Lessons #11 and 12
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+ 1. It is best to use this note after you have listened to the lessons because there are +
+ comments given in the actual exposition not in the note. +
+ 2. The Bible abbreviations are as follows: CEV =Contemporary English version, +
+ CEB = Common English Bible, ESV= English Standard Version, +
+ GWT = God’s Word Translation, ISV = International Standard Version, +
+ NAB=New English Bible, NASB= New American Standard Bible, +
+ NEB= New English Bible, NET = New English Translation, +
+ NLT = New Living Translations NJB = New Jerusalem Bible, +
+ NJV = New Jewish Bible, TEV = Today’s English Version. +
+AMP = Amplified Bible +
+ 3. Notes have not been edited for grammatical errors. +
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Three reasons for thanksgiving (1 Cor 1:4-7)
... 6 because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you. 7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.
The message of 1 Corinthians 1:4-7 that we are considering is that: You should always be thankful to God because of His grace to you, your spiritual enrichment, and the confirmation of Christ’s testimony in you. In our last study, our focus was on the spiritual enrichment of the Corinthians that consisted of the gift of speaking and understanding of God’s word. We continue with the topic of spiritual enrichment in these two verses although there is problem of how to connect verse 6 with the subject of spiritual enrichment introduced in verse 5. But before we get to this, let me remind us that the two verses are also concerned with experiential Christianity and with spiritual gifts in the local church that some teachers of the church do not emphasize. Both concerns we will deal with in our passage as we expound on it.
Anyway, the problem of how to connect verse 6 to the subject of spiritual enrichment is whether to consider verse 6 a comparison to what is stated in verse 5 regarding spiritual enrichment or to consider verse 6 to be concerned with the extent of the enrichment of the Corinthians, that is, they were enriched to the degree that the testimony of Christ was confirmed among them or to consider verse 6 the reason for the spiritual enrichment mentioned in verse 5 or to consider verse 6 as not related to verse 5 but to verse 7.
The reason for this problem is because of the Greek word that begins verse 6 that is translated “because” in the 1984 edition of the NIV and in the NEB. Of course, the 2011 edition of the NIV used the word “thus” instead of “because” in its translation. The word “because” is translated from a Greek conjunction (kathōs) that may be used for comparison with the meaning “just as”, as Apostle Paul used it to relate how the experiences of those God dealt with under the old covenant should influence those under the new covenant, as stated in 1 Corinthians 10:6:
Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did.
The Greek conjunction may be used for describing extent or degree of something so means “as, to the degree that.” Thus, the word is used to describe the extent of the gifts from the church in Antioch to suffering believers in Judea in that each contributed to the extent or to the degree of the individual’s financial status, as we read in Acts 11:29:
The disciples, each according to his ability, decided to provide help for the brothers living in Judea.
The phrase each according to his ability of the NIV is literally “to the degree that anyone was prospering.” It is probably in this sense of extent or degree of something that Apostle Paul used the Greek word regarding the giving of spiritual gifts in which God determines the extent or degree of each spiritual gift in 1 Corinthians 12:11:
All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.
Another usage of our Greek conjunction regards the cause of something, hence it means “since, in so far as.” It is this meaning of cause of something that is reflected by the translators of the NIV to indicate God’s action on unbelievers is due to their refusal to acknowledge Him, as recorded in Romans 1:28:
Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.
The translators of the NIV and many other English versions rendered our Greek conjunction “since” or “because” but some of our English versions including the 2011 edition of the NIV used the meaning “just as.” Of course, a handful of our English versions did not translate it in this passage of Romans 1:28. Our Greek conjunction may also mean “when” to reflect time. This meaning is possible in the use of our Greek conjunction to report Stephen’s sermon in Acts 7:17:
“As the time drew near for God to fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt greatly increased.
The clause As the time drew near may be translated when the time came near as suggested in the standard Greek English lexicon of BDAG.
