The Truth About Spiritual Gifts

We have now come to that portion of 1 Corinthians that has generated more controversy and more interest than any other in recent decades—Spiritual Gifts. It is one of the more lengthy portions in 1 Corinthians, stretching all the way from 1 Corinthians 12:1 to 1 Corinthians 14:40. 1 Corinthians 12:1-7, Paul lays a theological foundation that will guide us through this entire topic, consequently I am going to devote two Sundays for these seven verses. When we get to the list of spiritual gifts found in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10, I am going to preach a series of topical sermons on each of the spiritual gifts listed in Scripture. At that time, I will also address the controversial topic of whether certain gifts have ceased at the close of the Apostolic Age. I will then return to our expository series through 1 Corinthians.

Now that you have an idea of where we are going, I want to turn your attention to the first three verses of 1 Corinthians 12:

1 Corinthians 12:1–3 ESV

Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led. Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.

Of all the issues that arise from the issue of spiritual gifts, the most hurtful and dangerous is the idea that the manifestation of spiritual gifts is self-validating. The fact is, spiritual gifts prove nothing. Scripture warns us repeatedly of false miracles. For example:

Matthew 24:24 ESV

For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.

Clearly, the Devil was at work in Corinth; and one of the ways he was at work was through the manifestation of spiritual gifts. To combat this, Paul reminds his readers of three things:

Everyone is Controlled by One of Two Spirits

The Holy Spirit and Satan are Both Able to Give Spiritual Gifts

The Only Proof of the Holy Spirit’s Presence is the Confession, “Jesus is Lord”

Let us begin by looking at the first of these:

Everyone is Controlled by One of Two Spirits

In vs. 2, Paul reminds the Corinthians of their pre-Christian state, they were being led by (or controlled by) “mute idols”. We have already learned in 1 Corinthians 10:20 that behind idols are demons. In Ephesians 2, Paul teachers that unbelievers live under the authority of Satan and in Romans 6, he teaches that they are “slaves to sin”. In contrast, in those two chapters, Paul teaches that believers are under the authority of Christ and are slaves of righteousness.

I know that in our daily experience it feels as if we are somewhere in the middle. We most certainly feel the influence of both Satan and God in our lives. However, there is one and only one controlling influence upon our lives, and that influence will determine our eternal fate.

I hope you now understand what is at stake here. If it is imperative that we are controlled by the Holy Spirit, we better make sure we identify the correct evidence that this is the case.

The Corinthians, and many today, think that the manifestation of spiritual gifts is absolute proof that what we are witnessing and experience is a work of God, but this is not true:

Both the Holy Spirit and the Devil are Able to Spiritually Gift

Perhaps before we go any further, it is prudent that we make sure we all understand what we mean by “spiritual gift”. By “spiritual”, we mean that what is given is outside of ourselves and comes to us via that spiritual realm. Creation and providence have given us many gifts, some people have great athletic skill, others are able to excel in an academic setting, still others are skilled in the practical arts and some have outstanding inter-personal skills. Every human being has such skills and we should thank God for them. However, spiritual gifts come to us from a spiritual being. As we have already established, these spiritual gifts come from one of two spiritual sources: either God or Satan!

As we will be learning in a few weeks, some of these gifts are miraculous in nature and others are a spiritual enhancement of a natural gift. For example, there are spiritual gifts of teaching and administration. All of us have known “natural” teachers or administrators. When we say someone has the spiritual gift of teaching or administration, we are saying the Holy Spirit is giving him or her abilities beyond what they can naturally do.

As for the super-natural gifts, every one of these can be counterfeited by the Devil. We find in Scripture counterfeit miracles, healings, prophecies and wonders. The presence of these things in a church or in a person’s life really does not prove or disprove anything.

In vs. 3, Paul gives us the rock solid proof that the Holy Spirit is in control.

