1 Corinthians12:1

Translation

Now concerning

the spiritual,

brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant. (See comment below.)

Paraphrase

Dear brothers in the Lord, you asked about spiritual things, such as spiritual gifts, so here is my answer – I don’t want you to act out of ignorance, so please listen to what I say. (See comment below.)

Footnotes

1: "now concerning":

The phrase “now concerning” has already introduced two things that the congregation from Corinth asked Paul about in a letter sent to him (see 7:1 & 8:1). Now Paul is responding to a third thing that they asked him about in that letter. They probably asked him about this because there was controversy in the church at Corinth over the exercise of spiritual gifts, and especially the gift of tongues.

2: "the spiritual,"

The Greek does not give us the noun, just the adjective, and we must supply the noun, such as “spiritual things” or “spiritual gifts.” The latter is usually chosen by translators because of the context, i.e. what we see in this chapter and in chapter 14.

IGNORANCE HAS VARIOUS CAUSES

Paul did not want them to be acting out of ignorance regarding spiritual gifts, but he did not explain the cause of the ignorance he had in mind. Some ignorance is self-induced because a person does not take the opportunity afforded them to learn something. Sometimes people act out of ignorance because they have chosen to ignore what they have been taught. They act as if it is only valid learning if they experience it themselves (along with the consequences their actions will produce.) From several things Paul says in chapter 14, I believe the ignorance he had in mind while writing this verse was when people purposefully ignore something they have been taught. Even if the person who promoted the Corinthian counterfeit came to Corinth after Paul had left them, there were plenty of believers present who had heard his teachings about spiritual gifts that they should have known better than to fall for the deception.