The Expositor's Bible: The First Epistle to the CorinthiansDods, Marcus
Religion
The Expositor's Bible: The First Epistle to the Corinthians
Dods, Marcus
Bible. Corinthians, 1st -- Commentaries
In other words, Paul wishes them to understand that, after all, the
only sure test of a man's Christianity is his actual submission to
Christ. No wonderful works he may accomplish in the Church or in the
world prove his possession of Christ's Spirit. "Many will say to Me in
that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name, and in Thy
name have cast out devils, and in Thy name done many wonderful works?
And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from Me,
ye that work iniquity." A man may gather and edify a large
congregation, he may write ably in defence of Christianity, he may be
recognised as a benefactor of his age, or he may be considered the
most successful of missionaries, but the only test of a man's claim to
be listened to by the Church is his actual submission to Christ. He
will seek not his own glory, but the good of men. And as to the gifts
themselves, they should be no cause of discord, for they have
everything in common: they have their source in God; they are for
Christ's service; they are forms of the same Spirit. "There are
diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences
of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of
operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all."
The new life then introduced by Christ into the individual and society
was found to assume various forms and to suffice for all the needs of
human nature in this world. Paul delighted to survey the variety of
endowment and faculty which appeared in the Church. Wisdom, knowledge,
faith, power to work miracles, extraordinary gifts of exhortation or
prophecy and also of speaking in unknown tongues, capacity for
managing affairs and general helpfulness--these and other gifts were
the efflorescence of the new life. As the sun in spring develops each
seed according to its own special kind and character, so this new
spiritual force develops in each man his most intimate and special
character. Christian influence is not an external appliance that clips
all men after one pattern as trees in an avenue are clipped into one
shape; but it is an inward and vital power which causes each to grow
according to his own individuality, one with the rugged irregularity
of the oak, another with the orderly richness of the plane. Variety in
harmony is said to be the principle of all beauty, and it is this
which the Divine Spirit in man produces. Individual distinctions are
not obliterated, but developed and directed for the service of the
community. At one in their allegiance to Christ, bound into one body
by common affections, beliefs, and hopes, and aiming at the
advancement of one cause, Christians are yet as different as other men
in faculty, in temperament, in attainment.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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