Spiritual Gifts

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Nine Gifts of the Spirit

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This chapter deals with the Gifts of the Spirit. He will tell us what they are, their importance and their use. It contains some difficult facts about work in that they treat rewards differently than we normally do. Laborers are paid not according to the amount of time that they worked, that's certainly different than the way we do it. Paul uses "job classifications" as a means of determining importance, showing that some gifts are more to be desired than others, not because they paid more, but because they cost you more . Jesus, in His parable of the laborers, showed that it did not matter how long that you worked, one hour or 12 hours, the pay was the same.

Before we look at the 9 gifts of the Spirit, lets look first at their purpose and then at their use. There is but one purpose for these gifts and that is to bring about the "edification" of the Saints. They are to be used for the Glory of God.

Now these Corinthians had been given an unusual amount of God's Grace because of their pagan background and because of the very evil place in which they lived. So to begin, Paul reminded them of their former state. It is well for to be reminded of our former ways in which we lived.

First, he reminded them that formerly they were un-informed. They knew absolutely nothing about spiritual things. They did not have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, thus they did not have His enlightenment.

Secondly, they were pagan or heathen Gentiles. In this condition, they were at the disposal of the Devil. Easily led astray, unable to accept Jesus as their Savior because they did not have the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit. Only those who are led of the Spirit can say Jesus is Lord. (Eph. 2:8) But the Lord used Paul and others at Corinth, and they were led of the Spirit and they accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior, now, in that state, they could receive the gifts of the Spirit which God proportions individually, as He pleases.

Having said this, Paul then lists the 9 gifts of the Spirit.

1. The ability to speak wisely, eloquently, intelligently. The person with this gift not only knows the scripture but is able to rightly expound upon it and properly apply it. (Aaron)
2. The gift of knowledge. This person is knowledgeable of the scripture and is a source of help and council but may not be able to speak eloquently. (Moses).
3. The gift of Faith. All Christians have the gift of Faith sufficient to be saved, but as we see constantly in our churches, there are degrees of faith. Few have been so gifted as to be able to move mountains.
4. The gift of Healing. Some people have the gift of healing. it is, perhaps, the most mis-understood and often abused gift of the Spirit. Spiritual healing is for eternity. Physical healing which is what we are talking about with this gift, is only for a short time. Jesus healed the Centurions servant, but he eventually died, but never-the- less, God grants to some this gift to be used for His purpose and according to His will.
5. The gift of Miracles. A miracle is an event to which no reasonable explanation can be given. Salvation, is a miracle it, like all miracles, is the work of the Holy Spirit. Most of the time we fail to see the many miracles that occur every day of our lives.
6. The Gift of Prophesy. This is not foretelling the future, only to the extent that the future is foretold in the scriptures. It might better be described as the ability to expound the scriptures, rightly discerning the truth, a gift that not all ministers, and certainly not all teachers, have.
7. The Ability to Distinguish Between Spirits. This gift enables a person to distinguish between that which is of God from that which is from Satan.
8. The Gift of Tongues. This gift is perhaps the most mis-understood of all the gifts of the Spirit. There are two separate gifts spoken of here. One was the gift to the Disciples at Pentecost. It was the ability to speak in foreign tongues that they were not previously able to speak in order that those who did not speak or understand Aramaic, the language of the Disciples, might hear and understand the Gospel. The second gift has to do with what is termed "unknown tongues". It appears to be an outpouring of the Spirit on an individual at a particular time when that individual is on a spiritual "high". It must never be used without the presence of one who has the 9th. gift of the Spirit.
9. The gift of Interpretation of Tongues. It goes without saying that it accomplishes very little if the Gospel is preached in a language that no one understands, therefore, interrupters must always be present when foreign tongues or unknown tongues are used.

All of these gifts are given for the use of the Lord's work which is, the salvation of souls, the common good of those souls, the edification of those souls and the glorification of God. Note verse 5, not only does the Holy Spirit give different gifts to different people, but He also varies the gift from one person to another.

One Body in Christ

In these verses Paul assures us that regardless of the gift or the amount of that gift given to us, the pay is the same, the importance is the same, the body cannot function without the total sum of the gifts.

Consider a hypothetical situation. A father has many children. He has his will set up so that all will share equally in the prophets of his business when he dies. However, all will have different jobs in the business. Some will be managers, some will be foreman and some will be laborers, but each will receive the same pay. How will the children of this man accept their inheritance?

Paul is attempting in these verses to get us to see that in the work of the Lord, this is not a hypothetical situation, it is an actual situation. Now human nature being what it is, this is a difficult teaching. The teaching of "one body in Christ" has never been completely brought to completion because it has never been completely understood, let alone, accepted. As long as we remain human beings, lacking humility and seeking prestige, it appears that we, in and of ourselves, will never accomplished this, but. all things are possible through the Holy Spirit.

Being "one body" in any situation that we find ourselves in this world, is difficult. Even in our private homes, the position assigned to husband, wife and child, is difficult to accept by many. We rebel at the thought of not being first and most important. Church and work is the same way. Even among the different denominations, there is the need to be most important. The "unity" of the body of Christ is as far from being a fact as it was 2,000 years ago.

Paul is attempting to apply this belief in "one body in Christ", to the church at Corinth. He could not have possibly found a worse church to apply this to. This church had Jews, Greeks, Romans, slaves, freeman, men, women, rich, poor, educated and uneducated. All from different backgrounds, each with his own kind of prejudice. But Paul insisted that they were all baptized into "one body".

He then goes into a dissertation, using the human body as an example, to get these people and us also, to see how this teaching worked. Each member or part of your body has a function. Each, for the most part, relies upon the other. Now, which part of your body would you give up? If it became necessary for us to make a decision like that, we would do so with great reluctance. Sometime we are forced to live without some of our body parts, at least those that we can live without. God did not design many spare parts.

So it is with the church. All members are needful. All members contribute to the well being of the whole. Paul says, "If one suffers, we all suffer." "If one is honored, we all rejoice." I wonder if that is as true as it ought to be?

Division of Talents

As members of one body, each has talents that are to be used for the edification of the whole body. Each member has their place and use in the Kingdom of God. In these verses Paul lists the individual appointments made by the Lord for the purpose of this edification. He seems to place these appointments in some degree of importance.

Notice the list of talents that are given by the Lord and here put down, by the inspiration of the Spirit, by the Apostle Paul. He lists eight. First Apostles, then Prophets, then Teachers, workers of miracles, healers, helpers, administrators and lastly, speakers in various kinds of tongues. Paul suggests that these are all gifts of the Spirit and should be sought after and even suggests that we should strive for the "higher gifts".

He also makes it clear that not everyone is gifted the same, yet each has a job, each contributes to well being of the whole church. We must not be envious of other peoples talents, nor should we place undo honor on any one talent over the other. In the church at Corinth, the gift of tongues was blown all out of proportion, beyond that which God intended. It became a measure of a Christian and peer pressure cause many to imitate the gift. Even worse, more important gifts were looked down upon and even shunned.

Paul closes the chapter with a word of advice. Those who earnestly seek the higher gifts will be shown a more "excellent way". The more excellent way is elsewhere described as the ability to remain humble, to not be envious of others, to be content with their contribution and to consider all of the same rank. This ability is also a gift, coming out of mutual love and respect for one another.

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