In 1 Corinthians 12:1-3, Paul addresses a church confused about what makes someone truly spiritual. The Corinthians thought visible gifts like speaking in tongues were the ultimate proof of faith. Paul corrects them by pointing to something far simpler and far more profound: the confession that Jesus is Lord.
Key Takeaways
- Why the Corinthians confused pagan worship with Christian spirituality
- How Paul redefines what it means to be a spiritual person
- Why “Jesus is Lord” is the true mark of the Holy Spirit’s work
- How we still misunderstand spirituality by elevating jobs, experiences, or causes
- What it actually means to confess Jesus as Lord in everyday life
- Why the simplest confession is the most important test of faith
More on 1 Corinthians: 1 Corinthians: Pride & Prejudice in the Church
What Question Is Paul Actually Answering?
Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware. You know that when you were pagans, you were led astray to the mute idols, however you were led. 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. – 1 Corinthians 12:1-3
In this section of the letter, Paul is addressing questions related to how the Corinthians are handling themselves when they meet together. In chapter 12, he turns to the topic of spiritual gifts. 1 Corinthians 12:1-3 is the foundation for his argument, and it is foundational to one of my main points in Start Strong chapter 7.
Paul is speaking into where believers who judge each other by whether or not they speak in tongues.
There was a group in Corinth that strongly emphasized speaking in tongues. They thought true believers had visible, obvious manifestation of the Spirit. They saw speaking in tongues as the mark of spiritual maturity. Therefore, those who didn’t speak in tongues were lacking. They questioned whether those people were truly believers.
He begins with this question: Is tongues a measure of true spirituality? If not, what is true spirituality?
That question is very different from “What are the gifts, and how do I know what I have?” Honestly, I don’t think Paul addresses those modern questions at all.
“Spiritual Gifts” or “Manifestations of the Spirit”
Your translation may have the word “gifts” is in gray font, which means it is not in the text. The translators supplied it because they think it is implied.
Literally, 12:1 reads “now concerning spirituals.” It is the Greek word for “spiritual” in the plural. We have to supply the noun by context. It could be spiritual gifts. It could be spiritual things. It could be spiritual people, or something else.
You can make a case for translating it as “spiritual gifts.” I think that is misleading for modern Christians, because we have an entire theology around the term “spiritual gifts.”
When we see that phrase, we tend to read our understanding into it, rather than letting the context tell us what Paul means.
In modern Christianity, “spiritual gifts” functions like a technical term. It often means a supernatural enabling to serve God in a particular way, like teaching, evangelism, mercy, and so on. When we read “spiritual gifts” in 12:1, we assume Paul is talking about that. That assumption starts us off on the wrong foot.
There is only one place in the New Testament where we actually see the phrase “spiritual gift,” and that is Romans 1:11–12. Paul tells the Romans he wants to visit so he can impart some spiritual gift to them. Then he explains what he means. He wants to encourage them in the faith, and be encouraged by them as well.
So the one explicit use of “spiritual gift” is not using the phrase the way we tend to use it today. It is a gift Paul wants to give his readers, and it is spiritual in the sense that it encourages faith, rather than being a physical present or a talent.
For us today, the term has developed a specific meaning. In the Bible, that phrase was not used that way. That matters in a verse like 12:1. We need to be careful not to read our modern understanding into this section.
As I read chapters 12–14, I come up with a different picture of the situation Paul is addressing. That situation helps us figure out what Paul means by “spirituals” in 12:1.
The question on the table is this. What is the mark of being a spiritual person? How do I know I have been born from above by the Spirit?
Why Paul Brings Up “Mute Idols”
1Co 12:2 You know that when you were pagans, you were led astray to the mute idols, however you were led.
Why bring up their pagan background?
The Gentiles among them grew up going to pagan temples. Their concept of religion was formed there. In those temples, the idols were mute. The idols themselves would not speak, because they were statues made by human hands.
But the priests and worshipers would speak through ecstatic experiences. They would rant and rave and say things that were supposedly the voice of the temple god.
In pagan worship, you drank wine, sniffed incense, and danced yourself dizzy until you lost control, and the idol-god took control of you. That is how an idol-god manifested itself in your life.
What does a spiritual person look like in a pagan temple? The spiritual person is the one babbling out of control.
The Corinthians imported that concept into their Christian life. They expected a similar phenomenon in the Christian church.
What looks like that kind of ecstatic expression in church? Speaking in tongues.
Now they have become Christians. They have turned away from idols, but they still have the mental image that worship is about emotional experiences and being carried off by the spirit.
Paul is reminding them of their background so he can correct their perspective.
No Magic Words: What Paul Means by “No One Can Say…”
1Co 12:3 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 a crucial statement.
No one who has the Spirit says Jesus is accursed. No one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.
Don’t take Paul overly literally here. Paul is not claiming there is magic in these phrases. People have said these phrases with and without faith. The words themselves are not an infallible sign.
“Jesus is Lord” is a summary statement of the fundamental belief of the person speaking.
If you embrace the idea that Jesus is Lord, it is because God has given you saving faith through his Holy Spirit.
No one can say and mean, “Jesus is my Lord,” without the Spirit of God at work in him giving him faith, because we are born rebel sinners who reject God.
When confronted with the claims of Jesus of Nazareth, there are two responses: You either accept and embrace his claims, or you reject his claims and reject Jesus.
To say “Jesus is accursed” is to say Jesus is under the ban. It is to dismiss, reject, and avoid him. It is to say, “I don’t accept his claims or want to follow him.”
To say “Jesus is Lord” is to accept a fundamental truth of the gospel.
Paul includes both “accursed” and “Lord” because in pagan trances, when you were under the influence of a temple idol, you could say just about anything. One person could say one thing, another could say the opposite, and no one cared much.