We have considered the various usages or meanings of the Greek conjunction that begins 1 Corinthians 1:6, the question then is; which of these apply to our passage? Truly, three of the usages make sense in our passage, as we will demonstrate. The usage of comparison with the meaning “just as, as” makes sense in that such meaning implies that spiritual enrichment mentioned in verse 5 happened as what is stated in verse 6 regarding testimony about Christ. The meaning “because” would imply that spiritual enrichment of the Corinthians occurred because of the testimony about Christ was confirmed in them. The meaning “when” implies that the spiritual enrichment mentioned in verse 5 occurred at the time of confirmation of testimony about Christ among the Corinthians. Because each of these meanings makes sense within the context, it is difficult to be definitive about the intended meaning in our passage. This may explain in part the reason some of our English versions did not translate it, implying that verse 6 is not related to spiritual enrichment mentioned in verse 5 so that it is assumed the apostle began a new topic in verse 6 that is connected to verse 7. This approach notwithstanding, it seems to me that it is the approach that connects verse 6 to verse 5 that makes sense; otherwise, we have a problem with verse 7 that implies a stronger connection with the spiritual enrichment of verse 5 instead of verse 6. Thus, we believe that it is better to connect verse 6 to verse 5, that is, to spiritual enrichment of the Corinthians.
The interpretation that verse 6 relates to verse 5 still leaves the question of how they are related, that is, whether the Greek conjunction should be translated “even as” or “because” or “when.” While the first meaning is possible, it seems that it is a combination of the second and third meanings were in the mind of the apostle, that is, “when” and “because.” That is, that spiritual enrichment occurred when and because of the response of the Corinthians to the preaching of the gospel. The meaning “when” was probably in the mind of the apostle in that he wanted to point to the time the spiritual enrichment occurred. This interpretation is supported by the fact that the word “confirmed” that we will get to later is in the aorist tense that in this specific context suggests a time when an event occurred. Hence, it is our interpretation that the apostle was concerned with specifying to the Corinthians when their spiritual enrichment occurred and the reason it occurred than describing its extent. Of course, there is the implication that it is because of the effect of the preaching of the gospel and the teaching of the word of God that the spiritual enrichment of the Corinthians occurred. This makes sense when we recognize that without the proper response to the preaching of the gospel no one can receive spiritual enrichment of any kind from the Lord. This being the case, it is a given that the interpretation that sees spiritual enrichment of the Corinthians to have occurred because of preaching of truth is implied in the Greek conjunction the apostle used, and so it may be that the apostle wanted the Corinthians to recognize also that the time of their spiritual enrichment corresponds to the time they responded positively to the preaching of the gospel to them.
It is true we indicated that it is the time of the occurrence of the spiritual enrichment of the Corinthians and the reason for it that the apostle wanted to convey when he started verse 6; these are not the most important facts the apostle wanted to focus the attention of the Corinthians but on their experience as believers. It is this experience that is given in verse 6 because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you.
Where is experience involved in this clause you may ask? It is in the word “confirmed.” The word “confirmed” is translated from a Greek word (bebaioō) that has two general meanings. The first is that of putting something beyond doubt hence means “to confirm, establish.” It is this sense that Apostle Paul used the word to indicate that there can be no doubt that the promises God made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob have indeed been fulfilled with the coming of Jesus Christ to the world to die for our sins, as we can gather from Romans 15:8:
For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth, to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs.
The second meaning of our Greek word is to make a person firm in commitment so means “to establish or make firm, to strengthen.” It is with the sense of “to make firm” that the Greek word is used in God’s assurance to the apostle and the Corinthians that they are firmly united to Christ in 2 Corinthians 1:21:
Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us,
It is with the meaning “to strengthen” that the word is used by Apostle Paul to describe what should happen to the Colossians because of being taught the word of God; they are to be strengthened in their faith, as we read in Colossians 2:7:
rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 1:6, our Greek word has been taken by some to mean “to become firmly established” which is possible but it is our interpretation that it is used in the sense of putting something beyond doubt hence the meaning “to confirm” or “to prove to be true and certain.” This meaning is one that is easily verified among the Corinthians in an experiential manner.
Confirming of truth of God’s word usually involves experience on the part of an individual as one interacts or responds to God’s word. Because some Christians are uncomfortable with the idea of experience and hence the interpretation that avoids it, let me demonstrate from the Scripture that experience is an integral part of confirming truth. Miracles the Lord granted the apostles and other preachers of truth were usually for confirming the truthfulness of the gospel. Take for example, when Apostles Paul and Barnabas went to preach to the Gentiles the gospel of Jesus Christ; they preached resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, which was certainly a foreign concept to the Gentiles. However, the Lord confirmed their message in an experientially manner of granting miracles through them to the Gentiles, as we read, for example, in Acts 14:3:
So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to do miraculous signs and wonders.
