I Corinthians 12:1-3: "Spiritual Gifts"

Paul begins a new section in his letter in which he will address spiritual gifts. He begins, "Now concerning spiritual gifts..." First, he had addressed the Corinthians about their abuse of the Lord's Supper. He addressed those issues with them, and now he was turning to another issue the Corinthians were struggling with, "spiritual gifts". MacArthur writes, "Paul wants to make sure that the Corinthians have a clear and complete understanding of their spiritual gifts, the special equipment for ministry that the Holy Spirit gives in some measure to all believers and that are to be wholly under His control and used for Christ's glory". Paul again uses the endearing term "brethren", to help them understand he is again exhorting them in love for their good as brothers and sisters in Christ. Paul explains his goal in speaking to them regarding this issue "I do not want you to be unaware". Paul was deeply concerned with the Corinthians understanding and exercising of their spiritual gifts. There was some apparent confusion that Paul felt was very important to clear up. MacArthur explains, "The church cannot function, and it certainly cannot mature, without properly and faithfully using the gifts God gives His people for ministry. Satan will try to counterfeit the Spirit's gifts, and he will try to induce believers to ignore, neglect, misunderstand, abuse, and pervert them". Paul will use the next part of this letter to help explain which gifts are true finding its source in God, and that which is false finding its source in Satan.

To help remind them of where the counterfeit gifts come from Paul writes, "You know that when you were pagans, you were led astray to the dumb idols, however you were led". Paul reminds them that before they were saved they would follow after and worship idols. Before their conversion to the real God, many were led away and captive to the deception that there were other gods who took the form of animals, objects, and other materials. This shows the bondage of sin that characterizes the life of the unbeliever. They are enslaved to worshipping inanimate, unresponsive, and lifeless idols. MacArthur writes, "No idol can respond to man's needs. By definition an idol is man-made and impersonal. No idol, primitive or sophisticated, can answer a person's questions, give him revelation, assure him of truth, forgive him of sin, or endow him with dignity, meaning, and peace. Just as no unregenerate person can help being led into some form of idolatry, no idol can help being dumb". Apparently, some of the Corinthian believers had either fallen back into some type of idolatrous practice, or was confusing spiritual gifts with that which he used to take part in.

To help the Corinthians with some discernment, Paul gives them a way to test whether or not the spiritual gift is truly from God. "Therefore I make known to you, that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, 'Jesus is accursed'". MacArthur writes, "Some members of the church at Corinth apparently became so fleshly and confused, and their worship so paganized and frenzied, that they even allowed the Lord to be cursed within their own congregation. Paul rebukes the entire church for allowing such ungodliness and for being so undiscerning about what is spiritual and what is demonic". To help them differentiate between a true spiritual gift and a false one, Paul will give the Corinthians two tests that will always be true. The first is that no one that has the Holy Spirit would ever deny the deity of Christ. They would never say that Jesus is not who He said he was. Anyone proclaiming anything that condemned Jesus as cursed could ever have the Spirit of God. Often we can get carried away by our emotions, and be led into accepting things that if we used our discernment, we would obviously know as false. In this instance, the Corinthians, "had fallen back so deeply into ecstasy and enthusiasm that their judgment was completely warped. As long as it took place in the church and was presented by someone who claimed to be a Christian, any teaching or practice was accepted without question", according to MacArthur. Therefore, it was occurring that believers were letting their emotion experience drive their actions, even if someone were to come in preaching that Jesus was accursed.

The flip side of the test to see if someone is truly speaking with the Holy Spirit is that, "No one can say, 'Jesus is Lord,' except by the Holy Spirit". Just as no one with the Holy Spirit can say Jesus is accursed, one who does not have the Holy Spirit can never truly say that Jesus is Lord. When we are lost in our sin and living for self, we can never truly say that Jesus is Lord. The word Lord refers to deity and submission. Those who do not have Christ in their heart have not bowed before Him and accepted Him as Lord of their lives. It is only the heart that has truly been regenerated by Christ that can say Jesus is Lord. MacArthur concludes with, "What a person truly believes about Jesus Christ is the test of whether or not what he teaches and does is by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit always leads men to ascribe lordship to Jesus Christ as one indivisible and divine Person, to be obeyed completely".