PAULS SPIRIT PORTFOLIO:

FIRST CORINTHIANS

BY
J. ERIC LEWIS

Contents

Introduction......................................................................................................................................1
A Survey of Pneumatological Opinion.........................................................................................1
A Pneumatological Survey of First Corinthians (2:1-11:16)......................................................4
A Pneumatikos Survey of First Corinthians (12:1-14:40)..........................................................7
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................11
Bibliography

12

Introduction
To say the very least, Christians disagree about the role of the Holy Spirit. Is he
personal? Is he divine? In any practical sense, is he relevant to the life of the modern church?
More specifically, what about spiritual gifts (Gk: pneumatikos [spiritual things], charismata
[gifts], and phaneroseis [manifestations])?1 How are they to be defined? Which items are to be
included in the full listing of them? And of course, do they continue today as active, present
tense realities? Neither do these differences amount to mere congenial bickering amongst
beloved colleagues, but sadly they are much more akin to declarations of open war from opposite
ends of the theological spectrum.
Whatever the answers to these questions may be, and however heated the debate, First
Corinthians offers a solid forum for exploring the issues. Paul is a Holy Spirit enthusiast
throughout his writings, but nowhere more so than this particular epistle which for obvious
reasons becomes a critical text underlying Pentecostal/Charismatic exegesis. Where he writes,
Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed,
(12:1) the apostle might just as easily have begun, Now about the Person and work of the
Spirit since nearly the entire letter is concerned with those topics.2 Therefore, the following
pages will explore Pauls Pneumatological perspective as illuminated by his admonishing of the
Corinthian church. Along the way, special attention will be given to the role of the Spirits gifts,
both in their ancient usage and by extension in their modern significance, as well as Pauls
overarching purpose(s) in discussing them.
A Survey of Pneumatological Opinion
The war is engaged. Consider the differing opinions of two beloved, erudite scholars,
John MacArthur and Gordon Fee. MacArthur is hardly shy about his view that the entire
Pentecostal/Charismatic movement is nothing more than a deplorable sham, an egregious
1 J. R. Michaels, Gifts of the Spirit, in The New International Dictionary of Pentecostal and
Charismatic Movements (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010), k. l. 27480-82.

2 All Scripture quotations are taken from the New International Version.

(non)theological shyster, a pseudo-Christian charlatan causing great damage to the churchs

witness about Christ. In his scorching expose, Strange Fire, under a section entitled,
Reinventing the Holy Spirit, he writes,
By inventing a Holy Spirit of idolatrous imaginations, the modern Charismatic
Movement offers strange fire that has done incalculable harm to the body of Christ.
Claiming to focus on the third member of the Trinity, it has in fact profaned His name and
denigrated His true work.3
Furthermore, he protests,
It is a sad twist of irony that those who claim to be most focused on the Holy Spirit are in
actuality the ones doing the most to abuse, grieve, insult, misrepresent, quench, and
dishonor Him. How do they do it? By attributing to Him words He did not say, deeds He
did not do, phenomena He did not produce, and experiences that have nothing to do with
Him. They boldly plaster His name on that which is not His work.4
To be sure, MacArthur clearly does not believe that spiritual gifts are intended for people today.
On the other hand, whereas Gordon Fee would almost certainly acknowledge the reality
underlying many of MacArthurs criticisms, he ultimately sees things quite differently. For Fee
himself an exegetical scholar of some renown, but also a Pentecostal Christianity, ancient as
well as modern, is nothing less than a pervasive Spirit movement. He explains his understanding
of the New Testament paradigm,
For him [Paul] life in the Spirit meant embracing both fruit and gifts simultaneously and
vigorouslywhat I have come to call life in the radical middle. The Spirit as an
experienced and empowering reality was for Paul and his churches the key player in all
of Christian life, from beginning to end. The Spirit covered the whole waterfront: power
for life, growth, fruit, gifts, prayer, witness, and everything else . . . If the church is going
to be effective in our postmodern world, we need to stop paying mere lip service to the
Spirit and to recapture Pauls perspective: the Spirit as the experienced, empowering
3 John F. MacArthur, Strange Fire: The Danger of Offending the Holy Spirit with Counterfeit Worship,
(Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2013), xiii.

