By Pastor Dave Farmer
This article is the first of six arguments made to solve the problem that speaking in tongues caused in public worship at Corinth. The solution led Paul to address public worship's true nature and purpose.
1 Corinthians 14 contains six arguments by the Apostle Paul regarding speaking in tongues during public worship at Corinth. The central idea of this chapter will be to teach the Corinthians about the true purpose of assembling worship. He will provide the Biblical principles necessary to enable them to set in order what had become an environment of confusion and disorder.
Paul, throughout these verses, will place two spiritual gifts in contrast. The first is the gift of tongues, and the other is the gift of prophecy. These are communication gifts. One communicates the gospel directed primarily toward the unsaved Jew for the purpose of evangelism. The gift of prophecy communicates to believers the doctrines necessary for them to grow spiritually.
If you are looking for an excellent reason to study this passage, I suggest that Paul establishes the Biblical standards for worship. In many circles today, worship has become "a really big show," a kind of Broadway production. Is this honoring the Lord? Why do we meet together? What is true worship? This passage will answer this kind of question.
1 Corinthians 14:2 Expanded Translation
For you see, the one communicating [during the pre-canon period] in a tongue [ in a foreign language] does not communicate to the advantage of the people in the congregation but to God; for no one, not one person in the congregation understands the sound, even though he is communicating by means of the spirit 3 mysteries [the doctrines of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ].
The believer who speaks in a foreign language during a worship service may glorify God, but who would know? He is not communicating with the members of the congregation in their vocabulary. The only exception would be if someone in the church knew the language that was spoken and could interpret it. Paul's use of OUDEIS indicates that this was not what was happening. The negative adjective states clearly that "not one person" could be found to reveal the meaning of the words. Imagine walking into a church, and the announcements, singing, and Bible study taught that morning were in Korean. You would hear the sounds but cannot discern the meaning; as Paul says, "no one understands the sounds."
Paul concludes this verse by making a positive comment about this spiritual gift. 1 When writing 1 Corinthians in 55 A.D., it was a legitimate spiritual gift. The problem was how the gift was being used. Those who spoke in tongues did so in the midst of assembling worship among believers. This was the wrong audience. As previously studied, this gift was to be directed toward Jewish unbelievers who would be found primarily outside the church. As crucial as Jewish missions were to Paul [see Romans 9:1-3], he directed them to seek after Bible teaching, for the church is primarily an assembly of believers.
This will be the same thing if we are talking about the gift of evangelism. Here is another communication gift: the special ability to present the gospel clearly and accurately to unbelievers. The evangelist's audience is not believers but the unsaved. If you demand that the Pastor become an evangelist and teach the gospel every week, to the exclusion of all else, there will be limited benefit to believers. This is not the purpose of the church, nor is it how the gift of pastor-teacher functions, Ephesians 4:11-15. Paul's argument is not that the gift of tongues should not be used but that it be directed toward the right audience.
The final phrase has been translated in various ways but should be rendered "by means of the Spirit. This follows the same morphological construction as in Galatians 5:18,25; Romans 8:13.
Galatians 5:18
But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.
Galatians 5:25
If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.
Romans 8:13
for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
Also, Paul says it is the ministry of God the Holy Spirit to reveal the doctrines of the mystery:
Ephesians 3:5
which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit [better: by means of the Spirit];
This word MUSTERION, is a special word introduced by the Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 13:11 and adopted by the Apostle Paul to represent Church Age truth in such passages as Ephesians 3:1-6; Romans 16:25,26; Colossians 1:26,27; 1 Corinthians 4:1.
One of the categories in the doctrine of the mystery is the gospel. It is not a new doctrine, but now has new content, expressed as "believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved." The gospel's content during the Church Age emphasizes the finished work of Jesus Christ on the Cross. In the Old Testament, the gospel emphasized the future work of Christ. He was the coming seed, as in Genesis 3:15. He was the future king of Israel, as predicted in the prophecies of Genesis 49:10 and 2 Samuel 7:13-15. He was to be a suffering Messiah who would become our sin offering and substitute, as in Isaiah 53; and Psalm 22. Various prophetic pictures are painted in the Old Testament about the coming Messiah. Still, it was not until He appeared and declared Himself to be the Son of God that the progressive revelation of the Old Testament gave way to the final and complete picture of Him found in the New Testament. We no longer look forward to the coming Redeemer who will save us; instead, we look back on His finished work for us on the cross. Today's gospel message can be summed up as "Faith alone in Christ alone."
