Lessons #495 and 496
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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. +
+ 4. Text is based on 1984 edition of the NIV +
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Prophecy versus tongue in mixed worship assembly (1 Cor 14:20-25)
20 Brothers, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults. 21 In the Law it is written: “Through men of strange tongues and through the lips of foreigners I will speak to this people, but even then they will not listen to me,” says the Lord. 22 Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is for believers, not for unbelievers. 23 So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and some who do not understand or some unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind? 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!”
We have come to the last section of the fourteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians that is concerned with the comparison of the gifts of prophecy and tongues. You see, the apostle devoted 1 Corinthians 14:1-25 to the comparison of the gifts of prophecy and tongues as they relate to public worship. In 1 Corinthians 14:1-5, the apostle discoursed on the desirability of prophecy over speaking in tongues. Thus, the message we indicated that the Holy Spirit wants to convey to the church is: The church should be more zealous about prophesying to speaking in tongues while being mindful of the importance of love. This was followed by the necessity of intelligibility of tongues in 1 Corinthians 14:6-12 with the message for the church being: Speaking in tongues is only beneficial if it is intelligible. Because intelligence is related to the mind, the apostle next considered the use of the mind versus tongues in worship in 1 Corinthians 14:13-19. The message we considered was: Worship activities in a local church are more beneficial if done with words the mind can grasp than in spiritual ecstasy that involves speaking in tongues.
Apostle’s comparison of the gifts of prophecy and tongues presented in the first nineteen verses of 1 Corinthians has been focused primarily on believers. In effect, the apostle had indicated that speaking in tongues would only be beneficial to believers assembled for worship if what is uttered is interpreted. However, to end his comparison and because the Holy Spirit knows that unbelievers would visit local churches as observers or those who would be curious to know what worship in believers’ local churches is like, He extended the comparison of the gifts of prophecy and tongues to how they would affect unbelievers. Hence, the section of 1 Corinthians 14:20-25 that is our focus at the present is concerned with the comparison of gifts of prophecy and tongues as they would impact an unbeliever who attends a local church. Thus, the apostle’s last discourse on the comparison of the two spiritual gifts is concerned with prophecy versus tongues in a mixed worship assembly. When we use the expression “mixed worship assembly,” we mean an assembly of believers with any unbeliever present. Technically, a local church consists of believers in Christ, but the Holy Spirit realized that unbelievers would visit local churches so that there would be such thing as an assembly of believers with one or more unbelievers present. Unfortunately, in our time the assembly of believers in a local church consists of so many unbelievers that in some cases unbelievers would outnumber believers. That aside, considering what the apostle wrote in the section we are about to consider, the message of 1 Corinthians 14:20-25 is: Prophecy is more important than tongues in a mixed worship assembly. It is this message that we will expound in our study of the passage before us. To help us do this, there are three propositions that the apostle made that are necessary to expound on this message. Let me summarize them before we get into their specifics. The first proposition of the apostle is that matured thinking is important for comparison of tongues and prophecy. This he made in verse 20. The second given in verses 21 to 22 is that assertion and inference from Scripture help in comparison of gifts of tongues and prophecy. The third is that prophecy impacts unbelievers more than tongues in a mixed worship assembly as he described in verses 23 to 25. With this summary we proceed to expound the passage before us, that is, 1 Corinthians 14:20-25.
The apostle in a sense alerts us that he was about to end his comparison of the gift of speaking in tongues and prophecy because he begins verse 20 with the word brothers in the Greek. Throughout this epistle the apostle addressed the Corinthians with the word “brothers” when he wants to focus their attention on a point of information or doctrine. For example, at the beginning of this epistle, the apostle used the word “brothers” to focus the attention of the Corinthians on the division among them as we read in 1 Corinthians 1:10:
I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.
When the apostle wanted to convey to the Corinthians regarding their spiritual immaturity, he addressed them with the word “brothers” as we read in 1 Corinthians 3:1–2:
1Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready.
When the apostle wanted to provide information about the lesson to be learned from the Lord’s dealing with Israel of the exodus generation, he used the word “brothers” to address the Corinthians as we read in 1 Corinthians 10:1:
For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea.
