Weaver1has's Blog

20th November 2020

⁶ But now, brethren, if I come to you speaking in tongues, what will I profit you unless I speak to you either by way of revelation or of knowledge or of prophecy or of teaching? ⁷ Yet even lifeless things, either flute or harp, in producing a sound, if they do not produce a distinction in the tones, how will it be known what is played on the flute or on the harp? ⁸ For if the bugle produces an indistinct sound, who will prepare himself for battle? ⁹ So also you, unless you utter by the tongue speech that is clear, how will it be known what is spoken? For you will be speaking into the air. ¹⁰ There are, perhaps, a great many kinds of languages in the world, and no kind is without meaning. ¹¹ If then I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be to the one who speaks a barbarian, and the one who speaks will be a barbarian to me. ¹² So also you, since you are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek to abound for the edification of the church. 1 Corinthians 14:6-12

Verse 6; So his talk of edifying the Church is Pauls primary concern.  Tongues does not edify unless it comes with an interpretation.  He lays down for key words.

• Revelation

• Knowledge

• Prophecy

• Teaching

The above are important for Paul because it is through these ways of sharing that the church can be built up.  Paul is very concerned about understanding with the ‘mind’.   You just have to take my word for it for the moment but we will touch on this theme later.

Verse 7 – 9; He talks about music and the importance of the distinctive sounds.  This is a very important example because he is basically saying that tongues on its own cannot build the church because the elements from verse 6 are missing. 

Verse 10; Paul makes the point that there are many languages in the world, and they all have a meaning. I inverted the meaning, but the point is made.

Barbarian basically means a foreigner who cannot speak each other’s language hence there is no understanding between you and the Barbarian.  The context is tongues so his meaning must point to the lack of edification between brothers and sisters in the Lord.

Verse 12; So he is basically saying is that the gifts the believers need to seek have to touch on the list from verse 6;

Revelation; Knowledge; Prophecy; Teaching

The Gospel is no secret knowledge.  It is public knowledge that everyone ought to understand.  Obviously in Corinth there were aesthetic groups and some of these groups would have believed in this secret knowledge that only the initiated could take part in.  This type of knowledge has never been part of the Gospel.  Even with the gift of tongues, Paul I think emphasizes its meaning to you personally before God but apart from interpretation it has no part in the edification of the church. As a spiritual gift it has a place, but it is at the bottom of the list of importance.  Secret knowledge is a ‘no, no!’ because the New Testament is wary about this.  All you need to do is look at Johns Gospel and 1 John to realize why secret knowledge was a danger to the historicity of Christ.  The movement was known as Gnosticism and it took on various shapes and forms. 

Verse 13; Interpretation leads to edification because others understand what has been said.  Interpretation means that it is public knowledge that is open to all so that they can question what has been said

Verse 14; It is not good that the mind doesn’t understand what is going on.

Before moving on to other verses I feel the need to do a Pauline Study on the mind.  The reason for this is that the term for me is loaded with inuendo.  As an example, a simple word such as metanoia in NT Greek literally means a change of mind.  In English meta can be used in various forms such as meta-physics. Beyond the physical realm.

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