This passage indicates that the message of Paul and Barnabas to the Gentiles was confirmed through miraculous signs and wonders. Miraculous signs and wonders certainly involve experience on the part of those who witnessed them. Another example, although not explicitly stated, as confirmation of truth that involved experience is the receiving of the Holy Spirit by the Galatians mentioned in Galatians 3:2:
I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard?
It is difficult to read this passage in Galatians and deny that experience is essential in confirming truth to believers. This is because of the question of the apostle assumes the Galatians received the Holy Spirit when they were saved. How did they know they received the Holy Spirit without some form of experience? There must have been experiences that confirmed to them that they have the Holy Spirit. These experiences could involve speaking in tongues, prophesying, or other evidences of the Holy Spirit among them. Of course, it will be wrong to pick out one of these, such as speaking in tongues, and make it the absolute test of the evidence of the Holy Spirit since not all of believers spoke in tongues among the Galatians as was the case with the Corinthians that will be evident when we get to the matter of speaking in tongues in this epistle to the Corinthians. The point is that without experience the Galatians would not be able to answer the question of the apostle in the affirmative. Of course, the Holy Spirit through the author of Hebrews informs us that miracles were used to confirm the gospel message in Hebrews 2:3–4:
3 how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. 4 God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.
Hence, we contend that experience is necessary to confirm truth of any kind. Of course, the granting of miraculous signs is dependent on God’s sovereign decision. He grants them when He wants and for the purpose He wants fulfilled but we cannot discount its importance because such is not common in our day.
I am a firm believer in the confirmation of truth through experience since I sometimes wonder if it is not lack of this that contributes to the lack of devotion to the Lord that is evident among us Christians of the modern era. Many of us do not have quantifiable experiences with the Lord so that we are not devoted to Him as we should. A believer who has a quantifiable experience with the Lord would be certainly devoted to Him. When I use the word “quantifiable” I mean that there should be experiences in the believer’s life that he/she could point to, that reveals true relationship with the Lord or that proves that the word of God is true. Take for example, if you have prayed a specific prayer and received an answer, that would be an example of quantifiable experience with the Lord. If this has happened to you then you will be confident that the Lord answers prayer, so the answered prayer will be your confirmation of the truth that when the Lord promised to answer prayer directed to Him that such is true. Take another example, suppose you apply a specific teaching of the Scripture and watch God respond to it, then that becomes a quantifiable experience that you can point to someone to persuade them that God’s word is true. If you have enjoyed the peace in life that comes from continuous devotion to the word of God and applying it, then you can confirm the truth of the instruction given in Joshua 1:8:
Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.
A believer who has experienced the blessing of being devoted to the study of the word of God and its application does not need any prodding by the pastor or any other believer to keep being devoted to the word of God. When pastors or teachers of the word of God prod believers to get serious with the word of God, it is because they have not experienced the blessing that comes through the study and application of the word of God as the Lord stated also in Luke 11:28:
He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”
In any event, our explanation of the need for experience in confirmation of truth of God’s word is implied in the clause of 1 Corinthians 1:6 because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you. The phrase in you is translated among you in some English versions. Each is permissible, being the meaning of the Greek preposition (en) used. This notwithstanding, it is probably that the Greek preposition the apostle used is intended to convey several truths related to the confirmation of testimony about Christ as it related to the Corinthians. By this we mean that the apostle would have meant that the testimony was confirmed in their presence, in them individually, and among them as a group. Therefore, it is difficult to capture all three facts with any one English translation. Thus, regardless of the English word used in translating the Greek preposition the apostle used, it is important to recognize that the explanation we have given should be understood as covering what the apostle intended in using the Greek preposition translated “in” in the NIV or in some other English versions. The Corinthians, no doubt, had ample experiences that confirmed the truth the apostle preached to them. They witnessed various manifestations of the Holy Spirit in them individually, among them as a group of believers, and in their presence, that enabled them to confirm the apostle’s message. Such manifestations include the gift of speaking the apostle mentioned in verse 5. It is possible that some of them were timid and were not able to speak in the manner that was considered adequate among their people but when they became saved and under the power of the Holy Spirit they found themselves being able to speak boldly for Christ, such would be a clear indication to them that they are believers and so that what the apostle preached to them was indeed true. Furthermore, there may have been other manifestations of the Holy Spirit within each of them that there is no denying that they are saved confirming what the apostle stated to them.