4 Ibid.

return of Gods own personal presence in and among us, who enables us to live as a
radically eschatological people in the present world while we await the consummation.5
So then, in Fees estimation the fullness of the Spirit, including his visible manifestation through
the gifts, is a very real need in the church and world today. Similarly Stanley Horton confirms,
The Holy Spirit provided the warmth, the dynamic, and the joy that characterized the whole
movement of the gospel in the first century. Every part of the daily life of the believers, including
their work and worship, was dedicated to Christ Jesus as Lord and was under the direction of the
Holy Spirit.6
Fee is hardly alone: when a modern Christian takes a moment to look beyond his one backyard
into the larger world of the church at large, he may be surprised to discover that the landscape he
sees is filled with charismatic hills and dells. The face of the church in the 21st century is far
different than it once was: it is no longer the church of the sophisticated, rich, westerner ready to
conquer the world through the power of intellect alone. Instead, it is the poor, needy church of
the Global South, desperate for the manifest power of God to meet real needs. Hence,
David Smith describes these churches as overwhelmingly charismatic and conservative
in character, reading the New Testament in ways that seem puzzlingly literal to their
friends in the North, and as largely made up of poor people who in many cases live on
the very edge of existence. Thus the growth of Christianity in poorer regions implies not
only an alternative reading of the Bible, but also a different experience of the Bible. For
the poorer Christian communities in the South, meeting the social needs of people is
integral to Christian witness, theology and ministry.7

5 Gordon D. Fee, Paul, the Spirit, and the People of God, (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2011), Overture: An
Invitation to Read Paul Anew, K. l. 211-22.

6 Horton, Stanley M. What the Bible Says About the Holy Spirit: Revised Edition. Revised ed.
Springfield, MO: Gospel Publishing House, 2012, ch. 1, The Spirit in the World Today, k. l. 109-11.

7 Todd Johnson and Sandra S. K. Lee, From Western Christianity to Global Christendom, in
Perspectives on the World Christian Movement, Ralph Winter and Steven Hawthorne eds., (Pasadena:
William Carey Library, 2013), K. l. 12383-88

So then per some modern missiologists, just as Fee advocates doctrinally, the gifts of the Spirit
do (and indeed must!) remain active experientially in majority world Christianity. Therefore,
Philip Jenkins adds, When we look at the Pentecostal enthusiasm of present-day Brazil, or the
indigenous churches of Africa, then quite possibly, we are getting a foretaste of the Christianity
of the next generation,8 a truly charismatic Christianity. Its as though the Holy Spirit were
emerging in a majestic tour de force at the end of the ages, just prior to the Parousia to say,
Ready or not, here Christ comes.
One thing is certain, whatever one thinks of MacArthurs assessment, he is certainly right
in one regard. The truth about the Holy Spirit is intricately tied with Scriptural revelation.9
Unfortunately, though, for his position, the axiomatic, unavoidable fact is that a plain, straightforward reading of Scripture is one which reveals the lives of Gods people to be characterized
by his supernatural outworking among them. From Genesis to Revelation the people of God are
surrounded by Holy Spirit phenomena, and nowhere is this clearer than in Pauls epistle to the
church in Corinth, which was abuzz with spiritual gifts. Because of this prevalent testimony in
the pages of Holy Writ, the burden of proof remains squarely secured to the shoulders of the
cessationist alone, who must demonstrate from Scripture alone that the New Testament age of
Spirit empowerment was intended for the first century alone. But what a tall order this is, since
there is not a single word in the entire Biblical corpus to suggest any such thing, while there are
many, many words to imply the very opposite.
A Pneumatological Survey of First Corinthians (2:1-11:16)
Despite the apparent, ad hoc, question-and-answer format of the overall letter, the pericope of
First Corinthians 12-14 does not suddenly emerge out of a vacuum.10 Far from it, Paul is eager to
discuss the work of the Holy Spirit as early as the second chapter. He reminds the church that his
evangelistic ministry among them was not a tour de rhetorical force, but an exhibition of power
(2:1-4). His visit to Corinth followed immediately his ministry in Athens (only about fifty miles
8 Philip Jenkins, The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity, in ibid., k. l. 12421-23.

