1 Corinthians 12 King James Version (KJV)
12 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant.
2 Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led.
3 Wherefore
I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God
calleth Yeshua accursed: and that no man can say that Yeshua is the YHVH,
but by the Holy Ghost.
4 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
5 And there are differences of administrations, but the same YHVH.
6 And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.
7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.
8 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;
9 To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;
10 To
another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another
discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another
the interpretation of tongues:
11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.
12 For
as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that
one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.
13 For
by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or
Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink
into one Spirit.
14 For the body is not one member, but many.
15 If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?
16 And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?
17 If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling?
18 But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.
19 And if they were all one member, where were the body?
20 But now are they many members, yet but one body.
21 And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.
22 Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary:
23 And
those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon
these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more
abundant comeliness.
24 For
our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together,
having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked.
25 That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.
26 And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.
27 Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.
28 And
God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets,
thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps,
governments, diversities of tongues.
29 Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles?
30 Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?
31 But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way.
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What are these gifts of the Spirit? How
can you know that you have particular gifts of the Spirit? Can others
give us an indication of what our gift is? What does the believer do
with these gifts in the church? Are some gifts more important than
others? Are the gifts of healing still being accessed today by
believers? Is the gift of miracles still existent in the church today?
Each and every believer has been given by the indwelling of the
Spirit of God, gifts of the Spirit (Acts 2:38). In Acts chapter 8 and
in 1 Corinthians chapters 12-14 we see external gifts of the Holy
Spirit. They were not gifts that they have been developed by human
capacities, therefore the believer has absolutely no right to brag on
these gifts. If we exalt in our gifts, we are taking credit for
something that we have not earned ourselves. It is like taking credit
for a gift you receive on your birthday. It is just that; a gift that
was not yours but given to your freely and it is given apart from any
inherent capabilities that you have within you. It is not like changing
the old hymn from How Great Thou Art to How Great I Am.
No believer can say that they have no gift of the Spirit from God.
God has given all believers gifts; some have several but everyone has
these gifts. These gifts of the Spirit are given not for the believer
but for the Body of Christ. It is to make the Body complete. These gifts
are intended for the church to edify it, to
strengthen
it, to feed it, to exhort it, to encourage it and to have the Body of
Christ empowered to do the work of Christ. These gifts are always to
exalt Christ, to witness of
God’s power,
to build up the Body, and to work to enlarge the Body of Christ by
sharing the gospel of
Yeshua Christ with the lost. There are several
biblical tools and surveys that believers can use to discover their own
gifts of the Spirit. These are helpful applications to allow the
Christian to see what their gifts are and therefore how they can best
help the church. There is no believer in Christ that does not have the
gift of the Spirit.
Isaiah 11:2-3 speaks of seven different spirits or gifts: “And the
Spirit of the YHVH will rest on him—the Spirit of wisdom and
understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the YHVH. He will delight in obeying the YHVH.
He will not judge by appearance nor make a decision based on hearsay
(called discernment).” These are important gifts and some of them are
similar to but different from the gifts of the Spirit that Paul talks
about in the New Testament in I Corinthians chapter twelve. There are
nine gifts of the Spirit mentioned by Paul in I Corinthians chapter
twelve:
1) Word of Wisdom
2) Word of Knowledge
3) Faith
4) Gifts of Healing
5) Working of Miracles
6) Prophecy
7) Discerning of Spirits
8) Divers (or different) kinds of Tongues
9) Interpretation of (different) Tongues
This is not an exhaustive list of the gifts of the spirit, for example some are said to have the
gift of mercy which
is a person who is quick to forgive and not judge others who have
sinned while others are not so quick to do so. God gives these gifts as
He sees best and not what we think they are for (v 11). We can not
receive gifts we are not intended to receive but we can desire certain
gifts, indicating that we can receive gifts of the Spirit that may
fulfill the desires of our hearts while still fulfilling God‘s purpose
for them (v 31). Let’s examine what these gifts are and what is their
intended use is for in the church today.
Romans chapter twelve has a similar listing of the gifts of the
Spirit but I Corinthians chapter twelve is more comprehensive in nature.
I Corinthians chapter twelve begin with Paul telling the Corinthian
church, and for the most part, all believers in the church today. Paul
wants to make these gifts crystal clear to us and so we will depend upon
the inspired Word of God to reveal them to us (v 1).
Paul tells us that “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same
Spirit distributes them” (v 4). No two gifts are the same and generally
no two believers have exactly the same gifts but always these gifts are
given for the common good of the church (v 7).
