THE MARK OF AUTHENTICITY – 1 Corinthians 12:1-3

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on July 14, 2019 under 2019 |

Bethany Bible Church Sunday Message; July 14, 2019 from 1 Corinthians 12:1-3

Theme: We can know whether or not someone is authentically used by the Holy Spirit by what they say about Jesus.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

We come this morning to a new section in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. It’s one of the largest sections in the letter—beginning in Chapter 12 and going all the way to the end of Chapter 14. It deals with a very important subject—and that is, how the ‘spiritual gifts’ that the Lord Jesus gives to individual believers are to be used for the good of the church family.

And Paul really starts off with a bang. The believers in Corinth had been misunderstanding and misusing the spiritual gifts that the Lord had given them; and so, the apostle begins his treatment of this subject—and his correction of their misuse of the ‘gifts’—with these words in 12:1-3;

Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant: You know that you were Gentiles, carried away to these dumb idols, however you were led. Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:1-3).

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In thinking about these words, I remembered the story of something that happened in Jesus’ earthly ministry. He had led his disciples, one day, up to a region north of the Sea of Galilee. It was a place called Caesarea Philippi. And it would be there—in that place—that He would ask them a very important question.

The place in which He asked this question was very significant. Caesarea Philippi was at the borders of the Gentile world; and it was known for paganism and the worship of false gods. Archaeologists have found evidence of many idols in it. And as Jesus took His disciples to that place, turned to them, and asked, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” What a remarkable question to ask in such a place as that!

The disciples replied that some folks say He was John the Baptist. Others say that He was Elijah. Still others say that He was Jeremiah or one of the prophets. And then, the Lord Jesus asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” That’s always the really important question; isn’t it? We may know a lot about what other people may say about Jesus. But the really important thing is what we—personally—believe about Him. Who do we say that He is? And right there—in Caesarea Philippi—at the doorway to the Gentile world—in a place that was characterized by the worship of false gods—Peter boldly answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And do you remember Jesus’ response?

Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 16:17).

This was the most important question that can ever be asked: Who do you say that Jesus is? It was asked at a very important place: at the very gates of the pagan world. And Peter gave the most important answer anyone could give: that He is the Christ—the Anointed One—the promised Messiah—who is the Son of the living God. He is God in human flesh—very God of very God. Jesus went on to tell Peter that it would be upon that very testimony of Himself that He would build His church; and that the gates of Hades—which was where, it seemed, that they were right then standing—would not prevail against it.

Peter’s answer was not something Peter himself came up with. It was a true testimony of Jesus that had been given to him by God. It was an authoritative testimony that must characterize everything about the life and ministry of our Lords’ church.

And it was a testimony from God that helps us to understand Paul’s words in this morning’s passage.

You see; Paul’s opening words in 1 Corinthians 12 are about identifying something that is genuine and true. How do we recognize a true work of the Holy Spirit in our midst as a church family? How do we know that a spiritual gift is being used in a way that is truly blessed and used by the Holy Spirit? How do we know whether or not someone who presents themselves as an instrument of the Holy Spirit is genuinely ‘spiritual’? It’s not just by the outward manifestation of things that we would know this. It isn’t just by whether or not someone ‘says’ that they are ‘spiritual’. Rather, it is by what they say about Jesus. Does the testimony of their words and their works conform with what Peter said? Does it all come together to affirm that Jesus is the Christ—the Son of the living God?

In other words, do they end up saying “Jesus is accursed”, or do they end up affirming “Jesus is Lord”?

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Now; this was a very important and practical test for those ancient Christians in Corinth to keep in mind. As we read on through Chapters 12-14 of Paul’s letter, we find that they were misunderstanding and misusing the ‘spiritual gifts’ that the Lord Jesus had given them. Instead of serving each other with them, they were seeking to exalt and elevate themselves over one another through them. They were exercising their spiritual gifts in an unloving way. And they were even elevating a couple of the more ‘showy’ gifts—the gift of prophecy and the gift of speaking in tongues—above all the others; and were making them out to be the most important ‘proofs’ of whether or not someone was truly being used by the Holy Spirit.

