Gentile Converts - 1 Corinthians 12:1-3

One of the aspects of converting to Christianity that might be more difficult for the gentiles than it was for the Jews would be recognizing and valuing the actual power of God. The Jews had the law of Moses and I would imagine with that came some spiritual relationship with God, and they had the concept of monotheism, which I think was relatively uncommon in the ancient world. The gentiles on the other hand wouldn’t have been invested in monotheism, and as Paul points out, they were “carried away unto these dumb idols.” In this sense I think that “dumb” means impotent, not stupid. The pagan religions were not supported by the power of God, so those who practiced those religions would not have really known what it was like to believe and have faith in and worship a being who could actually do something. 

That begs the question, if they weren’t familiar with spiritual power, then how did they ever come to believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior? Paul tells them “that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.” One thing that is important to note is that when Paul says, “no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost,” Joseph Smith taught that it should say, “no man can KNOW that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.” This changes the context of the verse quite a bit because it takes us from the position of the “hearer” which is a passive involvement to “believer” which is active involvement with our testimony. The article from gospeldoctrine.compoints out “a careful review of history will reveal that it is possible to say that Jesus is the Lord but still deny the Holy Ghost. The remnants of apostate Christianity give us many examples.”

Those gentile converts to Christianity who may not be familiar with spiritual power, Paul is explaining to them that they have had it work in their lives already when they came to believe in the gospel. If I think about myself being a gentile convert who doesn’t have any concept of spiritual gifts or power or manifestation, if Paul is trying to explain to me what spiritual power is, I would wonder “what does that look like in my life? How would I have experienced that?” Paul’s words that my belief in Jesus Christ is a demonstration of spiritual power could help me see the hand of God in my life, even when it is subtle. This is like the “seeds” of testimony, they are small and even if planted in soil not familiar with that particular plant, it would still find what it needed to grow and make it work. Likewise, even if someone is totally foreign to the concept of Jesus and/or monotheism, the parts of their personality and nature that would accept the gospel, recognizes it as good when exposed to it.

This makes me think about groups of people who are completely unfamiliar with the concept of Jesus and the need for a Savior. I’m thinking specifically about Buddhists and Hindus, Sikhs, etc. First, they are not monotheistic, so that presents it’s own sets of challenges, and some religions say, “anything that is good is good” and that’s it, there is no concept of God, or salvation. So what I’m saying is that the concept of an after life or the need for a Savior is not universal, but I guess what we can see from these gentile converts who went from pagan religions to Christianity is that it is possible and people who are ready will recognize what they are looking for even if they don’t automatically understand everything right away.