Problems Plaguing a Local Church, Part 22
In our message, GIFTS AS HE WILLS…, the statement, “Now concerning” in verse 1 shows us Paul is answering another question to him from the church in Corinth (1 Cor. 12:1-11). This question also dealt with corporate worship in the local assembly there, but unlike the last two (head coverings and the Lord’s Supper in chapter 11), the Holy Spirit here devotes three chapters to this problem explaining the nature and purpose of spiritual gifts (chapter 12), the superiority of God’s love (chapter 13), and how these gifts from the Lord should be exercised in that love (chapter 14).
“Spiritual gifts” are divine enablements related to service in a local church, both official and unofficial (1 Cor. 12:1). God says He does not want us to be uninformed or to misunderstand what these gifts from Him are for (1 Cor. 12:1 NLT). Every Christian possesses at least one spiritual gift, but not all possess the same gift (1 Cor. 12:4-6, etc.). And just because someone has a spiritual gift or gifts (all Christians do), it does not automatically make us more spiritual like Jesus. That depends on us drawing close to Him and walking with Him (Gal. 5:16-18, 22-23, 25; Eph. 5:18, etc.). That is, the fruit of the Spirit (a spiritual grace) is not always the same thing as a spiritual gift which is a special ability the Holy Spirit gives each of us to build one another up in love (Eph. 4:15-16, etc.). Unfortunately, many believers in the Corinthian church were grieving the Holy Spirit by the carnal ways in which they were using spiritual gifts and some were even using ‘gifts’ that were not from God at all! (Eph. 4:30, etc.). Paul reminds them when they were unsaved, they had been led astray by speechless idols (i.e. mute false ‘gods’ that cannot help in any way- 1 Cor. 12:2), and it was because of this bad background and other pitfalls in their culture that they needed additional instruction on this topic to not be swept away again by false things (1 Cor. 10:20-21; 12:2-3, etc.). Certain supposed ‘gifts’ they presumed to be from the Holy Spirit were actually counterfeits and sourced in the false paganism they had come out of (1 Cor. 12:2). Enthusiasm for an inspired utterance does not mean it came from God (1 Cor. 1:5; John 17:17, etc.). Christians should test the validity of such supposed gifts to see what kind of fruit it produces (Matt. 7:20, etc.). Do they glorify Jesus Christ as Lord or serve to curse/denigrate who Jesus is? (1 Cor. 12:3). False teachers then and now claim that their visions, revelations, and messages are from God, but they often deny the humanity of Christ (an ancient heresy called Docetism) and/or redefine Jesus to something He is not (1 Cor. 12:3a). We can also make God into an idol today in our culture defining Him in a way that He is not revealed in the Bible (1 Cor. 3:18-20; 2 Tim. 3:16-17, etc.). To do so curses Him and also denies His Lordship in our lives (1 Cor. 12:3). Any so called ‘gift’ that denies FROM THE HEART who Jesus is- either is being misused or is a counterfeit and not from God at all. It is important to note that a Christian is always in control of himself when the Holy Spirit is at work (1 Cor. 14:32) because Jesus Christ the Lord is in charge (1 Cor. 14:33). Any so-called Spirit manifestation that robs a person of self-control is NOT from God because “the fruit of the Spirit is… self-control” (Gal. 5:22-23; John 10:10, etc.). It is a counterfeit! (1 Cor. 12:2-3, etc.). This would discount things like so-called ‘slaying in the Spirit’ and other weird aberrations such as barking like dogs, etc. found in some charismatic church traditions (Luke 6:26-36; Gal. 5:22-23, etc.). And any so-called ‘gift’ leading to bondage is also NOT from God because “where the Spirit of the Lord is present, there is freedom” (2 Cor. 3:17 NET; Luke 13:10-17, etc.). That also is a counterfeit (2 Cor. 11:13-15, etc.).
