Ministry of Grace Church

even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you,

Truth to Learn

Spiritual gifts are an indication of true salvation, but only when they are used in the proper manner.

Behind the Words

The words “even as” are translated from the Greek word kathōs, This word is made up of kata, meaning “down” but used metaphorically to express a relationship between two things (“according as”) and hōs, meaning “how.” Thus kathōs expresses a similarity in manner between two things. It is often translated as “even as, like as, or like how.”

Marturion is the word translated “testimony.” It is from the noun martureō, meaning “to give a witness” or “to give a testimony.” Therefore, marturion refers to “a testimony, evidence, or a proof.”

“Confirmed” is from the word bebaioō, which is indirectly based on the verb bainō, meaning “to go.” Bebaioō literally means “to have gone to a fixed location.” In other words, it means “to be made certain or secure.”

Meaning Explained

As we mentioned a couple of verses back, Paul is about to give the Christians in Corinth some very stern teaching regarding several issues that existed in the church. One of the issues was that there were divisions forming in the church and they were behaving like children rather than mature Christians. In fact, in chapter three Paul says this of the Corinthian Christians:

And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? (1 Corinthians 3:1-3)

Before delivering his “tough love” message, however, Paul is pointing out to them the incredible gifts that God has given them. He reminded them of the gracious gift of salvation that they received in spite of the fact that they (and we) didn’t deserve it. Then, in yesterday’s verse, Paul reminded them of the wealth they have in the ability to understand the deep truths about God in Jesus Christ and the ability to proclaim these truths, even in miraculous ways.

These miraculous ways of proclaiming the gospel through the gifts of the spirit were evidence that they truly were saved and that God’s grace had been bestowed on them. This is the manner in which “the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you.” In other words, it is the presence of, and proper use of, the spiritual gifts that serves as a testimony (a witness) of genuine salvation. Now, can these signs be faked? Yes, of course. We read in Exodus 7:11 that the magicians of Pharaoh produced the same signs that Moses and Aaron demonstrated. Even so, in the New Testament church there are counterfeits. The difference is that the true sign gifts are used for the glory of God and the counterfeits are used for the glory of man, producing confusion rather than order as Paul will point out in 1 Corinthians 14:40.

Application

We were all given spiritual gifts when we were saved. We are to use these gifts for the building up of the body of Christ to bring attention to God, not to ourselves.

In God's service, for His glory,