance.
But, the type of tongue-speaking the Corinthians practiced did not build them up at all. For someone speaking in a tongue is not speaking to people but to a god (Greek: theo). The Greek has no definite article, and such constructions usually are translated merely as a god, such can be seen in Acts 17:23 where Paul writes in reference to an unknown god (theo). The translation here of a god is supported by the fact that the Bible records no instance of believers speaking to God in anything but normal, intelligible language. Even in Yeshua’s prayer in the garden at Gethsemane (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Kx – The High Priestly Prayer), in which He poured out His heart to the Father, when deity communicated with deity, the language is remarkably simple and clear. In fact, Messiah specifically warned: Don’t babble on-and-on like the pagans, who think God will hear them better if they talk a lot (Matthew 6:7). His reference included the repetitious pagan ecstatic utterance, in which certain meaningless sounds were repeated over and over again. The instruction that Yeshua gave on prayer, is a model of simplicity and clarity (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Gy – Lord, Teach Us to Pray).
Because no one can understand. This states the difference with full clarity. No one can understand them, makes plain that this gift is different from that in Acts 2 (see the commentary on Acts Al – The Ruach Ha’Kodesh Comes at Shavu’ot), where everyone understood.440 The carnal Corinthians, however, were much more interested in the sophisticated than the simple. They did not care that no one understood them. Their concern was for the excitement and self-gratification of uttering mysteries in the spirit (14:2 NASB).
The mysteries Paul refers to here are the type associated with the pagan mystery religions, out of which many of the Corinthian believers had come (see Ce – The Pagan Background of Counterfeit Spiritual Gifts). Unlike the mysteries of the gospel, which are revelations of God’s plan kept hidden for ages but now revealed (Matthew 13:11; Ephesians 3:9), the pagan mysteries intentionally remained mysterious, as unknown truths and principles that supposedly only the initiated elite, like in a cult, were privileged to know.
The spirit to which Paul refers is not the Ruach Ha’Kodesh, but the person’s own spirit, as implied in the Greek (locative case) and indicated in the NASB by his spirit. Paul does not discourage the legitimate use of tongues (12:10), but is simply characterizing the uselessness of trying to counterfeit them. A believer who properly ministers a true spiritual gift doesn’t speak to an unknown god, but ministers to others. Someone teaching or preaching the Word builds up, encourages and comforts believers in the Church (14:3). Paul wants nothing done in public worship that will unnecessarily drive unbelievers away.
Building up (Greek: oikodomeo, literally meaning housebuilding) is the benchmark by which to measure what goes on in public worship. This is the presentation of divine truth which increases and strengthens faith and spiritual life. This building up of believers is accomplished by enlightenment, enabling the hearers to know and inwardly grasp divine truth, to assimilate it and to make it their own. Examples of this feature of prophecy are found in the doctrinal sections of Paul’s letters, notably in Romans Chapters 1 through 11 and Ephesians Chapters 1 through 3.
Encouragement (Greek: paraklesis) has a broad range of meanings, all of which have a personal dimension. It can refer to exhortation (Philippians 2:1), consolation (Second Corinthians 1:3-7), assurance (Luke 2:25), and encouragement (Romans 15:4-5). This feature is well illustrated in the encouraging part of Paul’s letters, most notably in Romans Chapter 12 and Ephesians Chapter 4. We cannot say, however, that building up is the most important one and encouragement and comfort are merely an afterthought. All three work together.441
Comfort (Greek: paramuthian), deals with the believer’s condition in this hostile and evil world where we must endure persecution and affliction of every kind. It strengthens weak knees and supports sagging spirits so that one faces the troubles of life with unbending resolve and unending assurance (First Peter 4:12-19; Hebrews 12:1-13). In Acts 15:32 Paul and Silas traveled through the churches of Syria and Cilicia to strengthen those believers, this epitomizes what Paul means by prophecy.442 Prophecy is always meant to benefit others, be it believer or unbeliever.