The Gift of Wisdom
The first gift Paul mentions is the gift of wisdom (v 8). It is
listed first perhaps because it is foundational to the church and this
is a gift that the believer can earnestly desire (v 31). Wisdom is
clearly taught in the Word of God and “The fear of the YHVH is the
beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good
understanding” (Psalm 111:10). This is the precious gift that Solomon
asked for and received from God to be able to rightly rule God‘s nation
(I Kings 3:12). With this wisdom, Solomon could understand what do in
difficult decisions. Wisdom is also associated with fearing the YHVH.
Fear is simply standing in awe of God in reverence and respect. It
entails loving His Word and being obedient to what it says. There is no
wisdom in disobedience. This means that if some members are revering
God’s laws and statutes, including loving God and loving your neighbor,
that many members in the church can have this gift. Of course, many can
not have it either. This gift is of supreme importance for members in
the Body of Christ for if we can love God and our neighbor, we can
greatly contribute to the church and those outside of the church. This
love is another way of showing unbelievers and attracting them to Christ
by it (John 13:35).
The Gift of Knowledge
The next gift of the Spirit is that of knowledge (v 8). Some people have such a gift of remembering scriptures. They have
knowledge
of God and His ways. They seem to be able to quickly distinguish which
is biblical and which is not. Some translations say it is the “Word” of
knowledge while others say that it is the “utterance” of knowledge. The
Word is most certainly the Word of God. The “utterance” of knowledge
could indicate that those with the gift of knowledge know when to speak
particular words, when not to, and what words to speak with. Both words
seem to fulfill what true knowledge is. These with this gift make
excellent teachers, deacons, elders, or pastors.
The Gift of Faith
The next gift of the Spirit Paul mentions is the gift of faith (v 9).
Those with this gift are truly amazing in how they see things. They
tend to exude confidence in all situations. For example, our church
deacon has said about our church growth “when” it grows we will need
more Sunday school books, while others say “if” we grow we will need
additional books. I met an evangelist once that spoke about things as if
they already had existed or had come to pass. He spoke about finances
that God would provide while simultaneously have nothing to show for it
in the church’s bank account. He would always later prove to be right.
This is a person more like God. He sees things that aren’t as if they
already are!
The Gift of Healing
The gift of healing has been a controversial one (v 9). Some “faith
healers” claim to have this gift yet have often been exposed to be
frauds by undercover reporters. Many of those “healed” have been
interviewed prior to their supposed healing. Some tap the power of
positive thinking to convince them that they are healed. Others have
even used “scam artists” or actors to portray someone that has been
healed from an infirmity that they never actually had. This gift was
more prominent in the New Testament church to confirm that
Yeshua
Christ’s name had power and that God was working in the church. I am not
saying that people are still not healed today but the days of having
someone’s shadow passing over them and they are instantly healed is
over. The gift of healing may be in relations to the power of prayer and
we know that the effectual prayer of a righteous man or woman can
accomplish miracles (James 5:16). In any event, we must attribute any
healing that is done is “…by that one Spirit“ and not by humans (v 9).
The Gift of Miracles
The gift of “miraculous powers“ is another gift of the Spirit that
appears to be unique to the New Testament church (10). This may also be
associated with faith healers who claim that that have the gift of
miraculous powers but they must remember that any gift or its results
are always credited to the spirit and not to humans. It could also be
attributed to those who are prayer warriors. There is an elderly lady
that I know I want her praying for me. I have had some pretty
interesting results when this lady has prayed for me. I would call some
of the things that have happened miraculous in some ways. The greatest
miracles that occur today are, for the most part, the miracle of human
conversion. I see this as the greatest miracle of all since only the
Spirit of God can illuminate the Word of God and reveal to us Who
Yeshua
Christ is (John 6:44, Matt 16:17).
The Gift of Prophecy (Speaking)
The next gift is that of prophecy (v 10). Prophecy has several
different interpretations and it is clear that in this context, within
the church at Corinth, prophecy is the gift of teaching and/or speaking.
The literal translation here is that it is “publicly speaking” or
“speaking forth” the Word of God. This gift is associated with those who
are teachers or pastors since God would not gift someone in the church
to teach or preach without having an ability to do so. It is not
inferring that they know the future or know what is to come since only a
sovereign God alone knows the future.
The Gift of Discernment
The gift of “distinguishing between spirits” is having the gift of
discernment. It is able to discern scriptures and their application to
believers in the church. It is also being able to tell whether someone
is earnest and sincere, or they appear to have an agenda. Peter
displayed this in Acts chapter five when Ananias, together with his wife
Sapphira, sold a piece of property and kept back part of the money and
brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet but lied saying they
had given it all to the church (Acts 5:1-10). Those with this gift of
discernment or “distinguishing between spirits” may be able to know
whether the church should or should not do particular things.
