I Corinthians Chapter 12
Paul reminded the Corinthian church that they had a past of pagan idolatry. This did not prepare them for an understanding of spiritual gifts that God had blessed them with. Their past experiences made them ignorant of spiritual workings of God. Paul taught that every spiritual gift relates to Jesus Christ and if the gift did not proclaim that Jesus is God, then the gift was not of God.
Jesus said that when the Holy Spirit comes, He will testify of me. John 15:26 But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. It is important to know that the Holy Spirit does not have one message and Jesus another.
Let's Reflect
1. Paul reminded them that their past worship was to pagan idols that were dumb or mute – they could not speak. This shows the ignorance of their worship. Now they were called by God in the spirit to worship a God who is alive. What is the only message that can be pronounced by the spirit within a believer?
2. The overall meaning of verses 4-6 is that there may be a lot of different gifts but there is only one Holy Spirit. There are gifts – this encompasses both ministries and activities, ministries– gifted offices within the church (see chapter 4), a standing position, and activities– active, miraculous supernatural working of power. All spiritual gifts are empowered by whom? This is not an exhaustive list of the gifts that the Holy Spirit provides.
3. Different people have different gifts within the body, but all of the gifts are of the Holy Spirit. Someone might see another person who has the gift of preaching and think that because they themselves do not have that gift, then they do not belong to the body of Christ. What did Paul have to say about this in verses 14-20?
4. In verse 8 Paul mentions a gift of the “word of wisdom” – this is the Spirit speaking through a person. When explaining the Bible a Pastor might get an understanding of a passage from the Holy Spirit. He is then able to relay those words of the Holy Spirit while speaking his message. He speaks as a channel of the Holy Spirit. This comes with discernment, experience, and humility. Someone who has a “word of knowledge” has an understanding of scripture through time spent studying the Bible. Both gifts are given to people by whom?
5. Paul speaks to the importance of each of the gifts of the body of Christ. Is one gift more important than another? For example, if someone has the gift of encouragement and uses their gift to send greeting cards to people in the church; is that gift less important than the gift of preaching?
6. What does God want believers to recognize when considering the different gifts of believers in the church? See verses 25-26.
7. In verses 27-30 Paul is not contradicting himself regarding the importance of the differing gifts. He is showing again that God has created order even with the gifts given in the body of Christ. The gift of apostles (or pastor/shepherd) is handed out first because the body of believers needs a shepherd to lead them. All believers have a spiritual gift, but Paul says it is right and good that we would want even more gifts. We want higher gifts, meaning that we get more of Jesus. To earnestly desire more of Jesus through gifts of the Spirit is what? See verse 31.
Devotionals