When the apostle wanted to correct the misapplication of the Lord’s Supper and Love Feast, he addressed the Corinthians with the word “brothers” as we read in 1 Corinthians 11:33:
So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for each other.
The apostle used the word “brothers” when he wanted to introduce the doctrine of spiritual gifts as we may learn from 1 Corinthians 12:1:
Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant.
Thus, we can say that the apostle addressed the Corinthians with the word “brothers” when he wants to focus their attention on specific information or doctrine.
You may say, “I get it, but how does the use of “brothers” to begin 1 Corinthians 14:20 indicate the apostle was about to end his comparison of the spiritual gifts of prophecy and tongues? This is because of the way the apostle used the word “brothers” in dealing with the subject of the comparison of the gifts of prophecy and speaking in tongues. The apostle introduced the concept of the comparison between the two spiritual gifts through a rhetorical question that should alert the reader of the comparison he was about to considered in 1 Corinthians 14:6:
Now, brothers, if I come to you and speak in tongues, what good will I be to you, unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or word of instruction?
The apostle then continued with his comparison without using the word “brothers” again until verse 20. Thus, it seemed that the apostle used the word to signal that he was about to end that comparison since after verse 20 he did not make any further comparisons of the two spiritual gifts. It is for this reason that we stated the apostle used the word “brothers” to signal the end of his comparisons of the two spiritual gifts of prophecy and tongues.
The word “brothers” is, of course, translated from a Greek word (adelphos) that has several meanings in the Greek. It could mean brother in the sense of a male person from the same mother as the referenced person. It is in this sense that the word is used by Apostle Paul to reference James as being from the same mother as Jesus in His humanity in Galatians 1:19:
I saw none of the other apostles—only James, the Lord’s brother.
The word may mean “a believer” as that is the sense of the word “brother” in 1 Corinthians 5:11:
But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.
The clause anyone who calls himself a brother should be understood as one who claims to be a believer. Hence the word “brother” is the same as “believer.” Thus, it is not surprising that the translators of the NIV translated the Greek word as “believers” in 1 Corinthians 6:5:
I say this to shame you. Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers?
The phrase between believers is literally between his brothers. In keeping with this understanding, the word may mean “brother” in the sense of one who has the same beliefs with the one that uses the word, irrespective of gender, that is, the word refers to “a fellow believer.” It is in this sense of one who shares the same faith and so belongs to a specific Christian community, that is, a “fellow believer” that Apostle Paul used the word to describe Epaphroditus in Philippians 2:25:
But I think it is necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger, whom you sent to take care of my needs.
It is in this sense of fellow believers, regardless of gender, that Apostle Paul used it in his final greetings to the Ephesian church in the 1984 edition of the NIV of Ephesians 6:23:
Peace to the brothers, and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The peace the apostle wished on “the brothers” could not possibly apply only to male members of the church in Ephesus. Therefore, the word “brothers” has the sense of “brothers and sisters in Christ” here in Ephesians 6:23 as in the 2011 edition of the NIV. It is in this sense that the word is used in 1 Corinthians 14:20. The point is that when Apostle Paul used the word brothers in 1 Corinthians 14:20, he addressed all believers in Corinth regardless of their gender. Thus, what the apostle states in what follow are directed to believers in Christ regardless of their geographical location or even the time in which they live on this planet. The teaching that follows then is not only for the Corinthian church but for the universal church of Christ on this planet.
There is more. The apostle probably used the word “brothers” to convey his endearment to the believers in Corinth. He wants them to know that he loves them as his fellow believers. Of course, it is because of his love for the Corinthians that he posed the question to them about loving him less in 2 Corinthians 12:15:
So I will very gladly spend for you everything I have and expend myself as well. If I love you more, will you love me less?
Although many of us do not use the word “brother/sister” to address each other but the word is one that should be used by believers to convey the special affinity or bond between them as members of the family of God in Christ. We should also emphasize that when the apostle used the word “brothers” to address a congregation that consists of Jews and Gentiles, it is also his way of teaching to them that in Christ there is no distinction to be made among them as he plainly stated to the Galatians in Galatians 3:28–29:
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
It is important that we modern day Christians should be constantly reminded of this latter truth because we live in cultures that seem to focus on distinguishing people in such a way that was not that present in the ancient world. I do not mean that hatred that exists today did not exist in the ancient world since sin has always been in the world since the fall of man and will continue to be until the King of kings, the Lord Jesus, returns. Nonetheless, what I mean is that people are constantly bombarded with information or things that enhance division among people than probably was the case in the ancient world since they did not have TV or social media that constantly present information to tempt believers to act as unbelievers. Anyway, it is important that believers continue to be reminded that in Christ, there is no distinction based on ethnicity, gender, or social status.