9 He correctly points out that one clear test for the genuineness of purported work of the Spirit is whether
it directs people to the Word of God. See John MacArthur, Strange Fire, 66.

to the west; Acts 18:1),11 where the story of the resurrection was met by cynicism (Acts 17:32).
Perhaps it was this sour reaction to his rhetoric-laced sermon in the Areopagus that convinced the
apostle once-for-all to prioritize divine power above human wisdom.12 Either way, as Taylor
suggests, Paul here takes issue only with humanistic rhetoric, driven solely by the intellect, and
not with the entire enterprise of logical speech.13 The apostles point is that the message of the
cross is not so much to be received by the mind, as it is to be captured by the spirit; hence the
best evangelistic tool is not a carefully constructed set of mental proofs but a convincing
spectrum of manifested power. As the discussion moves forward, the Spirit is not only the one
who demonstrates the truth of the message, presumably by way of miraculous deeds, but he is
also the one who reveals details of Gods plans to and for his people (2:6-10). The Spirit
effectively unrolls the scrolls of divine wisdom in an act of personal revelation to be received
exclusively by Christs church, since those for whom this wisdom remains veiled cannot
understand it anyhow (2:11-16).
It is noteworthy that these two-distinct works of the Holy Spirit, demonstration and revelation,
closely mirror the types of gifts later named in chapter 12. Healings (v. 9) and miracles (v. 10),
10 In 7:1 Paul overtly references a letter he received from the Corinthian church asking about certain,
particular issues about which they needed his guidance. Subsequently throughout the epistle the Greek
phrase First Corinthians the expression (peri de or now about) probably refers back to the
issues raised in that forum. See John B. Polhill, 1 Corinthians: A Church Divided, Southern Baptist
Journal of Theology 6, no. 3 (Fall 2002): 4-25, accessed December 11,
2016, http://www.galaxie.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/article/sbjt06-3-02, 6.
Nevertheless, despite the peri de in 12:1, Taylor sees the Pneumatological discussion of 12-14 as much
more than just an answer to a Corinthian question. Paul may start there but he uses the essay as an
expansion in his ongoing discourse about the importance of love. See Mark Taylor, 1 Corinthians: An
Exegetical and Theological Exposition of Holy Scripture, (Nashville: B&H, 2014), 279-81.
11
Taylor, 1 Corinthians, 18. In fact, as Taylor points out, in its ancient past Corinth actually rivaled that
other famed city.
12
This is a line of argument that I read many years ago, but sadly I do not remember (nor do I have any
way of discovering) who suggested it so as to properly credit them.
13
Taylor, 1 Corinthians, 79.
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for example, exemplify the former while prophecy and interpretation of tongues (v. 10) are two
potential examples of the latter. In all his activity, The Holy Spirit himself focuses attention on
Christ and seeks to glorify Him (John 15:26; 16:14),14 tasks he inevitably accomplishes through
these self-same means. Christ himself informed his disciples, when he, the Spirit of truth,
comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what
he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come (John 16:13, emphases mine, surely a work of
revelation). Furthermore, in a context that ultimately involves the inauguration of the Spirit-age,
he informs them, Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been
doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father (14:12,
surely a work of demonstration).15
After explaining the reality of the Spirit-governed mind in chapter 2, Paul frankly admonishes
the Corinthians that in their fleshliness they have not lived up to the ideal of truly being Spiritled (3:1). Thus Horton notes that their ultimate issue did not involve their understanding, but
their behavior.16 They may have captured the Spirit in their minds, but they had not yet captured
the Holy in their lifestyles. No wonder the apostle reminds them that they are literally the
corporate resting place of the Holy Spirit, his temple where he dwells (3:16, 17). 17 Their lives are
not appropriate to be a safe place for the God of the universe: as Paul says elsewhere in his
corpus, by their divisive conduct they are at risk of grieving the Holy Spirit of God (Eph. 4:2914
Horton, What the Bible Says, ch. 1, The Spirit in the World Today, k. l. 83-4.
15
In saying, because I go to the Father, Christ implies that the catalyst of the greater works will be the Holy
Spirit. Because later he tells them explicitly, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the
Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you (16:7). Furthermore, Carson explains, The
prospect of doing greater things anticipates the need for enabling power, the manifestation of God himself by his
Spirit. See D. A. Carson, The Gospel According to John (The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Pntc)) (Grand
Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1991), 498.

