When Experience Becomes Greater than Truth? - 1 Corinthians 12:1-3

The Corinthian church was having difficulty in discerning between a that which was biblical and that which came out of their own culture. As a result, many things from the world were creeping into the church that did not belong there. And in some cases, it was because of their newness to Christianity. Many were saved straight out of paganism. Now they were faced with a whole new reality which brought about a radical change in their lifestyle. It was a long growing curve as they learned of Christ. But in other cases, it was the desire to hang onto some of the pleasures of the old life and mixing it with the new.
So Paul in the latter part of this letter was addressing some of their questions and concerns. For example, in 1 Corthinians 7:1 he wrote, “Now concerning the things ye wrote unto me . . .” In this case they had questions on marriage, divorce and remarriage and celibacy. And in our chapter this morning he write, “Now concerning spiritual gifts . . .” 1 Corinthians 12:1. We have to remember that Paul is dealing with the subject of spiritual gifts against the backdrop of the divisions and the Corinthians moral laxity in the church.