Concerning spiritual gifts

Today’s passage begins with the words, “Now… brothers and sisters.” Here, Paul introduces a new topic. It is one of the questions the Corinthian believers had asked him. The subject is “spiritual gifts.” There was considerable confusion in the Corinthian church regarding the exercise of these gifts. Spiritual gifts are given to each believer for the purpose of building up the church. However, because they were being used improperly, what was intended to be a blessing had instead become a source of confusion.

Salvation given by the Holy Spirit

Before beginning his teaching on spiritual gifts, Paul makes it clear that every believer has received the grace of the Holy Spirit. (1) Before the Corinthians became Christians, their condition was as follows: Whatever path had led them there, they ultimately found themselves being drawn to powerless idols. Behind those idols were evil spirits. In other words, they had been led not by the Holy Spirit, but by evil spirits. (2) They became Christians as a result of being led by the Holy Spirit. We can know that a person has received the grace of the Holy Spirit in the following two ways. (3) Negatively speaking, no one who speaks by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is accursed.” Even uttering such words is something we should dread. If a person feels that way, it is because the Holy Spirit dwells within them. (4) Positively speaking, no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit. Everyone who has believed in Jesus as Savior and confessed Him as Lord has done so through the leading and enabling of the Holy Spirit. Can you confess from your heart, “Jesus is Lord”? If you can, then you have received the grace of the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit dwells within you. The word “Lord (kyrios)” in the confession, “Jesus is Lord,” is the term used in the Old Testament to refer to Yahweh. Therefore, to confess, “Jesus is Lord,” is to confess that Jesus is God, the Yahweh of the Old Testament. Let us now confess from our hearts, “Jesus is Lord.”