But concerning spiritual [manifestations], brethren, I do not wish you to be ignorant.
Paul's letter turns a corner here. He takes up a fresh question the Corinthians had sent him, and he refuses to leave them uninformed. Two things are at stake: what the word translated "spiritual" really covers, and why being ignorant of it is dangerous.
The words "now concerning" mark a turn. Paul stops dealing with the problems he has been correcting and starts answering the questions they wrote to him.
From the first verse of chapter 7 we gather that Paul sat down to write this letter as a reply. The Corinthians had sent him a letter of enquiry earlier. When he wrote, there were graver and more urgent matters to deal with first, and these fill up chapters 1 to 6. He now turns to their enquiries. We find the words "Now concerning" repeated at the start of 1 Cor. 8, 1 Cor. 12 and 1 Cor. 16. They had clearly written with questions about marriage, things offered to idols, spiritual gifts and collections.
Many English Bibles add the word "gifts" after "spiritual." Commentators say translators supplied it, and that it narrows Paul's meaning.
Notice that the translators added the word "gifts." Nor is it correct. The subject includes gifts, but it goes further. It takes in what is of far deeper importance, as the source of it all: the presence of the Spirit, working in the sovereign power of a divine person in the church and through its members. Perhaps "spirituals" would give the idea if our language could bear it without any addition. If we must supply a word for clarity, it should be "manifestations" rather than "gifts."
That wider word changes what the chapter is about. Paul's subject is not only what the Spirit produces, but the Spirit Himself.
It is not only the effects produced, whether in the way of power or of grace. Above all there is the first, parent truth, the centre of it all: the Holy Spirit Himself, come down to be here for the glory of the Lord Jesus in the assembly. The apostle is not discussing the personal state of those who form part of that assembly. He is discussing the Spirit's action in each and all.
This sets an order of importance. The gifts matter, but the Giver matters more, and He is a Person present among His people.
The presence of the Spirit is more important than even the gifts He distributes and directs. It is what forms the one body. The assembly is bound to own it and act on it — and that is exactly what the Christian world has in effect denied since the apostles.
Paul says plainly what he wants them to know. He traces it all back to its source and its purpose, and he starts by reminding them what they used to be.
So the apostle wants them to know the source, character, and purpose of all that flows from the Spirit in the assembly. He wants them to know how the Spirit shows Himself in each member of Christ. And first, he reminds them of the pitiful state they were in as pagans.
Their past matters because the same enemy is still at work. The answer is not better feelings but faith in who is present.
There was a danger for them, and there may be one for us, because we are members of that one body… The reality of Satan's power is a solemn lesson to all of us. The change was not merely from bad affections to kind and good ones. The spirit of the enemy is at work to lower His name. The Holy Spirit, on the other hand, is here for the express purpose of maintaining the glory of the Lord. We cannot enjoy this without faith… God looks for faith in the action of the Holy Spirit in the assembly.
This is not the only place Paul says it. He wrote the same to church after church.
There is no excuse for a Christian's ignorance in relation to the interests of Christ. Paul urged believers in Christ again and again to be intelligent and not ignorant (Rom. 1:13; Rom. 11:25; 1 Cor. 10:1; 1 Cor. 12:1; 2 Cor. 1:8; 1 Thess. 4:13). Paul prayed that the believers at Colossae might have "spiritual understanding" (Col. 1:9). Clearly a Christian should want this kind of understanding more than any other.
- Question. "Now concerning" signals a reply to a letter the Corinthians had sent; the same phrase opens chapters 7, 8, 12 and 16.
- Word. Translators supplied "gifts." Paul's own word is wider — "spirituals," or at least "manifestations."
- Person. Widen the word and the Giver comes into view. The Holy Spirit Himself is here for the glory of the Lord Jesus, and He counts for more than any gift He gives.
- Danger. Ignorance here is not harmless. The enemy who once led them still works to lower Christ's name.
- Duty. Paul refused to leave believers uninformed. Every Christian is meant to learn how the Spirit works. It is not optional.
Ye know that when ye were [of the] nations [ye were] led away to dumb idols, in whatever way ye might be led.