In Christianity it matters what you say. You can’t believe both truth and lies.
The mark of a spiritual person is how you respond to Jesus. If you have come to genuine saving faith and embraced the claims of Jesus, then you are a spiritual person, regardless of whether you have ever spoken in tongues or had an emotional experience.
On the other hand, it doesn’t matter if we are ranting, dancing, raving, and speaking in tongues if we have rejected the claims of Christ.
The mark of the Spirit of God at work in a person’s life is not what kind of religious experience they have.
The mark is how they respond to the claims of Jesus Christ.
What it means to say “Jesus is Lord”
What am I saying when I say, “Jesus is Lord”? It is not that different from saying, “Jesus is the Christ.”
“Jesus is Lord” is shorthand for the beliefs that make up the gospel. The gospel is sometimes summed up as Jesus is Lord, and God demonstrated that by raising him from the dead.
Paul summarizes it this way in Romans 10:
Rom 10:9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;
Peter says the same in Acts:
Act 2:36 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
That is a quick summary of the gospel.
When I come to faith, first I realize that I have been created by God, and God has the right to determine my destiny. He has the right to set the standard for right and wrong and how I must live. He has authority to judge me.
God has appointed Jesus Christ to represent him and proclaim truth and the way to find life.
The Messiah represents God for all those things God has the right to do. He tells me what is true, tells me how I must live, and determines my destiny.
That Messiah is Jesus of Nazareth. I know this because God raised him from the dead.
To say Jesus of Nazareth is Lord, the carpenter who lived in history, who taught and performed miracles, who was crucified and rose from the dead, is to say he is the Messiah appointed to speak for God.
What he said is true. His teaching is the truth I must follow. His words are the words of life. He has the power to forgive my sins and grant me eternal life. He has the power to judge, condemn, and destroy me. His commands set the course of my life. He is the one I worship and obey.
To say “Jesus is Lord” is to look at the life and message of Jesus of Nazareth and say, “I believe he is the Messiah. He speaks for God. God appointed him as king over all creation.” It is to say, “If I want eternal life, he is the one I must listen to.”
As I look at his teaching, I see that I am called to love the Lord with all my heart. I am called to love my neighbor as myself. I have profoundly failed at both, because I am a sinner.
Jesus the Messiah has come to offer his life as payment for my guilt, so that I might find forgiveness and be reconciled to God.
True life is not found in the things of this world. It is found in the coming kingdom of God.
I am not saved by my religious performance, or outward keeping of the law, or how good or wise I am. I am saved by the mercy of God through the blood of Christ.
If the Spirit of God is at work in me, I see that set of ideas as the truth.
Modern Ways We Still Misjudge Spirituality
To wrap this up, stop and think about this perspective on what true spirituality looks like. The Corinthians thought true spirituality was marked by visible, outward, ecstatic experiences. Some people today share that view, but there are other ways we define spirituality too.
A couple years ago, it was popular to talk about “kingdom oriented vocation.” The idea was that all jobs are not created equal. As a believer, you should choose a job that is not just income, but “kingdom work.” Not surprisingly, the way some people defined kingdom work looked a lot like liberal social justice causes.
I heard one speaker use these examples: Companies that make lipstick, frozen yogurt, or pet food were described as trivial. Companies that bring clean water to Africa were described as kingdom work.
That speaker argued that God would never call you to design lipstick, dog food, or ice cream flavors. He said that if you think he did, then you wasted your life.
Would Paul say that is what being a spiritual person looks like? Would Paul really say the mark of a spiritual person is choosing to design a clean water filter instead of a new flavor of ice cream?
I think God could call you to design ice cream and minister to other people in the factory just as easily as he could call you to work on clean water in Africa.
I think that is the same mistake the Corinthians made when they elevated tongues over all other gifts. We have just changed the mark.
Today some people elevate social justice causes over everything else and define that as the mark of being a spiritual person. That is just as wrong as the Corinthians.
Ordinary Faithfulness Counts (Even at Walmart)
We also define spirituality in other ways. We sometimes think the spiritual person is someone who likes to meditate on the meaning of life and is above mundane daily chores. We sometimes think the spiritual person is the one who forsakes worldly possessions and simplifies life. Or someone who devotes her life to serving the poor. Or someone who goes to a foreign country as a missionary and maybe even gives his life for it.
The non-Christian world tends to define a spiritual person as someone extraordinary, meaning someone who does something other than hold a job and raise a family.
The fact is most of us are called to hold a job, keep a marriage together, and raise a family. That is a high calling, and we should value it more.
Paul has a very specific definition of spirituality. Paul’s definition does not depend on having a so-called kingdom-oriented vocation.
It is not dependent on being a missionary, a professional minister, starting a non-profit, curing cancer, working on racial reconciliation, or social justice causes.
Those may be good things to do, but they do not mark you as a spiritual giant. They do not make you a better Christian than someone who works at Walmart, raises children, and strives to love God and neighbor.
For Paul, to be a spiritual person means the Spirit of God is working in you. The work the Holy Spirit is doing is transforming your heart so that you can say and mean, in a profound way, that Jesus is Lord.
Spirituality is not necessarily flashy outward experience.
- It is not a feeling after singing the right songs.
- It is not the feelings after a motivational sermon or devotional talk.
- It is not vague mystical feelings when I meditate.
- It is not marked by social justice causes or giving money to worthy causes.
- It is not marked by my choice of profession or my lack of material things.
- It is not even being a good, nice person.
For Paul, to be a spiritual person is to be someone who can say and mean, in a profound way, that Jesus is Lord. That is spirituality.
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Season 27, Episode 7
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