1 Corinthians 12:3

A curse on Jesus. This implies that some who claimed to have God's Spirit had said that Jesus was a phony (an impostor) who deserved the death he died. MacKnight thinks these might have been Jewish Exorcists (see note on Acts 19:13). Probably the pagan priests and priestesses did this. The experiences of their old life had not prepared the Corinthians to understand the workings of God's Spirit. They knew how men could be "carried away" by supernatural influences. They want a criterion, a yardstick to test those who claimed inspiration. A curse on Jesus, Jesus is Lord are the battle cries of the spirits of error and truth. Only an evil spirit will say a curse on Jesus. Only the Holy Spirit leads one to say Jesus is Lord. MacKnight limits this verse to those who speak under supernormal circumstances, "But a person who only speaks, as a passive instrument, what is supernaturally suggested to him, cannot declare Jesus Lord, except the suggestion comes from the Holy Spirit."