The Gift of Tongues
The next gift is the ability to speak in different tongues (v 10).
This has been one of the most controversial and most misunderstood gifts
of all. When the original outpouring of the Holy Spirit came on
Pentecost, there were many
speaking in tongues.
Paul wrote about tongues extensively in 1 Corinthians, chapters twelve
through fourteen, but he was reproving the Corinthians for misusing the
gift. It’s very difficult out of this passage to get any kind of mandate
to speak in tongues, to get any kind of affirmation that this is
something to be sought, because what you have here are primarily
corrective orders given to the Corinthians. They had actually
prostituted the gift of tongues into something pagan that wasn’t even
representative of the work of the Spirit. All you need to do is to go
back to Acts 2 and read verse 4, “They were all filled with the Holy
Spirit and began to speak with other languages”. The literal translation
in Greek is “glossa” and means tongues. This same word “glossa”
(language) is used again in Acts 2:11. This means it is a known language
not some unknown tongue. Then it says (in Acts 2:5-11) that there were
unbelievers present at Pentecost and were hearing God’s message in their
own “dialektos” dialects or language: “Now there were staying in
Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they
heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each
one heard their own language being spoken. Utterly amazed, they asked:
“Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each
of us hears them in our native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites;
residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia
and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from
Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them
declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues” (dialektos or
dialects)! So there were unbelievers present at Pentecost hearing God’s
message in their own languages and their own local dialects, not
ecstatic gibberish.
The Gift of Interpretation of Tongues
The next gift Paul mentions is the gift of interpretation of tongues
(v 10). This gift is someone who is able to interpret another tongue or
language. I am bilingual and can speak English and Spanish but I would
not say that I have this gift necessarily. Some have a natural gift or
ability to learn a foreign language. It was not natural nor did it come
easy for me. For those who this is easy, then they may be imbued with
such a gift. If anyone was speaking in tongues in the church, there
absolutely had to be someone there to interpret or they were to be
silent. And no more than one person was to speak in tongues because
there is only one interpreter available to translate at a time. If
several were speaking in tongues at the same time, there would be
confusion and God is not the author of confusion, but He is the God of
order (1 Cor 14:33). It would not be edifying the church to have several
speaking in tongues at the same time and with no one to interpret.
Tongues are a sign for unbelievers and not for the church. Paul writes,
“In the Law it is written: ‘With other tongues and through the lips of
foreigners I will speak to this people, but even then they will not
listen to me, says the YHVH.’ Tongues, then, are a sign, not for
believers but for unbelievers” (1 Cor. 14: 21-22). Isaiah 28:11-12 is
where Paul quotes Isaiah the prophet, “For with stammering lips and
another tongue will he speak to this people. To whom he said, ‘This is
the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the
refreshing: yet they would not hear.’” This clearly indicates that the
gift of tongues (Greek for languages) and the interpretation of them is
that of a known language as a witness to unbelievers.
Paul wants to make clear that we should not elevate one gift over
another but esteem each and necessary for the completeness of the Body
of Christ as Paul says in I Corinthians 12:12-23, “Now if the foot
should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,’ it
would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear
should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it
would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body
were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body
were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has
placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them
to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is,
there are many parts, but one body.
The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot
say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the
body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we
think are less honorable we treat with special honor.”
Other Gifts of the Spirit
Romans 12:7-8 also speaks of additional gifts; “if it is serving,
then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then
give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to
lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.” This
shows that some are gifted at teaching, some at showing mercy, some in
giving to the work of the YHVH, and some who show an unusual amount of
forgiveness (called mercy).
Ephesians 4:11 reveals yet more gifts as Paul indicates there are,
“…apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers.”
Again teachers are mentioned, evangelists are those who are unusually
gifted at sharing the gospel with the lost, pastors and prophets (again,
this is those who proclaim the gospel). Apostles can no longer exist
because by definition, they would be those church leaders who have been
commissioned by the risen Christ and having been done so in His
presence. Those who call themselves apostles have no such authority
given by God and they are self-designated only, thusly disqualifying
themselves as a true apostle.
Many Gifts, Many Members, One Body
Each and every church member is clearly a part of “… the body of
Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. And God has placed in the
church first of all apostles (no longer in this church age), second
prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of
helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. Are all
apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do
all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret?
Now eagerly desire the greater gifts“(I Cor. 12:28-31). I pray you not
only seek and discover your gifts but that you utilize them to the
strengthening of the Body of Christ, for which you are a part. If you
are not, then today is the time to become part of Christ’s church
because members of this body will live on into eternity.