This is a problem that sounds awfully familiar to us today; doesn’t it? And Paul dealt with this problem by setting the doctrinal issues straight (which he does in Chapter 12), and then by establishing the principle of love (which he does in Chapter 13), and finally by stating clearly how things were to look in actual practice (which he does in Chapter 14). And here, in verses 1-3—at the very starting point of his treatment of this subject—he begins by doing what he has done in dealing with every other problem he has dealt with in this letter. He gets our attention back on to Jesus.

In these first three verses, Paul is setting a general principle down for us. It’s a principle that applies not only to spiritual gifts, but also to all things related to the work of the Holy Spirit in the church—whether it is spiritual persons, or spiritual teaching, or spiritual movements. All such ‘spiritual’ things are to be tested by this key question: What is being said about Jesus? Is the truth about Him being faithfully declared? Does it all end up affirming, “Jesus is Lord”? That’s the proof that something truly is a work of the Holy Spirit—that in it, Jesus is being faithfully declared to be the Christ, the Son of the living God—that He is being set forth as Lord of all.

What an important ‘beginning point’ this is in understanding the spiritual gifts! If we keep this sure testimony always before us, we’ll always stay on track.

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Let’s look at these three verses a little more closely. As we do, we see that the first thing Paul would tell us about the spiritual gifts—or, really, about anything ‘spiritual’—is …

1. DON’T BE UNINFORMED.

In verse 1, Paul wrote, “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant …” We must not turn our reasoning powers off when it comes to spiritual things. We must know the truth, and we must evaluate things carefully.

Now; you’ll notice that I keep speaking of ‘spiritual things’ in general, and not just of ‘spiritual gifts’ in particular. And when I do that, it’s because I’m trying to carefully reflect what Paul actually says in this verse. In the translation of the Bible that I’m using, you’ll see that the word “gifts” is in italics. That’s because the translators have supplied that word in an effort to make Paul’s meaning clear. It’s obvious that Paul is talking about ‘spiritual gifts’, because that’s what he goes on for the next three chapters to write about. But the word “gift” is not actually in verse 1; and what Paul actually says is more general than that just strictly about spiritual gifts. In the original language, Paul wrote, “Now concerning spirituals” (in the plural), or “spiritual things”. The English Standard Version even includes a footnote that suggests an alternate translation could be “spiritual persons”.

And so, it may be best to keep things general in our view of these first three verses. What Paul has to say in these introductory words obviously has to do with spiritual gifts in particular. But the principles he is laying down also have to do with people who claim to be ‘spirit-led’, or with movements or activities that claim to be ‘of the Holy Spirit’. We’re to be rightly informed in all such things. We’re not to be ‘ignorant’ about spiritual things—and particularly about spiritual gifts.

You know; a few decades ago, churches fought pretty hard over ‘spiritual gifts’—and particularly over certain gifts. The memories of those days are still hurtful to some; and I have found that when the subject of spiritual gifts comes up, some people get a bit nervous. Very often, they’d simply prefer not to talk about spiritual gifts at all—so that we won’t get into divisive arguments.

But Paul tells us here that we’re not to avoid the subject. Instead, we’re to be informed biblically about it—and make sure we are not ignorant of it. Rightly understood, the spiritual gifts are a wonderful blessing to think about. After the Lord Jesus ascended to the Father, He sent the Holy Spirit to minister these gifts to His redeemed people, so that they will grow more and more into His image together. Paul wrote about these spiritual gifts in Ephesians 4; and said,

But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore He says:

“When He ascended on high,
He led captivity captive,
And gave gifts to men.”

(Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)

And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love (Ephesians 4:7-16).

