Church Series-Paul's Teaching in First Corinthians 12.28-31 Regarding Spiritual Gifts
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday November 15, 2016
The Church Series: Paul’s Teaching in First Corinthians 12:28-31 Regarding Spiritual Gifts
Lesson # 15
1 Corinthians 12:1 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware. 2 You know that when you were pagans, you were led astray to the mute idols, however you were led. 3 Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is accursed”; and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit. 4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. 6 There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. 7 But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills. 12 For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. 14 For the body is not one member, but many. 15 If the foot says, “Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear says, “Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? 17 If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired. 19 If they were all one member, where would the body be? 20 But now there are many members, but one body. 21 And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; or again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 On the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body, which seem to be weaker are necessary; 23 and those members of the body which we deem less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant honor, and our less presentable members become much more presentable, 24 whereas our more presentable members have no need of it. But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked, 25 so that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26 And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. 27 Now you are Christ's body, and individually members of it. 28 And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues. All are not apostles, are they? All are not prophets, are they? All are not teachers, are they? All are not workers of miracles, are they? 30 All do not have gifts of healings, do they? All do not speak with tongues, do they? All do not interpret, do they? 31 But earnestly desire the greater gifts. And I show you a still more excellent way. (NASB95)
Notice that Paul ranks the gift of apostleship as being first in importance and this is followed by the gift of prophecy and then the gift of teaching.
The reason why Paul teaches that these three communication gifts have greater priority than the other gifts is because the exercise of these three communication gifts equips the saints for the work of service and builds up the body of Christ spiritually according to his teaching in Ephesians 4:11-12.
In other words, the exercise of these three communication gifts enables the other gifts in the body of Christ to function.
Ephesians 4:11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature, which belongs to the fullness of Christ. 14 As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; 15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love. (NASB95)
Now, one cannot say that the other gifts such as helps, mercy, giving and the others are not important because these three communication gifts receive their value because of the existence of these other gifts.
Again, all the gifts need each other to function properly in the body of Christ as Paul teaches in First Corinthians 12.
Ronal Trail writes “The ranking does not refer to relative importance but rather to a kind of precedence of one over others growing out of the role of establishing and building up of the church.”
Wiersbe writes “In this paragraph, Paul pointed out that there is a ‘priority list’ for the gifts, that some have more significance than others. But this fact does not contradict the lesson already shared—that each gift is important and each individual believer is important. Even in the human body, there are some parts that we can do without, even though their absence might handicap us a bit. The Apostles and prophets, of course, appeared first on the scene because they had a foundational ministry (Eph. 2:20). Teachers were needed to help establish believers in the faith. The other gifts were needed from time to time to help individual believers and to build the church.”
Constable writes “The ranking of these gifted individuals is evidently in the order of the importance of their ministries. When Paul said earlier that all the members were essential (v. 21), he did not mean that some did not have a more crucial function to perform than others. He did not mention this distinction there, because he wanted each member to appreciate the essential necessity of all the other members. In another sense, however, some gifts are more important than others (v. 31; 14:1).”
D.K. Lowery writes “The fact that Paul assigned ordinal numbers (first … second … third) to the first three gifts suggests that these may have been relegated to a lesser role by the Corinthians (cf. 1 Cor. 12:21–24). Those three kinds of gifted members—apostles … prophets … teachers—probably were rated lower than those who had the more spectacular gift of tongues. But the first three gifts may have been greater (v. 31) because of their extensive value to the whole body of Christ. This may be why he listed them first and then said that the church should eagerly desire (v. 31) the exercise of those gifts in the assembly (cf. 14:1–5). Gifted apostles, prophets, and teachers characteristically ministered to a whole church, and so would engender unity and mutual edification. The gift of tongues, on the other hand, suited the Corinthian penchant for self-expression and the pursuit of personal freedom. This self-centeredness also afflicted the church in other areas (e.g., eating sacrificial foods, women in worship, celebration of the Lord’s Supper). Love for others was an essential need in the Corinthian church, and to that fundamental attribute Paul then turned to pay eloquent tribute.”
“Apostles” is the unique and temporary spiritual gift which held maximum authority in the church and was sovereignly delegated by the Lord Jesus Christ.
“Prophecy” refers to the exercise of the temporary or discontinued spiritual gift of being a prophet, which is no longer existent since it existed during the pre-canon period of the church to fill the void until the New Testament canon had been completed (See 1 Corinthians 12:10; 13:2; 14:22; Ephesians 2:20; 3:5; 4:11).
Wiersbe writes “Prophets were New Testament spokesmen for God whose messages came immediately from God by the Spirit. Their ministry was to edify, encourage, and comfort (1 Cor. 14:3). Their messages were tested by the listeners to determine whether they were truly from God (1 Cor. 14:29; 1 Thes. 5:19–21). Ephesians 2:20 makes it clear that apostles and prophets worked together to lay the foundation of the church, and we may assume that they were no longer needed once that foundation was completed.”
“Teachers” refers to the permanent spiritual gift of teaching or communicating the Word of God to the congregation.
“Miracles” was a temporary “sign” gift that was given to the apostles to establish their authority as coming from God and was an instrument used to draw the unsaved to hear the message of the gospel.
“Healings” was also a temporary spiritual gift given to the apostles to establish their authority as being from God (Acts 3:7; 5:16; 9:34; 14:10; 16:18; 19:12; 28:8).
“Helps” is synonymous with “service” in Romans 12:7 and is a permanent spiritual gift and expresses itself in a variety of ways that aid the church and its members and often individuals who hold the office of deacon have this gift.
“Administrations” is synonymous with the gift of “leadership” that appears in Romans 12:8 and is a permanent gift and provides the recipient the ability to administrate the affairs of the church and those with this gift often hold the office of deacon or some type of administrative capacity in a church.
“Tongues” was a temporary spiritual “sign” gift designed to evangelize the Jews in Gentile languages during the pre-canon period of the church age (See Isaiah 28:11-12; 1 Corinthians 14:21-22; 1 Corinthians 1:22).
1 Corinthians 12:4-31 indicates several things about each individual member of the body of Christ: (1) Every believer has a freely-given grace gift given by the Spirit for serving the body of Christ. (2) Every believer is important. (3) Every believer is gifted. (4) Every believer is a servant of the body of Christ. (5) The purpose of God’s gift is not the elevation of the individual, but rather the health of the whole body. (6) All do not receive the same gift. (7) We need each other.
Deffinbaugh writes “Too many people attend church to have their ‘needs met.’ Too many people leave churches, complaining that the church has not met their needs. The church is to build up itself in love, but the goal of the church is to live out the life of our Lord Jesus Christ, to His glory. We, the church, are the body of Christ. This means we, as the church, are to carry on His ministry in the world today. The church ministers to itself, to build itself up so that it may carry out its mission, and that mission is living out Christ in a fallen world. We have become so preoccupied with the church’s ministry to us as individuals that we have failed to concentrate on the church’s mission to the world, and our obligation to sacrifice ourselves in ministry to and through the church to the world. The question is not, ‘What is the church doing for me?’ The question is, ‘What can I contribute to the church to participate in its fulfillment of its mission and calling?’”