1 Corinthians 12:3 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says "Jesus is accursed!" and no one can say "Jesus is Lord" except in the Holy Spirit.

NIV: Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus be cursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit.

NASB: Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, 'Jesus is accursed'; and no one can say, 'Jesus is Lord,' except by the Holy Spirit.

CSB: Therefore I want you to know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus is cursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit.

NLT: So I want you to know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God will curse Jesus, and no one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit.

KJV: Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.

NKJV: Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.

Bible scholars disagree about what is going on in verses 2 and 3. Is Paul talking about "utterances" provoked by spirits or the Holy Spirit? Is he arming the Corinthians against false teachers? Perhaps the best explanation is that Paul is showing that every Christian is "spiritual." In this context, that means every Christian is occupied by the Holy Spirit. Paul may have been countering a misunderstanding among his readers: that only those with the most obvious spiritual gifts were spiritual Christians.

If that's the case, then Paul showed in the previous verse that idol worshipers are the ones who are not spiritual, since an idol has no spirit. It is mute, something made by human hands. Now he shows that those who say "Jesus is accursed!" are also not spiritual, perhaps referring to religious Jews who denied Jesus' deity and saw Him only as a criminal who was hanged on a "tree" (Galatians 3:13).

On the other hand, every single person who says "Jesus is Lord" is a spiritual person. In this context, that means something more than simply mouthing certain words. The idea is someone who says "Jesus is Lord" as the sincere expression of their belief. Nobody can say that—in truth and sincerity—unless they do so in the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul's larger point will be that those with the more visible spiritual gifts, such as tongues and teaching, are not more spiritual as Christians than those with the less public gifts. Every Christian is a spiritual person, even those who aren't gifted with obvious or ostentatious talents.

First Corinthians 12:1–11 details Paul's specific teaching on what spiritual gifts are, who receives them, and why they are given. Every believer in Jesus is spiritual, because each Christian has God's Spirit with him or her. The Spirit gives one or more spiritual gifts to every believer for the common good, to be used in service to the church. Nobody acquires or earns their own gifts. The same Spirit gives them away, for free, as He sees fit, meaning that having one or the other gift does not make a Christian more important than another.

Apparently in response to further questions from Corinth, Paul describes what spiritual gifts are, who receives them, and what they are for. His emphasis is that particular spiritual gifts do not make believers spiritual. Every believer is spiritual because every Christian has God's Spirit with him or her. In addition, the Spirit gives one or more spiritual gifts to each believer to be used to serve the church. The church is like a body, in which every part is needed, and all the parts exist to serve one another. Every believer must discover how they are gifted by the Spirit and value the function they serve in Christ's body.

After tackling the issues of head coverings for women and the Lord's Supper in the previous chapter, Paul moves to the issue of spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12. Paul insists that the display of spiritual gifts does not make one believer more spiritual or important than another. Every believer in Jesus has the Spirit, and the Spirit gives to every believer one or more spiritual gifts. The gifts are given for the common good, and the church is like a human body. Each gifted function in the church represents a body part, and all the parts are essential. This sets up a description of love, as defined from a Christian viewpoint, and famously recorded in chapter 13.

First Corinthians is one of the more practical books of the New Testament. Paul writes to a church immersed in a city associated with trade, but also with corruption and immorality. These believers are struggling to properly apply spiritual gifts and to resist the ungodly practices of the surrounding culture. Paul's letter gives instructions for real-life concerns such as marriage and spirituality. He also deals with the importance of unity and gives one of the Bible's more well-known descriptions of love in chapter 13.