The Proof of Whom You Are Controlled by is Not Your Spiritual Gifts, But Your Confession

In vs. 3, Paul gives us a negative and a positive proof. First, he says, “no one speaking of the Spirit of God ever says, ‘Jesus is accursed”; that is the negative proof. Then he says, “no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord, except in the Holy Spirit’”; that is the positive proof. To help you understand what Paul is saying, I want to give you an example of a conversation I had with a man at one time.

The man came into my office seeking counsel. As he was presenting me with his problem, he mentioned to me several times that he was a “Christian” and he made reference to the fact that he attempted to be “good”. He also said he had “gone forward” and was “saved”.

Perceiving that something was not right, I asked how he knew he was a Christian. He again rehearsed for me that he was trying to be “good”, but this time he admitted that he was not always good. In fact, he often did the wrong thing.

I said to him, “I am glad to hear that you understand that you are not ‘good’ all the time. This is what the Bible calls ‘sin’. Sin is what the bible says separates us from God and places us under His judgement. I then assured him, I was a sinner as well and that the bible says, ‘All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.’” I then explained to him that Jesus was the “Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world”, and went on to explain what Jesus did for us upon the cross. I then explained that a true Christian is one who trust in Jesus as their Savior and makes Jesus their Lord. Finally, I asked him if he had done this.

His response was interesting; first, it was evasive. He kept going back to all the good things he was trying to do. Secondly, he kept on saying “I need strength.” In other words, admitting he needed to be “gifted” power.

Did you hear what this man was really saying? He wanted a spiritual gift, but he did not want it through Christ! By rejecting Jesus’ provision which Christ secured by dying on the cross, this man was in effect saying, “Jesus is accursed”!

We need to be honest with ourselves as to what is really going on when we fail to trust in Jesus. Scripture is very clear that Jesus became a curse upon the cross:

Galatians 3:13 ESV

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—

Either Jesus was cursed as the atonement for our sin or he was accursed as a criminal. There is no middle ground. You are either confessing Jesus as your Lord and Savior, or you are confessing Jesus is an accursed criminal!

In my introduction, I said that the idea that spiritual gifts are self-validating is dangerous. What I meant by that is this, apart from a true confession of Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, the manifestation of spiritual gifts can misled us into thinking that we are a true believer when we are not. Satan is more than happy to give us health, wealth and prosperity if it will led us to Hell.

Satan is playing the long game. If he can arrange our temporary blessing in order to insure our eternal damnation, he is more than happy to do this. When the final Antichrist comes, we will mislead people with counterfeit signs and wonders. In the book of Revelation, we read these sobering words:

Revelation 13:11–15 ESV

Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence, and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed. It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people, and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived. And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain.

I give this warning, not because I am against miracles, but rather because I believe so strongly in them and I want you to seek the right ones.

The first and most important miracle we must all seek is regeneration, or in the words of Jesus, “to be born again”. Every human being is born dead in trespasses and sins. Paul said the “gospel is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes.” In other words, the preaching of the Gospel has the power to spiritually raise to life those who are spiritually dead! God does this, not through emotional and psychological manipulation, but through the clear preaching of the Gospel. This is why earlier in 1 Corinthians Paul said he rejected worldly wisdom and methods and “preached Christ and him crucified”!

As we begin this series on spiritual gifts, especially as we look at the more spectacular gifts, we cannot forget that the most spectacular and most important miracle is the miracle of regeneration!

I also said that it is hurtful, many Christians, perhaps you, have been hurt by the suggestion you have not been “baptized in the Holy Spirit,” if you do not speak in tongues. Paul in this passage does not say speaking in tongues is proof of the Spirit’s presence, but rather a true confession of Jesus as Lord. My hope and prayer is that this message has begun the healing process caused by that hurt. You are not a second class Christian and do not let anyone tell you otherwise. As we will learn in 1 Corinthians 13, the only thing that matters is faith expressing itself in love!

Next Sunday, we will look at vs. 4-7, we will learn that the entire Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit are behind the distribution of spiritual gifts and that these gifts are given not for individual benefit, but for the good of the entire local congregation.