1 Corinthians 12:1-3

A Warning That Spiritual Gifts Can Be Imitated By Evil Forces (12:1-3)

'Now concerning spiritual things (‘what is spiritual'), brothers, I would not have you ignorant. You know that when you were Gentiles you were led away to those dumb idols, however you might be led. Wherefore I make known to you, that no man speaking in the Spirit of God says, "Jesus is anathema". And no man can say, "Jesus is Lord", but in the Holy Spirit.'

'Now concerning spiritual things (or 'affairs' or 'gifts' or 'persons'), brothers, I would not have you ignorant.' This is a response to a further query from the Corinthians to Paul about 'what is spiritual'. ('Spiritual' has no noun, it therefore has to be read in, thus the variety). Some of the Corinthians were clearly proud of what they saw as their spiritual knowledge and the manifestation of their spirituality through charismata (‘gifts of grace', compare 1 Corinthians 1:7). They saw themselves as especially 'in the know' and especially spiritual, and nowhere more than in their use of 'unknown tongues', which they seem to have thought of as the language of angels. And it would seem that some constantly spoke in tongues loudly during church worship, with the result that it had become of concern to the elders. So Paul has to set the gifts in their rightful place, and to stress above all the need for unity and a right approach to their use.

The word 'spiritual' (pneumatikon) can be either masculine or neuter. It is used earlier in the letter to describe spiritual men (1 Corinthians 2:15; 1 Corinthians 3:1) and also spiritual things (1 Corinthians 2:13). See also 1 Corinthians 14:1 where gifts of grace are in mind as is evident from the fact that prophecy is specifically in mind, followed by the mention of tongues. Here the context seems to favour seeing it as meaning 'what is spiritual (or 'of the Spirit')', although the term might have become a technical one for the gifts.

Thus he begins with a stern warning of the danger that what are seen as spiritual gifts, and their expression, can be hijacked by spiritual forces of evil, even leading to the proclamation of false teaching. He reminds them that before they became Christians they were led by such evil forces in their idolatrous, occult world, where they had probably also seen, and even themselves partaken in, manifestations of tongues and prophecy connected with idols. And he reminds them that it is still possible for such false leading to take place. When getting involved in the spiritual world man needs to be especially careful for there are deceptive forces at work. The only way of avoiding being deceived is submission to the Lordship of Jesus in all we do.

'Those dumb idols.' Unlike God these idols do not speak, they have no wisdom or knowledge to give. They provide no revelation. They are not gods. They are but pieces of wood, or metal. On the other hand their followers made up for it by ecstatic utterances, and in speaking in strange tongues and in spirit possession, especially in the mystery religions, all evidence of the activities of evil spirits (1 Corinthians 10:20). And it was often demonstrably ‘out of control' of the speaker. That these are not to be seen as parallel to the charismata in the Christian church comes out, however, in that the true charismata are subject to those who use them. If it is of the Lord they are not carried along in uncontrollable ecstasy but are under the control of the user. The spirit of the prophets is subject to the prophets (1 Corinthians 14:28; 1 Corinthians 14:32). But this is not necessarily always externally distinguishable.

So they must for example measure any 'spirit' of a prophet against the body of Apostolic teaching. If for example the spirit says, 'Jesus is anathema' then it is clearly a false spirit. If however it says 'Jesus is Lord', signifying His full status in the Godhead (1 Corinthians 8:6), or reveals Jesus as Lord by the tenor of its message, then it is of God, for no evil spirit will willingly testify to His Godhood. But these two clear cut extremes may well be just that. They are probably also intended to indicate that there are other levels in between in which they can be falsely or truly led. But they can be tested by the impression that they give about Jesus. They must beware of being possessed by just any spirit, and must rather ensure that they are yielded to the Holy Spirit.

