Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.
There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.
Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.
This whole section of Paul’s letter, from chapter 12 through chapter 14, is about πνευματικῶν, spiritual matters.
Paul begins by saying that there is at least one thing a Spirit-empowered person won’t do. (12:1-3) No one speaking by the Spirit of God will ever say, “Jesus be cursed.”
Paul mentions that before his readers came to faith in Christ, they were led astray to the worship of idols that could not even speak. No one knows if what Paul is suggesting here is that pagans, in a moment of supposed spiritual ecstasy, cursed Jesus. We do not know if that ever happened in first century Corinth. But we do know that before Paul met Jesus on the road to Damascus, he tried to make the Christians blaspheme by cursing Jesus. (Acts 26:11) This same thing happened later when the Roman Empire persecuted the Christians; the Roman authorities tried to get the Christians to curse Jesus and thus renounce their faith.
The bottom line is this: no Christian, no person empowered by the Holy Spirit will ever pronounce a curse on the name of Jesus. Such a thing is impossible. The one who has been bought by the blood of Jesus and filled with the Spirit of Jesus cannot curse the most beloved name they know.
Now, what Paul was talking about was certainly different than our contemporary phenomenon where people use the name of Jesus as a curse word. Some people are so accustomed to speaking in this way that they simply don’t think, they are not fully aware of what they are doing. Though Paul is talking about something slightly different, I also do not see how a person in whom Christ is living by the Holy Spirit can use the precious name of Jesus as a curse word.
Now, if you have become accustomed to using the name of God or the name of Jesus as a curse word, and you become a Christian, it may take time for the Spirit to help you change your language. But the Spirit will help you to do that.
The second point Paul makes is that there is at least one thing only a Spirit-empowered person can do. Paul tells us that no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” without the help of the Holy Spirit.
Certainly, it is possible for anyone to say those three words in succession: “Jesus is Lord.” Even a parrot can be taught to do that, and it doesn’t mean anything. But no one can truly say the words, “Jesus is Lord,” and mean those words without the help of the Holy Spirit. When we say “Jesus is Lord” or “Jesus is my Lord” we are acknowledging that Jesus is God, and he is our leader and forgiver.
This statement, “Jesus is Lord,” was the earliest confession of the early church. Long before the Apostles’ Creed or the Nicene Creed was formed, this was the confession of the early Christians. This is what people confessed before they were baptized. Paul says in Romans 10:9,
If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
You can go to the bank on that one. In fact, you can go to heaven on that statement. Do you want to be as sure of heaven as if you were already there? If so, confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead and you will be saved. No doubt about it. That is the essence of what we do every time someone joins this church as a member. They do so by profession of their personal faith in Jesus Christ. And that’s what is most important about membership. When you join the church, you are not joining a club. You are joining a family. And that process gives you the wonderful opportunity to make a public profession of your love for Jesus.
In Philippians 2:10-11 Paul says that one day every knee will bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. But why wait until then? How much better to confess your love for Jesus now. How much better to begin a relationship with Jesus now and know all the benefits of such a relationship from this day forward!
Ultimately, I think everyone will make one of these statements. One day we will be asked, just as on the game show, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, “Is that your final answer?” And our final answer will be either: “Jesus be cursed” or “Jesus is Lord”. In this life it seems like there should be lots of wiggle room. Some people say, “Well, Jesus was a good teacher.” That’s sort of like saying, “Jesus was a nice guy.” Others say, “Well, but Jesus was a prophet. I acknowledge that.” I say, “Good.” But one day that will not be enough. One day we will have to decide. Either Jesus is Lord, or he isn’t.
The third major thing Paul tells us in these verses is that there are a variety of gifts. The word Paul uses is χαρισμάτων. That word means that every spiritual gift is a gift of grace.
Paul has another, wonderful, Trinitarian statement here. Gifts, service, and working are three words for the same thing. And Spirit, Lord, and God are three different names for the same being. One God in three persons: Spirit, Lord, and God, or as we more usually say: Spirit, Son, and Father.
Furthermore, Paul says all spiritual gifts are for the common good. God doesn’t give us spiritual gifts for our own entertainment or our own use or our own boasting. The gifts God gives us are for others.