The thing that was confirmed in the experiences of the Corinthians is given in the phrase our testimony about Christ. Literally the Greek reads the testimony of Christ. Greek syntax used indicates that this literal translation could be understood either as the testimony Christ gave or the testimony given about Christ. Either of this interpretation is supported by other parts of the Scripture. On the one hand, the interpretation of testimony given by Jesus Christ seems to be the sense of similar Greek phrase in Revelation 1:2:
who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.
Since John is one reporting his vision, he probably meant in the phrase the testimony of Jesus Christ that he wrote what Jesus said, in which case, it is the testimony given by Jesus he meant. On the other hand, the sense of testimony about Christ seems to be what Apostle John meant in Revelation 1:9:
I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.
Because of the suffering of John or his exile to the island of Patmos, it is better to understand the phrase testimony of Jesus here as referring to testimony that he gave about Jesus as what led to his exile. Thus, the context seems to be the deciding factor in which way to interpret the Greek phrase or like the one we have in 1 Corinthians 1:6. While we cannot discount the interpretation that indicates testimony Christ gives, it is probably the testimony given by Apostle Paul and others about Christ Jesus that was foremost in his mind as he wrote down the phrase our testimony about Christ we are considering. We say this because similar Greek construction is used later by the apostle only that instead of using Christ, he used God in 1 Corinthians 2:1:
When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.
In this second chapter of 1 Corinthians, the apostle would have meant his testimony he gave about God rather than the testimony God gave. Based on this usage, we are convinced that the apostle in 1 Corinthians 1:6 meant the testimony he or others gave about Christ.
The Greek word (martyrion) for testimony is a word used in the Septuagint for the Tent of Meeting or Tabernacle of Testimony as reflected in Stephen’s sermon recorded in seventh chapter of Acts, specifically, in Acts 7:44:
“Our forefathers had the tabernacle of the Testimony with them in the desert. It had been made as God directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen.
This usage of the Greek word is also for the heavenly temple in Revelation 15:5:
After this I looked and in heaven the temple, that is, the tabernacle of the Testimony, was opened.
The Greek word may refer to an action, a circumstance or a thing that serves as a testimony or proof of something. Thus, it is in the sense of proof that our Greek word is used in Jesus’ instruction to a man healed of leprosy who was to present himself to the priest, as a proof that he has been healed in Matthew 8:4:
Then Jesus said to him, “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”
Some English versions such as GWT and the NAB, revised edition, used the word “proof” instead of “testimony” here in Matthew 8:4. It is in the sense of an action that our Greek word is used to describe the redeeming death of Jesus Christ as God’s action or testimony in 1 Timothy 2:6:
who gave himself as a ransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time.
That aside, our Greek word may also refer to a statement that is brought out as a testimony regarding something as the word is used in 2 Corinthians 1:12:
Now this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, in the holiness and sincerity that are from God. We have done so not according to worldly wisdom but according to God’s grace.
The sentence Our conscience testifies is more literally the testimony of our conscience that may be translated the testimony that our conscience gives. It is in this sense of statement about something that our Greek word is used for the preaching of the gospel message, as in 2 Timothy 1:8:
So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God,
The expression do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord is more literally do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord. Thus, testimony here is used for the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is in this sense of preaching the gospel message that the apostle used the word in our passage of 1 Corinthians 1:6, with the implication of the teaching of Christian doctrine.
The apostle writes in 1 Corinthians 1:6 our testimony about Christ as what was confirmed. So, what is this testimony about Christ? A summary answer is that it is the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ along with doctrinal teaching about Him. Since the local church in Corinth consisted of Jews and Gentiles, we can specify some of the things the apostle spoke about Jesus. The greatest problem that the Jews faced then and now is accepting Jesus as the Christ or the Messiah. Therefore, to the Jews, the apostle’s testimony about Jesus consisted in telling them that He is the Christ, as we read in Acts 18:5:
When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.
