Spiritual Gifts

DECEMBER 14, 2022 STUDY NOTES “SPIRITUAL GIFTS” 1 CORINTHIANS 12:4-6 BIBLE TEACHER: CLIFTON JONES INTRODUCTION In verse one of this chapter Paul begins to teach the things that are of the Spirit, “Spirituality” He is teaching us of that which the Holy Spirit will do in the life of the believer He is teaching us what the Holy Spirit will do in the life of the church In verse two Paul takes the believer back to the time before they were saved Bringing to our attention the way life was without Christ and the Holy Spirit The lost are under the influence of Satan, living under the power and authority of Satan Verse two describes the life they lived without the Holy Spirit of God at work within them The life that is influenced, directed, and overpowered by Satan will turn to “dumb idols” The worship of idols is a denial of the truth of Jesus and a curse toward Jesus Christ In verse three Paul says that the Spirit led life will never be a curse toward Jesus The Holy Spirit will always “Glorify Christ,” proclaiming the “Truth of Christ” Just as Jesus promised, Joh 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. The words and works of the Spirit never proclaim “Jesus accursed,” Joh 16:14 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. The Spirit reveals that which is of God, Joh 16:15 All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you. That which is “Spiritual” comes from God through the Holy Spirit Teaching us the “Truth of Jesus” which is found in the “Word of God” Therefore, “Spirituality” is learning and living the Word of God in our daily life “Spirituality” is the life of the Holy Spirit within us, learning to live in the realm of the Spirit In some Baptist churches and some other denominations there seems to be a fear of the Spirit They seem to be afraid of an in-depth study of the Spirit because of the teaching of others The “Charismatic” movement wrongly interprets the works of the Holy Spirit within believers Because of their teaching others stay away from a study of the Holy Spirit Somewhere between the Charismatic teaching and the failure to teach is the truth of Spirituality We must be willing to study, learn, and live the things of the Spirit according to God’s Word We must be obedient to the guidance of the Spirit and receive all that God has prepared for us We must not fear the things of the Spirit within our life, especially “Spiritual Gifts” Don’t be afraid to let God do something special and spiritual in your life It is only through the “Spiritual life” that the world can be told that “Jesus is Lord” Paul is telling us that the exercising of spiritual gifts will reveal the Lordship of Christ Remember what Paul has already taught us in the previous verses (1 Corinthians 12:3) “Jesus accursed” is a denial of the Person and Work of Jesus Christ “Accursed” means let the curse of destruction be upon him, let him be the object of a curse “Jesus be cursed” is a life that condemns His nature, character, or work in your life Satan and his demonic forces desire to curse Jesus, to deliver the life of Jesus up for destruction The opposite of “Jesus accursed” is “Jesus is Lord” “Jesus is Lord” is a confession to the truth of the Person and Work of Jesus Christ “Jesus is Lord” proclaims the sovereign authority of Jesus and His rulership It is the ministry of the Holy Spirit today that proclaims “Jesus is Lord” That is why Paul said, “I want you to understand spirituality and exercise your spiritual gift” Page 1 of 8 1Co 12:4 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. It is interesting that the Greek word translated “diversities” is not found anywhere else in the NT It is found only in this chapter translated diversities (vs 4) differences (vs 5) diversities (vs 6) It is used in reference to the gifts, to their administrations, and to their operations It means “to divide,” a division or separation, a variety of distinction Verse 4 tells us that there is a great variety of “Spiritual Gifts” The point is “variety” that results in “unity,” all functioning together for the same purpose or end The Holy Spirit gives certain gifts to certain people, all believers are gifted with at least one gift But not all believers are gifted with the same gifts, there is a distinction among believers Even when believers are gifted with the same spiritual gift there will be a distinction For example, there will be a difference among those who are gifted to teach, help, or administer There are many different gifts united into the one Body of Christ which is the NT Church There is no need for one believer to receive all-of the gifts So, what is the meaning “of gifts?” The word means “a gift of grace,” a free gift as the result of grace, undeserved, unearned They are called “gifts” because they are given to us They are called “grace gifts” because they are given to us by the grace of God In the NT the Greek word translated gifts is “charisma” We get our English word “Charismatic” from it The Greek “charisma” is used only of the gifts and graces imparted from God Whenever a Greek word ends in “ma,” it denotes the result of