 |  |
Paul links the believers at Corinth with "all that in every place call upon the name of
Jesus Christ our Lord" (2). The places he refers to were the meeting places for believers.
In the early days it could have been the synagogue within the framework of which
Hebrew Christians gave their witness. But more likely it was the homes of believers. In
16: 19 we have a reference to Aquila and Priscilla and "the church that is in their
house". We must not think of buildings specially erected for Christian worship as we see
around us today. These did not come into being until a much later date. The house of the
believer was the home of the church, and we can therefore see why an orderly Christian
home was an essential qualification of a bishop or overseer; and warm hospitality a
necessary virtue (I Tim. 3: 2, 4, 5).
We next come to confirmation. The Apostle expresses gratitude to the Lord for the
grace that had been given them and also that they were made rich in every respect by a
bountiful Lord and Saviour. We are not told they were rich in faith, hope or love, but in
speech and knowledge of every kind (4, 5). Speech obviously includes the gift of
speaking with tongues, and doubtless prophecy and every kind of Christian discourse. A
great deal of attention is given to Christian speech in chapters 1: and 2: which we must
consider in its place. Knowledge refers to the apprehension of Christian truth and it is
important to note that these gifts were peculiar to the Acts period as a means of
confirmation to each believer. In the twelfth chapter we have a long list of these special
confirmatory gifts which were given by the Holy Spirit, of which knowledge, gnosis, is
one (I Cor. 12: 8). Here wisdom is linked with knowledge and Paul has a great deal to
teach about wisdom in the early part of this epistle. The Apostle John evidently refers to
the supernatural gift of knowledge in his first letter:
"Ye have an anointing (unction) from the Holy One, and ye know all things . . . . . the
anointing which ye have received of Him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man
teach you, but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things . . . . ." (I John 2: 20, 27).
This is obviously not true today, for Divine Knowledge does not come automatically
as a gift of the Spirit. We all know that careful, persistent and prayerful searching of the
Scripture of Truth is now necessary to arrive at an understanding of what God has
written. The special gifts enumerated in I Corinthians were confirmatory miraculous
gifts to prepare believers for the great event of the early coming of the Lord:
"So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ"
(verse 7).
In Heb. 6: the testing of the heavenly gift, and of the Word of God is linked with
"miracles of the coming age", i.e. the Millennium (powers of the world to come A.V.).
These gifts were a foretaste of the kingdom age which would be set up at the Lord's
return and it is obvious from this letter and others written at this period, that this coming
was then imminent (see Acts 3: 19-26; I Cor. 7: 29; 10: 11; 16: 22; I Thess. 1: 9, 10;
4: 15-17; II Thess. 1: 7; Heb. 10: 37; I Pet. 4: 7; James 5: 7-9; I John 2: 18).