It is not only to the Jews in Corinth that Apostle Paul spent time trying to convince that Jesus is the Christ, so he did to the Jews in Rome that came to see him during his first imprisonment in Rome, as recorded in Acts 28:23:
They arranged to meet Paul on a certain day, and came in even larger numbers to the place where he was staying. From morning till evening he explained and declared to them the kingdom of God and tried to convince them about Jesus from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets.
The problem of acceptance of Jesus as the Christ or Messiah is an important one among the Jews that the Holy Spirit through Apostle John indicates that only such an acceptance that will bring eternal life in John 20:31:
But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Acceptance or believing that Jesus is the Christ is tantamount to believing He is God as that is the implication of Him being the Son of God. Without believing that Jesus is the Son of God and so God there can be no eternal salvation. It is therefore not surprising that the Holy Spirit through Apostle John linked such belief in the Son of God to eternal life, according to 1 John 5:10–13:
10 Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart. Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. 11 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
Hence, it is not only to the Jews that it is important to believe that Jesus is the Christ. However, we contend that Apostle Paul in Corinth focused on this matter with the Jews. To the rest of the Corinthians, the testimony about Christ the apostle meant included the preaching of His death and resurrection. This we can infer from the gospel summary he gave in this epistle in 1 Corinthians 15:1–5:
1Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. 3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve.
Anyway, the apostle would have taught the Corinthians about the other Christian doctrines that are centered on Jesus Christ. For example, he must have told them that Jesus Christ promised the gift of the Holy Spirit, as recorded in John 14:16–17:
16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.
He must also have told them that the Holy Spirit Christ promised will lead to power to preach the word of God as the Lord stated and as recorded in Acts 1:8:
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
And so, the fact the Corinthians had received the Holy Spirit with the gift of speaking boldly about Christ would confirm the truth of what he taught about Jesus Christ. The point is that it is the experience of the Corinthians that involved spiritual enrichment that confirmed the truth the apostle taught about Christ Jesus.
Be that as it may, the apostle’s focus in the passage of 1 Corinthians 1:4-7 we are considering is on the spiritual enrichment that he introduced in verse 5. This is supported by the fact the conclusion of the apostle in verse 7 refers back to it. We say this because verse 7 in the NIV begins with the word therefore.
The word “therefore” is translated from a Greek conjunction (hōste) that is used as a marker of result in both independent and dependent clauses. In independent clauses, it has the meaning of “therefore, for this reason, so.” It is for introducing independent clause that the word is used with the meaning “so” to indicate what is expected of those who live for Christ that died for them in 2 Corinthians 5:16:
So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.
It is regarding its use for dependent clause that Apostle Paul used it to describe the effect of Peter’s hypocrisy on others when he withdrew from having fellowship with his fellow believers who are Gentiles, as recorded in Galatians 2:13:
The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.
In some context, it may be difficult to differentiate result from purpose so that the Greek conjunction is used as a marker of purpose with the meaning “in order that, for the purpose of.” This is the case with the authority Jesus Christ gave to the twelve disciples when He sent them out on a mission work, according to Matthew 10:1:
He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.
Here the translators of the NIV and many of our English versions implied that the purpose of the authority of Jesus to the disciples is to do the miraculous as indicated with the word “to” in the verbal phrases to drive out and to heal but a handful of our English versions used “so” or “so that” that may be interpreted as either result or purpose. This notwithstanding, it is in the sense of marker of result that the Greek conjunction is used in 1 Corinthians 1:7 so that the meaning “therefore” or its equivalent is intended.
The apostle introduced in the conclusion he gave in verse 7 the result of the spiritual enrichment of the Corinthians stated in verse 5 which is that they have all the spiritual gifts they need to function as a local church in the sentence you do not lack any spiritual gift. Our interpretation is one of the ways to understand the sentence because of the various meaning associated with the Greek verb used in our passage translated “lack.”
The word “lack” is translated from a Greek word (hystereō) that may mean “to lack” in the sense of being in short supply hence also means “to fail, to give out” as the word is used in Jesus’ answer to the question of the rich young man that asked Him about what to do to inherit eternal life, as we read in Mark 10:21:
Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
The Greek word may mean “to lack” in the sense of to be in need of something, as it is used in Jesus’ question to the disciples if they were in need of anything when He sent them out on a mission work, as recorded in Luke 22:35:
Then Jesus asked them, “When I sent you without purse, bag or sandals, did you lack anything?” “Nothing,” they answered.
