Lessons #477 and 478
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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 delivery not in the note. +
+ 2. The Bible abbreviations are as follows: CEV =Contemporary English version, +
+ CEB = Common English Bible, ESV= English Standard Version, +
+ GW = 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, UBS = United Bible Society +
+ 3. Notes have not been edited for grammatical errors. +
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Desirability of prophecy over tongues (1 Cor 14:1-5)
1Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy. 2 For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God. Indeed, no one understands him; he utters mysteries with his spirit. 3 But everyone who prophesies speaks to men for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort. 4 He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church. 5 I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy. He who prophesies is greater than one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets, so that the church may be edified.
We previously stated that the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul conveyed to us the importance of love in believers’ relationship with each other and in the exercise of spiritual gifts. In effect, love should govern how believers should exercise spiritual gifts since love is supreme over spiritual gifts because spiritual gifts are temporary compared to love that is of eternal nature. The apostle instructed the Corinthians to desire what the NIV describes as “greater gifts” in verse 31 of the 12th chapter of 1 Corinthians. But before the apostle elaborated on what he meant in the instruction of 1 Corinthians 12:31 But eagerly desire the greater gifts, he followed with the statement in the second half of verse 31 And now I will show you the most excellent way. Consequently, he proceeded to describe the characteristics of love that includes its eternal nature that makes it to be supremely important in believers’ relationships with each other. After the apostle concluded his dissertation on love, he returned to the subject of “greater gifts” in the fourteenth chapter. The context of the chapter indicates that “greater gifts” refer to those of prophecy and speaking in tongues. Apparently, there were two spiritual gifts that many of the believers in Corinth were captivated by – speaking in tongues and prophecy. However, it seems that there was more fascination with speaking in tongues. We say this because the fourteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians is concerned primarily with the problems associated with the gift of speaking in tongues. In the first twenty-five verses of the chapter the apostle compared the gift of tongues to that of prophecy. In verses 26 to 40, the apostle dealt with the regulation of speaking in tongues and prophecy during worship in the local church of Corinth and so in every local church of Christ.
The subsection that is concerned with the comparison of the gift of speaking in tongues to that of prophesying could be further subdivided. The first subdivision is concerned with the desirability of prophecy over tongues given in verses 1 to 5. The second is concerned with analogies that indicated the necessity of intelligent utterances in the local church in verses 6 to 12. The third is concerned with the necessity of interpretation of tongues in the local church discussed in verses 13 to 19. The fourth is concerned with evaluation of tongues given in verses 20 to 25.
Our focus at this point in our study is on the first subdivision that concerns the desirability of prophecy over speaking in tongues that, as we stated, is given in verses 1 to 5. Verse 1 serves as a conclusion to the subject of love discussed in chapter 13 and a resumption of subject of spiritual gifts that the apostle instructed the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 12:31 to desire but he suspended temporarily to deal with the subject of love because of its importance in exercise of spiritual gifts. There are two commands given in the passage of this first subdivision that are concerned with love and spiritual gifts in general with specific focus on that of gift of prophesying in contrast to the gift of speaking in tongues. Consequently, based on these two commands, we derive a simple message of this subdivision that we believe the Holy Spirit wants communicated to the church of Christ. This message is this: The church should be more zealous about prophesying than to speaking in tongues while being mindful of the importance of love.
We cannot emphasize enough that the spiritual life is one that is lived under the filling of the Spirit. In other words, no believer can effectively interact with another in a way that is honoring to the Lord without being controlled by the Holy Spirit. Without being controlled by the Holy Spirit we will not have a proper attitude towards those who exercise their spiritual gifts. We mean that if you are not controlled by the Holy Spirit, your view of those who exercise their spiritual gift would become distorted. You will either overestimate the importance of spiritual gift that may lead to a feeling of superiority over others who do not have the kind of spiritual gifts you over value or you may feel jealous that you do not have the kind of spiritual gifts others have. This seems to be the problem in Corinth. When a believer is filled of the Holy Spirit, the believer can only function under love. We say this because an important aspect of the fruit of the Holy Spirit is that of love as stated in Galatians 5:22–23:
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Of course, when you are filled of the Holy Spirit you will exercise self-control that will be evident in your being kind in dealing with a fellow believer.