16
Horton, What the Bible Says, ch. 9, The Spirit in the Ministry of Believers, k. l. 3463.
17
John Walton, The Lost World of Genesis One: Ancient Cosmology and the Origins Debate, (Downders
Grove: IVP Press, 2013), 72.
6

32). So then, In the light of the holiness of Gods Spirit-filled temple, then, God must destroy
anyone who destroys this temple i.e. who disturb the unity of Gods people.18
The extent of Corinthian sin though did not end with their bickering and schisms: they were also
flagrantly sexually immoral,19 participating in illicit relationships (5:1-13; 6:9), and even
probably visiting temple prostitutes (6:15-17).20 Pauls response is to remind them once more that
the body is a temple, except this time he is not speaking of the church as a corporate temple.
Each individuals body is a temple of the Holy Spirit (6:19, 20), implying that what they do with
their bodies has serious metaphysical implications about their individual relationships with God.
In fact, since uniting oneself with a prostitute necessarily involves a unity with spiritual forces at
war with Christ, Taylors conclusion is ominous indeed: Paul does not actually say that this sin
severs all ties with Christ, but some think he implies it. 21 The wonderfully good news is that the
same Holy Spirit whose temple has been violated by Corinthian sin, is the very agent who is
waiting to wash them clean of this sin; in fact, he has already done so for some (6:11). Notice
that this sanctifying activity is perfectly in keeping with the Spirits overall work of
demonstration mentioned above. The world will see changed lives and be forced to acknowledge
the reality of Christ.
Moving forward, in 7:40, Paul concludes his discussion of male/female relations with the
offhanded comment and I think that I too have the Spirit of God. This could very well be a
subtle rebuke of Corinthian opponents who touted their own ministries as being full of the
Spirit.22 Then too, Horton sees an allusion to the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23) in Pauls
18
Horton, What the Bible Says, ch. 9, The Spirit in the Ministry of Believers, k. l. 3474-75.
19
Ibid., under, More Works of the Sinful Nature, k. l. 3485-87.
20
Taylor, 1 Corinthians, 156-57.
21
Ibid., 157.
22
Horton, What the Bible Says, ch. 9, The Spirit in the Ministry of Believers, under I Also Have the
7

statement that love builds up (8:1).23 If so, this of course applies equally to the entirety of
chapter 13, which itself is a central point in Pauls key Pneumatological discussion (chs. 12-14).
Finally, the distinctly cultural admonition regarding proper decorum while prophesying (11:216), presupposes and foreshadows the more involved talk about the spiritual gifts soon to come.
A Pneumatikos Survey of First Corinthians (12:1-14:40)
The peri de of 12:1 signals a change in topic to be sure, but not a change in direction for the
apostles overall goal. Most recently, hes addressed misbehavior at the Lords Supper table in
which the wealthy haves among the church were privileged above the poverty-stricken have
nots. It was yet another schism to break the harmony of the Spirits corporate temple, this one
drawn along socio-economic lines. When Paul here moves on to instruct the Corinthians on the
proper use of Spirit-given gifts he does so in a manner than reinforces the need for unity.
In quick order Paul mentions differing kinds of gifts, differing types of Christian service,
and differing workings, but the same Spirit, the same Lord, and the same God overseeing the
whole operation (12:4-6). His point is obvious: Christian unity derives from the one, singular
object of all their worship! Furthermore, by showcasing the role of the entire Trinity in the life
of the church, Paul demonstrates a unity within God Himself that is to be emulated by the
people. To a church desperate to outdo one another by showing off their individual spiritual
giftedness, Paul turns the whole thing on its head by using terms such as service and
working to show that the charismatic gifts are not the end all of ministry in the first place.24
Again, Paul points out that the individual gift given to one is intended not for the benefit of the
one who receives it, but for the good of everyone (12:7). From this blanket statement, he
launches into a listing of nine gifts which is almost certainly not envisioned by the apostle as
being comprehensive. Horton reasons that Paul never claimed that these were the gifts of the