Sarcastically, Paul points out that a person speaking in a tongue only edifies himself (14:4a). The apostle had used sarcasm before (4:8-10), and it reached its height in 14:36, “Did the Word of God originate with you? Or are you the only people it has reached?” Because even true tongues must be interpreted in order to be understood, so the counterfeit could not possibly build anyone up, including the person speaking, without an interpretation. They cannot, therefore, be intended by God for private devotional use, as many Pentecostals and charismatics claim. Here, Paul is referring to the supposed value the Corinthians placed on their self-styled tongue-speaking. The satisfaction many of the Corinthian believers experienced in their abuse of tongue-speaking was self-satisfaction, which came from pride-induced emotion, not from being built up spiritually. The result was only spiritual pride.
But a person prophesying edifies the congregation during public worship (14:4b). That person uses his gift of teaching or preaching, as all the gifts are meant to do. Their purpose is certainly not to selfishly minister to ourselves, as some of the Corinthian believers thought they were doing by uttering mysteries in the spirit. Our gifts are to minister to others for the glory of ADONAI. Each person is given the particular manifestation of the Spirit that will be for the common good (12:7).443
Why then, many have wondered, did Paul say: I wish you would all speak in tongues (14:5a)? He has been warning them about their abuse of tongues, and is beginning a chapter devoted to showing the inferiority of tongues. Why would he have wanted the problem to be compounded by getting everyone involved? But Paul was wishing the impossible for the sake of emphasis. He knew that all believers do not have the same gift. Not all are apostles, are they? Not all are prophets, are they? or teachers? or miracle-workers? Not all have gifts of healing, not all speak in tongues, not all interpret, do they (12:29-30)? The apostle certainly wasn’t suggesting that his wisdom was greater than that of the Ruach. He was simply making it clear that he didn’t oppose the genuine gift of tongues. It’s as if Paul was saying, “If the Ruach chose to give every one of you the gift of tongues, it would be fine with me!”
But even more I wish you would all prophesy (14:5b). He knew that this would also be impossible, for the same reason that all having the gift of tongues was impossible. His point was that, if they insisted on clamoring after the same gift, it would be much better if they clamored after prophecy. Not only was prophecy superior to tongues in building up the church, but it was a longer-lasting gift, one which Paul knew would continue to be used by the Lord long after the true gift of tongues had ceased (see Dj – The Permanence of Love).
It is the interpretive key to this chapter to note that in 14:2 and 4 tongue is singular (also seen in 14:13, 14, 19 and 27), whereas in 14:5 Paul uses the plural tongues (also seen in 14:6, 18, 22, 23 and 29). Apparently the apostle used the singular form to indicate the counterfeit gift and the plural to indicate the true gift. Recognizing that distinction may be the reason the King James translators inserted the word unknown before the singular. The singular is used for the false gift because gibberish is singular, it cannot be gibberishes. Therefore, I will be using the terms speaking in a tongue, tongue-speaking, ecstatic utterance, the counterfeit use of the gift, or pagan gibberish when the text uses the singular word tongue in the rest of Chapter 14. There are no kinds of pagan ecstatic speech, there are; however, kinds of languages in the true gift, for which the plural tongues is used. The only exception is in 14:27, where the singular is used to refer to a single man speaking a single genuine language.444 Thus, I will be using the plural word tongues for the true gift in the rest of Chapter 14 to distinguish the difference.
In any case, even a believer with the true gift of tongues was never to exercise it unless someone else gives an interpretation. Paul had already mentioned interpretation of tongues as a spiritual gift (12:10). Therefore, everything spoken in tongues must be interpreted so that the congregation can be edified (14:5c), and apparently by one interpreter other than the one who just spoke in tongues. The guiding principle throughout this teaching is that the pursuit of spiritual gifts must be joined with a pursuit of love for others. A gift or ministry that does not build up will tear down, no matter how “spiritual” it may seem. When we explain and apply the Word of God to individual lives, that is what builds God’s Church.
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