1 Corinthians 12:3 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

No man, speaking by the Spirit—calleth Jesus accursed.— "No man that is inspired by the Spirit of God, can speak evil of Jesus; and no man cometh to him, and heartily owns him for his Lord, except God draweth him by his Spirit," which he is willing to do for all. Some think that these words refer in general to the tests put on Christiansbytheirpersecutors,thattheyshouldnotonly deny, but likewise blaspheme Christ: others think, that they rather refer to the Jews, who, while they uttered blasphemies against Christ themselves, and endeavoured to extort them from his disciples, pretended to the gifts of the Spirit, and undertook to cast out devils. Such a caution might therefore be very useful. See 1 John 4:1-3. St. Chrysostom well observes, that the phrase of saying that Jesus is the Lord, or the Messiah, must be supposed to proceed from true faith in him; and the expression is used to import a man's being a true Christian, because such strong temptations lay against professing Christ under that character, that they who maintained this doctrine must have been true believers, though there might have been a few exceptions. This seems as plain a proof as could be desired, that true faith is the work of the Spirit of God upon the heart. See Owen on the Spirit, p. 3 and Doddridge's third Letter to the Author of Christianity not founded on Argument, p. 34. &c.