Spirit, k. l.3529-33.
23
Ibid., 3534-39.
24
Taylor, 1 Corinthians, 287.
8

Spirit, anyhow, only that each of these was also a gift of the same Spirit.25 It is probably not
possible to ascertain an exact working definition or a model of how each gift that Paul mentions
would appear in motion. It was not the apostles purpose to teach the Corinthians about the
ontological nature of things with which they had first-hand experience, anyhow. On the other
hand, in at least most of the listings the general idea underlying them seems self-explanatory
enough: Gifts of healing are probably gifts of healing. In understanding their nature, the reader
would do well to assume that each one carried a supernatural flavor. In other words, prophecy
was not simply preaching, nor was speaking in tongues merely a special skill in language
acquisition. Each of these constituted divine activities graciously carried out by human
participants.26 Also, as mentioned above, these gifts centered on the two primary aspects of the
Holy Spirits Christological work: revelation from God, and demonstration (or verification) of
the authenticity of the Gospel message. Scott confirms, In these verses, then, Paul is describing
various forms of divine revelation and miraculous empowerment.27
Pauls major point throughout the pericope is that each Christian participates in something much
larger than himself. He is quite literally an individual part of a much larger body with a role to
play for the common good (12:12-30). This gives way to Pauls powerful excursus on the
prominence of love which in one way or another is the overriding theme of the entire epistle.
Ironically, because many cessationists use 13:10 as their primary exegetical evidence that the
gifts are no longer in operation, the so-called Love Chapter has in modern times become yet
another source of division for Gods people. It is easy to imagine that the apostle would be
horrified.

25
Horton, What the Bible Says, ch. 9, The Spirit in the Ministry of Believers, under A Variety of Gifts,
k. l. 3592-99.
26
See James W. Scott, "The time when revelatory gifts cease (1 Cor 13:8-12)." The Westminster
Theological Journal 72, no. 2 (September 2010): 267-289. ATLA Religion Database with
ATLASerials, EBSCOhost (accessed November 12, 2016), 268-69, for a good discussion.
27
Ibid., 269.
9

The controversial verse in question states that when completeness comes, what is in part
disappears. Paul makes this statement to clarify that love alone, and not supernatural gifts are
permanent fixtures in the Christians eternal existence. A day is coming when prophets will
prophecy no longer, but there will never be a day when love does not reign preeminent. But to
what day does Paul point? The cessationist argues that he must mean the day when the Scriptural
cannon is complete.28 However, as Scott points out,
as wonderful as the sacred Scriptures are, they present only a partial knowledge of God,
not the promised full knowledge of him. The NT gives us a full (though not complete)
presentation of divine revelation at the apostolic stage, to be sure, but the truth it reveals
is nonetheless "dim" in comparison to the revelation that would be received in the Lord's
immediate presence.29
Thus, considering Scotts insight, the solution that makes the most sense is that Paul looked
forward to the Parousia, the great day of the Lords return to establish his personal presence
permanently with his people as the day of complete knowledge when gifts of revelation and
demonstration will no longer be necessary. They will cease precisely because they will no longer
be necessary, a state which hardly describes the uncertain, chaotic world which the modern
church still inhabits. As long as unbelievers require convincing and as long as Christians require
Gods help the Sprits gifts will still have a place. Horton confirms these same conclusions,
with all our knowledge of the Bible, we still see imperfectly. Otherwise, we would not
find so many differences of opinion even among Spirit-filled Christians. Everything the
Bible says about the spiritual gifts shows that they are all still needed today. They are part
of what God has appointed (placed, fixed, established) as an integral part of the Church
just as He has set the various members or parts of the human body in their place to fulfill
their proper function (12:18, 28). This clearly means that they are intended for the entire
Church Age. But they are temporary in the sense that they are limited to the present age.
Today they are still needed, but when Christ comes again, the perfect state will be
unveiled. We shall be changed into His likeness. No longer shall we be limited by these
present decaying bodies. With new bodies, new maturity, and the visible presence of
Christ with us, we shall not need the partial gifts. The things that perplex us now will
28
Ibid., 280-82.
29
Ibid., 282.
10