Paul is about to explain how the Spirit of God works in the church. First he takes the Corinthians back to what they used to be. The verse remembers pagan Corinth: idols that could not speak, and worshippers driven by a power they never chose.
One writer notes that Paul leads them back to what they were, and that the reminder is good for any reader.
Before His positive teaching on the Spirit and His workings, he leads them back in memory to what they once were by nature. It is good for us to be reminded of this often. A lazy familiarity with truth can tempt us to forget what kind of people we both were and are.
Mute means the idols could not speak. Older wording in the quotes below calls them "dumb." That silence sets up the contrast. One commentator draws out both sides of it: what they were dragged into, and who God turned out to be.
He says "when you were pagans," not "that you were pagans." It told them nothing new to say they were pagans. In those days it was not merely a leading. It was a carrying away to what they would now look back on with pain, seeing its extreme folly and its boldness. It was Satan's direct opposition to the truth of God. They would learn that the true God is nothing like a dumb idol. He has spoken to us by His Son. And by His Spirit He opens mouths that were once silent, so that they speak for Jesus Christ the Lord.
The phrase describes people moved along without knowing what moved them. Their ignorance of the true God left nothing to steady them.
They had no solid hope to rest their souls on, because they did not know the God who made them. So they gave way to their own delusions. His power and divine nature appealed to their consciences from almost every object they saw, yet they stayed in guilty ignorance of Him. So they were carried away to these dumb idols, however they were led. Their own natural instincts drew them, and behind that was the strong hand of the ruler of the darkness of this world.
Being led is not the problem. Blind following is. The same difference applies to how a Christian follows those who guide him.
Not a blind following of them, as when they were heathen (1 Cor. 12:2) following dumb idols. Are you to be led blindfold? No; you are to be led intelligently. "No one can say 'Jesus is Lord' except in the Holy Spirit."
Their old background made them easy targets for a counterfeit of the Spirit's power.
Most of the Christians at Corinth had been poor Gentiles. They had no discernment, and the enemy's delusions led them about like fools. So they were in greater danger of being deceived again the same way. The Spirit of God gives force to the truth in a man's heart and clears his moral sight. When a man is not filled with that Spirit, the enemy's seductive power dazzles his imagination. He loves marvels, however unbelieving he may be about the truth.
The mistake mirrors a sin recorded in the Gospels.
The Spirit of God worked in our Lord Jesus, and the Jews said the power came from Beelzebub, the prince of the demons (Matt. 12:22-32). That was the unpardonable sin. Today the danger is the opposite sin: calling the power of Satan the Holy Spirit of God. This glaring error was a danger in the early church too. In a pagan city like Corinth, believers were especially open to demons speaking among them as oracles.
Paul is not shaming them. He is naming the raw material grace worked with.
And who are they? Men who had been worshippers of dumb idols (1 Cor. 12:2). Gentiles, distant outsiders. "Such were some of you," he adds, after describing many kinds of evildoers (1 Cor. 6:9-11). What a company! Surely the worst of Corinth! Totally unable to reform themselves, but described as "washed, sanctified, justified in the name of the Lord Jesus."
- Mute — the idols could not speak. The verse turns on that silence, and on a God who speaks.
- Dragged — they were not merely led but carried away, and would later look back on it with pain.
- Blind — they did not know the true God, so a power they never chose moved them along.
- Vulnerable — that same background left them open to counterfeits. The modern error is to credit Satan's power to the Spirit of God.
- Delivered — idol worshippers became "washed, sanctified, justified." God opened their mouths to call Jesus Lord.
I give you therefore to know, that no one, speaking in [the power of the] Spirit of God, says, Curse [on] Jesus; and no one can say, Lord Jesus, unless in [the power of the] Holy Spirit.
Paul turns from food, worship and order in the church to what he calls "spiritual things." He opens with a test the Corinthians can use on the spot. In a city full of shrines and oracles the danger was real. How do you tell a voice moved by the Spirit of God from a voice moved by something else?
Verse 2 has just reminded these believers what they used to be — swept along to idols that could not speak a word back. One writer sets the true God against those idols:
They would learn that the true God is nothing like a dumb idol. He has spoken to us by His Son. And by His Spirit He opens mouths that were once dumb, so that they speak for Jesus Christ the Lord.
