By Pastor Dave Farmer
Summary
1 Corinthians 14 establishes the rule of doctrine for public worship. Although this was written to the Christians at Corinth, the Church today needs to listen to the precepts and principles found in this great chapter.
Chapter fourteen concludes a section of this epistle devoted to solving the problems in public worship at Corinth. A difficulty arose from a group in the church who were disruptive as they exercised the gift of speaking in tongues. No other congregation from the standpoint of the New Testament was ever addressed in this area of spiritual life and worship.
Paul will insist that the Corinthians meet the high standard of Christian worship, which is the edification of the Body of Christ, the Church [Ephesians 4:11-13]. This is in contrast to the disorder in heathen places of worship, such as at the Temple of Delphi, where one writer describes, "While in a trance the Pythia "raved" – probably a form of ecstatic speech – and her ravings were "translated" by the priests of the temple into elegant hexameters." 1 Peace and good order are the traits of public worship in Christ's Church. The Corinthians have failed to meet this standard by permitting the gift of tongues to be exercised in their meetings. Another startling revelation!
Paul will declare that "God is not the author of confusion." He will state clearly through six logical arguments why the gift of tongues has a limited role and purpose inside the Church's worship.
Why is knowing the time of writing important? Let me note four reasons.
First, it is a bedrock principle of interpretation that Scripture must be interpreted at the time it was written. We have many of the same problems the early church had, but their culture and circumstances differed from ours. Paul is addressing a problem that was occurring at the moment he was writing. This is the pre-canon period of the Church Age.
Secondly, worship in the first century is different in several significant ways:
The church met in homes. They owned no property.
It took time to train ministers who would pastor the various churches.
They had no New Testament Canon of Scripture. It was in the process of being written.
The gathering of believers became a priority, for it was there they heard the teaching of the Scriptures. It was through their faithful attendance that they learned New Testament truth before New Testament truth was written. Most of us wake up on Sunday morning, get in our cars, and drive to church. We worship in our own building. A pastor will lead us in worship and instruct us in the Word of God. All of us will have our own Bible, in our own language, which we can read, both Old and New Testament. These conditions did not prevail during the first century.
4. They had temporary spiritual gifts which we do not have today. Some of these gifts were amazing. Imagine the gift of knowledge. As a Pastor, I can appreciate this spiritual gift, for knowing God's Word requires hours and hours of study. However, in the first century, Pastor Adrominus had no Bible to study. Instead, he instructed his congregation through the gift of knowledge. He taught them the wonderful words of life before they existed. He could explain to his people how to live the Christian Way of Life, and please the Lord Jesus Christ before the New Testament passages were written about this.
Also, there was the gift of prophecy. This enabled Christians in the early church to understand "what saith the Lord." The New Testament prophet would exhort the people of God and teach them about the future. For instance, Agabus had the gift of prophecy. He would say to believers, "This is what the Holy Spirit says." He made this claim without fanfare or bluster. How could anyone be so arrogant as to claim he was speaking for the Holy Spirit of God? Yet he foretold the famine that would hit Jerusalem and the Roman world [Acts 11:27,28] and that Paul would be arrested [Acts 21:8-14].
It is hard for us as American Christians to appreciate what the first-century Christians faced when there was no organized church, no pastors, and no written Word of God. How did they learn doctrinal truth? The truth was the same, but the means were a little different. They learned New Testament truth from those who possessed the gift of prophecy and knowledge and other communication gifts. We learn it today through those who have the gift of pastor-teacher as they teach it from the completed Canon of Scripture, Ephesians 4:11-13.
The clarity of Paul's doctrinal approach has led some Charismatics to claim that this passage states only Paul's preference. This statement is striking, for it is a watered-down view of the Scriptures. This false view of inspiration is called the "degrees of inspiration." It is a heretical view for Paul wrote: "All Scripture is given by the inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction and the instruction in the ways of righteousness, 2 Timothy 3:16." 1 Corinthians fourteen is included in the "ALL."
Many have fallen from the path of orthodoxy by promoting that some parts of the Bible are inspired to a greater degree than others. The subtle suggestion is that Charismatic churches do not have to comply with 1 Corinthians fourteen, for it only contains Paul's preference, and it was due to the immaturity of the congregation. This implies that spiritually mature congregations, like Charismatic ones, do not have to comply with the doctrines contained in this passage. The weakness of this approach is failing to realize that someone has to decide what degree of inspiration the various portions of Scripture represent. I will accept Paul's point of view, for under inspiration, we are guaranteed this is what God says.
This passage sets the standards for public worship in the Church Age, and every congregation must abide by these truths or face the verdict of apostasy. You cannot pick and choose what standards YOU want to accept and what YOU do not want to accept. It is not difficult to see how arrogance, especially emotional arrogance, has blinded the minds of so many that they distort and twist the Scripture to suit their personal needs.