What a beautiful picture of ‘church life’ that is! And just think of how necessary the spiritual gifts of our Lord are to it. It would be a terrible mistake to avoid the subject of the spiritual gifts, or to fail to let ourselves be taught everything from the Bible that we need to know about them. When they are rightly understood—and rightly put to use—they minister life and growth and health and effectiveness to the church family. They bring us, together, into conformity with the very image of Jesus Himself. We need them—and we need what each one of us can do for each other through them. In Romans 12, Paul wrote;

For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness (Romans 12:3-8).

So; let’s commit ourselves, right at the very beginning, to humbly learn what our Lord wants us to learn about the spiritual gifts—and indeed, about all matters ‘spiritual’ in the church.

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I look forward to our learning together about the spiritual gifts in the weeks to come. But there’s an important reason that Paul urged these Corinthian Christians, at the very beginning, to ‘not be ignorant’ about them. It was because there are many things out there that pass themselves off as ‘spiritual’, but that are not really of the Holy Spirit at all. And because of this—before we were believers—we might have had a lot of false and dangerous ideas about ‘spirituality’.

And so, in verse two, Paul wrote to tell these Corinthian Christians to …

2. BEWARE OF FALSE VERSIONS.

Paul wrote for them not to be ignorant; saying, “You know that you were Gentiles, carried away to these dumb idols, however you were led …” (v. 2).

When Paul said that these Corinthians were, at one time, “Gentiles”, he was not speaking of their ethnicity. Rather, he’s using the word as a figure of speech for someone who is outside of a spiritual relationship with the God of Israel—someone who is an unbeliever. At one point, these Corinthian believers were spiritual ‘Gentiles’. When they believed on Jesus, their fleshly ethnicity did not change at all; but their relationship with the God of Israel changed greatly. In Ephesians 2:11-13, Paul wrote to some other ethnically-Gentile Christians and said;

Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands—that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ (Ephesians 2:11-13).

Now, these Corinthian—formerly spiritual ‘Gentiles’—are made one with the people of God. They are brought into a full relationship with God the Father by faith in the blood of Jesus His Son. But back in those old days, they used to worship pagan idols. They had all kinds of false forms of ‘spirituality’. And there really was a very evil kind of ‘spirituality’ involved in it all; because they were being led astray by the devil. In Ephesians 2:1-3, Paul wrote;

And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others (vv. 1-3).

They were led away by the devil into the worship and false spiritualities of idols—false gods that were the mere work of human hands—dumb idols that, as it says in Psalm 135:16, “have mouths, but they do not speak”. They are not alive. They are inoperative. And more than that, they were also the deceptions of the devil that lead people away from the true God and into eternal loss.

As we read on in the chapters that follow, it seems that what was happening was this: These Corinthian Christians—now redeemed by the blood of Jesus, and now delivered from the devil’s grasp—were recipients of the blessed ‘spiritual gifts’ of the Lord Jesus through the Holy Spirit. But they were treating these spiritual realities—and trying to use these spiritual gifts—in ways that were very much like what they used to do when they worshiped dumb idols. They were allowing themselves to be taken over by frenzied ecstasies; and their gatherings would be characterized by disorder and chaos. And this was a false spirituality.

In thinking carefully, then, about spiritual things—and in learning what the Bible teaches us about the spiritual gifts—we need to also beware of the false versions of spirituality. We need to put things to the test; and not simply embrace things because they are simply claimed to be of the Holy Spirit or because they make us ‘feel’ spiritual. The apostle John once wrote;

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world. You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error (1 John 4:1-6).

If we recklessly embrace false spiritualities, we can’t gain the benefit of the real thing.

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But we need to be very careful even in this. We must not go too far the other way and deny the legitimacy of real spiritual gifts out of a fear of what might be false. For example, I come from a background that has tended to be suspicious of the gift of tongues or the gift of prophesying. But Paul says, later in this section, not to deny speaking in tongues; and he gives instructions for the careful use of these gifts. The Corinthians were, apparently, misusing them. But that didn’t mean that they weren’t legitimate gifts that were given to minister to the body of Christ.