Be that as it may, recall that we stated the message of 1 Corinthians 14:20-25 is: Prophecy is more important than tongues in a mixed worship assembly. We indicated that there are three propositions that we derived from the apostle’s discourse in the section that we are about to consider. The first proposition is that Matured thinking is important for comparison of tongues and prophecy. This proposition is derived from two or three instructions or commands the apostle issued to the Corinthians in verse 20. My use of the word “two” or “three” in describing the instructions of the apostle in verse 20 will become clearer as we proceed.
In any case, the first instruction or command of the apostle to the Corinthians and so to the church of Christ is concerned with avoiding being children with regards to their thinking. It is this command that is given in 1 Corinthians 14:20 stop thinking like children. Before we examine the command itself, I want to spend time to consider the word “children” because of what the apostle said about them in the two commands he issued in the verse.
The word “children” is translated from a Greek word (paidion) that literally may refer to a child below the age of puberty hence may mean “child, infant” as the word is used to describe infant Moses that the parents recognized as a special child as we read in Hebrews 11:23:
By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.
Figuratively, the word may mean “child” as a term of endearment; thus, when the word is used by Jesus Christ after His resurrection to address His disciples it is translated “friends” in the NIV or the CEV of John 21:5:
He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?” “No,” they answered.
The word “friends” is literally “children” as reflected in majority of our English versions. Figuratively, the word may mean “child” as one that is open to instruction as that is the sense that the word is used to report the Lord Jesus’ assertion in Matthew 18:3:
And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
The Lord Jesus did not mean that the disciples should return to being children; instead, He meant that they should become humble and unconcerned with status so that they can be open to instruction. In our passage of 1 Corinthians 14:20, the word means “a child” in the sense of one characterized by simplicity and innocence, hence one with undeveloped understanding or one that is humble and so not concerned with status.
There are five facts we should bear in mind about children as we examine the command in our passage that we will get to shortly. First, a child is characterized by the lack of sense of what are the moral standards acceptable by a society. This means that a child would say or do things that come to their minds without filtering their thoughts through moral standards to determine the appropriateness or the acceptability of what they say in keeping with the acceptable standard of a society and certainly not in keeping with the Scripture. Many parents have tried to put their hands over their children’s mouths or tried to stop them from talking because they were saying something that they should not, or many parents have been embarrassed because of their children’s conduct. The point is that a child lacks the sense of what is morally acceptable by the child’s society. But more importantly, a child does not know right and wrong as required by God and so incapable of making moral decisions as implied in what is stated in Deuteronomy 1:39:
And the little ones that you said would be taken captive, your children who do not yet know good from bad—they will enter the land. I will give it to them and they will take possession of it.
The clause children who do not yet know good from bad is a way to convey that children are incapable of moral decisions. It is because a child is incapable of distinguishing right from wrong, we are informed we could tell about the character of a child by how the child acts as we read in Proverbs 20:11:
Even a child is known by his actions, by whether his conduct is pure and right.
A child who behaves in a manner that is acceptable is usually because that child has been taught some basic truths or principles by the parents. Second, a child is characterized by foolishness in the sense of lack of thought. This foolishness is removed by discipline that involves both instruction and punishment as we read in Proverbs 22:15:
Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline will drive it far from him.
The word “folly” is translated from a Hebrew word (ʾiwwělěṯ) that means “foolishness, folly, that is, a state of being devoid of wisdom and understanding.” The word is associated with rashness in speech as in Proverbs 12:23:
A prudent man keeps his knowledge to himself, but the heart of fools blurts out folly.
The word is used to describe a quick-tempered person in Proverbs 14:29:
A patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man displays folly.
It is a word used to describe a person who does not think before answering a question as implied in Proverbs 18:13:
He who answers before listening—that is his folly and his shame.