perplex us no more. It will be easy to surrender our present partial and incomplete
understanding when we shall see Him as He is (1 John 3:2). The thought, then, is not that
these gifts will cease at the end of the Apostolic Age.30
In the meantime, Christians on both sides of the charismatic aisle would do well to remember
that despite this relatively minor divide, they are all seated in the same spiritual building. That
great statement from the days of the Protestant Reformation still holds true: In essentials unity,
in non-essentials liberty, in all things charity. If Gods people miss that point while arguing
about Pauls understanding of the gifts, then they miss the whole point of the letter in the first
place.
The pericope closes by returning to a discussion of the gifts, but focusing the topic on
keeping order during the worship service (14:1-40). Tongues certainly have their place, but that
place is not to bring confusion into the public meeting. That is why prophecy is to be given
prominence in the church setting and tongues are to be restrained there unless someone is present
who is gifted to interpret those tongues. Pauls desire is not at all to diminish glossolalia, but to
contain it in a congregation where it was apparently overused to the neglect of other even more
meaningful expressions.31 Then, Paul moves on to again reinforce his call to unity by issuing
instructions meant to ensure that every Christian had an opportunity to participate in the
edification of all (14:26-33). By operating in a fitting and orderly way (14:40) the Corinthians
church could make room for everyones ministry in their gatherings.

Conclusion
Paul did not set out to write about the gifts of the Spirit any more than he set out to write about
marital relations or about food sacrificed to idols. These things may have been necessary topics
30
Horton, What the Bible Says, ch. 9, The Spirit in the Ministry of Believers, under Gifts without
Love, k. l. 3818-28.
31
Horton, What the Bible Says, ch. 10, The Spirit in the Ministry of the Church, under Greater is He
Who Prophesies, k. l. 3842-58.
11

in order to address specific questions which he needed to answer, but his primary purpose was to
call the Corinthians back into fellowship with one another. They may have mis-used the Spirits
gifts, but they had misplaced love entirely. Today believers risk doing the same whenever they
elevate an issue or an exegetical understanding above a dear brother for whom Christ died.
My God grant us repentance if we treat the precious Holy Spirit in this contemptible way for the
Spirit Himself always point to Christ!

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Burgess, Stanley M., ed. The New International Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic
Movements. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2010, Kindle Edition.
Carson, D. A. The Gospel According to John (The Pillar New Testament Commentary
(Pntc)). Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1991.
Fee, Gordon D. Paul, the Spirit, and the People of God. Reprint ed. Grand Rapids: Baker
Academic, 1994, Kindle Edition.
Horton, Stanley M. What the Bible Says About the Holy Spirit: Revised Edition. Revised ed.
Springfield, MO: Gospel Publishing House, 2012, Kindle Edition.
MacArthur, John F. Strange Fire: The Danger of Offending the Holy Spirit with Counterfeit
Worship. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2013, Kindle Edition.
Polhill, John B. 1 Corinthians: A Church Divided. Southern Baptist Journal
of Theology 6, no. 3 (Fall 2002): 4-25. Accessed December 11,
2016. http://www.galaxie.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/article/sbjt06-3-02.

Scott, James W. "The time when revelatory gifts cease (1 Cor 13:8-12)." The Westminster
Theological Journal 72, no. 2 (September 2010): 267-289. ATLA Religion Database with
ATLASerials, EBSCOhost (accessed November 12, 2016).
Taylor, Mark. 1 Corinthians: An Exegetical and Theological Exposition of
Holy Scripture (The New American Commentary Book 28), Nashville: B&H, 2014,
Kindle Edition.
Walton, John. The Lost World of Genesis One: Ancient Cosmology and the Origins Debate.
Downders Grove: IVP Press, 2013, Kindle Edition.
Winter, Ralph, and Steven Hawthorne. Perspectives On the World Christian Movement. 4 ed.
Pasadena: William Carey Library, 2013, Kindle Edition.

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