Why did I make the point about the importance of filling of the Spirit when evaluating spiritual gifts? You may wonder. It is because love is, as we have stated, an important facet of the fruit of the Spirit. Furthermore, the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul emphasized the importance of love in the context of exercise of spiritual gifts in the local church. We say this because of the first command of 1 Corinthians 14:1 Follow the way of love. This command may seem to be out of place in that it should be taken as the part of the thirteenth chapter that the apostle devoted to treatment of love. In effect, it would make sense to consider this command as that which ends the apostle’s dissertation on love. It is similar in its usage to the last part of 1 Corinthians 12:31 And now I will show you the most excellent way that as we stated when we considered the sentence that some think it should be part of the thirteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians since what is given better fits what the apostle gave in the thirteenth chapter. As we stated, this may well be the case since the divisions of chapter and verses are not part of the inspiration of the Scripture but what scholars did to enable us to have a common way of referencing our Scripture. This comment applies to the command that begins verse 1 of the fourteenth chapter. However, this command Follow the way of love is part of the fourteenth chapter because the apostle wants to remind us of the importance of love in exercise of spiritual gifts. We are saying that just as the apostle referenced love as he ended his teaching regarding spiritual gifts in the twelfth chapter of 1 Corinthians because he wanted to convey that love is that which is supreme over spiritual gifts that are to be temporary, so it was necessary for him to draw our attention to the importance of love once more before dealing with the problems associated with speaking in tongues and prophecy. You see, unless one has love, the individual would have a wrong response to what the apostle was about to teach in the fourteenth chapter.
We should emphasize that without love, a believer will respond wrongly to the teaching of the word of God, especially if the teacher communicates something that impacts a person negatively. We are saying that one of the reasons believers could listen to a pastor and walk away without learning anything is because they have no love for the one who communicates the word of God to them. This statement of not having love for the communicator of the word of God that will hamper absorbing what a teacher communicates may be put in another way because of the relationship of love and God. Hence, we can say that unless you are filled of the Holy Spirit you cannot learn the truth of the word of God from a gifted teacher of God’s word. If you go to a local church with the thought that there is nothing the teacher could tell you that you do not already know then you are actually in state of arrogance. A person in a state of arrogance will not absorb truth of God’s word that is communicated by a gifted teacher of God’s word. The Holy Spirit expects us to be under His control when we listen to the word of God since it is only through the Holy Spirit that one can comprehend what is taught. This is implied in what the Holy Spirit taught through James regarding the right response to the word of God that is taught. The proper response to the word of God communicated to anyone requires the filling of the Spirit that is first evident in dealing with one’s sins. In effect, a person who wants to hear the word of God must first deal with sins in the person’s life. We mean that the believer should confess the person’s sins so as to be filled of the Spirit so that such a person will have genuine humility that is certainly from the Holy Spirit. This requirement is implied in James 1:21:
Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.
Getting rid of moral filth certainly involves confession of sin. When a person is cleansed from sin, the person comes under the control of the Holy Spirit who produces the appropriate humility that enables a person to learn the word of God. Anyhow, the point that we are emphasizing is that it is because of the importance of love in listening to the teaching of the word of God that it was necessary for the apostle to begin the fourteenth chapter that deals with problems associated with speaking in tongues with a command that has to do with love. We have already established that love is an aspect of the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Thus, when we are commanded to love, that should be seen as a command to be filled of the Holy Spirit. By the way, remember that there are two ways to be filled of the Holy Spirit: Resisting temptation to sin and confessing of sin when a person sins. What this later way of being filled of Holy Spirit implies is that before you begin to listen to the teaching of the word of God, you should prepare yourself by ensuring that you are in the right spiritual condition that requires evaluating your soul to see if there is any unconfessed sin. All the same, it is because the apostle wanted the Corinthians and so all believers to understand that to correctly exercise spiritual gifts and to absorb any teaching of the word of God require the filling of the Spirit that he issued the first command that concerns love in 1 Corinthians 14:1 Follow the way of love or literally from the Greek Pursue the love.
Spiritual gifts could not function without the filling of the Spirit. The apostle indirectly makes this point. How? You may ask. It is because he did not use any connective to begin verse 1 of the fourteenth chapter. Often, when the apostle changes from one topic to another, he would use a connective in the Greek that signals such a change but not in our present verse. He went from love to his treatment of the problems of speaking in tongues. The implication of not using any connective is that the apostle in a sense goes seamlessly from love to the exercise of two spiritual gifts that he dealt with in the fourteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians.