So then; how do we test spiritual things to know if they are truly from the Holy Spirit?—not only spiritual gifts, but all spiritual things? This takes us back to that great ‘confession’ that the apostle Peter made about the Lord Jesus in Cesarea Philippi—that Jesus is ‘the Christ, the Son of the living God’. Paul goes on in verse three to teach us to …

3. TEST THINGS BY WHAT IS SAID ABOUT JESUS.

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

In the original language of Paul’s words, when he set these standards down for us, he put them in the present tense of the verb. And grammatically, what that means is that they are not to be understood as ‘one-time-only’ statements, but rather as ongoing habits of practice. In other words, it’s not that someone, who claims to be ‘spiritual’, simply stands up in a church and declares, “Jesus is accursed” as a one-time event. It’s certainly possible that someone might do such a horrible thing—but it would be hard to imagine. Rather, what Paul really means is that the ongoing direction of their ‘spiritual’ utterances is tending toward habitually presenting Jesus as accursed. They ongoingly diminish Jesus in their talk.

Certainly, if someone were to be so bold as to stand up and say that Jesus was accursed, their words would not be of the Holy Spirit. But I believe that we are meant to extend this not only to what is said about our Lord Jesus, but also what is said about that which pertains to Him. If we hear someone habitually—as an ongoing practice of their words and as an ongoing direction of the things they say—downgrading our Lord’s work of redemption on the cross, or the exclusiveness of His gospel, or the efforts to fulfill His great commission to us, or the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper—or even if we hear someone who habitually bad-mouths the church of the Lord Jesus Christ and speaks accursedly of His redeemed people—we should beware of them. That’s not to say, of course, that some things can be constructively criticized in order to correct them and to bring them more in line with the Lord’s will. But if the overall direction of someone’s words is to call Jesus—and the things that pertain to Him—accursed, then we should know that this person is not speaking by the Holy Spirit. It wouldn’t matter how ‘spiritual’ they may claim to be while they’re doing it, or even how ‘spiritual’ they may make their listeners ‘feel’. They would—by the very evidence of their words—show that they have a false spirituality. The Holy Spirit’s ministry is always that of exalting the Lord Jesus and His cause—and never to diminish Him in any way.

Now; that’s Paul’s way of putting the matter negatively. But putting it in a positive way, he writes that no one can even say, “Jesus is Lord”, except by the Holy Spirit. No one can say such a thing unless the Holy Spirit helped them. That was very much like what the Lord Jesus told Peter, you’ll remember—that flesh and blood did not reveal his testimony to him, but that it was given to him by the Father.

This too is put in the present tense of the verb. And so, we should understand it to mean that if someone were to simply mouth the words, “Jesus is Lord”, in a one-time-only kind of way, that alone would not be proof that they were of the Holy Spirit. Rather, we’re to look at the overall, habitual pattern of their spiritual talk. As an ongoing practice, do they declare that Jesus is Lord?—that He is the Christ, the Son of the living God? In their preaching, or teaching—or in any massage they give as if from the Holy Spirit—do they ongoingly exalt Him as He is presented to us in the Bible? Do they proclaim the gospel faithfully, and speak well of the efforts of others to proclaim Him in this world? Do they speak well of our Lord’s kingdom, and His kingdom’s cause? Do they speak lovingly and favorably of the people of God? Do they speak of Jesus’ love for His earthly institution—the church; and do they speak well of the local gathering together of the saints? If they do—and if this is the ongoing pattern of their ‘spiritual’ speaking—then they are giving proof to us that they are truly spiritual; because no one can do that except by the Holy Spirit.

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There’s much more that needs to be said about the spiritual gifts. There are many more details for us to speak about. There are even more ways that Paul gives us, in the chapters to come, to ‘test’ spiritual things. But this principle is the place to start. It’s a fundamental principle that applies not only to spiritual gifts, but to all things ‘spiritual. It’s to remember that we can know whether or not someone is authentically used by the Holy Spirit by what they consistently say about Jesus. Keeping this ever before us will keep us on the right track with the spiritual gifts. As the apostle John has put it:

I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth. Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

Therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that He has promised us—eternal life (1 John 2:21-25).

EA