So, the word in a sense, besides conveying lack of wisdom and understanding, is concerned with being thoughtless, which usually characterizes a child. Third, as we have already indicated, a child is characterized by simplicity and innocence as implied in what the Lord Jesus said to those who were trying to keep children away from him as we read in Luke 18:15–17:
15 People were also bringing babies to Jesus to have him touch them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. 16 But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 17 I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”
The Lord indicated that unless a person accepts the rule of God in the simplicity of trust that is found in a child then such a person could not enjoy the benefits of the rule of God here and in eternity state. This implies that a child is characterized by simplicity in trust without question. Fourth, a child is carefree with regard to this life. Have you known any infant that is worried about what others think of him? Have you known any infant that is worried about his food and clothing? Do you know of any infant that wants to be thought of as being of superior importance to others? You may say well, some infants feel jealous. Yes, but that is a manifestation of sin. Generally, when a child is filled with jealousy it is because he is not the center of attention or love. But in all, an infant does not know what it means to want to be thought of as being of superior importance to others. Children do not know what we adults know in terms of thinking that we are superior to others. It is only as a child grows and notices what adults do, that he begins to have that feeling of superiority. In addition, when that is the case, the child is no longer an infant in that he has lost that child-like innocence. Fifth, a child is open to instruction. Children are indeed like sponges in water. They are eager and willing to be instructed. They want to learn about their surroundings. They are inquisitive about many things. They want to know who God is. They want to know if there is heaven. They want to know why the sky is blue sometimes. I could go on and on, but the point is that a child is eager to learn. This is what all of us believers should desire. With these facts, especially that of foolishness in children that implies they are incapable of mature thinking, we proceed to the command of 1 Corinthians 14:20 stop thinking like children.
The command stop thinking like children is literally not be children in (your) thinking. This is because the Greek has a Greek verb (ginomai) that is not explicitly translated in the NIV that may mean “to be” although it is different from another Greek word (eimi) that may also mean “to be” in that our Greek word emphasizes that of being what one was not before. That aside, our Greek word has several meanings. For example, it may mean “to come into existence” so may have the sense of “to perform” as it is used for the description of the miracles of the apostles in Acts 5:12:
The apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade.
The word may mean “to become something” as Apostle Paul used it in cautioning believers not to become a stumbling block to others in their use of their freedom in Christ in 1 Corinthians 8:9:
Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak.
The word may mean “to occur as process or result” hence may mean “to take place, to happen.” It is in this sense of something occurring because of another thing that the word is used by Apostle Paul regarding the commendation the Lord will give in the future as stated in 1 Corinthians 4:5:
Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.
The sentence each will receive his praise from God is literally praise will come to each one from God. It is with the meaning “to happen” that Apostle Paul used the word to describe his sufferings as stated in 2 Timothy 3:11:
persecutions, sufferings—what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 14:20, the general sense of the word is “to become,” that is, to enter a certain state which in this particular instance refers to childhood that a believer had for a long time left.
The Greek verb is used together with a Greek negative particle (mē) that is a subjective negative instead of another Greek negative (ou) that is an objective negative. When the negative particle in our verse of study is used with a present tense, as in our passage, to issue a command, the meaning is that of cessation of an action in progress so that to convey this sense the word “stop” is to be used in the English hence the translation of the NIV stop thinking like children instead of the literal translation not be children in (your) thinking.
The word “thinking” as used in the NIV implies that it is a verb. This is not so because we have a Greek noun (phrēn) that appears only here in the Greek NT; it means “thinking, understanding,” that is, “the process of using the mind to consider something carefully.” Children, as we have already stated, are known not to be thoughtful in what they do or say. Thus, when the apostle gave the instruction stop thinking like children or literally not be children in (your) thinking, he meant that the Corinthians have not used their mind properly in their comparison of the gifts of speaking in tongue and prophecy. They have not applied any critical thinking to their consideration of the two gifts as to their importance in public worship of believers. So, he instructs them to desist from such thoughtless consideration of the two spiritual gifts.
We are saying that the apostle wanted the Corinthians to stop being immature in their evaluation of the two spiritual gifts of prophecy and speaking in tongue. That this is the case is indicated in the contrasting instruction the apostle gave in the last clause of 1 Corinthians 14:20 but in your thinking be adults. Literally, the Greek reads and in (your) thinking become mature.