an action Charisma is the result of an action, that action is the Grace of God, God is giving us something “Charisma” comes only from God, God is the giver of the gifts that are given only to believers These gifts are known as “Spiritual Gifts” or a “spiritual endowment” A spiritual gift is a God given ability to serve God and minister to others An ability to do something that we would not normally do, normally we would not be able to do it Without the presence of the Holy Spirit, we would have no desire or ability to do it Every Christian has been given a Spiritual Gift Because every Christian has a special purpose in life Because of our Spiritual Gift we can fulfill that purpose of life upon this earth Grace Gifts are our guarantee that we can serve God in a unique way We are a unique Christian as-a result of our spiritual gifts They are not given according to our merit or faithfulness They are not a reward for faithful service, we do not earn them by our own efforts They identify the grace of God within us, a guarantee that we are saved and can serve God Every Christian must freely give unto others through their “God-Given Spiritual Gift” That’s how important the gifts are for the proper functioning of the church’s ministry Spiritual Gifts are not the same as talents, we are born with natural talents and abilities In the sense that all good comes from God, natural talents are also a gift from God, Jas 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. In James 1:17 there are two different words translated gift neither one is the word “charisma” The first word refers “to the act of giving,” the second word “to the result of giving” God’s love is always the motive for giving, the result is that God’s Will be fulfilled God’s gifts are always good and always attain that which is good That which makes for a Spiritual Gift is the word “Spiritual” which is being explained in 1 Cor 12 A Christian may exercise a Spiritual Gift through a natural talent The gift of “helps” can be exercised through a natural ability to do something in a special way Page 2 of 8 The gift of “exhortation” can be exercised through a personality that draws people to them Lost people have talents, but lost people are not spiritually gifted Lost people have natural talents, skills, and special abilities to do things in a physical way Only those who are saved, who are born-again are given Spiritual Gifts with spiritual results Spiritual Gifts are given to spiritual people for the purpose of ministering spiritually to others Paul explains that in, Eph 4:12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: That all may spiritually mature, Eph 4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: (Spirituality) We are accountable to God for the service our gift enables us to do for God At the Judgment Seat of Christ, we will be held accountable for our spiritual gifts, 2Co 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. Jesus is the “Greatest Gift” of God to the world, Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Our spiritual gift allows us to show the world something about the life of Jesus Christ Through our Spiritual Gift we have a special ability to reveal Christ in a special way United together as the Body of Christ we represent a detailed presentation of the life of Christ The True Church united-together is: Different Christians gifted with a variety of gifts Ministering in a variety of ways Ministering to a variety of needs We each have a unique purpose in the ministry of the New Testament Church That is why we each one stand accountable to God for the special gift that we have received THE VARIETY OF GIFTS Spiritual Gifts are listed in 1 Cor 12:8-10; 1 Cor 12:28-31; Rom 12:6-8; Eph 4:11; 1 Pet 4:10-11 At least 19 gifts are mentioned in those passages and none of the lists are identical There is a different emphasis within each of the passages, such as in Ephesians 4 The emphasis in Ephesians 4 is upon the gifted men who were given to the church God gifted the men identified with a Spiritual Gift Then God gave those gifted men to the Church for a special purpose None of the lists are exhaustive, all-of the lists together are not exhaustive Each list only gives examples of “Spiritual Gifts” Every Christian is a unique individual, with unique Spiritual Gifts, ministering in a unique way That may tell us that the number of spiritual gifts equals the number of Christians Which means that there is no other Christian exactly gifted as you are So, the only shortage of spiritual gifts is Christians failing to serve God with their spiritual gift A LOOK AT TODAY’S DEFINITION OF CHARISMA Today the word “charisma” is used to say that a person has charm, glamour, or appeal It refers to the person with a fascinating personality, they have a magnetism about them They attract people, they draw people to themselves, they have a mysterious ability to do that An unusual power and influence are identified within them As gifted believers those same things ought to be said about Christians Our Christian life ought to attract the attention of people, our personality should