Wednesday Devo
Scripture:
1Corinthians 12:7-11
7 A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. 8 To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. 9 The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. 10 He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. 11 It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.
7 A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. 8 To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. 9 The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. 10 He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. 11 It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.
Commentary:
12:4–6 Spirit … Lord … God. A Trinitarian reference to the Holy Spirit, the Lord Jesus, and God the Father (cf. 2 Cor. 13:14). The most common pattern in the NT Epistles is to refer to God the Father with the word “God” (Gk. Theos, which is the normal Septuagint translation for the OT Hb. ’Elohim, “God”) and to refer to God the Son with the word “Lord” (Gk. Kyrios, which is used in the Septuagint over 6,000 times to translate the OT Hb. name YHWH, “Yahweh” or “Lord”). Therefore both names are evidence of deity. The diversity of divine persons within the unity of the Trinity should be reflected in the diversity of gifts within the unity of the body of Christ in Corinth. (See also Eph. 4:3–16.) Therefore Paul wants the Corinthian church to understand how their unity can be enhanced by appreciating the variety of gifts God has given to them.
12:8 utterance of wisdom … utterance of knowledge. Some understand these to be miraculous gifts (“word of wisdom” and “word of knowledge”) by which a speaker is given supernatural “wisdom” or “knowledge” from God to impart to a situation. Others take these to be more “natural” gifts: the ability to speak wisely or with knowledge into a situation. The Greek expressions (logos sōphias and logos gnōseōs) occur nowhere else in the Bible, and Paul does not give any further explanation, so it is difficult to be certain. But since Paul already has a different, broader term that he uses to refer to speech based on something that God suddenly brings to mind (“prophecy”; see note on v. 10), the second view seems preferable.
12:9 faith. This is not the faith that all Christians have in Christ, since Paul implies that some Christians have it and others do not. It is probably a special endowment of faith for accomplishing some task (see 13:2; cf. Acts 14:9; James 5:15). gifts of healing. Both terms are plural (lit., “gifts of healings”), suggesting that different people may be gifted regarding different kinds of healing.
12:10 miracles. Probably the ability to work various kinds of miracles, including but not limited to healing (see Acts 8:13; 14:8–10; 19:11–12; Rom. 15:19; Gal. 3:5; Heb. 2:4). prophecy. The word “prophecy” (Gk. prophēteia) as used by Paul in 1 Corinthians refers generally to speech that reports something that God spontaneously brings to mind or “reveals” to the speaker but which is spoken in merely human words, not words of God. Therefore it can have mistakes and must be tested or evaluated (see 1 Cor. 12:29; 1 Thess. 5:19–21). An alternative view of this gift, held by some, is that it involves speaking the very words of God, with authority equal to the OT prophets and equal to the word of Scripture. A third view is that it is very similar to the gifts of preaching or teaching. This gift is widely indicated throughout the NT churches (see 1 Cor. 11:2–5; 12:28–29; 13:2, 8–9; 14:1–40; Acts 2:17–18; 11:27–28; 19:6; 21:9–11; Rom. 12:6; 1 Thess. 5:19–21; 1 Tim. 1:18; 4:14; 1 John 4:1). Prophecy is used to build up, encourage, and comfort the gathered community (1 Cor. 14:3). Prophecy is also used evangelistically to disclose the secrets of the hearts of unbelievers and lead them to worship God (14:24–25). Because God used this gift to build up the Christian community, Paul urged the Corinthians to value it highly (14:4–5, 39). distinguish between spirits. A special ability to distinguish between the influence of the Holy Spirit and the influence of demonic spirits in a person’s life. Those who claim to speak under the Spirit’s prompting could be mistaken, and so God also gives gifts of discernment to the Christian community (14:29; 1 Thess. 5:20–21; 1 John 4:1–3). tongues. Speech in a language the speaker does not know, and that sometimes does not follow the patterns of any known human language (1 Cor. 13:1). Paul sees this gift as a means of expressing prayer or praise to God (14:2, 14–17, 28; cf. Acts 10:46) in which the speaker’s human spirit is praying even though the speaker does not understand the meaning (see 1 Cor. 14:2, 11, 13–19, 23). The normally unintelligible nature of tongues makes their interpretation necessary if the gathered community is to be edified by them (14:1–25). Paul probably placed the last two gifts at the end of the list because an overemphasis on tongues in Corinth had led to the neglect of those with other gifts (12:14–26). See also vv. 28 and 30. Bible-believing Christians disagree as to whether the gift of tongues ceased after the apostolic age of the early church, or whether tongues is a spiritual gift that should continue to be practiced today. In either case, there is no indication that speaking in tongues is a normative requirement that all Christians must experience.
12:8 utterance of wisdom … utterance of knowledge. Some understand these to be miraculous gifts (“word of wisdom” and “word of knowledge”) by which a speaker is given supernatural “wisdom” or “knowledge” from God to impart to a situation. Others take these to be more “natural” gifts: the ability to speak wisely or with knowledge into a situation. The Greek expressions (logos sōphias and logos gnōseōs) occur nowhere else in the Bible, and Paul does not give any further explanation, so it is difficult to be certain. But since Paul already has a different, broader term that he uses to refer to speech based on something that God suddenly brings to mind (“prophecy”; see note on v. 10), the second view seems preferable.