The literal clause and in (your) thinking become mature is the reason we indicated that the apostle issued two or three commands in verse 20. The reason we say this is because the second command of 1 Corinthians 14:20 In regard to evil be infants that we will get to its analysis shortly but for now we simply state that I may be viewed in two ways. On the one hand, if it is considered parenthetical then the last clause we are considering could be taken as being a part of first command. This interpretation would mean that the last clause but in your thinking be adults explains the first command stop thinking like children or contrasts it, in this way the first command and the last clause of the verse are related, so we have only two commands in the verse. On the other hand, if the second command In regard to evil be infants is viewed as not being parenthetical then the last clause of the verse would be taken as another command so that verse 20 then contains three commands.
Which interpretation did the apostle have in mind? It seems to me that it is the interpretation that takes the second command In regard to evil be infants as parenthetical that was in the mind of the apostle so that we have two and not three commands. We say this because the second command we will get to shortly interrupts the flow of the apostle’s thought as he focused on the concept of “thinking.” If the apostle did not interrupt his thought by adding another command that has to do with evil, we would have had one command that is explained or contrasted with the instruction of the last clause but in your thinking be adults. In effect, it would be easier to see that the first command is related to the last clause since the apostle would be understood as explaining positively a command given negatively. You see, the word but is translated from 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 as it is done here in the NIV and many of our English versions. Although it is often translated “but” in the English 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. It can also be used to provide explanation to what preceded so that it may be translated “that is.” In our verse, it is subject to two possible interpretations. It could be interpreted as a marker of continuation of the first command of the verse we are considering in which case it may be translated “but” or “that is,” Another interpretation is to take it as a marker of addition to the second command so that we have three commands, and it should be translated “and” as we find in some English versions. However, we are arguing that the apostle had in mind two commands in which the last clause explains better the first command or contrasts it. Furthermore, the last clause contains the same Greek words used in the first command, the only difference being the word “adult” used in the last clause of 1 Corinthians 14:20 but in your thinking be adults. Anyway, we contend that the last clause should be seen as either explaining the first command so it will be clearer or that it contrasts the first, still in a way that implies an explanation of the first command.
Be that as it may, the clause we are considering is but in your thinking be adults. As we stated, the Greek words used in this clause are the same words used in the first command. The word “thinking” is translated from the same Greek word (phrēn) that we indicated means “thinking, understanding,” that is, “the process of using the mind to consider something carefully.” The word “be” is translated from the Greek word (ginomai) we also indicated has the sense of “to become,” that is, to enter a certain state which in this second usage is a state of adulthood.
The word “adult” in the last clause but in your thinking be adults is translated from a Greek word (teleios) that the Greeks used in different ways. It was used as a technical term of the mystery religions to refer to one initiated into mystic rites so means “initiated.” The Greeks used it in the sense of “whole,” especially with reference to sacrifices. But they also used it to describe stages of learning – beginning, advance, and maturity. When a person reaches the limit of his professional ability, he is considered perfect in that profession, so our Greek word has the meaning “perfect.” I can relate it to the professorial ranks in the university – assistant professor, associate professor, full professor. A full professor is the perfect professor in that it is the completed rank. So, in their philosophy, the Greeks viewed a perfect man as one who has attained “firm and true views, insight and philosophical knowledge, and the goods which these things carry with them.” The Jewish writer Philo considered a perfect man as one who is pure in word, deed, and in his whole conduct. Even in the OT, the idea of perfect also implies “unblemished, undivided, complete.” The point is that the word “perfect” carries the sense of “completeness” or “wholesomeness.” However, it has several nuances in the NT. The word may mean “perfect” as it pertains to meeting the highest standard of things, as it is used by James to describe gift that comes from God in James 1:17:
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
It may mean “perfect” as it pertains to being fully developed in a moral sense as the word is used in James 3:2:
We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.