Many years ago, Becky was working for a company that shared office space with a church. And more than once we heard the pastor in his office with the door closed listening to recordings of his own sermons. I cannot imagine doing the same thing myself. Yes, I have listened to myself from time to time. But usually only moments at a time. That’s all I can take. No one likes to listen to their own voice, do they? I know I certainly don’t. Whatever gifts God has given me, they are for others. And the gifts God has given you are for others.
Now, Paul mentions nine specific spiritual gifts in these verses. Later, he will mention more. This list is not exhaustive. There are at least three other lists of spiritual gifts in the New Testament, in Romans 12:6-8, Ephesians 4: 7-11, and 1 Peter 4:7-11. And these lists when compared are all slightly different. Then there are spiritual gifts mentioned in the Hebrew Scriptures. None of these lists are exhaustive either by themselves or when you put them all together. Why do I say this? Why am I so sure? Because Paul says, “All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.”
If the Spirit gives these gifts as he determines then the Spirit can hand out gifts to people whenever or wherever and for however long that he wants. You are no better than anyone else and no worse than anyone else if you have one spiritual gift versus another. That is all up to the Spirit. The thing that counts is what we do with the gifts God gives us. And one basic principle to follow when it comes to spiritual gifts is: use it or lose it!
Now, let’s look at the nine gifts Paul mentions here. These nine gifts fall into three different categories:
- Gifts of knowing (wisdom, knowledge, discerning of spirits)
- Gifts of doing (healing, miracles, faith)
- Gifts of speaking (tongues, interpretation, prophecy)
Let’s look first at the gifts of knowing. First there is a word of wisdom. The best book I have ever read on the Gifts of the Spirit is I Believe in the Holy Spirit by Michael Green. In that book he says that the word of wisdom is a:
… spoken application to some particular situation of the wisdom God has been gifting us with through his Spirit. That wisdom is a settled disposition of mind, generally to be found in someone who has long companied with the Lord. It is a gift which enables a Christian to draw on a broad understanding of the purposes of God, the Scriptures, and supremely of Jesus and his cross, and to speak appropriately with wise utterances for the building up of members of the Christian Body. A precious gift indeed.
As Mark Twain is reported to have said, “Good decisions come from experience. Experience comes from making bad decisions.” Bottom line: wisdom comes from experience. And the ability to speak wisdom appropriately comes from the Holy Spirit and experience.
The second gift of knowing that Paul mentions is a word of knowledge. Michael Green defines this gift as “a revelatory word from God for the benefit of others… a specific utterance that comes directly from God and cuts to the heart of the recipient.” I have seen this sort of gift in operation, where a Christian is given knowledge by revelation from God of a situation that he or she otherwise could have known nothing about.
But I think the word of knowledge can also operate in a more humdrum fashion. Some Christians have the Spirit-empowered ability to study more than others. They obtain knowledge through reading that is both broad and deep. I believe it is a spiritual gift to be able to take such knowledge and speak it in ways that are helpful to the body of Christ, the Church.
The third gift of knowing mentioned here is discernings of spirits. Green says,
This is not just spiritual discernment in the broad sense of the term, but the varied abilities that are needed to discern whether a spirit is from God or not. In a church as charismatically alive as Corinth it was a gift of crucial importance.
I find that these days many people are into spirituality. Many seem willing to pursue whatever spiritual path is on the market, except for Christianity. What never seems to occur to some people is that there is evil in the spiritual realm just as there is evil in our physical realm. How does one know whether one is getting in touch with a good spirit or a bad spirit? This is where spiritual discernment comes into play. Such discernment is very much needed today.
The second category of gifts is that of doing. And the first doing gift is that of healing. I believe that all the gifts of the Spirit are for today just as much as they were for the first century. The Holy Spirit can distribute the gifts when, where, and however he chooses to do so.
The gift of healing is just what it sounds like. It is the gift of being able to heal others physically, emotionally, spiritually, by means of a word or a touch or a simple prayer. We see this gift at work in Jesus and his disciples. And I see no indication that this gift has ever ceased.
At the same time, I believe the purpose of this gift is to draw people to Jesus for salvation. That is the ultimate healing. If our bodies are healed and if we could even live forever, physically speaking, what good would that be without a relationship with Jesus Christ?
