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 Holy Spirit works in our lives to draw us to a point of confessing that Jesus is Lord. The primary jobs of the Holy Spirit is to point to Jesus as the Son of God. Paul begins to address the key issue of chs. 12-14: speaking. The Corinthians believed they were filled with the Spirit and spiritually mature because they spoke in tongues. Yet, they did not have Jesus as Lord. What “spirit” did they have? It could not be the Holy Spirit because the Spirit of Christ speaks about Christ. Speaking in tongues can be a slippery issue in churches today. The fundamental test of any gift of the Spirit is if that gift glorifies Christ and leads people to Christ. If it does not, then we must ask if it is indeed from the Holy Spirit. It is only through the work of the Holy Spirit that new life comes to us. This new life will lead us to acknowledge Jesus as sovereign in our lives. This is reciprocal: to receive the fullness of the Spirit, one must come to the point of full consecration of oneself. But this comes as a result of the leading of the Holy Spirit. This is not a special position or office in the church but should be the norm for all believers. It is not for the spiritual elite but for every believer. This consecration is not an either/or, you have it or you don’t, but a growth in grace that may take someone through many decisions. It is a life-long journey that never ends.
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