The word may mean “mature” in the sense of spiritual maturity as in Hebrews 5:14:
But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 14:20, the Greek word has the sense of “spiritual mature,” that is, “being at an advanced stage of spiritual development; usually as a result of experience, teaching, and in most cases time.” Hence, when the apostle wrote but in your thinking be adults he meant for the Corinthians to use their minds as those spiritually matured to grasp what he has taught regarding the comparisons between speaking in tongues and prophecy so that they would not misunderstand these spiritual gifts. Of course, his emphasis is in understanding the gift of tongues as he focused on it in the next verse. In any event, the apostle’s first command is concerned with using the mind properly to grasp the difference between the two spiritual gifts of tongues and prophecy in worship situation in a mixed assembly of believers and some unbelievers. In effect, the apostle implies that the Corinthians should show maturity in their thought process so that what he said previously would be true of them when he described his mature state compared to childhood state as we read in 1 Corinthians 13:11:
When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.
This brings us to the second command of the Holy Spirit through the apostle in the verse we are considering.
The second command concerns an expected conduct of believers in Corinth and so in the universal church of Christ. This command is given in 1 Corinthians 14:20 In regard to evil be infants or literally but be infants in evil. This second command should be understood as parenthetical since it does not bear direct reference to what preceded or what followed it. Furthermore, the word “but” omitted in the NIV but reflected in our literal translation is translated from a Greek word (alla) that primarily is used to indicate a difference with or contrast to what precedes. In effect, it is used to express contrast between an immediate clause and the one preceding it so it may be translated “but, rather, on the contrary.” The word may be translated “indeed, certainly” when it is used as a marker of contrastive emphasis When the word is used in connection with a command, it may mean “now, then.” as the word is translated in the instruction given to wives regarding their husbands in Ephesians 5:24:
Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
Some English versions began verse 24 of Ephesians 5 with the conjunction “but.” Interestingly, the translators of the ISV began with the word “indeed” which is a permissible translation of the Greek word when a contrast is to be made in an emphatic manner or a strong alternative is being suggested. That aside, the meaning “but” may indicate a transition to something different or contrasted. In our passage of 1 Corinthians 14:20, the apostle used it to convey that he was about to issue a new kind of command that is not directly related to the first so that a new concept is being introduced in the command that follows. The situation is that once the apostle mentioned the concept of children, the Holy Spirit carried his thought to a situation where it is commendable to be a child. In other words, being a child is not altogether a bad thing but depends on the situation. Thus, the Holy Spirit conveyed to the apostle that when it comes to sinful conduct, it is commendable to be a child, hence the phrase In regard to evil.
The word “evil” is translated from a Greek word (kakia) that may mean a state involving difficult circumstances hence means “trouble, misfortune,” as the word is used in Matthew 6:34:
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
The Greek word may mean “wickedness, baseness, depravity” so it is the word used to describe the denouncement of Simon the sorcerer by Apostle Peter for his evil thoughts where it is translated “wickedness” in Acts 8:22:
Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive you for having such a thought in your heart.
The Greek word may mean “a mean-spirited or vicious attitude or disposition” and so means “malice, ill-will, malignity.” It is in the sense of malice that the word is used when Apostle Paul instructed the Colossians regarding the vices, they are to get rid of because of their new state as believers in Christ in Colossians 3:8:
But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 14:20, it has the sense of “depravity,” that is, quality or state of wickedness that involves the perverting of virtue and moral principles from their purposes to evil ends.
The Holy Spirit conveyed through the apostle that with respect to wickedness or sinfulness it is preferred that the Corinthians and so all believers should form the habit of acting in child-like innocence as in the command of 1 Corinthians 14:20 In regard to evil be infants. The expression “be infants” is translated from a Greek word (nēpiazō) that appears only here in the Greek NT; it means “to be (like) a child.” The command the apostle issued is in the present tense in the Greek. The implication is that the Holy Spirit expects repeated action on the part of the Corinthians and so all believers when wickedness is concerned. Children are usually not involved in actions that indicate concerted effort of hurting others, but they are simplistic in their outlooks of things so that they would not harm others. They usually do not hold grudges and so are forgiving so that the instruction to be infants as it pertains to evil touches on the fact that believers should form the habit of avoiding things that harm others as well as to be forgiving. In any event, the first proposition derived from what the apostle stated in the section of 1 Corinthians 14:20-25 we are considering is: Matured thinking is important for comparison of tongues and prophecy.
02/17/23