Have We Got a Gift for You

In chapter 11 it appeared as though Paul took a detour from addressing questions the church at Corinth had and spent some time dealing with issue he saw.

Here Paul goes back to addressing some of the questions from the church…

1 Corinthians 12:1–11 CSB

1 Now concerning spiritual gifts: brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be unaware. 2 You know that when you were pagans, you used to be enticed and led astray by mute idols. 3 Therefore I want you to know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit. 4 Now there are different gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are different ministries, but the same Lord. 6 And there are different activities, but the same God works all of them in each person. 7 A manifestation of the Spirit is given to each person for the common good: 8 to one is given a message of wisdom through the Spirit, to another, a message of knowledge by the same Spirit, 9 to another, faith by the same Spirit, to another, gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another, the performing of miracles, to another, prophecy, to another, distinguishing between spirits, to another, different kinds of tongues, to another, interpretation of tongues. 11 One and the same Spirit is active in all these, distributing to each person as he wills.

1 Corinthians 12:28–31 CSB

28 And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, next miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, leading, various kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all do miracles? 30 Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But desire the greater gifts. And I will show you an even better way.

Paul is addressing spiritual gifts - we all have gifts or talents but we also have gifts given specifically to us by the Holy Spirit and for a purpose.

How can we tell the difference?

If the experience doesn’t honor Christ as Lord it’s not from the Spirit - if it does then the Holy Spirit may be behind it.

You cannot claim something for God on one hand and on the other deny an aspect of God.

There are many who seem to be using spiritual gifts but they are not glorifying anyone but themselves.

As a believer we all have some display of the Holy Spirit’s presence in our life.

God has given us the Holy Spirit - it doesn’t matter how long you have been a believer the Holy Spirit is active in and through you.

If we are not seeing the signs of the Holy Spirit we need to check ourselves and see where we may be failing.

The goal of our gifts is for the common good of the church.

It is not primarily for our own edification, though we do get built up, but for other believers.

So what are our gifts? (There are a couple of list in scripture but lets talk about the list Paul gives us here)

A message of wisdom - this is closely related to the declaration and explanation of Christ especially in a culture that emphasizes human wisdom.

A message of knowledge - knowledge of God in Christ that comes from direct revelation - also the ability to teach correctly.

The gift of faith - this is not saving faith, we all have that - this is the strong conviction that God will move in a specific circumstance - think faith as a mustard seed.

Gifts of healing - this is just like it sounds, physical healing in the body - this does not preclude the ability to learn and perform or even discover things in the medical field.

Performing miracles - Paul is not specific here and miracles can mean many different things - think of all the miracles done in scripture by both Jesus and the disciples.

Prophecy - this is not speaking new revelation from God but more being a spokesperson who is faithful and unwavering in their sharing of the Word - some special revelation maybe given but not anything contrary to the Word of God.

Distinguishing between spirits - behind false teachers are demons and evil spirits so the ability to discern the spirits at work in any verbal or nonverbal display of supernatural power is imperative. We already talked about telling the difference between the Holy Spirit and something else but the deception of evil spirits may be so extensive that a supernatural ability if necessary.

Speaking in tongues - Paul is not clear what is meant by tongues - personally I believe, especially in a pubic forum like church the tongues are not random but valid language but not necessarily know by the hearer - however…

Gift of interpretation of tongues - tongues must be interpreted or else there is no value for the hearers thus it goes against the purpose of gifts, edifying the body.

It doesn’t matter what the gift, it came from the same Holy Spirit and He chose you to use it.

God has taken the gifts and made appointments or jobs within the church - apostles, prophets and teachers are in order of importance and relatively well-defined leadership roles in the church.

Miracles, healing helps, administration and tongues do not have a specified role.