The word may mean to be lower in status hence “to be less, to be inferior to”, as Apostle Paul used it to describe himself to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 12:11:
I have made a fool of myself, but you drove me to it. I ought to have been commended by you, for I am not in the least inferior to the “super-apostles,” even though I am nothing.
The Greek word may mean “to lack” in the sense of to experience deficiency in something advantageous or desirable; thus, with the additional meaning of “to go without, come short of” as Apostle Paul used it to describe his orientation to things of this life that are necessities in Philippians 4:12:
I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.
The Greek word may mean to miss out on something through one’s fault hence means “to miss, to fail to reach” as it is used in Hebrews 12:15:
See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.
Of the various meanings of the Greek word, it is the meaning of “to lack” in the sense of to experience deficiency in something advantageous or desirable that the apostle used it in our passage of 1 Corinthians 1:7. In other words, the apostle informed the Corinthians that they are not deficient in that which is advantageous or desirable in their spiritual life. They have all they need as a local church.
The desirable or the thing advantageous to the Corinthians is given in the phrase any spiritual gift. The expression “spiritual gift” is translated from a Greek word (charisma) that may mean that which is freely and graciously given hence “favor bestowed, gift.” It is the word used to describe eternal life that God graciously gives in Romans 6:23:
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Our Greek word is used to describe the special gift God gives that is necessary for carrying out special tasks as mediated to Timothy by the laying hands of the elders, presumably during his ordination, as stated in 1 Timothy 4:14:
Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you.
It is used to describe the special gift bestowed on believers that enable them to serve in the church of Christ in 1 Peter 4:10:
Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.
It is in the sense of special gift of the type the apostle described later in chapters 12 to 14 that include gift of speaking, knowledge, and the miraculous to benefit members of the local church in Corinth that Apostle Paul used it in our passage.
The declaration of the Holy Spirit through the apostle when he wrote you do not lack any spiritual gift means that there is no needed spiritual gift that is not present in the local church in Corinth. This statement has great implication to the church at large. This is because we have indicated that the epistle while addressed immediately to the Corinthians is for the church universal. This being the case, the Holy Spirit tells us that the church of Christ has all the spiritual gifts it needs to function on this planet. This, of course, causes problem to those who contend that some spiritual gifts are no longer in operation. The Holy Spirit did not tell us that there are some gifts that the church does not need or that will be withdrawn while the church is on this planet.
We assert that the Holy Spirit indicates that the spiritual gifts will be in existence as long as the church is on this planet. This is because the Holy Spirit through the apostle tells us that the gifts will keep functioning until the return of Christ as stated in the last clause of 1 Corinthians 1:7 as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. This clause is concerned with the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, the expression “eagerly await” is translated from a Greek word (apekdechomai) that means “to await eagerly” as it is used to describe our final acceptance into the family of God, as we read in Romans 8:23:
Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
The apostle used a present participle of the Greek verb to indicate time so that it is while believers wait for the return of our Savior that we have all the spiritual gifts the church needs to operate. Thus, there is no indication that the gifts are temporary as some contend but that spiritual gifts are operational as long as the church is on this planet. The return of the Lord Jesus Christ is conveyed in the verbal phrase Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed of the NIV that literally reads from the Greek the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is because we have a Greek noun (apokalypsis) that pertains to making something fully known hence means “revelation, disclosure.” Thus, here it is used for the full revelation of Jesus Christ that will take place when He returns. Spiritual gifts are fully functional until this happens.
The clause as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed may also be a reminder to the Corinthians and so all believers that despite the present spiritual enrichment of believers, there is a greater enrichment that awaits us when Christ returns. Therefore, we should not be complaisant or carried away with spiritual gifts as many are prone. Instead, we should be focused on being thankful for our spiritual gifts while we strive to utilize them to advance the message of the kingdom of God. In any event, we should remember the message of the section we have considered, which is You should always be thankful to God because of His grace to you, because of your spiritual enrichment and because of the confirmation of Christ’s testimony in you.