fascinate people They should sense an unusual power within us that motivates all that we say and do Our Spiritual Gift is our ability to do that, to attract attention and point people to Christ Page 3 of 8 The plan of God is to draw people to Christ through the life of the Christian Paul said, “Follow me,” 1Co 11:1 Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. The word translated followers means “imitators,” imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ Our Spiritual Gift is an example of Christ and allows us to imitate Christ, Php 3:17 Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample. Christians are to be a pattern of the life of Christ, Spiritual Gifts are a pattern of the life of Christ Php 4:9 Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you. Remember that it is the Holy Spirit that reveals to us what God has prepared for us, 1Co 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. And the Spirit reveals it by bringing together the “spiritual with the spiritual,” 1Co 2:13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. The Holy Spirit brings into our life the things that God has for us through our Spiritual Gift And the Holy Spirit brings into the life of others what God has for them through our spiritual gift Put together 1 Cor. 2:9 and 1 Cor. 2:13 and this is what we find: We are given Spiritual Gifts so that others may see what God has prepared for them We are given Spiritual Gifts so that others may hear what God has prepared for them We are given Spiritual Gifts so that others can receive a blessing from God through us We are given Spiritual Gifts so that others can learn of Jesus Christ through us That is why it is so important to learn of our Spiritual Gift and exercise that gift It is through our ministry of the gifts that others will learn what the ministry of Christ really is A LOOK AT THE WORD CHARISMATIC Our English word “Charismatic” comes from the Greek word “charisma” The word “Charismatic” is a very popular word among certain Christians and churches today There are those who identify themselves as “Charismatic,” advertising themselves as Charismatic They use the word to suggest a special emphasis on “charisma” or spiritual gifts They strongly teach and promote certain Spiritual Gifts such as tongues, healings, and others They advertise their church as being “Charismatic” or “Full Gospel” Indicating that they are truly “Spirit-Filled” and have not come short of the Spirit’s work in them “Full Gospel” identifies them as having received a unique experience from the Holy Spirit Claiming to have experienced a second blessing of grace called the “Baptism of the Spirit” Associating themselves with a spiritual experience beyond the common experience of a believer They usually relate to some physical evidence of their spiritual experience And that is where the gifts identified as “Charismatic” come in Especially those of faith, tongues, interpretation of tongues, healings, and miracles In the true sense of the word, all Christians are “Charismatic,” all Christians have a spiritual gift Nothing in Scripture indicates that only certain gifts are “charisma” gifts All gifts are identified as “Grace Gifts,” all gifts are of the Same Spirit, “but the same Spirit” The word same is used three times: same Spirit (vs 4) same Lord (vs 5) same God (vs 6) There is a variety of gifts given but the giver of each one is the Spirit, only one source of gifts Every gift is different, but the giver is always the same The gifts are not attained by the achievements of man or given according to the desires of man All spiritual gifts are given by the “same Spirit,” 1Co 12:7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. The “same Spirit” gives to every believer, 1Co 12:11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. Page 4 of 8 The gifts are always of God and according to the plan of God The Spirit always works according to God’s plan To be gifted by the Spirit does not mean that we are automatically spiritual Being given a “Spiritual Gift” does mean that we are of “Super Spiritual Status” God plans for the believer to use his gift under the leadership of the Spirit, 1Pe 4:10 As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. We are gifted by God to serve God, as we serve God we are ministering unto others The One who gives the gift also enables the believer to exercise the gift Our “Spiritual Gift is to be exercised for the benefit of others through our ministry 1Co 12:5 And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. “Differences” is the same word translated “diversities” in verse 4 “Administrations” refers to the opportunities that we are given to use our spiritual gift The meaning of administrations is service, ministry, “to minister the things of God” It comes from the same root word translated “deacon,” identifying with service and ministry It refers to what we are-able to do because we have a Spiritual Gift Spiritual gifts are given so that Christians may serve God and minister to others There are many needs of service and ministry, so there must be many different gifts of service