1 Corinthians 12:1 - Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible

1 CORINTHIANS CHAPTER 12 1 Corinthians 12:1-3 Paul teacheth that none can own Christ but by the Holy Ghost, 1 Corinthians 12:4-6 whose gifts are diverse, 1 Corinthians 12:7-11 and dealt out to different persons to profit withal. 1 Corinthians 12:12,13 As many members make up one natural body, so Christians in general form one mystical body, 1 Corinthians 12:14-26 and as every member is equally a part of the natural body, and hath a necessary function allotted it. 1 Corinthians 12:27-31 So is it with Christ's body, the church; to the several members of which God hath assigned different gifts and offices for the general good. The word gifts is not in the Greek, but supplied by our interpreters. In the Greek is no more than concerning spirituals, which is equally applicable to spiritual offices, or administrations, operations, and gifts; of all which he afterward treateth something, but mostly concerning gifts, which are chiefly spoken of in this chapter: and our translaters agree with the best interpreters, in supplying the text with the word gifts. This church eminently abounded in these abilities to spiritual actions given them of God (for spirtual gifts signifies nothing else); and as they abounded in them, so they erred much in the abuse or ill use of them, as we shall afterward read in this chapter. Therefore the apostle tells them, that as to them, he would not have them ignorant, either of the favour of God in enriching them with them, as he had said, 1 Corinthians 1:5, or yet in the due and right use of them, so as God might have glory from their good use of them: or of the errors that they had ran into, or might further run into, in the ill use of them.