Troublesome Topic: Precepts about Tongues from I Corinthians 12:8-11

Lesson 3 of 20

1 Corinthians 12:8

Translation

For it is true that on the one hand, to one is given, through Spirit, a revelation of wisdom,

but to another

a revelation of knowledge,

through the same Spirit, (See comment below.)

Paraphrase

For it is true that on the one hand, to one follower of Jesus is given, through the Holy Spirit, a revelation of Godly wisdom, but to another is given a revelation of knowledge for life, through the same Spirit. (See comment below.)

SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES OF WISDOM AND KNOWLEDGE

These seem very close to each other. I think that Paul mentioned them separately because, in Greek culture, they were often discussed separately, and the Corinthians had likely bought into at least part of that practice of splitting hairs. Although Paul mentions them separately, his intent is to bring them into unity by the reality that, in the life of the Christian and the shared life of the church, both came from the same source – the Holy Spirit.

Both were supernaturally given by God for the benefit of the church; both referred to a union of spiritual realities and daily life. Both were different from the wisdom and knowledge possessed by a person who did not believe in and follow Jesus, although it requires a spiritually discerning person to detect the difference.

The “wisdom” mentioned here was sometimes given by God when He intervened in a human life to share something that would not otherwise be knowable, but it was not always a new revelation, rather it could come from an accumulation of living close to God for many years, which is still a gift from God.

The “knowledge” mentioned here was always tied to experience, but it was also a gift from God, thus, it was not just a person who had lived a long time and had lots of stories, even helpful stories. This was a person who, under the guiding hand of God’s Spirit, had learned many spiritually helpful lessons through the hard knocks of life and was gifted with knowing how to make proper sense of those experiences. This is needful because life’s experiences can be interpreted the wrong way, and Satan is a master at turning our experiences into messages that sound good at first, but in the end, are catastrophic. This type of knowledge also knows when and how to share the lessons learned from experience for maximum impact in the lives of others.

1 Corinthians 12:9

Translation

to a different one faith, by the same Spirit, but to another one gifts of healing in that one Spirit,

Paraphrase

to a different one is granted by the same Spirit of God, an extraordinary faith, while to another one is granted, in the realm and under the authority of the same Spirit, graciously given empowerments for miraculous healing,

1 Corinthians 12:10

Translation

but to another the energized working which produces miracles,

but to another prophecy,

but to another judging of spirits, and to a different one families

of tongues, but to another interpretation of tongues. (See comment below.)

Paraphrase

but to another one energized activity empowered by God to produce miracles, but to another one clearly articulating spiritual truth as it relates to daily life, but to another one distinguishing between spirits, and to a different one various kinds of languages belonging to other people, but to another one the interpreting of unknown languages. (See Comment below.)

THIS IS THE FIRST TIME INTERPRETATION OF TONGUES IS MENTIONED

Interpretation is mentioned without any explanation because Paul had talked to them about this issue when he was with them in person, and because he will come back to it again. In the book of Acts, the issue of interpretation is not mentioned or explained, however it is illustrated, for Peter provided the interpretation for the sake of the local Jews who were already refusing to believe in Jesus despite the miracles that Jesus had done and despite the resurrection of Jesus.

1 Corinthians 12:11

Translation

Now the one and the same Spirit energetically works all these things, dividing and distributing to each his own

as He wills.

Paraphrase

Now the exact same Spirit works using divine power to produce the results He desires, and He divides His working power into smaller portions and distributes those portions to each one in a uniquely fitting way, as He wills it to be.

The next lesson in the Full Series on Tongues is Precepts about Tongues from I Corinthians 12:21-26

Footnotes

1

“Wisdom” mean “clarity,” as well as “full and over-arching understanding.” It can refer to human or divine understanding. The use of the word “wisdom” would have made any Jew think of the way the Hebrew equivalent was used in the proverbs where it always had an element of “Godly understanding, Godly perception.” Here it stands as a mild contrast to “knowledge” which is gleaned from life’s experiences and relationships. Therefore I think it is intended to communicate the specific kind of wisdom that is given by God when He intervenes in a human life to share something that would not otherwise be knowable.

2

The way “to one” and later, “but to another” are employed in this passage forms a contrast between the two. Rather than giving a list, Paul is making the point that we can receive a variety of gracious endowments from the Holy Spirit. The use of several contrasts drives home that point better than a list would. This technique is carried through the end of verse 10 where only the second half of the contrast is used, saying, “but to another … but to another.”

3

The word “knowledge” refers to the kind of knowledge gleaned from personal experience or a direct relationship to something. It is theory and application combined.

4

This is the word from which we get our English words “energy and energize.” In the New Testament it points to an energetic activity empowered by God and it has an ending which focuses the reader’s attention on the final result of that activity – in this case, miracles.

5

The act of prophesying in Scripture is usually associated with calling people to the correct course of action based on a current spiritual reality. It often sounded like this: “You people are far from God and living in sin. You need to repent and change your ways, or you will suffer God’s judgment. So turn to God while you still have a chance.” Notice in this example that no details are given about God’s judgment, only that it is warranted and therefore they should repent. Only rarely did prophecy include foretelling what would happen in the future. Usually it was connected to the present and projected spiritual truths in general terms into the near future. Thus, the act of prophesying was to speak truth in a practical, livable way.

6

In English, Latin and Greek this word expresses “offspring, kinds, families, races, nations.” Our word “genus” used in Biological classifications, comes from the same root, as does our word “generation”. The root word in view here means “to give birth to.”

7

This word means “his own” and from there we get the ideas of “personal, privately, belonging to a specific person,” etc.