The disregard which the people of that church manifested for the customs of their sister churches seemed to evince an as- suming and arrogant temper. They acted as though thoy were entitled to be independent, if not to prescribe the law to others. Paul takes the authority of the church for grant- ed. He assumes that any thing contrary to the general senti- ment and practice of the people of God is wrong. This he does because he understands by the church the body of Christ, those in whom the Holy Spirit dwells, and whose character and conduct are controlled and governed by his influence.
37. If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.
If any man think^ &g. That is. If any man, with or with- out just reason, assumes to be a prophet, i. e. inspired ; or spiritual, i. e. the possessor of any gift of the Spirit, let him prove himself what he claims to be by submitting to my au- thority. Here, as in 1 John 4, 6, (" He that knoweth God, heareth us ; he that is not of God, heareth not us,") submission to the infallible authority of the apostles is made the test of a divine mission and even of conversion. This must be so. If the apostles were the infallible organs of the Holy Ghost, to disobey them in any matter of faith or practice is to refuse to obey God. The inference which Romanists draw from this fact is, that as the apostleship is a permanent office in the church, and as the prelates are the bearers of that office, there- fore to refuse submission in matters of faith or practice to the bishops is a clear proof that we are not of God. This is the chain with which Rome binds the nations to her car which she drives whithersoever she wills. The inference which Pro- testants draw from the fact in question is, that as we .have the infallible teaching of the pro23hets and apostles in the Bible, therefore any man who does not conform in faith and practice to the Scriptures cannot be of God. This is the rule by which Protestants try all who claim to have a divine com- mission. It is nothing to them what their ecclesiastical descent may be. He that heareth not the Scriptures, is not of God. The things which I write. There is not only no reason for confining these words, as some do, to the preceding verse, but every reason against it. It is not merely for the prohibition against women speaking in the church for which the apostle