A More Excellent Way - pt 2

3. THE SPIRITUAL IS GREATER THAN THE PHYSICAL a) You have a spiritual baptism – 1Cor 12:13, Col 2:12, Rom 6:4, Eph 4:5. i. Your baptism today identifies you with Christ, it places you into Christ and into his death by the Spirit – Rom 6:3-11. ii. You can’t see or feel this baptism, you have to believe it. You can see and feel water baptism, but what does it do for you? – 1Cor 1:17. b) You have a spiritual circumcision – Col 2:11-13, Rom 6, Gal 2:19-21. i. You can’t see or feel this circumcision, you have to believe it. You can see and feel physical circumcision, but what does it do for you? – Gal 5:2 c) You have a spiritual communion with Christ and his body – Gal 3:27-28, Col 3:8-11,15, Rom 12:5, 1Cor 12:12-13, Eph 4:4-5. ii. Your communion today is with Christ, being made one with the other members of Christ, all being partakers of Christ – 1Cor 10:16-17. iii. You can’t see or feel this communion, you have to believe it. You can see, feel, and taste the ritual know as communion in the church, but what does it do? Does it give you a communion with Christ and his body? – 1Cor 8:8. d) You have been given all spiritual blessings in Christ – Eph 1:3,7,18, 2:6-7, 3:8. i. These are spiritual blessings (1Cor 6:11, Rom 8:29-30, Eph 1:3-8) ii. You can’t see or feel these blessings. You can see, feel, and use physical riches, but what is the end of them? – Rev 18:1-17, Mark 4:19, 10:23, 1Tim 6:17. 4. THE CONTEXT OF 1CORINTHIANS 12:31 a) Paul is teaching in this chapter that there are many members with different spiritual gifts in the body and all are important – 1Cor 12:4, 12-14, 24-25. b) The Corinthians had division issues (1:11-17, 3:3-7, 8,10, 11:17-31) They likely had divisions over the spiritual gifts and who was most important. c) Paul reminds them that we are one body – 1Cor 12:12-13,27. And that the gifts had a purpose – 1Cor 12:4,7, 14:12. d) He tells them to covet the best gifts, but there is a more excellent way than having supernatural gifts – 12:31. 5. MORE EXCELLENT THAN SPIRITUAL GIFTS a) The more excellent way is charity. Without it the Corinthians spiritual gifts would not profit – 1Cor 13:1-7. b) The more excellent way is knowledge and understanding with charity – 1Cor 8:1, 13:8-9. c) When you grow up, you no longer need a parent because you should be mature enough to provide for yourself – 1Cor 13:11. d) When you understand in part you can provide some value, but when you know fully you can be more effective not needing teaching from others – 1Cor 13:12. e) Above all, charity – 1Cor 16:14, Col 3:14, 1Thess 1:3-4. f) Spiritual gifts are pointless if they do not edify or profit others – 1Cor 14:1-20. g) Spiritual gifts were given for the purpose of edifying and building the church until it came in the full knowledge of doctrine – 1Cor 13:8-10, Eph 4:11-16, 2Tim 3:16-17 h) Charity is more excellent than spiritual gifts because without it they do not profit. i) Complete knowledge with understanding is more excellent than spiritual gifts because I can freely know and use my knowledge to minister and live by and not be dependent on a supernatural gift