To put someone or something under 'anathema' was to cast it out, to reject it, to allocate it as God-rejected, and to bring God's stamp of disapproval on it. It was then under the curse and fitted for destruction. The thought being reflected by the false spirit here is therefore probably that the human Jesus will be so rejected by the spirit, who will magnify 'the Christ', as a semi-divine figure, who will then shine through, having left the human body in which it had dwelt. In other words it is a rejection of the true humanity of Christ. This may not be an actual example that has occurred in the church, possibly rather referring to well known examples among worshippers in mystery religions who were known to prophesy in this way.

While we must not read in here a full blown Gnosticism, some Corinthians clearly did believe that their spirits had full contact with the spiritual world, giving them special status, and did believe that eventually they would leave their bodies which would simply be left in the grave to rot, either because the body was tainted, and therefore cursed, or at the least because it was unimportant and not fit for the spiritual realm (1 Corinthians 15:12).

On the other hand someone might have seen some encouragement for this idea when mistakenly distorting such teaching as Galatians 3:10 where Paul speaks of Jesus as being under the curse of the law because He 'hung on the tree'. A Gentile who failed to understand the background to Paul's argument might gain the wrong impression from such teaching, especially in the light of their background, thinking that the human Jesus was being cursed so that the Christ spirit might go free (although we have no actual evidence for such being established as a doctrine until later in the first century). He may have, in attempting to prophesy, stated such a fact to the shocked horror of the whole church. Thus it may be that Paul is warning specifically against such false interpretations in terms of an example they all knew about, and is pointing out, as they would all be well aware, that the Holy Spirit could never possibly be the cause of such things being said. So the evil spirits are seen to be capable of denying both the true humanity (compare 1 John 4:2) and the full divinity of Jesus Christ.

Alternately Paul may have been selecting the worst possible scenario so as to establish the case. It would be obvious to all that anyone who spoke like that in prophecy could only be inspired by a deceiving spirit. On the other hand his argument might then to some extent lose its force which would be far better served by an example known to all. If that be accepted there is nothing at all unlikely in the thought that a vindictive or wildly misled attendant at a gathering of the church, caught up in the excitement of the meeting, might have spoken thus in 'prophecy'. The danger always of opening the opportunity of prophesying to all is that it will be misused by someone who is enthusiastic but mistaken. The Jews certainly thought of Jesus as accursed, precisely because He had died on a cross, which was one of their great stumblingblocks (1 Corinthians 1:23), and the idea may well have circulated in Corinth. We can imagine the shock if the church was going along with a prophecy which seemed sound, only to hear these dreadful words. It would have been a lesson indeed of the need to 'judge' prophets.

'Jesus is Lord.' This is the opposite position, that the human Jesus is also Lord of all. Compare here Philippians 2:9 where the fullness of what His Lordship involves is brought out. He is the One Who has the name above every name, the name of Yahweh, He is the One before Whom every knee in both Heaven and earth and the underworld will bow (see Isaiah 45:23), He is the One Whom every tongue will confess as 'Lord' (compare Romans 10:9; Acts 2:36; Acts 16:31). And this will bring great glory to God the Father.

This statement is central to Christian belief. It is by declaring that Jesus is Lord that we declare our faith (Romans 10:9). It is an essential part of being saved. Thus all true prophecy must by its very nature reveal Jesus as Lord. It is the essence of true prophecy. For God's purpose is that in the end the whole of creation will declare that ‘Jesus Christ is Lord' (Philippians 2:11). This is not simply a mechanical test, it is the whole basis on which all prophecy must be judged by others (1 Corinthians 14:29). It lies at the root of all truth.

There is here, then, a clear warning that spiritual gifts can be imitated, and that they are no necessary proof of spirituality, and that even some of the supposed charismata may in fact not be genuine. We must all beware when opening ourselves to the Spirit that we do not open ourselves to the sway of false spirits, or even false ideas, or our own false inner consciousness. The positive aspect is the emphasis on the fact that when such spiritual gifts are of God they exalt the Lord Jesus in the fullness of what He is. Here is a crucial test of what is a true gift. And here also is a test of true spirituality, a genuine recognition of Jesus as Lord, and a genuine desire to exalt Him. As with so much we must consider the motive.