Commentary - 1 Corinthians 12:1-3

Bird's-eye view

In this opening salvo to his extended treatment of spiritual gifts, the Apostle Paul lays a crucial foundation that the Corinthian church desperately needed, and which we, in our own chaotic times, would do well to secure. The issue at Corinth was not a lack of giftedness; Paul has already said they came behind in no gift (1 Cor. 1:7). The problem was ignorance, pride, and a carnal fascination with the spectacular, which was creating division and disorder. Before he even begins to catalogue the gifts, Paul establishes a fundamental, Christ-centered test for any and all spiritual manifestations. The central issue is not the nature of the experience, but the identity of the Lord who is confessed. He draws a sharp line between their pagan past, characterized by being led astray by mute idols, and their Christian present, which is defined by a Spirit-wrought confession of the absolute Lordship of Jesus Christ. This passage is a theological diagnostic tool: any spirit, any teaching, any manifestation that does not culminate in the glad and submissive confession of "Jesus is Lord" is not from the Holy Spirit. Conversely, no one can make that foundational, saving confession apart from the Spirit's regenerating work. All that follows in chapters 12, 13, and 14 must be read through this Christological lens.

Paul's strategy here is to re-center their entire understanding. They were focused on the "spirituals" (pneumatikon), the phenomena themselves. Paul immediately pivots to the Spirit Himself, and the Lord whom the Spirit glorifies. He reminds them of their pagan history, not to shame them, but to highlight the radical difference between the dumb, powerless idols they once served and the living God who speaks and works through His Spirit. The ultimate criterion for judging any spiritual activity is therefore doctrinal and profoundly simple: what does it say about Jesus? This sets the stage for his subsequent argument that the diverse gifts are not for personal aggrandizement but are given by the one Spirit to build up the one body of the one Lord.

Outline

Context In 1 Corinthians

This section on spiritual gifts (chapters 12-14) is Paul's response to another of the issues reported to him from Corinth, indicated by the phrase "Now concerning" (peri de), which he uses elsewhere to introduce new topics (cf. 7:1, 8:1). The Corinthian church was a mess, but it was a gifted mess. They were carnal, divided, and arrogant, and their misuse of spiritual gifts was a primary symptom of these deeper maladies. This discussion follows his instructions on the Lord's Supper (chapter 11), where their divisions were also on full display. Just as their disunity profaned the Lord's Table, their prideful and disorderly use of spiritual gifts was destroying the unity of the Lord's body. Paul's purpose in these three chapters is corrective. He aims to teach them the true source of the gifts (the Triune God), the purpose of the gifts (the common good), and the proper manner of exercising the gifts (in love and for edification). Chapter 12 deals with the unity and diversity of the gifts, chapter 13 with the indispensable context of love, and chapter 14 with the practical regulation of gifts, especially tongues and prophecy, in corporate worship.

Key Issues

The Non-Negotiable Starting Point

Before you can have a right understanding of the gifts of the Spirit, you must first have a right understanding of the Spirit of the gifts. And the Spirit of God is not a freelance operator. He is not a generic force of spiritual power that can be harnessed for our own ends. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ, sent by the Father and the Son, and His primary work, His great mission in the world, is to point to and glorify the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, any discussion of spiritual phenomena that does not begin and end with the Lordship of Jesus is already off the rails. The Corinthians were behaving like spiritual thrill-seekers, chasing experiences. Paul grabs them by the collar and tells them that the first question is not "What did you feel?" or "What did you see?" or "What did you do?" The first, last, and central question is "Who is Jesus?" The Holy Spirit gives one, and only one, answer to that question. Get that right, and we can talk about the gifts. Get that wrong, and nothing else matters.

Verse by Verse Commentary

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

Paul opens a new section addressing a point of confusion or controversy in the Corinthian church. The phrase "spiritual gifts" translates the Greek pneumatikon, which literally means "spiritual things" or "spiritual persons." He is addressing the entire domain of the Spirit's manifestations. His desire is that they not be "ignorant." This is a recurring theme in Paul's letters. Ignorance is not bliss; it is the fertile soil in which error, pride, and division grow. The Corinthians were certainly experienced in spiritual phenomena, but they were ignorant of the fundamental principles that should govern them. They had the gifts, but they lacked the discernment. Paul's task is to supply the theological framework they were missing. This is a standing reminder to the church that zeal without knowledge is a dangerous fire.

