1 Corinthians 12:6

And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.

Other matters might be postponed until the apostle would be able to carry out his plan of visiting Corinth, but the subject broached by him in this section must be attended to at once: But about spiritual things, that is, gifts or powers, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant. He wanted to teach the proper use of spiritual gifts, just as he had given them the right information about the celebration of the Lord's Supper; for there was a certain amount of danger connected with these gifts, since they were, generally speaking, supernatural phenomena proceeding from the Spirit and belonging within His sphere. And in order to put his readers into the right relation to the admonition which he is about to make, and to keep them in the proper state of humiliation as to their absolute lack of merit in the acceptance of these gifts, he reminds them of their former heathen state: You know that Gentiles you once were, being carried away to the voiceless idols, as you were led. Two thoughts are here brought out, namely, that heathenism is an estrangement from the true God, and that it is a slavery of the lowest kind. To be led away to the worship of idols, whom the apostle characterizes as dumb, voiceless, Psalms 115:5; Psalms 135:16, marks the entire Gentile world. The Gentiles are carried off to this foolish, futile worship; their priests are very well aware of the fact that the claims which they advance are without foundation; but they keep the people in superstitious slavery. At the nod of their priests the ignorant heathen bowed down in worship to their dead idols, whose dumbness was a part of their nothingness, and who never returned an answer, no matter how urgent the supplication. The knowledge of their former state was such as always to make the grace of God stand out the more wonderfully by contrast in their minds.

But the Corinthians did not yet understand just how the Spirit of God did His work in their hearts, how He exerted His power. So Paul proceeds to instruct them. Therefore, in order that they may form a correct judgment of the Spirit's operations and gifts, he informs them that no one speaking in the Spirit of God says: Jesus is accursed; and no one can say, Jesus is Lord, but in the Holy Spirit. The spirits of falsehood and of truth were battling together at Corinth, and the battle-cry of either party is here recorded. That which was accursed or anathema, in the sense as used by the Jews, was vowed to God for destruction as under His curse. To say that anyone or anything was anathema was to pronounce the oath of execration upon the person or thing in question. The fanatic Jews made this their cry in their incessant warfare against the Christian religion, and the catchy expression was apt to be taken up by Gentile mobs when any demonstration against the Christians was set in motion. It was certain, then, from the outset that no one using this form of blasphemy could be considered as speaking by the Spirit of God; no matter what his claim in that respect, the fact remained that such a blasphemer was and must remain outside of the pale of Christendom until he changed entirely. The remark of Luther at this point is also well worth considering: "For what he here calls 'cursing Jesus' is not only this, that a man publicly blasphemes and curses the name or person of Christ, as the godless Jews or heathen did,... but [this is done also] when any one among the Christians praises the Holy Ghost, and yet does not preach Christ correctly as the Foundation of our salvation, but neglects this and rejects it in favor of something else, with the pretext that it is derived from the Holy Ghost and is much better and more necessary than the common doctrine of the Gospel. " On the other hand, the sincere confession, Jesus is Lord, is a product of true faith, and therefore cannot be made out of any man's reason and strength. See 1 John 4:2 ff. It is an acknowledgment of Christ with the full consciousness of His work of redemption, as wrought by the power of the Holy Ghost. But since this public confession is the chief work of the Christian pastors, it follows that these words of the apostle apply to them with unusual force. "To call Jesus the Lord is to confess oneself His servant and to seek His honor alone, as one sent by Him or having His Word and command. For he speaks here principally of the office which preaches of Christ and brings His command. Where this ministry is in use and directs men to Christ (as to the Lord), that surely is the preaching of the Holy Ghost. Thus also this cannot be done without the Holy Ghost, that every Christian in his work or station with all seriousness call Christ his Lord, that is, conclude with certainty that he is serving Him therein."

This unity of faith and confession now bears rich fruit in "distributions of grace-gifts, services, workings": But there are distributions, diversities, varieties of gifts, yet the same Spirit; and there are varieties of ministries, yet the same Lord; and there are varieties of effects, yet the same God that works, that brings about, all in all. Here the apostle contrasts the dumb idols of the heathen with the almighty, Triune God of the Christians, the former being unable either to speak or to exert any power, the latter revealing Himself with almighty power in the Church and in the congregation of the saints. The Spirit, the Lord, and God the Father are incessantly and graciously active in the edification of the Church by means of the talents imparted to the individual Christians. All the eminent endowments, qualifications, capabilities of Christians, and peculiar to their state as Christians, whether they be those of healing, of miracles, of tongues, of prophesying, of rich Bible exposition, of edifying application of the Word, are bestowed by the Holy Ghost, of the one Spirit. And these wonderful gifts of grace are applied in the Church in the various offices and ministries, in the manifold functions and spheres of labor, Ephesians 4:12, but always under the direction of the one Lord, Jesus Christ, the King of the Church, and rendered to Him. It is in His interest that the Christians should use their gifts, every one without exception as Christ has dealt out to him; for only if the various gifts, in the manifold offices and stations, be used in the service of the one Lord, will the purpose of the Lord in bestowing the gifts be realized. There are thus finally various effects of the Christians' labors, commensurate with their gifts and their position of service; but it is the one God who constantly brings about all that is necessary for the benefit of His Church, and to all true Christians He deals out from His store of gifts without ceasing. Thus the Triune God is the Fountain of all grace and power in the Church, the immediate Dispenser of every good and perfect gift. "The Spirit kindles the fire of the gifts of edification, the Son directs the rays of the ministries of edification, the Father creates the warmth of the powers of edification: in undivided essence the Triune God rules His Church; what an outrage to cause divisions in its midst!"