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They should therefore consider how other assemblies were behaving and not suppose
that they were right and every one else wrong. The Apostle, who had before stressed the
need of testing and checking all they heard, now gives another important test:
"If anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or a spiritual person, he should recognize
that what I am writing to you comes from the Lord" or, as some MSS "is the Lord's
command" (14: 37, C. K. Barrett).
This does not mean that Paul is quoting from the words Christ uttered on earth, but
that all was in accordance with the truth deposited with him by revelation from the risen
Lord (cp. Gal. 1: 11, 12). If this is not inspiration in the fullest sense, what is it? This
verse and the statement in I Thess. 2: 13 makes it perfectly clear that there is no such
thing as Pauline doctrine, that is, doctrine founded on Paul's ideas. There are indeed
distinctive truths given by God through Paul the channel, but in no sense are we dealing
with Paul's opinions or conceptions. It is God's truth, and neither we nor the early
churches follow a man pure and simple.
If Paul exhorts us to follow him, he immediately adds "even as I follow Christ". We
have one Lord, who only has the right to teach and control us and we cannot
acknowledge anyone else as such. But no one at Corinth could claim to have reached this
position who denied the Apostle Paul's ministry and authority. There are those today
who think they can by-pass Paul and as long as they adhere to the "teaching of Jesus" in
the Gospels, they imagine they are receiving the Truth in all its fullness. Such deceive
themselves and others whom they seek to influence.
The mark of spirituality which the Apostle gives in the context we are studying, is still
true. The majority of Christendom today have little place for, still less an understanding
of the truth given through the Apostle. Is it any wonder that we see it divided, powerless,
with no divine answer to the enormous problems that face us?
Paul now closes this section by stating that while tongues should not be suppressed
(the earthly kingdom was still a possibility--Acts 3: 19-26), yet prophecy, the greater
gift, should be sought after (I Cor. 14: 39). The overriding consideration was that all
should be done in a decent and orderly manner (verse 40), for only in this way could the
God of law and order be honoured and a witness given to the outsider that would be
likely to impress and convict him of its truth.
The Apostle now turns to another vital subject concerning which they had possibly
written him, that of resurrection. In the whole range of inspired revelation this is one of
the most important subjects, for it underlies the whole purpose of God. No wonder then
he devotes a long section to its consideration.