2 You know that when you were pagans, you were being led astray to the mute idols, however you were led.

To cure their ignorance, Paul first reminds them of their testimony. Before Christ, they were pagans, Gentiles, part of the nations outside the covenant. And what characterized their old life? They were "led astray." The verb here implies a passive, helpless state; they were carried along by powerful, deceptive forces. And where were they led? To "mute idols." This is a brilliant and devastating critique of paganism. The idols are dumb; they cannot speak, they cannot reveal, they cannot guide. The irony is thick: they were led to idols that could not lead. They were caught up in ecstatic experiences, perhaps in the mystery religions, that were powerful and overwhelming, but ultimately irrational and directed toward nothing. An idol is a dead end. This experience of being "led" in their pagan past made them susceptible to being impressed by any powerful spiritual force, without asking where it was leading. Paul is setting up a fundamental contrast: the chaotic, irrational leading of paganism versus the coherent, Christ-exalting work of the Holy Spirit.

3 Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is accursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

This is the payoff. "Therefore," based on the crucial distinction between their pagan past and their Christian present, Paul gives them a two-sided, rock-solid criterion for discernment. This is the foundational test. First, the negative test. No one genuinely speaking by God's Spirit can say, "Jesus is accursed" (Anathema Iesous). This seems shocking to us. Who in the church would say such a thing? Some have suggested this might have been a slogan of Jews who rejected Jesus as a crucified messiah, or perhaps a test demanded by Roman authorities. Whatever the specific context, the principle is clear: the Holy Spirit will never, under any circumstances, denigrate, curse, or demean the Lord Jesus Christ. Any spirit that diminishes Jesus, that sets Him aside, that treats Him as anything less than the glorious Son of God, is not the Holy Spirit. This is the absolute floor.

Then comes the positive test, which is the ceiling that reaches to the heavens. "No one can say, 'Jesus is Lord,' except by the Holy Spirit." This is one of the most potent summaries of the doctrine of salvation in all of Scripture. The confession "Jesus is Lord" (Kyrios Iesous) was the earliest and most fundamental creed of the Christian church. It is a declaration of His absolute sovereignty, His deity, and His authority over every square inch of creation. And Paul's point is that a man cannot, of his own fallen free will, generate this confession from his heart. The ability to see Jesus as He truly is and to joyfully submit to His authority is not a human achievement. It is a supernatural gift, a miracle worked in the soul by the Holy Spirit. This confession is the result of regeneration. The Spirit must first open your blind eyes and unstop your deaf ears before your tongue can truly confess that Jesus is Lord. This, then, is the ultimate test of any spiritual gift or manifestation: does it flow from and lead back to this great, Spirit-wrought confession?

Application

The church today is just as susceptible to ignorance about spiritual things as the Corinthians were, and our need for this foundational test is just as great. We live in an age that prizes experience over doctrine, emotion over truth, and personal expression over biblical fidelity. Many are being "led astray" by all sorts of spiritual currents that feel powerful but lead to mute idols, idols of self-fulfillment, emotional highs, or theological novelty.

Paul's instruction here forces us back to the central question: What is being said of Jesus? We must apply this test rigorously. When a preacher or teacher comes along, the question is not whether he is dynamic or his stories are moving. The question is, does his message exalt the absolute Lordship of Jesus Christ over all things? When we evaluate a worship service, the question is not whether the music was professional or the emotional atmosphere was intense. The question is, was Jesus Christ magnified as sovereign Lord? When we consider some new spiritual movement or practice, the question is not whether it produces interesting results or makes people feel good. The question is, does it align with the Spirit's singular mission to glorify the Son?

Furthermore, this passage gives us a profound basis for our assurance and our evangelism. If you can, from the heart, confess that Jesus is Lord, you have Exhibit A that the Holy Spirit has performed a miracle in you. That confession is not the product of your native intelligence or spiritual sensitivity; it is the fruit of divine grace. And when we share the gospel, we must understand what we are asking people to do. We are not asking them to simply repeat a phrase. We are calling them to a confession that is impossible apart from a sovereign work of God's Spirit. This should drive us to our knees, to plead with God to do for the lost what they cannot do for themselves: to open their hearts to say, and mean, "Jesus is Lord."