In the early meetings, men spoke as inspired. Not every one of them drew on the same source:
The enemy used the same tactics in the early days of the church. He brought men into the public meetings of believers who really did speak by inspiration — but their inspiration came from demons, not from the Holy Spirit. So Paul lays down the test in 1 Corinthians 12:3. The confession of Jesus as LORD is the test. Many accounts could be given to prove that this test always works. It never fails. In today's spiritist seances, demons often say things that sound noble and beautiful, but they will never own Jesus as Lord.
The first half of the test raises a question. Jesus did bear a curse — so who put Him under it?
No such man calls Jesus "accursed." No one puts Him under the curse, except at the cross. God did it there, as we know, when Jesus died for our sins. But no man speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus Himself accursed. And no one can say that Jesus is Lord except through the Holy Spirit.
"Lord" may sound like the smallest thing you could say about Christ. That is exactly the point:
He takes up the lowest way of honouring Christ. Of course, to say "Lord" is far from the highest way of naming Christ. It is what everyone is called to own when they part company with the world, repent and believe the gospel... So it was the very first confession all through Acts. No one was owned as a Christian until he owned Jesus as Lord... But "the Lord" means that He is the one God has exalted. God did not only raise Him from the dead; He set Him over everything.
The verse names only two places for the name of Jesus. What about everyone who seems to stand in between?
If the name of Jesus is not given the highest honour, freely and sincerely, then its only other place is utter contempt... Between "accursed" and "Lord" there is no other place it can rightly hold. There seems to be a wide space between a living, worshipping faith and a deliberate, outright denial of that name. When the Spirit weighs a person's character, He treats that space as nothing and as a deception. For Him men are believers or unbelievers, confessors or deniers of the Lord.
Anyone can say the words. One writer presses that on people who use the title every day:
But you say, "we say it all the time — that Jesus is the Lord. We are always talking about 'the Lord Jesus Christ.'" ... The flesh rebels against His Lordship over us. Our hearts are not willing to submit to His authority. We would rather choose our own path than walk in the one He has marked out for us.
Commentators differ on how far this verse reaches. Some use it as a personal test of who is really a Christian. This writer says Paul's subject here is narrower:
An unclean spirit would not say "Lord Jesus," and the Spirit of God could not call Jesus accursed. But the question here is about spirits. It is not about conversion, and not about the need for grace to work in the heart before anyone can truly confess the name of Jesus. That need is very real, as we know, but it is not the subject here.
- Lord over dumb idols — idols never spoke back. The true God has spoken by His Son, and He opens once-silent mouths to speak for Jesus Christ the Lord.
- Lord is the test — the enemy's voices never confess Jesus as Lord, however fine their words sound.
- Lord, not accursed — at the cross God laid the curse on Him for our sins. No one moved by the Spirit ever curses Him.
- Lord is least and first — it is the lowest way of naming Christ. Yet it was the first confession in Acts, and it marks Him as the One God has exalted over everything.
- Lord means no middle ground — the Spirit sees only confessors or deniers. Saying it truly means a heart that stops choosing its own path.
But there are distinctions of gifts, but the same Spirit;
Corinth prized the gifts that drew a crowd. Paul answers not by listing gifts but by naming their source: one Spirit stands behind them all.
The word Paul uses for "gifts" carries its own answer to Corinthian pride.
The Corinthians forgot these truths. They wanted to use the gift of tongues to lift themselves up and win glory for themselves. Yet what was it but a gift given to them, and by the Spirit just as He would? In truth, every gift was, as its name implies — charisma — a favour given to its owner by the Holy Spirit, just as He chose. The person had not deserved it, and could not claim it. He only received it. And each gift of the Spirit was for the profit of all.
Paul sets "the same Spirit" against a world full of many gods and many lords.
Along with this testimony there were "varieties of gifts," yet not many spirits, "but the same Spirit." And there were "varieties of service, but the same Lord" — not "many lords"; Jesus was Lord. There were "varieties of activities, but the same God who empowers them all in everyone," for the activities were truly divine. There were not "many gods": all were the working of the one true God.
People who speak by the Spirit do not all sound alike. So what holds their work together?