The command for believers in Corinth and so for all believers as it pertains to love is given in such a way that the apostle implies that believers should form the habit of exercising love towards each other or that they should repeatedly carry out the instruction in the command Follow the way of love or literally Pursue the love. This interpretation of to form the habit of exercising love towards other believers or to repeatedly do what is commanded is because the command the apostle used in the Greek is in the present tense. When a command is issued in the Greek using present tense it could be subject to different interpretations. In our passage, it is used either to continue to do something which implies that a person should form the habit of whatever is commanded, or it could mean that the person should do again and again what is commanded. The fact that what is required of believers is associated with love and the command is in the present tense reminds us of the command to be continuously filled of or by the Holy Spirit as the apostle used the same present tense in the command of Ephesians 5:18:
Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.
The point is that what is required of the Corinthians and so all believers in the command of 1 Corinthians 14:1 Follow the way of love or literally from the Greek Pursue the love is forming a habit or acting repeatedly as it relates to the subject of love.
The expression “follow the way” of the NIV is translated from a Greek verb (diōkō) that may mean “press on, hasten,” that is, to move rapidly and decisively toward an objective as Apostle Paul used it to describe his goal of winning the prize God had set for him as we read in his epistle of Philippians 3:14:
I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
The word may mean “to persecute” as the apostle used it to describe a reason some came to the Galatians with the demand for them to be circumcised as we may gather from Galatians 6:12:
Those who want to make a good impression outwardly are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ.
The word may mean to follow in a haste in order to find something, that is, “to pursue, run after” as in the instruction of the Holy Spirit to the youth regarding what they should avoid and what they should pursue as we read in 2 Timothy 2:22:
Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 14:1, it means “to pursue” in the sense of “to carry out or participate in an activity.” The thing believers should form the habit of pursing or carrying out is “love”
The word “love” is translated from a Greek word (agapē) that appears eleven times in 1 Corinthians. Because of its importance we need to review what we said about this Greek word in the first verse of the thirteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians. The original recipients of the epistle of 1 Corinthians were primarily Greek speaking so they would know there are other three Greek nouns for expressing the major senses of love. The first of these other words is a Greek noun (erōs) that refers to sexual love or passionate love. This is what most people in this culture understand love to mean as can be seen on what is portrayed on the TV as love. The erotic love needs no explanation, except to say that most problems attributed to love relationships could be traced to this kind of love. That aside, the believer should recognize that this kind of love is not involved in the command of 1 Corinthians 14:1 Follow the way of love we are considering. This is because the apostle focused on relationship between believers, especially in a worship setting. This Greek word does not appear in the NT and for a good reason since the NT is concerned much more with higher form of love. This is not to say that the concept of romantic love does not appear in the Bible or that there is anything wrong with romantic love under proper condition of marriage since this Greek word is used in the Septuagint for illicit sexual relationship in Proverbs 7:18:
Come, let’s drink deep of love till morning; let’s enjoy ourselves with love!
The word “love” appears twice in this verse of Proverbs 7. The first word “love” is translated from a third Greek word (philia) we will consider shortly while the second “love” is translated from the Greek word (erōs) we said pertains to sexual love. A second of the other Greek nouns for major expression of love is a Greek word (storgē) that the authorities tell us refers either to the tender feelings that parents naturally feel toward their children or children toward their siblings and parents, or to the bond that unites husband and wife. This word does not appear in our inspired word of God although it is found in the Apocryphal book of third and fourth Maccabees. A third of the other Greek nouns for major expression of love is a Greek word (philia) that again the authorities tell us is more concerned with friendship so is always characterized by a kindly attitude and goodwill. It is used in the Septuagint to contrast love and hatred in Proverbs 15:17:
Better a meal of vegetables where there is love than a fattened calf with hatred.
However, none of these three Greek words was used by the apostle; instead, he used a different Greek word that has some uniqueness to it.
The word “love” in the command the command of 1 Corinthians 14:1 Follow the way of love we are considering is translated from a Greek word (agapē) that, as we have indicated, has several uniqueness from the other three Greek words for expressing major concept of love. It is unique in its usages both in the classical Greek and in Greek Bible. Scholars in the past have stated that it does not appear in classical Greek but there is at least one doubtful occurrence of the word in classical Greek that caused some to think that the word must have been used in classical Greek literature. Because the supposed occurrence is doubtful, we could say, for all practical purposes, that the scholars who state that the word is not used in classical Greek as a word for love may indeed be correct. The first appearance of our Greek word is in the Septuagint where it is used in at least three ways. It is used for “love” in the sense of human passion toward another of the type once possessed by those who have died that they no longer have towards those who are alive, as it is used in the Septuagint of Ecclesiastes 9:6:
Their love, their hate and their jealousy have long since vanished; never again will they have a part in anything that happens under the sun.
