1 Corinthians 12:31
But eagerly desire the greater gifts. And now I will show you the most excellent way.
But eagerly desire
The Greek word for "eagerly desire" is "ζηλοῦτε" (zēloute), which conveys a sense of intense longing or zeal. In the context of spiritual gifts, this phrase encourages believers to actively seek and yearn for the gifts that will most edify the church. This desire is not rooted in selfish ambition but in a fervent wish to serve others and glorify God. Historically, the Corinthian church was known for its spiritual gifts, yet Paul redirects their focus from self-centered displays to a more excellent pursuit.

the greater gifts
The term "greater" (μείζονα, meizona) suggests a hierarchy of gifts, not in terms of value to the individual, but in their capacity to build up the church. Paul is steering the Corinthians towards gifts that have the most significant impact on the community, such as prophecy and teaching, which edify and instruct the body of Christ. This aligns with the broader biblical narrative that emphasizes the edification of the church as a primary goal of spiritual gifts.

And now
This transitional phrase indicates a shift in Paul's discourse. He is moving from discussing the nature and purpose of spiritual gifts to introducing a more profound principle that undergirds their use. It serves as a bridge to the subsequent chapter, which is often referred to as the "Love Chapter."

I will show you
The verb "show" (δείκνυμι, deiknymi) implies a revelation or unveiling of something previously not fully understood. Paul is about to reveal a truth that surpasses the Corinthians' current understanding of spiritual gifts. This is an invitation to deeper insight and spiritual maturity.

a way
The word "way" (ὁδόν, hodon) can be understood as a path or manner of living. In biblical terms, it often refers to a lifestyle or conduct that aligns with God's will. Paul is about to describe a way of life that transcends the mere exercise of spiritual gifts, pointing to the ultimate expression of Christian living.

that is beyond comparison
The phrase "beyond comparison" (ὑπερβολὴν, hyperbolēn) suggests something that is exceedingly excellent or surpassing all others. Paul is setting the stage for the introduction of love as the supreme virtue that should govern the use of spiritual gifts. This aligns with the scriptural theme that love is the greatest commandment and the highest expression of God's nature.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Paul the Apostle
The author of 1 Corinthians, Paul is addressing the church in Corinth, providing guidance on spiritual gifts and the importance of love.

2. The Church in Corinth
A diverse and often divided early Christian community known for its spiritual gifts but also for its internal conflicts and misunderstandings.

3. Spiritual Gifts
The context of this passage is a discussion on spiritual gifts, which are special abilities given by the Holy Spirit to believers for the edification of the church.

4. The Way of Love
Paul introduces the concept of love as the most excellent way, which he elaborates on in the following chapter, 1 Corinthians 13.

5. The Holy Spirit
The giver of spiritual gifts, emphasizing the unity and diversity within the body of Christ.
Teaching Points
Desire the Greater Gifts
Believers are encouraged to seek spiritual gifts that edify the church, such as prophecy and teaching, which build up the body of Christ.

The Supremacy of Love
While spiritual gifts are important, love is the most excellent way. It should be the foundation and motivation for all actions and use of gifts.

Unity in Diversity
The church is a body with many parts, each with different gifts. Embrace and celebrate this diversity, recognizing that all gifts are given by the same Spirit for the common good.

Pursue Spiritual Maturity
Spiritual gifts should lead to maturity in faith, characterized by love, unity, and growth in Christ-likeness.

Practical Love in Action
Apply love in everyday interactions within the church and beyond, ensuring that all actions and gifts are exercised in a spirit of love and service.
Bible Study Questions
1. What does it mean to "eagerly desire the greater gifts," and how can we discern which gifts are greater in our context?

2. How does the concept of love as the "most excellent way" influence our understanding and use of spiritual gifts?

3. In what ways can we ensure that our pursuit of spiritual gifts leads to unity and maturity within the church?

4. How can we apply the principle of love in our daily interactions, both within the church and in the broader community?

5. Reflect on a time when you witnessed or experienced the use of spiritual gifts in a way that exemplified love. How did it impact your faith journey?
Connections to Other Scriptures
1 Corinthians 13
Immediately following this verse, Paul describes love as the greatest gift, emphasizing its superiority over all other spiritual gifts.

Romans 12:6-8
Paul also discusses spiritual gifts in his letter to the Romans, highlighting the diversity of gifts and the importance of using them in love and service.

Ephesians 4:11-13
Paul speaks about the purpose of spiritual gifts in building up the body of Christ, stressing unity and maturity in faith.

