Spirituality and Spiritual Gifts

One of the prominent areas of difference between Jesus and the religious leaders of His day was the definition of what it means to be spiritual. The scribes and Pharisees measured spirituality based on external appearances. No wonder they were so eager to become wealthy. If Jesus’ parable of the shrewd steward in Luke 16:1-13 caused the Pharisees to scoff (verse 14), one can imagine how the story of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31) offended them. Their problem, Jesus said, was judging based on appearances rather than on the motives of men’s hearts (Luke 16:14-18).

The Sermon on the Mount was Jesus’ exposition of the Old Testament Law, stressing that true spirituality goes far beyond the letter of the law to the spirit of the law. Jesus encouraged the poor in spirit, the mourners, the gentle, and those persecuted for the sake of righteousness (Matthew 5:12; Luke 6:20-26). He warned against practicing our righteousness in a way that would attract men’s attention to us (Matthew 6:1-18) and against hoarding our possessions. Jesus cautioned those who were quick to judge others that the standard they applied to others would be applied to them (Matthew 7:1-5). We are to look to God for the good things of life and to treat others the way we want others to treat us (Matthew 7:7-12). Jesus did not forbid us from making all judgments about others. He taught that we should not give what is holy to dogs (Matthew 7:6) and that we should be on our guard against false prophets (Matthew 7:13ff.). In short, Jesus turned the Jewish definition of spirituality inside out and the spiritual system of His day upside-down.

In today’s contemporary Christian community, Christians are dividing themselves over differing definitions of spirituality. Chapters 12-15 of 1 Corinthians are about true spirituality, and in particular the subject of spirituality in the context of spiritual gifts.

As Paul’s words in verse 1 indicate, the Corinthians are lacking in knowledge when it comes to the subject of spirituality. The Corinthians believe they are spiritual. After all, they are a charismatic church, a church that possesses all the spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 1:7). Regardless of whether we may view some gifts as temporary or not, this church has all the gifts. These Corinthian professing Christians see themselves as spiritual and wise, while at the same time they tend to look down on Paul and the other apostles. Worse yet, some of the Corinthians actually dared to accuse Paul of being unspiritual. The truth of the matter is just the opposite. The Corinthian church members are unspiritual (1Corinthians 3:1-3).

The evidence supports Paul’s accusation. The Corinthian church is a divided church. There are factions, some based upon whom the group followed as their leader. The Corinthians are proud and arrogant. The Corinthians are soft on sin, especially sexual immorality. They are proud that they embraced a man whose sin shocked the pagan Corinthians. They are taking their disputes before the secular law courts rather than before the church or rather than suffer abuse for the sake of the kingdom of God. While some are engaged in sexual immorality, others are guilty of setting aside sex within marriage, thus setting themselves up for sin. Some portray marriage as an evil to be avoided and thus encourage unbiblical divorces. Some Corinthians are not only eating meats offered to idols, they are participating in pagan idol-worship ceremonies. Those who engage in this pagan worship think themselves spiritual and look down on those who refrain from such involvement with idols as “weak.” Many of the Corinthian Christians are sick, and a good number died because they refused to wait for their brethren, consequently celebrating communion in an improper manner.

The Corinthian church is not a pretty sight. These relatively young Christians are already showing signs of serious spiritual problems.

In verses 1-3, Paul defines false spirituality, the kind of spirituality inspired by false, demonic spirits that they experienced as pagans. He defines true Christian spirituality as spirituality inspired by the Holy Spirit of God. In verses 1-3, Paul gives a test by which they can know whether the prevailing spirit is divine or demonic.

In verse 2, Paul reminds those relatively new believers in Corinth who think they are so spiritual that not all that long ago they were spiritual by means of demonic spirits. They were led “astray to the mute idols.” The idols cannot and do not speak. However, this does not mean the demons are speechless, that there is not inspired utterance in pagan or false religion. The Scriptures make it clear that the demons that lead men astray to the dumb idols are also those spirits who inspire speech that calls them to engage in false and idolatrous worship. The demons inspire false religious worship. The demons not only inspire false religion, they also engage in corrupting true religion (2 Corinthians 11:3, 12-15; 1 Timothy 4:1-5).

