Have you ever been given an assignment at work, school, or maybe from your parents, and you felt that you just didn’t have all the tools or equipment to do the job satisfactorily? That is not the case with the job that the Lord Jesus has given us to do, that of building His Church, bringing the lost to Christ, along with training and edifying believers. Jesus equips the Church with spiritual gifts to do the work we need to. In our passage today from Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth, he lists some of these gifts which we’ll take a quick look at.
The Holy Spirit distributes His gifts in some measure to all believers. They are to be completely under His control, and used for the building of His Church to Christ’s glory. The early church in Corinth had some questions and issues about spiritual gifts, and Paul wished to set this issue straight with them. One thing he wished to clear up was any confusion with demonic manifestations that pagan unbelievers sometimes exhibited. A true believer will affirm the lordship of Jesus (vs. 3). What a person believes and says about Jesus Christ is a test of whether he is speaking from the Holy Spirit. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are not natural talents or abilities. They are supernaturally given by the Holy Spirit as He wills. They will enable us to spiritually edify each other and honor the Lord.
In addition to this passage, Paul also lists the gifts in Romans 12:6-8, I Corinthians 12:28, and Ephesians 4:11. There are the speaking or verbal gifts - prophecy, knowledge, wisdom, teaching, exhortation, and tongues. Then there are the serving gifts - leadership, helps, giving, mercy, faith, healing, miracles, and discernment. Their purpose is to edify the Church and glorify God.
Let’s take a closer look at a few of these gifts. Wisdom is the ability to understand God’s Word and His will, and to apply that understanding to life. The word of knowledge is the ability to understand and speak God’s truth with insight. It is grasping the meaning of God’s truth (vs. 8).
Another spiritual gift is that of faith. The faith that Paul is talking about here is different from saving faith or persevering faith. It is a strong trust in God in the midst of difficult circumstances (vs. 9). Prophecy is another gift (vs. 10). Prophecy is not just speaking of an event in the future. That was only a small portion of the Old Testament prophets messages. Here it is exclusively meaning speaking forth or proclaiming publicly God’s message and truth with power. The gift of prophecy is proclaiming what has already been revealed in God’s Word. The Scriptures are complete, and there is no new revelation.
There are a few gifts that good and sincere believers have had honest disagreement over, and those are the gifts of healing, miracles, and tongues (vs. 9-10). Some have said that these were temporary gifts that ended after the days of the apostles were over, others state that they are still active today. These gifts were definitely used by God in the days of the early church to accredit the Messiah Jesus, and authenticate and validate the Gospel being preached.
One important gift is that of discerning of spirits (vs. 10). Satan is a great deceiver (John 8:44). He and his demons counterfeit God’s message and works. The gift of discernment is the ability to recognize lying spirits and identify deceptive and erroneous doctrines (I John 4:1). Those with this gift are the guardians and watchmen of the Church, protecting it from false doctrine, cults, and demonic lies. To effectively use this important gift requires diligent study of the Word of God.
In conclusion let us realize that the Holy Spirit is the singular source of these gifts (vs. 11). They are not something to seek out, picking and choosing what one wants, but to be received from the Holy Spirit “as He wills”. He gives the gifts as He chooses. Whichever gifts the Lord has seen fit to bestow on us, let us use them to His praise and glory.
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