Some leaders in the church at Corinth were teaching a great deal of “nonsense” advice on the subject of spiritual gifts. But their teaching contained just enough “sense” to make it appear authoritative. And because of this, many Christians there were believing these cleverly disguised false teachings and were applying them to their lives. These false teachers were saying that true gifts of the spirit that were always sensational or miraculous. They also taught that when a Christian was under the influence of the Holy Spirit he or she was out of control. They were spreading the nonsense that spiritual gifts were only bestowed on the favored few, the “mature” Christians who were closest to God. They taught that spiritual gifts carry with them authority and a guarantee of spiritual maturity.
Because of all this nonsense the local body of Christ in Corinth was in turmoil, it was sick. The Apostle Paul had founded this little church on his 2nd missionary journey and so he cared very deeply for its people.
So, when he heard of their troubles he wrote to the Christians there. In the 1 Corinthians 12 to them, he gave biblical wisdom to help distinguish sense from nonsense when it comes to spiritual gifts.
Our instruction manual here says knowledge of spiritual gifts is a requirement to BUILD this BODY. Each of us must understand what part we play in the functioning of this body if it is to be healthy and strong and productive. So I think it is vital for us to look at the sense—the basic truth statements—that Paul has placed in this letter.
Let’s begin with a definition of terms.
We must first understand that there is a difference between the “GIFT” of the Holy Spirit and the “GIFTS” of the Holy Spirit. The GIFT —singular— is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit whereby He comes to take up residence in the believer’s heart the moment that person accepts Christ as Savior. Once you become a Christian, you never need MORE of the Holy Spirit. Now, all Christians struggle to give Christ control over more areas of their lives…to truly make Him LORD of all our thoughts, deeds, and actions..But it would be nonsense to say that any Christian needs a “2nd blessing” sometimes called “receiving the Holy Spirit” because all Christians already have the GIFT of the Holy Spirit. In Acts 2:38 Peter addresses people who want to become Christians and he says, “Repent and be baptized every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” So, THE GIFT of the Holy Spirit’s indwelling an individual is something all Christians have the moment they repent of their sin and commit themselves to Christ.
But the GIFTS —plural— of the Holy Spirit are something else. The “GIFTS” of the Holy Spirit are special abilities imparted to all Christians by the Holy Spirit for service in the church. So this morning I want us to examine four basic truths found here in the 1 Corinthians 12that will help us to make sense out of the subject of spiritual “GIFTS”.
1. First of all we must understand that they are literally “Gifts”.
In 1 Corinthians 12:4, Paul calls these gifts of the Spirit “The Charismata” which means “grace gifts.” And that is exactly what they are. They are GIFTS bestowed on us as Christians by the free, unmerited favor of God. Dr. Jack MacGorman says: “Charismatic gifts (and all spiritual gifts are charismatic) are handed down by the Spirit of God. They are not worked up by men.”
Since these are GIFTS–that means we don’t select them– 1 Corinthians 12:11 says that God’s Spirit distributes these gifts “to every man AS HE WILLS.” It is God who bestows spiritual gifts upon His children “AS HE WILLS.” As HE CHOOSES. That is why envy, boasting, feelings of superiority, etc. are so out of place in the churches. We have nothing to boast about. All that we have is GIVEN us by our gracious Lord. We didn’t receive our spiritual gifts as REWARDS for our deeds. They are not MERIT badges. They are not indications of spiritual excellence or superiority. They are given out to us “AS THE SPIRIT WILLS”
So there is no room for pride in the body of Christ. For when we see people using their gifts effectively, then what we are really seeing is God at work through us and rather than envy or pride we should be led to praise.
2. A second thing Paul said…these Gifts are varied…there are many kinds
In our text for today 13 different spiritual gifts are listed. There are three other lists of spiritual gifts found in the Bible, and other individual gifts are mentioned in various texts scattered throughout the New Testament, such as the gift of celibacy ( 1 Corinthians 7:7).
The gifts include: faith, wisdom, knowledge, ministry, miracles, healing, tongues, administration, exhortation, and much more. Since there are several lists, and they are all different, they are obviously intended to be only illustrative. If they were intended to be an exhaustive list, then they would all contain the same gifts. These lists seem to be only representative. Any spiritual gift God bestows could probably fit into one of these types, but the point Paul was making is that God bestows whatever “gift” is needed in each unique situation so that the body can fulfill its unique ministry. Scripture teaches that God gifts the body of Christ according to whatever is needed to minister to it’s unique mission field.
3. A third thing Paul says about Spiritual Gifts is this: every Christian has at least one…
No Christian has all the spiritual gifts on these lists, but every Christian has at least one. 1 Corinthians 12:7 Paul said that spiritual gifts are given to each one! So no Christians can say, “I can’t serve God; I don’t have any capacity or ability to serve Him.” You may not have discovered your spiritual gift but it is there waiting to be used. As authentic followers of Christ we have all been gifted with a “grace” gift of the Holy Spirit. And each and every one of these gifts is important, because….
4. Each of these various gifts is to be used as a vital part of the local body of Christ.
In 1 Peter 4:10 we read, “Whatever gift each of you may have received, use it in service to one another, like good stewards dispensing the grace of God.” Part of the purpose of these gifts is to remind us that we are one part of a larger body. 1 Corinthians 12:26 reminds all local churches that in a very real sense they are like a real physical body, “…if one member suffers, all the members suffer….if one member is honored, all the members rejoice.”
Our Spiritual gifts should remind us that we are part of a body. So you and I are not given our gifts for our own sake. This has very important implications for our church here in Derwood.
Since our gifts were given us so that we might function as an essential part of this local body of Christ, then that means that if even one gifted person fails to function, the body of Christ is deprived of a ministry it needs to function well. And the reverse is also true. If every member were walking in the Spirit, including the use of their particular spiritual gifts, there would be no weaknesses in this or any local body of believers.