Though all who speak by the Holy Spirit exalt Christ, it does not follow that all have the same gift. This leads the apostle in verses 4 to 6 to speak of the diversity of spiritual gifts. The apostle tells us there are varieties of gifts. At the same time he reminds us that variety of gifts does not sacrifice unity of aim. For the same Spirit controls the varieties of gifts, and so all lead to the exaltation and expression of Christ.
Verse 4 opens a set of three sentences with the same shape.
In verses 4-6 we hear of the Spirit, the Lord, and God; the same Spirit — the same Lord, and the same God. Yet there is not a division into three classes of gifts, but the same thing is seen in three relations. The varieties of gifts are by the same Spirit; He gives them all. These gifts are also in relation to the Lord. They are for ministries — that is, service for the Lord, under whose authority and for whose glory we use them. And the whole working is of God, who works all in all.
If the Spirit is the one source, what qualifies a person to serve?
These verses (4-6) rebuke, and at the same time correct, much of the serious disorder in Christendom. Christendom demands human ability, human wisdom, and theological training first, before anyone may use a gift. No, says the apostle. You need what no schools of men can give and no human attainments can supply — you need the power and energy of the Holy Spirit.
How should we treat the gifts that impress us least?
There are varieties of gifts, "but the same Spirit." These gifts differ greatly in character, yet they all come from the same source. God has to do with one as truly as with another. There is an immense difference between the lesser and the greater gifts, but still "the same Spirit." If I would respect the Spirit of God, I should respect the least gift that comes from Him.
What happens when a church leaves no room for the smaller gifts?
Like them, we are inclined to talk a great deal about the greater gifts. We leave very little room for the exercise of the lesser. Sometimes the lesser gifts get shut out, either by arrangement beforehand or by strong preferences. Wherever that happens, the Spirit is quenched, and the assembly loses the benefit of the variety of gifts.
- Source. One Spirit gives every gift. Not many spirits, not many lords, not many gods.
- Grace. The word for gift means a favour. No one earned it, and no one can demand it.
- Variety. The Spirit gives gifts that differ in measure and character, and each one is for the profit of all.
- Aim. Difference in gift does not mean difference in direction; all of it leads to the exaltation of Christ.
- Response. Respect the Spirit by respecting the smallest gift He gives. Crowd out the lesser gifts, and you quench the Spirit.
and there are distinctions of services, and the same Lord;
Paul is writing to a church that had forgotten whose gifts it was using, and his answer follows one pattern: many differences, one source. Verse 5 puts every service under one Lord, which raises the question of who directs Christian work and who the worker answers to.
Verses 4 to 6 name the Spirit, the Lord, and God in turn. One writer warns against reading this as a filing system that sorts gifts into three bins.
This is not the Trinity as such. Still, "the Spirit" and "the Lord" could not be brought in this way unless they were God just as the Father is. But it is plain that our Lord appears here not so much in His divine glory as the Son, but in the official position given to Him... it is not a division into three classes of gifts. It is the same thing seen in three relations. Gifts, in relation to the Spirit, through whom they come. Services, in relation to the Lord, under whom and for whose glory we carry them out as responsible servants. Operations, or workings, or effects, in relation to God, for it is God, and not man, who works the whole in all.
Each "same" in these verses also denies something.
There were, along with this testimony, "diversities of gifts," yet not many spirits, but the same Spirit. There were differences of administrations (that is, ministries), but the same Lord — not "lords many"; Jesus was Lord. There were diversities of operations, but the same God who works all in all, for the operations were truly divine. There were not "gods many": all were the operation of the one true God.
Older translations say "administrations" here; the ESV says "varieties of service." Put verse 5 next to verse 4, and the two lines turn out to say different things.
Ministry is always under the Lord: "there are differences of administrations (ministries), yet but one Lord." The apostle says this just after he had said, "there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit." (1 Cor. 12:4-5.) The two things are very different: the power is of the Spirit; rule and oversight belong to the Lord.
If every service stands under one Lord, no one can treat a gift as personal property. That was the Corinthian failure.