Galatians 5:22-23
The fruit of the Spirit, particularly love, is presented as the ultimate expression of a life led by the Spirit, aligning with the "most excellent way" Paul describes.
The Comparison of Gifts and GracesR. Tuck 1 Corinthians 12:31
The True GentlemanCharles Kingsley1 Corinthians 12:31
Concerning Spiritual GiftsM. Doris, D.D.1 Corinthians 12:1-31
Of Spiritual GiftsC. Hodge, D.D.1 Corinthians 12:1-31
Spiritual GiftsCanon Liddon.1 Corinthians 12:1-31
Spiritual GiftsK. Gerok, D.D.1 Corinthians 12:1-31
Spiritual GiftsC. Lipscomb 1 Corinthians 12:1-31
Spiritual Gifts and InspirationF. W. Robertson, M.A.1 Corinthians 12:1-31
The Christly AssemblyD. Thomas, D.D.1 Corinthians 12:1-31
The Unity of the Christian Church is its DiversityPastor Pfeiffer.1 Corinthians 12:1-31
The Work of the Spirit in Modern LifeC. Short, M.A.1 Corinthians 12:1-31
A Comparison, Between Gifts and GracesR. Tuck, B.A.1 Corinthians 12:28-31
Commanding GiftsW. Webster, M.A.1 Corinthians 12:28-31
GovernmentsDean Plumptre, D.D.1 Corinthians 12:28-31
Grace and Love Beyond GiftsW. Bridge, M.A.1 Corinthians 12:28-31
HelpsC. H. Spurgeon.1 Corinthians 12:28-31
Help-WorkDean Plumtre, D.D.1 Corinthians 12:28-31
Holy CovetousnessD. Thomas, D.D.1 Corinthians 12:28-31
The Best GiftsThomas Horton, D.D.1 Corinthians 12:28-31
The Best Gifts to be CovetedJ. Ker, D.D.1 Corinthians 12:28-31
The Christian Estimate of GiftsF. W. Robertson, M.A.1 Corinthians 12:28-31
The Gifts of CivilisationDean Church.1 Corinthians 12:28-31
People
Corinthians, Paul
Places
Corinth
Topics
Always, Best, Better, Covet, Desire, Desires, Earnestly, Excel, Excellence, Excellent, Excelling, Gifts, Greater, Higher, Important, Moreover, Point, Pointing, Seek, Shew, Spirit, Surpassing, Transcends, Yet
Dictionary of Bible Themes
1 Corinthians 12:31

     5787   ambition, positive
     5833   diligence
     6134   coveting, prohibition
     7968   spiritual gifts, nature of
     8239   earnestness

1 Corinthians 12:12-31

     7110   body of Christ

1 Corinthians 12:14-31

     7924   fellowship, in service

1 Corinthians 12:27-31

     5325   gifts
     8422   equipping, spiritual

1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13

     8292   love

Library
Tenth Sunday after Trinity Spiritual Counsel for Church Officers.
Text: 1 Corinthians 12, 1-11. 1 Now, concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant. 2 Ye know that when ye were Gentiles ye were led away unto those dumb idols, howsoever ye might be led. 3 Wherefore I make known unto you, that no man speaking in the Spirit of God saith, Jesus is anathema [accursed], and no man can say, Jesus is Lord, but in the Holy Spirit. 4 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 And there are diversities of ministrations, and the same
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. III

List of Bible Passages
Address. Page. Genesis iv, 9 LXX 176 Exodus xx, 1-7 LXXXIII 207 Deut. xxxiii, 27 XXXIII 83 I Ks. xix, 1-13 LXXV 187 II Kings vi, 17 XC 212 Mat. ii, 1-11 XXIX 74 iv, 1-11 XLVIII 171 v, 3 XXII 58 v, 4 XXIII 60 v, 5 XXIV 62 v, 6 XXV 64 v, 7 XXVI
Francis Greenwood Peabody—Mornings in the College Chapel

May the Twenty-Ninth Many Gifts --One Spirit
1 CORINTHIANS xii. 1-13. There is no monotony in the workmanship of my God. The multitude of His thoughts is like the sound of the sea, and every thought commands a new creation. When He thinks upon me, the result is a creative touch never again to be repeated on land or sea. And so, when the Holy Spirit is given to the people, the ministry does not work in the suppression of individualities, but rather in their refinement and enrichment. Our gifts will be manifold, and we must not allow the difference
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

