Did you ever go camping with a scouting or youth group when you were younger? Before leaving the leader might send a few out earlier to locate a good spot to set up camp. When they arrive, they might assign some different tasks to various ones in the group. Some might be given the task of preparing a meal. Others are assigned to set up the tents, others to gather firewood, others to plan some activities for the evening or the next day, etc. A good troop leader will assign the tasks based on the skills of each one. Physically stronger ones would be best in carrying wood or large rocks for a campfire. Best not to choose someone who can’t even boil water to make the meal! And someone good at reading a compass and a map, and good at marking trails would be best to send to scout out the area. The same holds true with setting up a softball team. A good coach will assign the positions based on skill. When picking out gifts for various people, we also take into consideration what each person is like. Someone who has little interest in sports would not really want season tickets for the city’s football team. In this way, the Holy Spirit is like that good scout leader or good coach. He knows just which gifts to give to each believer, as we shall see in our Scripture passage for today.
As our Scripture opens, Paul is telling the church in Corinth that spiritual gifts come from the Holy Spirit, and that He alone is the one who decides which spiritual gifts each believer receives (vs. 4 - 7). When the Lord Jesus returned to heaven on Ascension Day, He had promised to send the Holy Spirit to His followers, which occurred on the Day of Pentecost. Jesus had instructed His followers to spread His message throughout the world. In order to effectively do that we would need the power of the Holy Spirit, we would need the special spiritual gifts He would bestow. Without the Holy Spirit and His gifts, the church would not survive, both from attacks on the outside and from within.
Some of these gifts are listed here, and some more are listed further down in the chapter. These spiritual gifts are not natural talents that both the saved and unsaved have. These are bestowed by the Holy Spirit. Every believer has at least one gift that he is to use to help edify the church, and to glorify God. He will also give us unique ministry areas in which to use the gifts He has given us.
One of the gifts of the Spirit is the gift of wisdom (vs. 8). This is the ability to understand God’s Word and His will, and to skillfully apply that to life. Another gift that the Holy Spirit gives to some is the word of knowledge (vs. 8). This is the ability to understand and speak God’s truth with insight, grasping the meaning of that truth.
The gift of faith is another of the spiritual gifts that is given to some believers (vs. 9). This is different from saving faith, the faith that all must have when they accept the Lord Jesus as their Savior. This is a special spiritual gift from the Holy Spirit. This gift of faith is shown in persistent and confident prayer and endurance, along with a strong trust in God in the midst of difficult circumstances. People with this gift show unflappable faith and trust in God despite anything that happens.
Paul mentions the gifts of healings, of miracles, and of tongues (vs. 9-10). These are sign gifts. Some Christians today believe they were gifts only for the days during the events of the New Testament, during the days of the Book of Acts. They believe that these gifts were only given then to authenticate the message of Jesus and the apostles. Other Christians believe that these sign gifts continue on through today.
Another gift of the Spirit is that of the gift of prophecy (vs. 10). The biblical definition of prophecy is simply speaking forth and proclaiming God’s message with power, not predicting the future. Only a small portion of the Old Testament prophets' messages in the Bible were predictions of future events. Most of their preaching was proclaiming God’s message to the people in power. One who has this gift proclaimed God’s Word, the Bible, to others with His power.
The last gift of the Spirit that is discussed in this passage is that of discerning of spirits (vs. 10). Satan and his demons try to counterfeit any work of God. This gift recognizes lying spirits and identifies deceptive and erroneous teaching and heresies and will call it out as such.
The Holy Spirit decides which gifts each one of us should have. We are responsible to use our gifts, but should take no credit for what God has given us. Like a body, which is composed of many parts, but is one body, each part doing its job to make the whole body work, so is the Church, the Body of Christ (vs. 12-13). The church is composed of many types of people from all types of backgrounds, but all united through faith in Christ. Let us be attuned to what spiritual gifts we have, and use them for His Glory.
No comments:
Post a Comment