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Ambrosiaster

Nicene & Post-Nicene · AD 325–500 · 1,043 passages across 16 books

Commentary

161–180 of 1,043
1 Corinthians 11:19

For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.

Paul did not want heresies or choose them, but he foresaw the future and knew that they would come.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 11:22

What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not.

The false apostles had sown divisions among them so that they were possessive of their offerings. Although they were all blessed with one and the same prayer, those who had not offered or who had nothing to offer were covered with shame and did not take part. Furthermore, it all happened so quickly that those who came later found nothing left to eat.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 11:26

For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.

Paul shows that the Lord’s Supper is not a meal in the normal sense but spiritual medicine, which purifies the recipient if he partakes of it reverently. It is the memorial of our redemption, so that mindful of our Redeemer we might follow him more closely.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 11:28

But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.

Paul teaches that one should come to Communion with a reverent mind and with fear, so that the mind will understand that it must revere the one whose body it is coming to consume.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 11:32

But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

The person who comes to the Lord’s table irreverently is no better than an unbeliever.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 11:33

Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat, tarry one for another.

Paul tells them to wait for one another so that they may make their offering together and serve one another.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 12:2

Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led.

Now that he is about to give them spiritual teaching, Paul recalls their former way of life. His intention is that, just as they have been worshipers of idols in the shape of statues and used to be led about by the will of demons, so now, as worshipers of God, they may walk according to the model of the law, so as to be pleasing to God.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 12:3

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.

Any truth spoken by anyone is spoken by the Holy Spirit.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 12:6

And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.

Paul is emphatic in asserting that the distribution of gifts is not to be attributed to human causes as if they were achievable by men. The varied gifts of the Holy Spirit and the grace of the Lord Jesus are the work of one and the same God. The grace and the gift cannot be divided according to the persons of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit but must be understood as constituting the one work of the undivided unity and nature of the Three.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 12:7

But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.

Each person receives a gift so that, governing his life by divine constraints, he may be useful both to himself and to others while presenting an example of good behavior.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 12:8

For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;

In other words, he is given knowledge not by book learning but by the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 12:9

To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;

Paul says this to encourage the person concerned to suppress his shyness and receive the ability to profess and lay claim to faith.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 12:10

To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:

To interpret is to interpret faithfully by God’s gift the sayings of those who speak in tongues or in writing.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 12:11

But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.

Paul is here attributing to the Holy Spirit what he earlier attributed to all three persons. Because they are of one nature and power, the Three do what the One does. There is only one God, whose grace is distributed to individuals as he wishes, not according to the merits of any particular person but for the upbuilding of his church. All those things which the world wants to imitate but cannot, because it is carnal, may be seen in the church, which is the house of God, where they are granted by the gift and instruction of the Holy Spirit.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 12:13

For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

Paul is teaching that we should not treat anyone with contempt, nor should we regard anyone as perfect.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 12:14

For the body is not one member, but many.

The unity of the body consists in the fact that its many members supply the things which the other parts lack.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 12:15

If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?

This means that a weak brother cannot say that he is not a part of the body simply because he is not strong.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 12:16

And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?

Paul is saying that the person who is slightly inferior should not for that reason think that he is unnecessary to the body. Commentary on Paul’s Epistles.

1 Corinthians 12:19

And if they were all one member, where were the body?

If everyone in the church were equal, there would be no body, because a body is governed according to the difference in the functions of its members.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

1 Corinthians 12:20

But now are they many members, yet but one body.

The diversity in the members of the body unites for the purpose of ensuring that the body fulfills its potential.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

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