“Gifts” (in the Greek charisma) come from the root word cháris which means GRACE (1 Cor. 12:4; Eph. 6:24, etc.). They are unearned, undeserved and simply bestowed upon us by Jesus at the moment we become God’s children (Eph. 2:8-9; 4:7, etc.). God’s gracious gifts are nothing to brag about! And the Word says there are “diversities… differences… [and] diversities” of gifts (1 Cor. 12:4-6). We also see the Trinity here in this section of Scripture as we did in verse 3 but listed in reverse order. The Holy Spirit distributes each gift to different believers (1 Cor. 12:4, 11); the Son assigns each believer the particular way the gift is manifested in the body/the church (1 Cor. 12:5, 12-27); and the Father provides the energy to the believer in exercising the gift (1 Cor. 4:6, 28). The diversity of gifts, like the roles of Christians within His body- the church, is various reflecting His glorious “manifold wisdom!” (Eph. 3:10, 20-21; Rom. 11:33, etc.). But even though there are different kinds of gifts (more than we can imagine) they are also to be used in unity for God’s glory just like God is three in One because “the same Spirit… the same Lord [Christ]… and the same God” are involved in all of them (1 Cor. 12:4-6).
Spiritual gifts are discussed in many places in the Bible to include our text today. “When you combine the lists, you end up with nineteen different gifts and offices. Since the listing in Romans is not identical with the listing in 1 Corinthians, we [see God is] not attempting to exhaust the subject in either passage. While the gifts named are adequate for ministry in the church, God is not limited to these lists. He may give other gifts as He pleases” -Dr. Wiersbe. Also, the Lord can choose in what times or eras to use what gifts. For example, He chose to use apostles and New Testament prophets to lay the foundation of the church, and is NOT in this time working that way (Eph. 2:20; Heb. 12:1-2, etc.). One of the problems in the Corinthian church was many members were desiring the most visible gifts for their exaltation when it is God alone who assigns the gifts to each Christian “AS HE WILLS,” and it is also God who makes each person to be who He made them to be (1 Cor. 3:1-2; 12:11; 2 Cor. 12:10, etc.). He gives “the manifestation of the Spirit” (the gift He wants to) to each one as He decides and it is always “for the profit of all” (1 Cor. 12:7). Gifts are not distributed for personal enrichment the Bible says here but for the purpose of building up the body (1 Cor. 14:4; 1 Pet. 4:10). That is, spiritual gifts are to help others grow in Christ and to be used for the benefit of all (1 Cor. 12:7). So, if someone claims to have a spiritual gift that is just for his or her own benefit, that casts huge doubt on whether the gift is really from the Holy Spirit/God at all (1 Cor. 12:2-3).
We then see a representative list of gifts in Corinth at that time which many of Christians were clamoring to have (1 Cor. 12:8-10). The list is NOT an exhaustive list but rather a representative list of some ways God has equipped the early church at that time with spiritual gifts (1 Cor. 12:7:7; 12:28-30; 13:1-3, 8; 14:6, 26; Rom. 12:4-8; Eph. 4:11, etc.). The Bible shows us that the gospel message was given special attestation when it goes out in new areas, and that is still true today. And as mentioned before, since the spiritual gifts are multifaceted reflecting the manifold wisdom of God which is infinite, we are limited in our full understanding of them. Dr. Allen explains, “The various gifts of wisdom… knowledge… faith… gifts of healings… working of miracles… prophecy… discerning of spirits… kinds of tongues… interpretation of tongues were probably very understandable to the Corinthians, but their exact nature is difficult for us to know two thousand years later.” [For more information on these gifts and how they may have been used in that day and/or are being used today, please watch our October 20, 2024 message above]. It is important that we remember it is the gift-giver and not the gift that should be praised (James 1:17, etc.). Also, Christians possess different gifts and no gift, to include tongues which is a focal point of this discussion in chapters 12-14, is the sign of the New Covenant or required for salvation. The sign of the New Covenant is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit by grace through faith and NOT a particular gift from the Spirit! (Jer. 31:31-34; Acts 1:8; 1 Cor. 7:7; John 14:16-17; Gal. 5:22-23; Eph. 1:13-14; 2:8-9; 4:30, etc.). The gifts are different and God “distributes to each one individually AS HE WILLS” (1 Cor. 12:4-6, 11, 30, etc.). He never takes them away, but they are also most powerfully used when we walk in the Spirit (Eph 4:7; 5:18; Titus 1:2; 1 Cor. 1:5; 11:31-32; 1 John 1:9, etc.).
- In what unique way did God make you child of God?
- What gift(s) has He given you?
- How can you use them today for His praise, honor, and glory to build up others in His holy love?