Lesson for August 14, 2022
The Book of I Corinthians
Chapter 12:1-31
Verses 1-3
“Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware. You know that when you were pagans, you were led astray to the mute idols, however you were led. Therefore, I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, ‘Jesus is accursed;’ and no one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit.”
This chapter is about the use and the misuse of spiritual gifts in the church at Corinth. There was a group of arrogant believers who thought they were superior to everyone else in the congregation, which they were not. Misusing spiritual gifts or ignorance of the doctrine of spiritual gifts resulted in divisions in the church.
Speaking by the Spirit of God indicated a believer was in fellowship with God, which results in the filling of the Holy Spirit. If a believer calls Jesus accursed, they are out of fellowship with God the moment they think He is accursed. However, when believers are in fellowship with God and filled with the Holy Spirit as a result, they can say Jesus is Lord (deity). The Corinthian believers who had been deceived by the Judaizers were teaching that Christ’s work on the Cross was not enough. They were teaching that a person also needed to keep the Law of Moses. By believing this false doctrine, they were, in effect, calling Christ accursed.
Verses 4-6
“Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons.”
It is God the Holy Spirit Who gives spiritual gifts to believers. He is the One Who determines which gift or gifts a believer receives. Every believer has at least one spiritual gift. However, there are a variety of spiritual gifts within the body of Christ, and all are important. The Greek word for giftswhich is “charisma” meaning grace gift. The Greek word indicates that all spiritual gifts are a matter of God’s grace, and no one earns or deserves them. Possessing a certain spiritual gift is not given as a result of merit or because one believer is better than anyone else. Spiritual gifts are given at the moment of salvation. Some of the gifts were temporary and some are permanent. (Romans 12:8ff; 1 Corinthians 12:28; Ephesians 4:11-12)
Verses 7-11
“But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.”
The manifestation of the Spirit refers to how a spiritual gift manifests itself in the life of a believer. For the common good means to bring things together for the benefit of everyone. Spiritual gifts benefit everyone in the church when they are properly used. Paul listed certain temporary spiritual gifts that were operational within the local church at Corinth and pointed out how they were or could be misused.
The word of wisdom was the ability to understand and properly apply doctrine not yet a part of the Canon of Scripture. This gift accompanied the gift of the word of knowledge as the ability to explain and apply known Bible doctrine. This spiritual gift was the ability to evaluate a problem objectively in the light of known truth and arrive at a solution in order to communicate that solution to others.
The word of knowledge was the ability to categorize Bible doctrine before the Canon of Scripture was completed. The knowledge of Bible doctrine came by direct revelation from the Holy Spirit, as in the case of Paul. It was for the express purpose of teaching doctrine to others accurately.
The gift of faith was a companion gift to the spiritual gifts of miracles and healing. It meant the one performing the miracle or healing had faith that God would perform it. It had nothing to do with the faith of the person being healed.
The gifts of healing were to bring physical, mental, or spiritual health. This was a temporary spiritual gift. Paul had the gift of healing and if people touched Paul they were healed or if he said, “be healed,” they were healed. That was the gift of healing and designed to focus attention on the Gospel. (Acts 19:11-12) Later, Paul’s friend, Epaphroditus, was very sick and dying and Paul could not heal him, according to Philippians 2:25-27. Then on another occasion, Paul had to leave one of his friends behind because he was ill, according to I Timothy 4:20. These verses show Paul no longer had the gift of healing as he once did.
The gift of working miracles was also a temporary spiritual gift designed to confirm the authority and authenticity of the spoken word by the apostles. God can still perform miracles as He wills, but no human being has this gift today. (Hebrews 2:1-4)
The gift of prophecy was necessary for the completion of the Canon of Scripture, and it ceased when the Canon was finished around 96 A.D. Therefore, this was a temporary spiritual gift. The spiritual gift of prophecy before the last book of the Bible was completed gave a man the ability to know and teach accurate Bible doctrine, and in some cases foretell coming events.
The gift of distinguishing (discerning) spirits was the temporary spiritual gift of distinguishing accurate doctrine from false doctrine. Before the Bible existed, there were those with the ability to know whether a teaching was biblically or doctrinally correct, or not – whether it was from the Holy Spirit or Satan.
The gift of tongues was the temporary spiritual gift of speaking the Gospel in a foreign language not previously known by the person with the gift.
The gift of interpretation of tongues was the temporary spiritual gift of translating what was said in a foreign language not previously known by the person with the gift to the language of those hearing the foreign language.