The word is used in the Septuagint to describe sexual love in Song of Solomon 3:5:
Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you by the gazelles and by the does of the field: Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires.
It is used only once in the Septuagint to describe human love for God, presented in the imagery of bride’s love for the husband in the Septuagint of Jeremiah 2:2:
“Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem: “‘I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved me and followed me through the desert, through a land not sown.
These usages in the Septuagint notwithstanding, the word is used more commonly in the NT in ways that are different from its usage in the Septuagint. We say this because except for our Greek word, the only other Greek noun of the Greek words for major concept of love that we mentioned found in the NT is the Greek word (philia) that means “friendship” and it appears only once in the NT as it is used in James 4:4:
You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.
The Greek word (agapē) used in the command of 1 Corinthians 14:1 Follow the way of love is used in distinctive ways in the NT. It is the Greek word that is used although in the plural to describe the common meal eaten by early church in connection with their worship, for the purpose of fostering and expressing mutual affection and concern and so means “fellowship meal, love-feast”, as it is used in Jude 12:
These men are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead.
Our Greek word is the only Greek noun of all the Greek nouns used to express the major concept of love in Greek that is used to describe the relationship between God the Father and God the Son using the word “love” in the English as it is used in the priestly prayer of our Lord Jesus, as recorded in John 17:26:
I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”
We should be careful to understand that we said that our word is the only noun that is used to express the relationship of the Father and the Son because there is a Greek verb (phileō) related to the Greek noun (philia) that is used once to describe that relationship in John 5:20:
For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these.
Our Greek word (agapē) is used distinctively to express the redeeming love of God through Christ. Thus, Apostle Paul described God’s love that is demonstrated in Christ’s death for our sins using the Greek word (agapē) in Romans 5:8:
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
The apostle used the word to describe the love of God through or because of Christ that nothing can change in Romans 8:39:
neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
It is the redeeming love of Christ that Apostle Paul conveyed in 2 Corinthians 5:14:
For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.
Another distinctiveness of our Greek word is for the uniqueness of the Christian love in relation to others. Thus, it is the word the apostle used more commonly to describe the expected relationship of believers with one another. Writing to the Corinthians, he used our word to describe his unique relationship with them in terms of love, as we read in 2 Corinthians 2:4:
For I wrote you out of great distress and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to grieve you but to let you know the depth of my love for you.
To the Galatians, the apostle used our Greek word in encouraging them regarding serving one another, according to Galatians 5:13:
You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.
The apostle used the word in his thanksgiving to the Lord about the Ephesians for their love for one another, as we read in Ephesians 1:15:
For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,
It is our Greek word that Apostle Paul used to encourage the Thessalonians to demonstrate their love for each other, as stated in 1 Thessalonians 3:12:
May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you.
The Thessalonians obeyed this instruction as implied in the second letter of the apostle to them, as we read in 2 Thessalonians 1:3
We ought always to thank God for you, brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing.
Apostle Peter used our Greek word to describe the distinctive uniqueness of expression of love among believers through a special kind of kiss in 1 Peter 5:14:
Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ.
Another distinctiveness of our Greek word is that it is the word that is used most in the NT to describe the love that God the Holy Spirit produces in the believer. Hence, Apostle Paul referenced this love that Holy Spirit produces in Romans 5:5:
And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
Consequently, the apostle used our Greek word to describe love as an aspect of the fruit of the Holy Spirit in Galatians 5:22:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
The distinctiveness of the use of the Greek word in question helps to understand that the Greek word is used predominantly in the NT to refer to the quality of warm regard for and interest in another hence may mean “esteem, affection, regard, love.” So, the meaning “love” in our passage of 1 Corinthians 14:1 has the sense of strong affection and interest in the affairs of another.
How does a believer go about fulfilling of 1 Corinthians 14:1 Follow the way of love or literally pursue the love we are considering? Before we consider the question, let me point to you that the Greek used a definite article “the” that is not translated in the English. The use of the article is to focus attention on the quality of love or to refer to the love he devoted the entire thirteenth chapter to discuss. That said, the simplest answer of how to go about fulfilling the command of pursuing love is to strive to remain under the control of the Holy Spirit (involving resisting sin and its confession). For, if you are controlled by the Holy Spirit then you will pursue love. This pursuit of love would mean that you are always looking for ways to benefit your fellow believer, implying that you will be willing to serve other believers as instructed in the passage we cited previously, that is, Galatians 5:13:
You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.
