First Corinthians 12:4
First Corinthians 12:4-11 says; "Now there are
diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations,
but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same
God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every
man for the benefit of all. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of
wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; To another faith
by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; To
another the working of miracles; to another prophesy; to another discerning of
spirits; to another diverse kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of
tongues; But all these work that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every
man severally as He will."
Individual gifts are given to individual
Christians, but the emphasis is placed upon the fact that the reason that the
gifts are given to us is for the benefit of everyone else. That is what is
meant by the end of First Corinthians 12:7 that says that the gifts are given
to "every man
to profit withal." "To profit withal"
means to the profit of everyone, or to the advantage of everyone, or to the
common benefit. If you have a gift, it was not given to you so that you would
benefit from it primarily, but so that others would benefit from it.
And that is why the majority of the gifts
listed here have to do with communicating with others. Communicating by
speaking or writing or singing: the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge,
prophesy, tongues, and the interpretation of tongues. "How shall they believe except they hear, and how shall
they hear except someone tell them?"
Jesus told His disciples to go into all the world and spread the gospel. In
addition to helping to spread the gospel, these spiritual gifts that have to do
with communication also are needed for edifying and instructing the saints.
Jesus told Peter, "If you love me, feed my sheep."
Notice the difference between the word of
wisdom and the word of knowledge. Knowledge has to do with the acquiring of
information. Sometimes what is really needed is more information about a
certain subject. You will not be able to make the best decision about something
unless you know what all of the possibilities are. What makes the difference so
that some Christians seem to know more about Bible doctrines or other spiritual
issues? Studying certainly makes a difference, but so does having the spiritual
gift that is called the word of knowledge; and the only ones who have this kind
of knowledge are the ones who have received this gift from the Holy Spirit.
There is also a word of wisdom. Knowledge
has to do with the acquiring of information, but wisdom has to do with the
practical use of information. Wisdom is common sense, but common sense is not
so common. Some people can go to college and earn a PHD, but some of them cannot
do much with the degree. They may have knowledge, but they may not have wisdom.
James said, "If
anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally." Proverbs says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." God gives wisdom to people. If someone has
wisdom, it is because God has given it to them. Solomon became the wisest man
on the earth because God gave him wisdom. You can benefit from Solomon’s wisdom
by reading the book of Proverbs. To some Christians God has given the gift of
wisdom.
Having the gift of wisdom is one of the
requirements to being a good counselor. One of the big mistakes that people
often make is when they go to the wrong person for counsel. In multitude of
counselors there is safety, but only if those counselors have good common sense
wisdom. Young people often make this mistake. They go to their own peers for
counsel and advice, and of course they often get the worst advice because they
get advice from those who have little experience, and from those who will often
only echo and support their own decisions because they are from the same peer
group. There are many people who could use good counsel, but there are few good
counselors. At least you can always go to the Lord for counsel. Isaiah said
that Jesus’ name shall be called "Wonderful Counselor."
In First Corinthians chapter 12 it is
interesting to note that "faith" is
called a spiritual gift. If it is a spiritual gift, that means that some
Christians have the spiritual gift of faith and some do not. Of course, we know
that any kind of faith is a gift. We are saved by grace through faith, and that
not of ourselves: it is the gift of God. We also know that God wants our faith
to grow. Every believer has some faith. It may start very small, but like a
grain of mustard seed, faith has the capacity to grow from a small beginning
and to become very much stronger over time. "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God." But in spite of all that, there are some
Christians who seem to have more faith than others, and the reason that they do
is because God has given to some the spiritual gift of faith. By the way, these
are good people to be around because no matter how dark things get, they never
seem to lose hope or get discouraged, and they always seem to remember the
promises of God even in the greatest crisis.
Some people do not have the spiritual gift
of faith, but they do have some faith, and they also have some other spiritual
gift. For example, in the first century some had the gift of healing. Doctors
and nurses are not the only ones who are in the business of helping people to
recover from illnesses. The Spirit of God is also in that business. Even
without the gift of healing, we pray for the doctors and for the sick. Some
sickness can be healed by the grace of God through the treatment received from
a good doctor. God has given to man the capacity to understand the functioning
of the human body and to discover appropriate treatments when things go wrong
with the body. But in the first century God also gifted some believers with the
gift of healing. Evidently the apostles had the gift of healing. In Acts
chapter 3 Peter and John went to the temple and passed by a lame man who was
begging at the entrance to the temple and Peter said to him, "Silver and gold
have I none, but such as I have I give thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of
Nazareth rise up and walk."
The scriptural principles of taking care of
medical problems can involve doing what can be done both from a practical and
medical standpoint, and also relying upon God’s healing power. This truth is
implied in James 5:14-15a that says, "Is any sick among you? let him call the elders of the
church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the
Lord: and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him
up." In the days of the New
Testament olive oil was often used as an ointment to help with wounds and taken
internally for many illnesses. The phrase "anointing him with oil"
means applying olive oil: it does not refer to a religious ceremony. This verse
means to do what you can for someone medically, and then to pray for them
because all healing really comes from God, whether a doctor is involved or not.