In Corinth, they took the spiritual gift of speaking in tongues and made it the center of their worship experience. They failed to understand the purpose of the church, which is to teach every generation about the Lord Jesus Christ so that they might become more like Him. So, everyone who spoke in tongues wanted to demonstrate their gift in public worship. They wanted to be worshiped and admired. They were prompting others to learn to speak in tongues as if the Holy Spirit wasn't doing a good enough job.
The arrogance of emotion led them into the cosmic system whereby they lived outside God's plan for the Christian Way Of Life. This led not to their use of tongues but their abuse of tongues. When you superimpose your personal experiences over the clear and lucid teaching of the Word of God, you are in emotional arrogance. Paul's solution is for the Corinthians to submit themselves to the rule of doctrine found in this Epistle.
Paul begins this chapter by looking back at the previous things he taught in chapter 13. He said love is the better way, love proceeds all exercise of spiritual gifts, and love is the highest and greatest of all the Christian virtues. Now, we receive from him a command to the entire church:
1 Corinthian 14:1a Expanded translation
All of you, Keep on pursuing after this Christ-like love,
The command is to pursue or strive toward a goal. It is helpful to know that Paul used this same word in Philippians 3:12, "I press toward the mark." In Paul's theology, the predetermined plan of God for the Church Age believer had one goal, and that was to advance spiritually and become more and more like Christ. God's perfect plan for your life is for you to become more like Christ in character and conduct.
Romans 8:29
"...He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;"
2 Corinthians 3:18
But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.
Ephesians 5:1
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children;
Ephesians 5:2
and walk in [in the sphere of] love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.
It was our Lord who was the first to speak of love as a sphere in which we were to live.
John 15:9
Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in [in the sphere of] My love.
It is important to connect these ideas and develop a coherent system of spirituality. The reason is all these terms are similar. Sometimes, the emphasis in the passages is on residence in God's system. Other times, it is about functioning in the system or the system's goal, but they are all referring to the plan of God for the Christian Way of Life.
This brings us to our passage, which emphasizes the goal of the Christian Way of Life, which is to emulate our Lord, “Keep on pursuing [as a goal] this love." This love was first found in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was demonstrated by the fourteen characteristics of the previous chapter, 13:4-11, and now has become the pattern. He showed us how to love and love anybody. If you think that is impossible, remember He loved you. You are not that great of a catch. This involves:
Embracing the Goal: make it your spiritual goal to become more like Christ.
Evaluate your life continually based on love's standard, 1 Corinthians 13:4-7.
Elevating Christ-like love as a priority in all your relationships.
This is addressed to the entire church. The plural number of the verb should be brought out in translation, “Keep on, ALL OF YOU AS A LOCAL CHURCH, pursuing this Christ-like love."
1 Corinthians 14:1b Expanded Translation
as previously stated you [as a church] keep on desiring spiritual gifts
The phrase "but earnestly desire spiritual gifts" is a repeat of what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 12:31, which indicates that DE is a marker to notify us that the discourse is continuing, "and as previously stated." The verb ZELOO is where we get our word zealous. It means to strive earnestly after, or to desire something earnestly, or to busy oneself.
Every local church should help its member to find their spiritual gifts and provide opportunities for them to use their gifts. Paul does not want to put a damper on the Holy Spirit's ministry to provide all the spiritual gifts necessary for the church's ministry. The ministry of spiritual gifts is important, and a review of Scripture gives us eight reasons why we should desire to know our gifts and use them. Remember, you were designed to serve, not sit.
Ephesians 2:10
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
2 Timothy 1:9 [The Message]
who first saved us and then called us to this holy work. We had nothing to do with it. It was all his idea, a gift prepared for us in Jesus long before we knew anything about it.
1 Peter 4:10
As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
1 Corinthians 12:27 [The Living Bible]
Now here is what I am trying to say: All of you together are the one body of Christ, and each one of you is a separate and necessary part of it.
Romans 14:12
Yes, each of us will give an account of himself to God.
Matthew 25:23 [NIV]
“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
1 Corinthians 14:1c
But especially that you as a church may prophesy.
The Greek phrase MALLON DE is an idiomatic expression that indicates a preference, "but especially or preferably." The remainder of the chapter is Paul's arguments about why he prefers to prophesy over speaking in tongues. Paul changes over to the subjunctive mood “may prophesy,” for he is unsure whether or not the Corinthians will follow his instructions. However, we know the rest of the story, for in the second letter to the Corinthians, Paul does not mention speaking in tongues.
Paul challenges us to reach the goal of spiritual maturity. One indicator of the spiritually adult believer is their lifestyle of love. It is a sign of maturity and brings maximum glory to the Lord Jesus Christ. Love is the mark of Christianity, John 13:34,35.
He also reminds them that spiritual gifts have a place in the church's ministry, and we should desire that in all our churches, we have all the gifts necessary to edify the Body of Christ.
He states his preference, which is to prophesy. We don't know why, but that will be revealed in the following articles.
1 From Wikipedia.com, an article on the Oracle of Delphi.