BIBLE STUDY: 1 CORINTHIANS 12:3

By Akin Ojumu

Certain Bible passages are difficult to interpret and understand. And this makes them prone to misinterpretation and misunderstanding. One of the general rules used in hermeneutics and exegesis is to interpret and explain difficult Bible texts by using Bible texts that are much clearer on the same subject. 

In order to properly interpret and understand what a Bible text means, it must be interpreted historically, grammatically, and contextually. Every time you read a Bible passage, ask yourself the following questions:

(1) What did the author have in mind when he wrote this?

(2) What message was he trying to pass across?

(3) What did it mean to the people to whom he wrote?

(4) What is the historical context?

(5) What do the words mean, and how were they used, in the original language?

One of those difficult to understand Bible texts is 1 Corinthians 12:3:

“Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.”

In order to properly interpret 1 Corinthians 12:3, you must understand the context that informed the text. What must be happening in that assembly at Corinth that inspired Paul to write this text?

All it takes is a little bit of digging into the history of the Corinthian Church and that Asia Minor city where the Church was located to discover the answer. What Paul was trying to address in 1 Corinthians 12:3 was an incipient Gnostic heresy that was beginning to creep into the Corinthian congregation. 

Gnosticism, by the way, is one of the first major heresies to threaten the early Church. This belief system taught that there was a higher and deeper spiritual knowledge (gnosis). This deep secret knowledge is obtainable only by a select few. And it’s only those who have obtained this knowledge who ultimately get saved. 

Furthermore, the Gnostics believe that: 

1) All matter/material is evil and all immaterial is good. 

2) The ultimate goal is to liberate the good immaterial from the evil material through the gnosis i.e., knowledge.

3) Historical Jesus was material and, thus, a mere human. He was neither a deity nor God incarnate.

4) A divine being, Christ, took over the human Jesus at His baptism, which is why he began performing miracles and teaching.

5) The divine Christ left the human Jesus before His death on the Cross.

6) It was the human Jesus who died on the Cross and not the divine Christ.

7) By dying on the Cross, the human Jesus became accursed.

Somehow, these Gnostics beliefs had crept into the Corinthian congregation. And so, there were some folks in the assembly who would actually prophesy and teach that Jesus is cursed while claiming to be under the influence of the Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 12:3

“Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.”

The actual word translated ACCURSED in this text is ANATHEMA. It literally says, “No one speaking by the Spirit of God says Jesus is ANATHEMA.”

The word “ANATHEMA” is a common Jewish word, and it means to be devoted to destruction. Anathema is the strongest Jewish word for condemnation. The word means “damned.” So, it’s like a modern-day person saying, “You are damned.”

Now, the idea that Jesus is cursed because He died on the Cross has its origin in the Old Testament. The Jews believed that anyone hanged on a tree is cursed by God.

Deuteronomy 21:22-23

“And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God.”

So, what we have in the Corinthian assembly were some folks who, supposedly manifesting the gifts of the Spirit, would stand up during Church meetings and start saying Jesus is cursed. And these were people who considered themselves, and were considered by others, highly spiritual Christians with deep spiritual insight and gifts of the Spirit.

You’ll notice that the 1 Corinthians 12:3 doesn’t say “Christ is accursed.” Rather, it says, “Jesus is accursed.” Well, this is because the Gnostics believe that while Christ is divine, Jesus is merely a man, So, they try to separate Jesus from Christ.

Apostle Paul wrote 1 Corinthians 12:3 to refute this dangerous demonic heresy. He wanted to remind the congregation that the validity of any Holy Spirit inspired prophecy or teaching must be determined by the truthfulness of what is prophesied or taught. To say that Jesus is accursed is evidence of the absence of the Holy Spirit and to acknowledge Jesus Christ is Lord is evidence of the presence of the Holy Spirit. 

Later on, in his first epistle to the Corinthians, Paul further addresses this Gnostic heresy that tries to deny the deity of Jesus by separating Jesus from Christ.

1 Corinthians 16:22

“If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema.”

Here in this verse, Paul is saying, “Look, you will be cursed unless you accept the Lord Jesus Christ.”  If you say, “Well, I accept Christ, but deny Jesus,” you are anathema. If you say, “I accept Jesus, but deny Christ,” you are anathema. If you say, “I accept Jesus, but deny His lordship,” you are anathema. If I accept the lordship but deny the man Jesus, you are anathema. The person who accepts the Lord Jesus Christ as all one and the same incarnate God is a man who truly loves God.

The ultimate goal of the Gnostic attempt of separating the historical Jesus from the Christ is to make the atoning death of the Lord Jesus Christ null and void. If, indeed, Christ left Jesus before the Cross, then His death would have been in vain and of no redeeming power. That also would have invalidated His resurrection; it would have become meaningless and devoid of power to save sinners from their sins. 

Without the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, our faith has neither worth nor value of any kind.

1 Corinthians 15:17

“And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.”