A second gift of doing that Paul mentions here is the gift of miraculous powers. The Greek phrase is ἐνεργήματα δυνάμεων and literally means inworkings of powers. Some people believe this refers to the gift of exorcism, being able to free people from the influence of demons. I believe such ministry is just as real today as it was 2000 years ago, and I have seen the results of it.
But exorcism may not be the only reference here. We get our English word, dynamite, from the Greek word, δυνάμεων. I believe that some Christians have the spiritual gift of dynamiting their way through spiritual opposition and accomplishing great things for God’s kingdom.
A third gift of doing is the gift of faith. Now we are all called to have faith, which is simply trust in God and in his Son Jesus Christ. Faith is of the essence of being a Christian. But in addition to this broad sense of faith, some Christians, I believe, have a special ability to trust God for great things.
I think of people like George Mueller who, in the 1800s, ran an orphanage in Bristol, England. Mueller never asked for money but always prayed and trusted God to provide for the needs of the orphanage. And God did provide! That is an outstanding example of the exercise of the gift of faith.
You say, “Well I wish more churches and other organizations operated like that!” Maybe so. But I also see wisdom in something my father used to say to me, “There is a time to pray, and there is a time to ask.”
The third and final category of spiritual gifts in this section of 1 Corinthians 12 is the speaking gifts. First there is the gift of speaking in tongues. Paul is going to talk about this gift at length later in this section of his letter, so I won’t say much here other than to define the term. Speaking in tongues refers to the gift of being able to speak in a language one has not learned. This gift was first given on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was poured out on the Church in Jerusalem fifty days after Jesus’ resurrection. In Acts 2:4 we read, “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” And then we read of the Jews from all over the world who were gathered in Jerusalem for the Feast of Pentecost, that “each one heard their own language being spoken.” So, there may have been miraculous speaking as well as miraculous hearing going on in this instance. The reference in Acts seems to be to a gift of speaking human languages that the speakers had not previously learned. However, in 1 Corinthians the reference seems to be to speaking an angelic or Spirit language, if one can even call it a language. The technical term for it is “glossolalia”. It is a phenomenon found in other religions other than Christianity. People who have studied it have found, as Michael Green says, that it is…
… fundamentally not a language, in spite of superficial similarities. It is a sort of pseudo-language, a form of precognitive speech, which is not filtered through the mind’s orderly arrangement of syntax and vocabulary.
In short, speaking in tongues sounds like babble. But the Christians I know who speak in tongues find it to be of spiritual benefit to them in prayer even though they can’t fully define it. It is somewhat mysterious.
Then a second gift in this category is the interpretation of tongues. This is the ability to interpret, or translate, tongues into a comprehensible and beneficial message. I have also seen this gift practiced in the local church. One person might speak out in an unintelligible tongue, and another will be given the gift to interpret what the first person is saying. Again, Paul will have more to say about this later.
Then finally there is the gift of prophecy. Usually when people here this word they think of foretelling, someone being able to predict the future. This gift does, sometimes, include foretelling. Jesus had this gift. But this spiritual gift also includes forth-telling, telling forth the good news of Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul will have more to say about this gift later.
For now, let me conclude by addressing a question you might have. How do I discover my spiritual gift or gifts? Well, I think there are a few things you can do. First, you can take a test. There are many spiritual gift inventories out there. I discovered one recently that I thought was a good one online at https://giftstest.com. Secondly, and more importantly, ask those closest to you what they see as your spiritual gifts. Spiritual gifts are not the same as talents, necessarily, but spiritual gifts may also build upon one’s natural talents. The difference would be that many natural talents are given us at birth; they come with the kit of being human. Spiritual gifts are given us at re-birth when we receive the Holy Spirit and are born again. Finally, if you want to discover your spiritual gift or gifts I would recommend getting involved in some ministry, and maybe trying some different ministries to see what you enjoy most and what you are best at.
When I was in eleventh grade my parents challenged me to try different things and see what I was good at. That challenge led me to try out for a school play. I surprised myself and got the lead part. Then I also got more involved serving in my church, first through preaching on Youth Sunday, then through teaching a fifth grade Sunday School class. Through all these experiences, and many more, I discovered a speaking gift and began to use that gift for the good of the church. God will do the same and more for you as you step out in faith.
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