May the Thirty-First Connection and Concord
"By one Spirit are we all baptized into one body." --1 CORINTHIANS xii. 12-19. It is only in the spirit that real union is born. Every other kind of union is artificial, and mechanical, and dead. We can dovetail many pieces of wood together and make the unity of an article of furniture, but we cannot dovetail items together and make a tree. And it is the union of a tree that we require, a union born of indwelling life. We may join many people together in a fellowship by the bonds of a formal creed,
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

June the First the Beauty of Variety
1 CORINTHIANS xii. 20-31. God's glory is expressed through the harmony of variety. We do not need sameness in order to gain union. I am now looking upon a scene of surpassing loveliness. There are mountains, and sea, and grassland, and trees, and a wide-stretching sky, and white pebbles at my feet. And a white bird has just flown across a little bank of dark cloud. What variety! And when I look closer the variety is infinitely multiplied. Everything blends into everything else. Nothing is out of
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

Making and Breaking Connections.
Many Experiences, but One Law. In mechanics power depends on good connections. A visit to any great machine shop makes that clear. There must be good connections in two directions--inward toward the source of power, and outward for use. The same law holds true in spiritual power as in mechanical. There must be good connections. These nights we have been together a few things have seemed clear. We have seen that from the standpoint of our lives there is need of power, as well as from the standpoint
S.D. Gordon—Quiet Talks on Power

The Universal Gift
'The manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.'--1 COR. xii. 7. The great fact which to-day[1] commemorates is too often regarded as if it were a transient gift, limited to those on whom it was first bestowed. We sometimes hear it said that the great need of the Christian world is a second Pentecost, a fresh outpouring of the Spirit of God and the like. Such a way of thinking and speaking misconceives the nature and significance of the first Pentecost, which had a transient
Alexander Maclaren—Romans, Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V)

The True Gentleman
1 Cor. xii. 31; xiii. 1. Covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. My friends, let me say a few plain words this morning to young and old, rich and poor, upon this text. Now you all, I suppose, think it a good thing to be gentlemen and ladies. All of you, I say. There is not a poor man in this church, perhaps, who has not before
Charles Kingsley—Sermons for the Times

Public Spirit
Preached at Bideford, 1855.) 1 Corinthians xii. 25, 26. That there should be no division in the body; but that the members should have the same care, one of another. And whether one member suffer, all suffer with it; or whether one member be honoured, all rejoice with it. I have been asked to preach in behalf of the Provident Society of this town. I shall begin by asking you to think over with me a matter which may seem at first sight to have very little to do with you or with a provident society,
Charles Kingsley—Sermons for the Times

Sponsorship
1 Cor. xii. 26, 27. Whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or whether one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it. Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. I have to tell you that there will be a confirmation held at . . . on the . . . All persons of fit age who have not yet been confirmed ought to be ready, and I hope and trust that most of them will be ready, on that day to profess publicly their faith and loyalty to the Lord who died for them.
Charles Kingsley—Sermons for the Times

The Dispensation of the Spirit.
Preached Whitsunday, May 19, 1850. THE DISPENSATION OF THE SPIRIT. "Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit."--1 Corinthians xii, 4. According to a view which contains in it a profound truth, the ages of the world are divisible into three dispensations, presided over by the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. In the dispensation of the Father, God was known as a Creator; creation manifested His eternal power and Godhead, and the religion of mankind was the religion of Nature. In the
Frederick W. Robertson—Sermons Preached at Brighton

Sermon for the Tenth Sunday after Trinity
(From the Epistle for the day) Admonishing each man to mark what is the office to which he is called of God, and teaching us to practise works of love and virtue, and to refrain from self-will. 1 Cor. xii. 6.--"There are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all." ST. PAUL tells us in this Epistle that there are different kinds of works, but that they are all wrought by the same Spirit to the profit and well-being of man. For they all proceed from the same God who
Susannah Winkworth—The History and Life of the Reverend Doctor John Tauler

Antipathies
(Tenth Sunday after Trinity.) 1 Cor. xii. 3, 4, 5, 6. 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. Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. We are to come to the Communion this day in love and charity
Charles Kingsley—Town and Country Sermons

The Judgments of God.
LUKE XIII. 1-5. There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I
Charles Kingsley—Westminster Sermons

The Work of the Holy Spirit in Prophets and Apostles.
The work of the Holy Spirit in apostles and prophets is an entirely distinctive work. He imparts to apostles and prophets an especial gift for an especial purpose. We read in 1 Cor. xii. 4, 8-11, 28, 29, R. V., "Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.... For to one is given through the Spirit wisdom; and to another the word of knowledge, according to the same Spirit; to another faith, in the same Spirit; and to another gifts of healings, in the one Spirit; and to another workings
R. A. Torrey—The Person and Work of The Holy Spirit