12:9 faith. This is not the faith that all Christians have in Christ, since Paul implies that some Christians have it and others do not. It is probably a special endowment of faith for accomplishing some task (see 13:2; cf. Acts 14:9; James 5:15). gifts of healing. Both terms are plural (lit., “gifts of healings”), suggesting that different people may be gifted regarding different kinds of healing.
12:10 miracles. Probably the ability to work various kinds of miracles, including but not limited to healing (see Acts 8:13; 14:8–10; 19:11–12; Rom. 15:19; Gal. 3:5; Heb. 2:4). prophecy. The word “prophecy” (Gk. prophēteia) as used by Paul in 1 Corinthians refers generally to speech that reports something that God spontaneously brings to mind or “reveals” to the speaker but which is spoken in merely human words, not words of God. Therefore it can have mistakes and must be tested or evaluated (see 1 Cor. 12:29; 1 Thess. 5:19–21). An alternative view of this gift, held by some, is that it involves speaking the very words of God, with authority equal to the OT prophets and equal to the word of Scripture. A third view is that it is very similar to the gifts of preaching or teaching. This gift is widely indicated throughout the NT churches (see 1 Cor. 11:2–5; 12:28–29; 13:2, 8–9; 14:1–40; Acts 2:17–18; 11:27–28; 19:6; 21:9–11; Rom. 12:6; 1 Thess. 5:19–21; 1 Tim. 1:18; 4:14; 1 John 4:1). Prophecy is used to build up, encourage, and comfort the gathered community (1 Cor. 14:3). Prophecy is also used evangelistically to disclose the secrets of the hearts of unbelievers and lead them to worship God (14:24–25). Because God used this gift to build up the Christian community, Paul urged the Corinthians to value it highly (14:4–5, 39). distinguish between spirits. A special ability to distinguish between the influence of the Holy Spirit and the influence of demonic spirits in a person’s life. Those who claim to speak under the Spirit’s prompting could be mistaken, and so God also gives gifts of discernment to the Christian community (14:29; 1 Thess. 5:20–21; 1 John 4:1–3). tongues. Speech in a language the speaker does not know, and that sometimes does not follow the patterns of any known human language (1 Cor. 13:1). Paul sees this gift as a means of expressing prayer or praise to God (14:2, 14–17, 28; cf. Acts 10:46) in which the speaker’s human spirit is praying even though the speaker does not understand the meaning (see 1 Cor. 14:2, 11, 13–19, 23). The normally unintelligible nature of tongues makes their interpretation necessary if the gathered community is to be edified by them (14:1–25). Paul probably placed the last two gifts at the end of the list because an overemphasis on tongues in Corinth had led to the neglect of those with other gifts (12:14–26). See also vv. 28 and 30. Bible-believing Christians disagree as to whether the gift of tongues ceased after the apostolic age of the early church, or whether tongues is a spiritual gift that should continue to be practiced today. In either case, there is no indication that speaking in tongues is a normative requirement that all Christians must experience.
Questions:
- When we accept Jesus as our Savior, we are given the gift of the Holy Spirit who now lives inside us. And He doesn't come empty handed! He gives each one of us several spiritual gifts. These are not natural talents that we are born with. They are spiritual gifts that we receive when we are born again. Over time we are to use these gifts to serve the church and to grow in the gifts as we grow in obedience. Michael Bird said, "A spiritual gift is an empowerment from God for God’s people through the Spirit for spiritual work in the church. Some gifts appear to magnify ordinary attitudes and talents (e.g., leadership, generosity, helping), while other gifts are out of the ordinary and have a supernatural quality (e.g., prophecy, tongues, etc.)" Do you know what your spiritual gifts are? Has anyone ever confirmed that gift in you?
- If you've never taken a spiritual gifts test, or if it's been a while, take one now! Go to the prayer tab in our app and you'll find a link there to a test. Are you surprised by the results? How can you better serve the church with those gifts? One of the best places to use our gifts is in the context of a small group. Go to the City Groups tab and fill out the form under Find Me A Group!
Pray:
- That you would discover and use your spiritual gifts.
- That you would look for opportunities to be of use for the Kingdom.
This Week's City 7:
Try to commit to memory!
1. Who is Jesus? I believe Jesus is God because Jesus said He is God and proved it by rising from the dead and appearing to His disciples, His brother James, 500 others at one time and Paul.
(Mark 3:21; John 8:58, 10:30-33, 14:9-11; Acts 9:1-6; 1 Corinthians 15:3-8; Colossians 1:15-20; Hebrews 1:2-3; James 1:1)
(Mark 3:21; John 8:58, 10:30-33, 14:9-11; Acts 9:1-6; 1 Corinthians 15:3-8; Colossians 1:15-20; Hebrews 1:2-3; James 1:1)
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