Every gift is in some way a serving gift, a ministering gift Spiritual gifts allow the Church to minister in many-different ways Paul taught that we are equipped as saints to do the work of the ministry, Eph 4:12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Peter taught that since we have received the gift, we are to minister the same one to another, 1Pe 4:10 As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. We are all gifted to minister, but we all minister in a different way, our own unique way Christians with the same gifts may be used in different ways, teaching is a good example Some gifted to teach will teach children in Sunday School Some are gifted to teach Hebrew or Greek in a seminary class of Bible scholars The truth is that the seminary professor would not be able to teach the children in Sunday School We all serve in different ways, in different places, but we all serve the same Lord Just as sure as God gave you the gift, the Lord will give you the opportunity to use your gift You never know when that opportunity will occur, when it does it will be by “the same Lord” Paul taught in verse 3 that we will know Jesus as Lord through the Holy Spirit It is the Spirit that convinces us that Jesus is Lord, that He alone is Lord Paul said, there is “One Lord,” Eph 4:5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism, It does not matter what our gift is, where, how, or when we exercise our gift We all serve “One Lord” through our Spiritual Gift All the different gifts, serving in all the different ways, are serving the same “LORD” Serving the same Lord, but with different effects of ministry 1Co 12:6 And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. There is a variety of “operations,” a word found again in, 1Co 12:10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: Operations means action, activity, energies, workings, it has the idea of power at work Referring to that which is working, that which is being accomplished by the gift Page 5 of 8 That which is worked out or energized, the results, the power at work That which will happen when you use your spiritual gift Which is the result of the Holy Spirit’s energy within the gifted person Gifted ministry will work in different ways with a great variety of effects Christians cannot exercise their gift in their own natural power and accomplish those results The reason the Spiritual Gift is powerful and successful is because God is at work “But it is the same God,” spiritual Gifts are God’s power in action The source of the different ways spiritual gift’s function is God the Father God who gives the gift also gives the energy and power to use the gift It is through His power that the gift works and fulfills its purpose When God gives the gift, He gives the power to use the gift The end-result is powerful because God is the source of the power The ministry of spiritual gifts is a result of the work of the “Trinity:” “Spirit” vs 4; “Lord” (Christ) vs 5; “God” vs 6; working in “all” believers “Which worketh all in all” There are different gifts, in different believers, working different services Different gifts accomplishing different ministry What God has done through a gift may or may not be visible at the time The church world of today wants to measure success by appearance and number (quantity) Denominations and conventions strongly encourage all Christians and churches to minister But they often attempt to teach us how to minister in a certain way Because one pastor or church has been “successful,” all others should do it the same way The emphasis should not be upon “success” as man sees it, but upon “submission” Let God do it His Way, let God do it through the Spiritual Gifts, your Spiritual Gift “All” things in “all” men, “all” things in “all” things It must “all” be God in “all” Page 6 of 8 COMPARING THE NEW TESTAMENT LISTS OF SPIRITUAL GIFTS ROMANS 12:6-8 Prophecy Serving Teaching Exhortation Giving Leading Showing Mercy 1 CORINTHIANS 12:8-10 Word of Wisdom Word of Knowledge Faith Healings Miracles Prophecy Discerning of Spirits Tongues Interpretation of Tongues 1 CORINTHIANS 12:28-30 Apostleship Prophecy Teaching Miracles Healing Helping Administrating Tongues Interpretation of Tongues EPHESIANS 4:11 Apostleship Prophecy Evangelism Pastor/Teacher 1 PETER 4:9-11 Speaking Serving Page 7 of 8 Spiritual gifts are not for self-glory, we receive them in-order to minister to others Our ministry is to bring honor and glory unto God and not self, not personal pride or praise We will be held accountable unto God for the ministry of our spiritual gifts, 2Co 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. When Christians are not exercising their spiritual gifts the ministry of the church is hindered Discover your spiritual gift, minister to others, and reveal the Person and Work of Jesus Ministry must be done in the power of the Holy Spirit through gifted believers The church grows spiritually and numerically, when Christians, minister through spiritual gifts Jesus is our example, Mar 10:45 For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. Page 8 of 8