Verse 5 adds another thing: "And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord." You cannot have a gift without being a servant. You are not your own master in the use of the gift; you are a servant of the Lord Jesus. This the Corinthians had forgotten. They were acting independently. Even the Holy Spirit Himself has been willing to take the place of a servant. Having come down to that place, He lifts no one above it.
Because the Lord is one, the range of what counts as service is enormous, yet it all runs to a single point.
The Spirit witnesses to Jesus and glorifies Him by showing His perfections to the eye of faith. In the same way, all spiritual service flows directly to one common object, from the labour of an apostle to the simplest act of kindness for the Master's sake. For to us there is one Lord. We serve Him if we love Him, and are His disciples if we keep His sayings.
So who has the right to direct a servant? One writer answers: the Lord alone.
If there is the possession of a spiritual gift, the only one to whom the possessor of that gift is responsible is the Lord. He is responsible to go out in the exercise of that gift to the Lord, and where the Lord may lead him. He is no man's, and no church's servant, though delighted to serve all, if in doing so he can please his Master.
That freedom is not a licence to please yourself. Another writer names its purpose.
We must always remember this. If, by the power of God, we are free from all men, and responsible to God alone for the use of the gift He has entrusted to us, it is so that we may be the servants of all... He has made us free from self, free from independence, free from our own wills. He freed us to act as God acts, as He has acted in Christ — not to please ourselves, but to serve one another in love.
- One Lord. Not many spirits, not many lords, not many gods. Verse 5 sets one name over every Christian service.
- One pattern. Verses 4 to 6 are not three classes of gift. They show one thing in three ways: given by the Spirit, served under the Lord, worked by God.
- One rule. The Spirit supplies the power. Rule and oversight belong to the Lord.
- One servant. Receiving a gift makes a person a servant, not an owner; independent use of it was the Corinthians' mistake.
- One object. From an apostle's labour to the smallest kindness, all service moves toward the same Lord. And freedom from men is given so that we may serve one another.
and there are distinctions of operations, but the same God who operates all things in all.
This verse comes third in a row of three lines: the Spirit, then the Lord, then God. It answers one question — who is really at work when anything happens in a church?
Each of the three lines uses a different word — gifts, services, effects — and names a different Person.
It is not a division into three classes of gifts. It is the same thing in substance, seen in three relations. They are gifts in relation to the Spirit, through whom they come. They are services in relation to the Lord, under whom and for whose glory we are responsible to use them. They are operations or workings or effects, in relation to God, for it is God, and not man, who works the whole in all. So if the Spirit gives a gift, using it is a ministry or service of the Lord, carried on by His authority. And it is God who makes it all effective.
The ESV says "activities," where older versions say "operations." The word points to the effect produced, not to the ability.
The word "operations" means inner workings in the spirit of those in whom the Holy Spirit dwells. In every case God Himself alone sets these workings in motion and controls them by His active will.
The results differ from person to person. The supply behind them does not.
And there are "diversities of operations" or results produced, but it is "God that works them all" — the same spring of power. There may be many separate streams through which He is pleased to reveal Himself. But one source of supply feeds them all.
Older versions end the verse "works all in all"; the ESV has "empowers them all in everyone." Either wording leaves nothing out — down to the smallest thing done in a church meeting.
The words are framed so that nothing escapes His working. No member is so small or unnoticed that his part falls outside it. No small deed, no act such as giving out a hymn, no simple thing done by any member of the body of Christ happens apart from Him. God Himself is the One Who works all things in all. What a holy character this truth gives to assembly activity!
Each of the three lines says "but the same." That repetition answers a world that counted many spirits, many lords and many gods.
There were varieties of gifts, yet not many spirits, but the same Spirit. There were differences of ministries, but the same Lord — not many lords; Jesus was Lord. There were varieties of operations, but the same God who works all in all, for the operations were truly divine. There were not many gods. All were the work of the one true God.
God's power is not limited to what happens in a church.
Power belongs to God. What He wills He works, resisted or unresisted, in the armies of heaven, or with men upon the earth. But these words point above all to God's power at work now, and to its results. He shows those results in creating and preserving the Church, both to the faith of His chosen and to the rulers and powers in the heavenly places.