Verses 14-21
“For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot says, “Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. And if the ear says, “Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired. If they were all one member, where would the body be? But now there are many members, but one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; or again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”
Paul addressed unity within the body of Christ with regard to spiritual gifts. He used an analogy of the human body and how it should function. All believers are in union with Christ but not all believers have the same spiritual gifts. It takes a variety of spiritual gifts for the church to function properly.
For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, The baptism of the Holy Spirit results in a union, which never existed for believers before the Church Age. Being placed in union with Christ is called Positional Sanctification, which describes our new relationship with God through Christ. The baptism of the Holy Spirit sets up the potential for believers to make their daily experience align with their position in Christ. This means that believers are to exhibit the character of Jesus Christ on a daily basis by means of the power of the Holy Spirit Who is indwelling us. (John 14:20; I Corinthians 12:12-27)
For the body is not one member, but many brings out the concept of a team – members of the body of Christ. Every believer is a part of the body of Christ because we are all in union with Him. Because we are in union with Christ, the Holy Spirit has sovereignly given each believer at least one spiritual gift. Your spiritual gift determines your function on the team. All believers are equal positionally but experientially believers are different, depending on their attitude toward God and His Word.
If the foot says, “Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. And if the ear says, “Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? Here we have members of the body mentioned: the foot and the hand, the ear, and the eye. Paul used this analogy to demonstrate that every spiritual gift in the body of Christ is important. If the foot says because I’m not a hand, I’m not part of the body, does that mean the hand is not important to the body? The same is true of the ear saying it’s not the eye and is therefore not important. Paul sarcastically said what if the whole body was an eye or an ear, how could it hear or smell! All body parts are essential for the body to operate as God intended.
Verses 21-26
“On the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary; and those members of the body which we deem less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant honor, and our less presentable members become much more presentable, whereas our more presentable members have no need of it. But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked, so that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.”
The issue in the Corinthian church was there were those who thought they were spiritually superior because of their spiritual gift. Paul spent a great deal of time explaining to them that all the spiritual gifts were necessary and no one gift was superior to the other. So-called “lesser gifts” may not have been seen or acknowledged by others, but they were acknowledged by God and His acknowledgment is what counts.
And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. Spiritual gifts are distributed by God the Holy Spirit for the greatest impact for Jesus Christ. The function of all spiritual gifts should be recognized as equally important so that the church doesn’t experience the type of divisions that were occurring in Corinth. If one part of the body suffers, the entire body suffers. Likewise, when one part of the body rejoices, the entire body rejoices! For example, if a member of a local congregation is grieving over a tragic event, like the loss of a loved one, the entire church cares and grieves with them. On the other hand, when a member of the local congregation is happy over a joyous event, like the birth of a child, the entire church rejoices with them.
Verses 27-31
“Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues. All are not apostles, are they? All are not prophets, are they? All are not teachers, are they? All are not workers of miracles, are they? All do not have gifts of healings, do they? All do not speak with tongues, do they? All do not interpret, do they? But earnestly desire the greater gifts. And I show you a still more excellent way.”
Everyone has a specific function in the body of Christ, depending upon their spiritual gift. This is the only passage in which the spiritual gifts are listed in order of importance. This indicates that some spiritual gifts are more necessary long term than other spiritual gifts. This is the reason that there are temporary and permanent spiritual gifts.
And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues. The highest of all spiritual gifts was the gift of apostleship. This gift was of extreme importance when believers were transitioning from the Age of Israel and the Mosaic Law to the Church Age and the Law of Christ. The gift of apostleship was temporary once local churches had been established and the Canon of Scripture was completed in 96 A.D. The spiritual gift of prophecy was also temporary and ceased to be necessary upon the completion of the Canon. Forthtelling and foretelling events not yet recorded in the Canon of Scripture and teaching Bible doctrine were needed as the early church was being established.
The list of miracles, healings, helps, administrations, and tongues were also important. These spiritual gifts were important, but establishing churches by the apostles and teaching by pastors-teachers was more important. None of the spectacular gifts like miracles, healings, or tongues are still operational. The service gifts of administration and helps continued to be necessary and are operational today within the local church.
But earnestly desire the greater gifts. And I show you a still more excellent way. “Earnestly desire” is a command and was addressed to the entire local church rather than an individual believer. As a church, the Corinthians should have been desiring that the best spiritual gifts of apostleship and pastor/teacher were being used among them so that they could learn and grow spiritually.