In any event, the first introductory command of the apostle concerns believers or the local churches pursuing of love as we have explained. This brings us to the second introductory command of 1 Corinthians 14:1.
There is, of course, the question of how the first introductory command is related to the second that we will get to shortly. This is because the apostle used a Greek particle (de) that may be used to connect one clause to another, either to express contrast or simple continuation but in certain occurrences this marker of continuation may be left untranslated. Although it is often translated “but” in the English, as done in this verse in the NLT or the NABRE when there is a perceived contrast between two clauses, it has other meanings such as “now,” “then,” “and,” “so” when it is used to link segments of a narrative. In our verse, although some interpret it with the meaning “but,” it seems that the meaning is that of adding additional command and so may be translated “and” as given in the majority of our English versions.
Anyway, the second introductory command concerns spiritual gifts, and it is given in the next command of 1 Corinthians 14:1 and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy. The expression “eagerly desire” of the NIV is translated from a Greek word (zēloō) that is used both negatively and positively. Negatively, it may mean to have intense negative feelings over another’s achievements or success, that is, “to be filled with jealousy or envy” as it is used to describe the attitude of the Jews in Thessalonica towards Apostle Paul as we read in Acts 17:5:
But the Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city. They rushed to Jason’s house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd.
Positively, the word may mean to be positively and intensely interested in something and so means “to strive, desire, exert oneself earnestly, be dedicated.” The positive sense of the word deals with what is desirable so that the apostle used it three times in his epistle to the Corinthians (including our passage of 1 Corinthians 14:1) to instruct regarding spiritual gifts. Twice he used it to encourage the Corinthians to desire spiritual gifts in general, as for example, in 1 Corinthians 12:31:
But eagerly desire the greater gifts. And now I will show you the most excellent way.
He used it for desire for exercising the gift of prophecy in 1 Corinthians 14:39:
Therefore, my brothers, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues.
The word may mean “to be zealous” as in the instruction of Apostle Paul to the Galatians recorded in Galatians 4:18:
It is fine to be zealous, provided the purpose is good, and to be so always and not just when I am with you.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 14:1, it is used in a positive sense of “to be zealous,” that is, “to be or become marked by active interest, passion, and enthusiasm for something.” Some English version such as NRSV used the meaning “strive” which is certainly a meaning of the Greek word but in this context such a meaning would imply that spiritual gift is not a demonstration of God’s grace but that which could be obtain by striving. Thus, it is better to use the meaning “to be zealous” as we have indicated. The thing that the Corinthians should be zealous or enthusiastic about is described with the phrase spiritual gifts. Literally, the Greek reads the spiritual things.
The expression “spiritual gifts” is translated from a Greek word (pneumatikos) that means either “belonging to the Spirit” or “determined by the Spirit.” As an adjective, the word means “spiritual” as it is used to describe the drink involved in the Lord’s Supper in 1 Corinthians 10:4:
and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.
But when the word functions as a noun in the neuter gender in the plural with a Greek definite article the word means “spiritual things/matters.” It is in this sense that the word is used in Apostle Paul’s argument that as an apostle he should be supported by those who have been blessed spiritually by his ministry as we read in 1 Corinthians 9:11:
If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you?
The clause If we have sown spiritual seed among you is literally If we have sown spiritual things among you. It is in the sense of “spiritual matters” that the apostle used the word to indicate that Gentiles owe sharing their material blessings with the Jews because the Jews through the Apostles have shared their spiritual blessings with them as stated in Romans 15:27:
They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews’ spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings.
The phrase Jews’ spiritual blessings is literally their spiritual things. In our passage of 1 Corinthians 14:1, the word has the sense of “spiritual gift,” that is, “a gift or endowment characteristic of the presence or enabling of the Holy Spirit.” Because of the context of the fourteenth chapter, it is possible that here the apostle is concerned with spiritual gifts of utterances.
It is important to recognize that the command of 1 Corinthians 14:1 eagerly desire in the NIV is in the plural in the Greek. The implication is that it is not an individual that should eagerly desire or be zealous of spiritual gifts but the church of Christ. We are saying that the spiritual gift that is the focus of the apostle in our passage is not something that someone could pray to receive because one is zealous for the specific spiritual gift. There is only one spiritual gift that the Holy Spirit instructs someone to pray related to it. It is the ability to interpret what one said not as a gift but as an added manifestation of the gift of speaking in tongues. Thus, the church is one that is commanded to be zealous regarding certain spiritual gifts.
