1 Corinthians 12:27-31
Ps Paul Cheng
~7 min read
Dear Bethelites,
In the preceding passage, Paul had reminded the Corinthians that as believers, they were members of the body of Christ. Thus, regarding spiritual gifts, they should be concerned about how the gifts could be used for the edification of the church.
1 Corinthians 12:27, Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. This is a reference to all those true believers in the local church who ultimately belong to the universal or invisible church which is made up of only true believers. Though the church of Corinth was filled with all kinds of problems; the people were divided, disorderly, worldly, immature and so forth, yet Paul said, ye are the body of Christ. In a sense, Paul was saying, “This is what you are. You are saved through faith. You are born again. This is the reality that you are the body of Christ. It is because of what God has done for you in Christ Jesus.”
This is not an excuse that believers can fight, quarrel and divide (like the Corinthians), but it is a reminder of the magnitude of God’s grace and what Christ has done for us on the cross of Calvary!
1 Corinthians 12:28, And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healing, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.
By God’s sovereign will, this was the way He had established the church. The phrase God hath set some in the church means God had appointed some in the church. Here, Paul was speaking about certain gifted men whom God had appointed in the church. The gifted men did not choose their own giftedness. The apostles, prophets and teachers did not choose their own gifts, God chose to appoint them with those gifts. In the church, no one chooses to be a pastor, elder or deacon by his own accord, and the same goes with all the other ministries. If it is one’s own choosing, it will not be God honouring, and it will not be blessed by Him. That is why we must always pray and seek the Lord’s will!
What is the difference between the apostles and prophets? The apostles had a role and responsibility to all the churches, while the prophets were mainly confined to a particular location. The apostles were given the responsibility to write the Holy Scripture. The prophets’ primary responsibility was to fore-tell or forth-tell the Word of God, and when the Holy Scripture was completed, the only way they would fore-tell was to forth-tell what was already written in the Word of God. These two offices formed the foundation of the church (c.f. Ephesians 2:19-20).
Once the church foundation was laid, the work of the apostles and prophets was finished. The work of interpreting and proclaiming the completed written Word of God was given to the teachers. In other words, the purpose of the apostles and prophets was to equip the church with the right doctrine, and the purpose of the teachers was to equip the church for effective ministry. Notice, all these three offices have something in common, and that is the Word of God.
God gave apostles, prophets and teachers to the church for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:12). The purpose why God gave these gifted men was for the edification of the church.
All spiritual gifts are important, and they are all necessary for the church, and we should not be comparing and ranking one against another. But in terms of edification, not all spiritual gifts are equally edifying in the same sense. What is the thing that can best edify the church, the body of Christ? The Word of God! It is the Word of God that convicts, saves, edifies, encourages and builds up!
The focus of this passage is about edification of the church. And the best way to edify the church is through the preaching and teaching of the Word. That is the reason why these gifted men were listed first.
Consider this, without the Word of God, what would happen to all the other gifts like miracles, healing, and diversities of tongues? Would the people then be able ascertain whether they were really from God or men? Would they be able to know whether they were genuine or false? Without the Word of God, would the people be able to exercise their spiritual gifts in the way they should? Most certainly not!
That is why the ministry of the Word must always come first. When there is proper teaching in the church, then the people will be able exercise and function in the way they should.
From these certain gifted men, Paul went on to speak about certain spiritual gifts.
Miracles are supernatural acts. They are a display of God’s power, like the casting out of demons, the feeding of the five thousand, etc.
Healing is a supernatural ability to heal at will, like the healing of the blind, lame dumb and deaf.
These two gifts were almost always used in conjunction with the proclamation of God’s Word. They were sign-gifts. God used these signs to signify that the apostles and prophets were men whom He had used for the revelation and writing of the Holy Scriptures. That was the reason these two gifts were listed next in line because as far as edification was concerned, they had to do with the authenticity of the Word of God.
Gifts of helps is the gift of helping to carry the burdens of others. God had given some people the gift to step in at the crucial moment, to help carry or to lighten the burdens of others. For example, these would be the spiritual gifts given to the deacons and deaconesses; men and women who were called to serve tables.
Gifts of governments or administration. Here the original Greek word government (kubernesis) has the idea of guiding a ship, giving direction or helping to organize. These would be the spiritual gifts given to the leaders of the fellowship groups to organize and make sure that the group is moving toward the right direction.
Finally, diversities of tongues. This was not the first time Paul had listed this gift last (c.f. 1 Corinthians 12:8-10).
Remember, it all had to do with the edification of the body of Christ, the church. What is most beneficial to the whole body? Firstly, the apostles and the prophets because they were responsible for the revelation and writing of the Holy Scriptures. Subsequently, the teachers because they were responsible for the on-going teaching of the revealed Word. Then miracles and healing because they pointed to the authenticity of the Word, followed by helps and governments. And last of all, the gifts of tongues.
Why was the gift of tongues listed last? Some people think that it was because the church at Corinth were very focused on this gift, and Paul wanted them to know that they had a misguided sense of values. I do not think that was the main reason. Do you realize that the gift of tongues is useless to edify the church, unless it is interpreted? We will cover more about tongues-speaking in our next few chats, but as for now, perhaps it is sufficient to say that as far as edification was concerned, the gift of tongues is useless unless it is interpreted (c.f. 1 Corinthians 14:1-5).
Paul’s concern was for the edification of the church. That should be our concern too. Whatever is best for the church, and whatever edifies the church the most, that is what we desire. But the Corinthians only cared about themselves, how they could be more important than the rest, and how they could be better than the rest. So Paul asked three rhetorical questions in 1 Corinthians 12:29, Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles? verse 30, Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?
The answer is, no!
Finally, 1 Corinthians 12:31, But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way.
We tend to look at the English word covet in a negative sense, to be greedy or jealous. But it can also be in a positive sense, which is to desire. For example, when I say, “I covet your prayers,” it means “I earnestly desire you to pray for me.”
The Corinthians were desiring the more-showy gifts, to prove that they were better and more important. Here, Paul was telling them, “You should not behave like that. But rather you should earnestly desire the best gifts. The best gifts are those gifts which most edify the body of Christ, the church. I will show you the more excellent way and that is love (which he will cover in the next chapter)!”
Dear friend, when you see others serving God and being mightily used by Him, do you feel jealous and despise their gifts, or do you praise God for blessing the church with such gifted men and women for our edification? We must understand that God has blessed the believers with spiritual gifts for the edification of the church. Some of us may be serving God with our spiritual gifts, but if we do not have love, then everything is useless!
With love in Christ,
Pastor Paul Cheng
1 CORINTHIANS [CHAPTER NUMBER]The Right Understanding Of Spiritual GiftsThe Right Understanding Of Spiritual Gifts1 Corinthians 12:1-3
The Right Response To Spiritual GiftsThe Right Response To Spiritual Gifts1 Corinthians 12:4-7
The Variety Of Gifts (Part 2) — Temporal And Permanent GiftsThe Variety Of Gifts (Part 2) — Temporal And Permanent Gifts1 Corinthians 12:8-11
The Variety Of Gifts (Part 1) — Temporal And Permanent GiftsThe Variety Of Gifts (Part 1) — Temporal And Permanent Gifts1 Corinthians 12:8-11
Unity In DiversityUnity In Diversity1 Corinthians 12:12-26
Desiring The Best GiftsDesiring The Best Gifts1 Corinthians 12:27-31