Commentators differ here. Pridham sees these three verses as a picture of the Trinity, and finds meaning in the order the three Persons come:
The Spirit is named first, because His working is what makes life and godliness exist and continue. The Lord comes next, because the Spirit bears direct witness to Him, and all spiritual teaching leads to obedient acknowledgment of Him.
Kelly reads the same words differently:
This is not the Trinity as such, though certainly "the Spirit" and "the Lord" could not be introduced this way if they were not God equally with the Father. Our Lord appears here not so much in His divine glory as the Son, but in the official position given to Him. And God is spoken of as God, not in His personal distinctiveness as Father.
- Source. Every gift, every service and every effect goes back past the person using it to God, the one "spring of power" behind them all.
- Three relations. One thing seen three ways: given by the Spirit, carried out under the Lord, made effective by God — not three classes of gift.
- Effects. "Operations" means the workings God produces inside people. Many streams, one source of supply.
- Reach. "All in all" leaves no loophole and no forgotten member. The smallest act in a meeting is God at work, and that makes ordinary service holy.
- Contrast. Others counted many spirits, many lords and many gods. This verse answers with one Spirit, one Lord and one God at work in all.
But to each the manifestation of the Spirit is given for profit.
The Corinthians treated their gifts as their own property, so Paul points them to why the gifts were given at all. Two questions follow: what does "manifestation" mean, and who is meant to benefit?
One writer explains what the word means, and why the Spirit needs it:
What are we to understand by "the manifestation of the Spirit"? To manifest is to make the presence of the Spirit plain and clear to others. What is hidden is not manifest. The Holy Spirit Himself is here in this world in an invisible form. The Lord Jesus Christ, God the Son, was manifest in flesh. He was seen by angels, as well as men... but the Holy Spirit did not take a body of flesh, so His presence and His action stay hidden for the most part. The manifestation of the Spirit is through the members of the body of Christ.
So a gift stays private until someone uses it. The same writer shows how that happens:
Take the first example given. A certain man has the word of wisdom; there it is in his soul... The Spirit has given it to him, and he enjoys it himself. But the rest of the assembly knows nothing of it, until the Holy Spirit leads that person to use the word of wisdom for the comfort and well-being of his fellow members. Then the action of the Holy Spirit is made manifest.
One writer, quoting an older translation's "every man" where the ESV has "to each," sees here a challenge to the way many churches organise ministry:
The Spirit gives the manifestations of the gifts to "every man." He refuses to gather all His manifestations into one man, or into one particular class of men. This rebukes the greatest of all disorders in Christendom: setting apart a special class of men for the ministry. That splits the professing people of God into clergy and laity. Scripture allows no such distinction... No, says the apostle, it is to every man in the Assembly.
Nobody is exempt, and nobody holds everything:
Every true Christian has been given something for service in the body, perhaps only a little wisdom. Everybody has something for service to the body, like a hand or a foot or an eye. But not everybody has a prominent gift, like a pastor or an evangelist.
One writer names what the Corinthians were doing with their gifts:
The Corinthians were acting much like children. They treated the spiritual gift they had been given as a new toy, to use and enjoy for their own pleasure and standing. It was not that. It was a gift given to one member for the benefit of the whole body.
The profit meant is a particular kind:
It is given in view of the common good. It is not given for the exaltation or prominence of the individual, for obtaining personal influence or gain, or as a means of living. It is given for profit — spiritual profit.
Some have read the verse as the Spirit's work inside a person to save him. One commentator rejects that:
It pains me to have to reject an idea some hold, an idea so opposed to the grace of God: that this verse is about the work of the Spirit in a man for his own salvation. The question here is the Spirit's manifestations in the church, and their purpose was the common good.
The same writer marks out who "each" covers, and what counts as a manifestation:
Here the apostle is speaking strictly of the church. To each one inside it the manifestation of the Spirit is given, and it is given with a view to the common good, not for personal influence or display... It is not a question of miracles only, as the very first examples (the word of wisdom and the word of knowledge) prove. Nor is it a sign to unbelievers. It is for the profit of believers.
Because the gift was aimed at others from the start, holding it creates an obligation:
It is in a practical interest, and in the interest of all, that the Spirit manifests Himself. So the responsibility of everyone who has any gift at all is that by this he is made a debtor to others, for whose profit the gift is given. He is not his own in this sense. He belongs to those among whom God has given him his place.