Be that as it may, although apostle encouraged the church to be zealous about spiritual gifts, but he singled out the gift of prophecy as we read in the last phrase of 1 Corinthians 14:1 especially the gift of prophecy or literally but rather that you may prophesy. The word “especially” is translated from a Greek adverb (mallon) that can mean “more” in the sense of being concerned with a greater or higher degree of something. Thus, Apostle Paul used it in that sense to encourage believers to live more and more a life that pleases the Lord in 1 Thessalonians 4:1:
Finally, brothers, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more.
This living in such a way to please the Lord involves display of love more and more to fellow believers, as the apostle also indicated in 1 Thessalonians 4:10:
And in fact, you do love all the brothers throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers, to do so more and more.
To love more and more is simply a way of stating that love should be demonstrated more and more since love is a facet of the fruit of the Spirit that cannot be improved upon. Instead, its demonstration can be shown more and more to others. Anyway, a second meaning of the Greek word we translated “rather” in our literal translation is indeed “rather” but that has two senses. It could mean rather in the sense of “for a better reason” or “all the more”. It is in this sense that Apostle Paul used it to encourage slaves to render better service to their masters who are also believers as stated in 1 Timothy 6:2:
Those who have believing masters are not to show less respect for them because they are brothers. Instead, they are to serve them even better, because those who benefit from their service are believers, and dear to them. These are the things you are to teach and urge on them.
It is in the sense of “more” that could refer to emphasis “surely or certainly” that the word is used by the apostle to describe what would be applicable to those who are believers in Romans 5:17:
For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.
Another sense of the word “rather” is as a marker of alternative to something in the sense of “instead of something.” It is this sense the apostle used the word upon instructing Roman believers not to pass judgment on each other based on such matters as food that one eats or does not eat in Romans 14:13:
Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way.
In this passage, the alternative to passing judgment on one another is not to do anything that will cause someone else to sin by compromising the person’s own principles or by doing what the individual’s conscience tells the person is wrong. In our passage of 1 Corinthians 14:1, the word is used with a Greek particle (de) that may mean “but” or “and” so the combination of our Greek word with this particle implies that the Greek phrase should be translated “but rather” or simply “rather” to introduce an expression or thought that supplements and thereby corrects what has preceded. The correction concerns wrong focus on spiritual gifts whereby many in Corinth focused on speaking in tongues. In this case, the Greek phrase is used to focus attention on a specific spiritual gift that is the reason majority of our English versions used the word “especially” or “above all” to translate the Greek phrase that we have here in 1 Corinthians 14:1.
In any case, what the apostle says the church should be rather zealous is the gift of prophecy as in the phrase of 1 Corinthians 14:1 especially the gift of prophecy. Literally, the Greek reads but rather that you may prophesy. This is because we have a Greek verb (prophēteuō) that basically mean “to prophesy” that is understood in three general ways. “To prophesy” may mean “to proclaim an inspired revelation” as it is used to describe the activity of the church in Corinth that would bring a sinner to admit that such individual is indeed a sinner as we read in 1 Corinthians 14:24–25:
24 But if an unbeliever or someone who does not understand comes in while everybody is prophesying, he will be convinced by all that he is a sinner and will be judged by all, 25 and the secrets of his heart will be laid bare. So he will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, “God is really among you!”
“To prophesy” may mean “to tell about something that is hidden from view” as the guards who guarded Jesus during His trial used it to taunt Him by asking Him to tell the one who hit Him since He was blindfolded as we read in Mark 14:65:
Then some began to spit at him; they blindfolded him, struck him with their fists, and said, “Prophesy!” And the guards took him and beat him.
“To prophesy” may mean “to foretell something that lies in the future” as it is used to describe what the high priest Caiaphas said about the death of Jesus that it would be better for Him to die than for the whole nation of Israel to perish as we read in John 11:51:
He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 14:1, it means “to prophesy” in the sense of “to proclaim an inspired message” either of proper behavior to a standard, or of future events. Consequently, the church is encouraged to be zealous about those who could prophesy, that is, those who have the gift of prophecy. Since prophesying is concerned with declaration of inspired message, the instruction of the apostle means that the church should be more zealous for those who teach the word of God than those who speak in tongues. There are reasons for the instruction to be more zealous regarding prophecy which we will consider in our next study. However, let me end by reminding you of the message of the section we are considering which is: The church should be more zealous about prophesying than to speaking in tongues while being mindful of the importance of love.
12/16//22