In the warning, Paul implies that those led astray in the past by deceitful and demonic spirits may be susceptible to the same influence as Christians. The appeal of the “spirit world” then and now is powerful. The Corinthians are into power, and they are into spirituality. In their eagerness to “tap into” spiritual power, they might involve themselves in the pagan spirit power of their past.

It is important to notice that Paul’s emphasis here is upon “speech.” He has already referred to the idols of the Corinthian’s past as mute idols” (v 2). Now he speaks about the speech of worshipers. Ordinary speech is not primarily in view here, but inspired utterance, speech made under the controlling influence of a spirit. A person speaking under demonic control is incapable of saying, “Jesus is Lord.” Nowhere in the gospels does a demon-possessed person say this. The demons reluctantly acknowledge that Jesus is the “Son of God” or the “Holy One of God” but not that He is Lord. Even when commanded to come out of a possessed person, the demons seem to resist and rebel to the last moment (Mark 1:23-26).

The test Paul sets forth in verse 3 is primarily a test of the spirit who inspires a man’s speech. Paul reminds the Corinthians there is a pagan spirituality, that as pagans they were spirit-led, but that leading comes from a demonic spirit who hates and opposes the lordship of Christ just as Satan did and will do to the end. Those who are led by the Spirit of God will profess Jesus as Lord, and they will be led to intimacy with God, not away from Him by deceit.

Is everyone who claims “Jesus is Lord” possessed by the Spirit of God? No. In Matthew 7, those who say, “Lord, Lord,” are unbelievers who stand before the Lord Jesus Christ in the day of judgment, the day when every knee shall bow and every tongue will confess Jesus is Lord (Philippians 2:9-11). How would any man dare to stand before the Lord Jesus Christ in that day and not call Him Lord? These men remind the Lord that they have cast out demons and performed miracles and prophesied. However, the Lord Jesus rejects them as unbelievers because they have not submitted to Him as Lord in life by obeying His commands. They boast of having done mighty deeds in His name, but they have not bowed the knee to Him by humbly obeying His commands, the sign of a true disciple. Lordship is more than words mouthed by men, but when a spirit is speaking through men, the confession of Jesus as Lord is a test of the spirit. Furthermore, confessing Jesus as Lord is an essential part of the gospel.

Spirituality is the work of a spirit. Paul reminds us there are two kinds of spirituality, the false and the true. All unbelievers are, in one sense, “spiritual.” Some are spiritual in the sense that they are actively involved with the spirit world, led of demonic spirits to worship idols. Other unbelievers may be spirit-led without even knowing it. A spirit-led unbeliever may be an atheist. He may not believe in any god or practice any religion at all. Nevertheless, he or she is still spirit-led, still under the control of Satan. Those who indulge in and serve the flesh are not only “walking according to the course of this world,” they are also walking “according to the prince of the power of the air,” the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4).

We can expect that false teaching will always attack the doctrine pertaining to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

The lordship of Jesus Christ is the dividing line between false prophets and the true, and between false spirituality and the true. Ultimately, it does not matter how spiritual we appear to ourselves or to men. What matters is whether we worship and serve Jesus Christ as Lord.

If Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 12:1-3 contain a warning about false spirituality, and perhaps even false spiritual gifts, they seem to imply a more general warning, Christians should distrust anything they bring with them to Christianity which was a part of their pagan past. We often hear people say, “If that person ever came to faith in Christ, they could do a lot for the cause of Christ.” If you look at Paul’s view of his religious past as a devout Jew, he does not seem to bring anything with him that contributes to his calling as an apostle (Philippians 3:1-14).

Spiritual gifts and spirituality are not about what we have brought with us into the faith but about what we have left behind, mortified, put to death, and what the Spirit of God has bestowed upon us in His sovereign grace. Thus, there is no basis for pride or boasting in the gifts given us.

A spiritual gift is a supernatural ability bestowed upon every Christian by the Holy Spirit, enabling him or her to carry out their divinely assigned function as a member of Christ’s body, the church. Spiritual gifts are given to us to enable us to do what we cannot do in and of ourselves. Spiritual gifts are not given primarily for our own edification but for the edification of the body of Christ. Spiritual gifts are divinely bestowed strengths through which we may minister to others. Apart from the miraculous working of God’s Spirit in us, we can do nothing. In this sense, nothing any Christian does will have a spiritual impact apart from the Spirit’s enablement.