The gift of healing is listed just after
the gift of faith in First Corinthians chapter 12, perhaps because faith can
have such a big part in healing. Undoubtedly, someone who had the gift of
healing, had a great deal of faith in the power of God to do anything: even
cure the most helpless cases. Certainly a doctor would be a better doctor if he
trusted in a higher power to help him in his efforts.
Somewhat similar to the gift of healing is
the next gift that is listed in First Corinthians chapter 12, and it is the
gift of miracles. A miracle is a supernatural event. A miracle is something
that happens for which there is no material or physical or scientific
explanation. Anyone who believes that there is a God should also believe that
there are miracles. That does not mean that all claims of miracles are true,
but miracles can happen because God is.
The word "miracle"
means power. A miracle takes place when the explanation for what happened
cannot possibly be material or physical in nature: the power behind what
happened is spiritual in nature. The same word that here translated "miracle" is translated as power in Romans
The next gift that is listed in First
Corinthians chapter 12 is the gift of prophecy. More than relating to the
foretelling of future events, prophecy in the New Testament refers to the
speaking forth and the pronouncement of the Word of God. For example, First
Corinthians 14:3 says, "But he that prophesies speaks unto men to edification,
and exhortation, and comfort."
Every Christian should be involved in some way in speaking the truth of the
gospel of Jesus to those around them. But the public presenting of the gospel
can only be done in its most effective way when those doing it have been gifted
for the task. In order to preach the Word of God, you must have the gift of
prophecy: the gift that equips you with the capacity to speak forth the Word.
Becoming a pastor of a church or a preacher of the Word in some other capacity
is not something that you can choose in the same way that someone else would
choose to become a doctor or a lawyer. You must be equipped for it by the gifts
that God has given to you, and if you are not, then God has gifted you some
other gift for some other purpose.
God has given gifts unto men and women, and
one of the gifts that He has given is the gift of the discerning of spirits. We
have been talking about the gifts of the Spirit, the good Spirit, the Spirit of
God; but there are also evil spirits in the world. Someone may claim to be
spiritual, but one of the essential questions that must always be asked: are
they of God’s Spirit? Many people have been fooled or duped into wasting their
time and resources after listening to a false teacher. Jesus said that there
would be false teachers. He told His disciples to beware of those who are
really wolves in sheep’s clothing. God has given us ways of knowing who are the
false ones. God has given us His Word. The better that you know the true
teaching, the better that you will be able to recognize the false and not be
misled by the false. The scriptures tell us very clearly that anyone who does
not teach that Jesus Christ is the Son of God cannot be of God. And another way
that God has given to some Christians to know if something or someone is of God
or not is the gift of the discerning of spirits. If you have such a gift then it
is almost like a sixth sense in which you have an enhanced capacity to
recognize that someone else does not have the same spirit that you have. If you
are able to do that, then it may be that you have the gift of the discerning of
spirits. It is an important gift to have because many millions have been led
astray, having been seduced and deceived by false spirits.
The last of the two gifts listed in First
Corinthians chapter 12 are divers kinds of tongues and the interpretation of
tongues. These two should be mentioned together because the one is of little
value without the other. It does no good to speak in a foreign language unless
you have someone to interpret that language. The phrase "divers kinds of tongues" means different languages. The word tongue is
used for language in English just as it was in Greek. For example, we commonly
use the phrase of someone’s ‘native tongue’ to refer to their native language.
In the Mediterranean world of the New Testament, there were a tremendous number
of languages used by the various peoples who found themselves so often
intermingled because of the travel and trade that took place in the Roman
Empire.
The first time that tongues, the gift of
foreign languages, is mentioned in the New Testament is a good place to look in
order to find the true meaning of what tongues is supposed to be. Acts 2:4-11
says; "And
they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other
tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling at
Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was
noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that
every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and
marveled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak
Galileans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?
Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in
Every place where the word "tongue" is used in this passage, the real meaning is
understood by substituting the word ‘language.’ The greatest purpose of God in
the world is the salvation of souls, and the greatest means for the spread of
the gospel is God working through His believers, and one of the ways that God
has made sure that His believers will be capable of spreading the gospel of
Christ is by giving each of us one or more gifts. Even if we find ourselves in
a situation with people who speak another language we can still speak the Word
of God to them, if God decides to give us the gift of tongues which is the gift
of foreign languages. Perhaps this gift was only given in the first century in
order to speed up the spread of Christianity when it was first established.
Every believer has one or more gifts and we
are all a part of a great team that God has assembled to help spread the gospel
around the world. Next week we will look at the rest of First Corinthians
chapter 12 which emphasizes the teamwork that should exist in the body of
Christ, which is made up of all the believers. God has made sure that we are
each an important part of the body of Christ by giving each of us one or more
spiritual gifts.
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Copyright; 2000 by Charles F. (Rick) Creech
All Rights Reserved