Free Bible Commentary
“1 Corinthians 14:26-33”
Categories: 1 Corinthians“What is the outcome then, brethren? When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification. If anyone speaks in a tongue, it should be by two or at the most three, and each in turn, and one must interpret; but if there is no interpreter, he must keep silent in the church; and let him speak to himself and to God. Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others pass judgment. But if a revelation is made to another who is seated, the first one must keep silent. For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all may be exhorted; and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets; for God is not a God of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.”
---End of Scripture verses---
“Let all things be done for edification” (verse 26). This was the underlying principal that governed all the “regulations” regarding the proper use of miraculous gifts. If they could not be used in ways that “edified” or “built up” the brethren spiritually, they should not have been used at all. Whatever the contribution that any “gifted” individual might have offered to the assembly—whether an inspired psalm, teaching, revelation, tongue, or interpretation—wisdom and restraint needed to be exercised for the betterment of the congregation.
When prophesying or speaking with and interpreting foreign languages, only 2 or 3 brethren were to speak at any given assembly, and then only one at a time. It is very confusing when several people try to speak simultaneously during the same meeting. God is not the “author” of that kind of confusion when it happens in His church (verse 33), even when the brethren were using the miraculous gifts that He had blessed them with.
And it was not like they could truthfully say that they couldn’t help or control themselves, because “The spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets” (verse 32). In other words, they had the ability to control their “gifts” or “power”. Gifts of a truly miraculous nature did not overpower the will of the people wielding them, unlike what the so-called miracle workers of today would have us believe.
“God is not a God of confusion but of peace…” (verse 33). I love this verse for several reasons. I love the fact that the God we serve is a God of peace. He is not the root cause of wars and strife and fury and tumult. As a matter of fact, I fly to Him for calm and serenity whenever I feel my life careening frantically out of control. This verse also tells us that if we ever find ourselves in a “church assembly” where the “worship” is chaotic and confusing, we can be certain that it is not at God’s behest and that He is not in the midst of the people gathered there.
Please read 1 Corinthians 14:34-40 for tomorrow.
Have a great day!
- Louie Taylor