The Government of the Church.
"No man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost."--1 Cor. xii. 3. The last work of the Holy Spirit in the Church has reference to government. The Church is a divine institution. It is the body of Christ, even tho manifesting itself in a most defective way; for as the man whose speech is affected by a stroke of paralysis is the same friendly person as before, in spite of the defect, so is the Church, whose speech is impaired, still the same holy body of Christ. The visible and invisible
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

Spiritual Gifts.
"But desire earnestly the greater gifts. And a still more excellent way show I unto you." --1 Cor. xii. 31 (R.V.). The charismata or spiritual gifts are the divinely ordained means and powers whereby the King enables His Church to perform its task on the earth. The Church has a calling in the world. It is being violently attacked not only by the powers of this world, but much more by the invisible powers of Satan. No rest is allowed. Denying that Christ has conquered, Satan believes that the time
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

Dr. Martin Luther Concerning Penitence and Indulgences.
In the desire and with the purpose of elucidating the truth, a disputation will be held on the underwritten propositions at Wittemberg, under the presidency of the Reverend Father Martin Luther, Monk of the Order of St. Augustine, Master of Arts and of Sacred Theology, and ordinary Reader of the same in that place. He therefore asks those who cannot be present and discuss the subject with us orally, to do so by letter in their absence. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. 1. Our Lord and Master
Martin Luther—First Principles of the Reformation

The First Wall.
Let us, in the first place, attack the first wall. It has been devised, that the Pope, bishops, priests and monks are called the Spiritual Estate; Princes, lords, artificers and peasants, are the Temporal Estate; which is a very fine, hypocritical device. But let no one be made afraid by it; and that for this reason: That all Christians are truly of the Spiritual Estate, and there is no difference among them, save of office alone. As St. Paul says (1 Cor. xii.), we are all one body, though each member
Martin Luther—First Principles of the Reformation

Continuation of the Discourse on the Holy Ghost.
1 Corinthians xii. 8 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom, &c. 1. In the preceding Lecture, according to our ability we set before you, our beloved hearers [2095] , some small portion of the testimonies concerning the Holy Ghost; and on the present occasion, we will, if it be God's pleasure, proceed to treat, as far as may be, of those which remain out of the New Testament: and as then to keep within due limit of your attention we restrained our eagerness (for there is no satiety
St. Cyril of Jerusalem—Lectures of S. Cyril of Jerusalem

On the Article, and in one Holy Ghost, the Comforter, which Spake in the Prophets.
1 Corinthians xii. 1, 4 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant....Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit, &c. 1. Spiritual in truth is the grace we need, in order to discourse concerning the Holy Spirit; not that we may speak what is worthy of Him, for this is impossible, but that by speaking the words of the divine Scriptures, we may run our course without danger. For a truly fearful thing is written in the Gospels, where Christ has plainly said,
St. Cyril of Jerusalem—Lectures of S. Cyril of Jerusalem

But this is So Great, that Certain Understand it to be the Fruit An...
46. But this is so great, that certain understand it to be the fruit an hundred-fold. [2190] For the authority of the Church bears a very conspicuous witness, in which it is known to the faithful in what place the Martyrs, in what place the holy nuns deceased, are rehearsed at the Sacraments of the Altar. [2191] But what the meaning is of that difference of fruitfulness, let them see to it, who understand these things better than we; whether the virginal life be in fruit an hundred-fold, in sixty-fold
St. Augustine—Of Holy Virginity.

Hence Too is Solved that Question, How is it that the Martyrs...
19. Hence too is solved that question, how is it that the Martyrs, by the very benefits which are given to them that pray, indicate that they take an interest in the affairs of men, if the dead know not what the quick are doing. For not only by effects of benefits, but in the very beholding of men, it is certain, [2760] that the Confessor Felix (whose denizenship among you thou piously lovest) appeared when the barbarians were attacking Nola, as we have heard not by uncertain rumors, but by sure
St. Augustine—On Care to Be Had for the Dead.

Epistle vii. To Peter, Domitian, and Elpidius.
To Peter, Domitian, and Elpidius. Gregory to Peter, Domitian, and Elpidius, Bishops [1688] . I rejoice exceedingly that you welcomed with great joy the ordination of the most holy Cyriacus, my brother and fellow-priest. And since we have learnt from the preaching of Paul the apostle that If one member rejoice, all the members rejoice with it (1 Cor. xii. 26), you must needs consider with how great exultation I rejoice with you in this thing, wherein not one member, but many members of Christ have
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

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