The First Epistle to the Corinthians by the Apostle Paul. On the Free Movement of the Holy Spirit

Archpriest Dr Georgios Lekkas

The First Epistle to the Corinthians by the Apostle Paul

On the Free Movement of the Holy Spirit

The purpose of Christian life, as so beautifully expressed by St Seraphim of Sarov, is to allow the Holy Spirit to unite us with God, with one another, and with all things. This occurs above all within the Church, which, as the Body of Christ, is, according to St Paul, the Holy Temple of God. The Holy Spirit, who dwells in the Church, bestows everything upon Her and unites all of us within Her with Christ, just as He is united with the Father (1 Cor. 3:22–23). The Church, especially during the Eucharistic Assembly, constitutes the space and means through which the Holy Spirit moves freely, opening us to one another and uniting us with all things.

The Holy Spirit differentiates the members of the Church’s Body by distributing different gifts to each (1 Cor. 12:7), aiming at the complementarity of its members and their unity for the glory of God (1 Cor. 12:18–27). Each member of the Church then cares for the other as for themselves, grieving in their sorrows and rejoicing in their joys. As members of the same Body, another’s sorrow inevitably becomes our sorrow, and another’s joy becomes our joy. This openness of love toward one another strengthens our ecclesial unity and constitutes the preeminent path to the perfection for which we were created (1 Cor. 12:31).

The complementarity of the Church’s members even allows us to overcome death. Through Christ’s Resurrection, gathered in the Eucharist, the living and the departed maintain open communication (1 Cor. 15:29), a communion that will only grow after our death and especially at our final resurrection—provided we remain united with Christ until the end of our earthly life (1 Cor. 15:50–54). God has prepared an Eternal Kingdom for those who love Him, surpassing human understanding, yet the Holy Spirit, the Apostle reminds us, allows the members of Christ’s Body to have a foretaste of the Kingdom - to the extent that we open ourselves to one another and to God (1 Cor. 2:9–10).

However, while the Holy Spirit works to open us to one another and unite us with Christ and with each other, our passions act as obstacles to this unifying power of the Holy Spirit, increasing our inward isolation and separating us off (1 Cor. 3:3, 21). Specifically, according to the Apostle (1 Cor. 10:7–10), idolatry, fornication, testing God, and grumbling in the face of tribulations, disrupt both our inner unity and our unity with others, hindering the free movement of the Holy Spirit within and among us.

Paul’s concern to avoid scandalising his brethren stems from his belief that, as one Body [one loaf] fed by the same bread [the Body of Christ] (1 Cor. 10:17), the scandalising of a brother prevents God from being glorified through the unity we are called to preserve. On the other hand, prioritising our love for one another over ourselves (1 Cor. 10:24) enables the unhindered movement of the Holy Spirit among us. For instance, as the Apostle points out, the strong in faith protecting those weaker in faith (1 Cor. 8:12–13), or mutual respect between husband and wife (1 Cor. 11:5–12), contribute to the unimpeded movement of the Holy Spirit during the liturgical assembly.

Paul, risking the accusation of foolishness, offers himself as an example of openness to Christ and his brethren (1 Cor. 11:1). It is easy to misunderstand Paul if we fail to grasp the perspective from which he speaks of himself. Specifically, he often speaks of his spiritual self as though it belongs to another. This ‘Other’ is the God-man Jesus Christ who, given that we are members of Him through the Holy Spirit, belongs to us more than we belong to ourselves. As such, He is, according to the Apostle, the only one with the right to judge us (1 Cor. 4:4–5).

For the Apostle, what is still a goal for most of us is already a given. Out of necessity to provide believers with an achieved model of Christian openness to God and to one another, Paul presents his spiritual self in Christ as an example to imitate, always emphasizing that whatever good he was or did was not his own but the work of Divine Grace (1 Cor. 15:10).

The Apostle knows that by presenting himself as a model of union with Christ, he puts at risk the spiritual treasures which have been entrusted to him by the Lord’s presence in him through the Holy Spirit. Yet, he does so sacrificially, in order to win others for the Lord. And the Lord, seeing Paul’s preparedness to lose everything so that even one more soul might be won, protects and multiplies Paul’s spiritual treasures. Paul seems to have lived in this miracle: always ready to sacrifice everything, even condemning himself to Hell, as long as Christ might gain others, if not all of us.

Paul’s primary concern, therefore, is not only to avoid hindering the Gospel of Christ but to unite as many as possible with the Lord (1 Cor. 9:18–23). In reality, Paul hides behind Christ so that he himself is not promoted, but Christ is. And Christ, seeing Paul’s humility, glorified him as few of His Apostles.

Christ made Paul a model of spiritual fatherhood, teaching him to diminish himself so that Christ might increase in Paul’s spiritual children (1 Cor. 4:10–15). The pastoral experience of Paul has been confirmed over the centuries by the experience of our Saints: the spiritual growth of a child in Christ depends significantly on the self-emptying of their spiritual father, resulting in Christ’s increase in both. In this sense, the relationship between a spiritual father and their spiritual child ought to constitute a privileged space for the unhindered movement of the Holy Spirit, with significant spiritual benefits, when achieved, for the entire Body of the Church.

Paul speaks with the power of God’s Spirit, so that those who hear him are convinced not by human wisdom but by the divine power conveyed through his words. For if, God forbid, our words are merely carriers of human wisdom, they risk leading our listeners only to admiration of what we say or, worse, to idolatry of our person. But if our words convey divine power, this alone can awaken the spirit of those who hear us and turn them to the worship of the Holy God, who then saves both the one who speaks and those who hear him at the same time (1 Cor. 2:4–5).

Catechetical discourse 15.12.2024

Archpriest Dr Georgios Lekkas is a priest of the Holy Orthodox Metropolis of Belgium.