We are now to trust the One who fulfilled the Plan of God, John 1:14-18. The One who bore our sins on the cross, dying for our sins, and taking our place on that cross, 1 Peter 2:24. The message is not He is a Savior, but that He is our personal Savior, and that message is for anyone who will believe.
Also, remember that the true purpose of the gift of tongues was the presentation of the gospel to unbelieving Jews. This incredible gift was ministered by the Holy Spirit, giving the believer special language skills to share a magnificent message about the arrival of their Messiah in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The gospel's content was communicated when the believer applied this gift under the Holy Spirit's control. It revealed the One Savior who died on the cross of Calvary as a propitiation for the world's sins, 1 John 2:1,2.
Yet, despite this gift's great advantages, it was limited. It expressed in a foreign language the wonderful words of eternal life for all who would believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, but no one in the church service knew what was said. There is a limited audience, therefore, a limited benefit.
1 Corinthians 14:3 Expanded Translation
However, the one who is prophesying [during the pre-canon period] communicates to the people in the congregation resulting in edification, exhortation, and comfort [encouragement].
Prophesy is preferred because, in comparison with tongues, there is another limitation: limited content. One expresses only the gospel, while prophecy explains the whole realm of doctrine, including the gospel. When the Word of God is communicated in the language of the congregation, there are three great results:
Edification - it builds up and causes believers to grow. You grow physically by food, so spiritual growth comes from spiritual food, 1 Corinthians 3:1-3; 2 Peter 2:2.
Exhortation - These are the how-to's of the Christian Way Of Life. This is how the Word of God applies to you. It is not criticizing the believer or spiritually bullying him. It presents the Word of God with a conviction for motivation and guidance, 2 Timothy 3:16.
Encouragement - Comfort and encouragement from the Word enable you to orient yourself to the difficulties in life. It is not sympathy, but comfort, the same idea as in 1 Thessalonians 4:18, "comfort one another with these words."
Summary:
Verse one says prophecy is preferred over the gift of tongues.
In verses 2 and 3, we begin to see some of the reasons for this preference as Paul contrasts the gift of tongues with the gift of prophecy.
The chief benefit derived from these two gifts is based upon what they were designed to do. Each gift was designed to communicate to a different audience.
The gift of tongues was the Spirit-given ability to speak in a foreign language not learned or previously known. The content of that communication was the gospel. It was directed toward the unbelieving Jew and was a communication gift designed for evangelism.
Prophecy was the communication gift designed to edify, exhort, and encourage the congregation. This gift was superior to tongues because it could beneficially communicate to the church.
In this passage, we begin to see a statement of the threefold purpose of the worship service. This is the divine standard, and it is our Heavenly Father's measuring stick for us to evaluate the ministry of our Church. Does it stand up to the test? Will the ministry you are in cause you to grow spiritually? If not, flee it as fast as you can. Your spiritual life is in danger. We sometimes have difficulty discerning good from good, human good from divine good. However, suppose your worship service does not fulfill edifying, exhorting, and encouraging principles. Whatever else it may fulfill will be of no spiritual benefit.
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1. The last phrase is interpreted in various ways. It reads in the NASB, "but he speaks in his spirit mysteries." I am not in agreement with this translation, as will be noted. Also, the translator places the possessive pronoun in italics his, which means it has been added. The possessive pronoun is absent, and a footnote appears, giving an alternative translation, "by the Spirit." This indicates the problem of understanding how Paul uses the word PNEUMA, which means spirit. If he is talking about the human spirit, then "in his spirit" would be appropriate. However, if he talks about the Holy Spirit, then "by the Spirit" would be correct. I view this as a reference to the Holy Spirit and would translate this last phrase: "even though he communicates by means of the Spirit mysteries."
2. The Prophetic View of Tongues.
3. There are many ways pneuma is used in Scripture, but here we list it under “Special uses related to the Church: 1.9b The Spirit of God producing spiritual virtues and abilities.” [From the Lexical Study of Pneuma: not yet published.
Spiritual life - Acts 5:32; Romans 8:10
Spiritual fruit Galatians 5:22; Romans 15:30
Spiritual gifts Acts 10:44,45, 20:28; a sign of the baptism of the Spirit,1 Corinthians 12:7; 12:8; 12:9, 12:10; the function of a spiritual gift as in 1 Corinthians 14:2,14,15,16.