1 Corinthians 12:1-11
Spiritual Gifts: Unity in Diversity
1 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant: 2 You know that you were Gentiles, carried away to these dumb idols, however you were led. 3 Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.
4 There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. 6 And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. 7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: 8 for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.
There is Christian unity in Christ when He is corporately recognized as the head of the body which is the universal church of all who have taken God at His word and received Jesus as the Son of God whose work alone saves us. He gives each individual different gifts according to His planned and prepared works for us to minister to each other with as Ephesians 2:10 reminds us in our calling that we might be equipped to do the acceptable works set before us. Notice that we are not to be ignorant of these gifts in who gets what or what He gives us, not demanding that the Lord give us all the same gift as some erroneously believe is necessary for a spiritual life lived according to their own will. Unlike like the world’s worship of idols, we are not to speak ill of our Lord because we worship in spirit and truth and are only able to say with certainty and in truth that Jesus is the Lord of us and the world when His Spirit lives in we who have been reborn as new babes in Him (John 3:3, 1 Peter 1:23, 2:2). This gives us further clarity on spiritual gifts then as we understand this same Spirit living in us is the one who chooses which gifts we are to be given by God (such as supernatural speaking of other known languages which are the tongues listed as a gift in scripture). We cannot demand or push specific gifts of our choosing on others that we determine they must have and ignore this foundational truth unless we choose to put ourselves over the Lord and His will for us. This is why Paul in this passage explains that there are many different gifts for ministry given by the Lord to His children for each of us to work the acceptable works prepared for us individually to accomplish. God works His work in and through each of us whom He equips for His sovereign purpose that what we do in the power and ability of the Holy Spirit profits each and all in the body. He mentions several of these gifts here to include: a word of wisdom, a word of knowledge, faith, gifts of healings, the working of miracles, prophecy, discerning of spirits, different kinds of tongues, and the interpretation of tongues; these are all given by the same Spirit to different members of His body by His choosing and not ours. It would do a lot of good for us in the church to all get this clarity and avoid confusion and false works which mislead others and keep God’s work from building each other up in the church as He has designed for us to do acceptably. This is what acceptable works of the spiritual gifts are meant for us that Paul takes great pains to set straight to the Corinthians who loved the excitement of the supernatural at their hands instead of at God’s commands. In light of these truths, may we therefore be sober-minded and function in the body as God gifts us to do and not seek to do it our way that we might not force ourselves or others to demand certain gifts which God has not specifically given each of us.
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