That obligation also carries its own authorisation:
The very fact that he had it made him responsible to use it — responsible to Him who did not give it for nothing. The gift itself carried both the ability to serve and the right to serve, for I am bound to help and serve with what I have. And if souls are helped, they hardly need to ask whether I had official permission to do it.
- Hidden. The Spirit is here, but unseen. He took no body of flesh, so He makes His presence plain through the members of the body of Christ.
- Given. A gift stays silent until someone uses it. The word of wisdom sits unknown in a man's soul until the Spirit leads him to speak it for others.
- Given to each. The Spirit refuses to pour all His manifestations into one man or one class. Every Christian has something, though not everyone has a prominent gift.
- Given for profit. A gift is not a toy for personal pleasure, influence or display. It goes to one member for the good of the whole body.
- Given, therefore owed. Whoever holds a gift is bound to serve others with it. The gift itself supplies both the ability and the right to use it.
For to one, by the Spirit, is given [the] word of wisdom; and to another [the] word of knowledge, according to the same Spirit;
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
and to a different one faith, in [the power of] the same Spirit; and to another gifts of healing in [the power of] the same Spirit;
Paul is listing the gifts the Spirit gives to different members of one body. Here he names two: faith, and healings. That raises a question. Every Christian believes, so what faith does the Spirit give to one believer and not to another?
Commentators rule out one meaning first. This faith is not the faith that saves, because every believer has that.
The faith here is not simple faith in the gospel. That is not a special gift which one believer may have and another may not. This is clear. It is the faith, the energy, that God gives. It overcomes difficulties. It rises above dangers. It faces them and is not alarmed by them.
Another writer describes what that energy does. It is a grip on God that holds when everything is against you.
Faith is the power to take hold of God, to take hold of His word, and to count on Him in the face of every difficulty and every enemy. God the Spirit gives this faith to some. We are all believers, but not every believer has the faith Paul speaks of here. It is the faith that removes mountains. It is the faith that stands against Satan and puts out his flaming arrows. It is the faith that always wins. It is the faith that walks even on the waves of the sea.
Scripture also speaks of faith for one particular thing. That is where this gift meets prayer, and where people misuse it.
Scripture recognises specific faith about a specific thing. One of the people who received a miracle had faith to be healed (Acts 14:9). And 1 Corinthians 12:9 plainly teaches that there is a distinct spiritual gift of faith, which some have and some do not. Perhaps this is the special faith the Lord means when He says, "whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours" (Mark 11:24). Real, God-given faith is meant here, not mystical or imagined faith. Many have probably tried this promise as an experiment, only to be disappointed. But God does not give His promises and the power of His Spirit to be tested out of curiosity, or used to serve private ends.
Paul names the Spirit again with each gift. One writer asks why. (He quotes an older translation; the ESV reads "by the one Spirit" the second time.)
Then he says, "to another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit." Why does this varied list repeat the words "by the same Spirit"? Because we so easily approve only of the one gift that pleases us, and forget how varied the Holy Spirit's work is.
The gifts of healing were real. Still, no one who had them could use them at will.
No one could use the gift of healing, or gifts like it, whenever he chose. These gifts appeared only at the right time, and they worked only by the direct will of God. Power is His, and always in His hands. When Trophimus was sick, Paul's wish could not restore him. Yet the believer can come to the Lord in prayer and claim His power. In time of need we must seek refuge not in God's gifts, but in the faithfulness of the Giver.
The same limit shows in the apostles' own lives. It also shows what the miracles were for.
It is worth noticing that the disciples never did miracles to save themselves from suffering, or to heal their friends when they were ill. Paul left Trophimus sick at Miletus. It was only God's mercy that healed Epaphroditus. The miracles the apostles did confirmed the testimony, and Christ glorified with the Father was the subject and source of that testimony.
The wording of the verse settles a claim often made today.
Some teach that every believer who receives the baptism of the Spirit shows it by speaking in tongues. But that is not what Scripture teaches. 1 Corinthians 12:9-10 says, "to another [not to ALL] gifts of healing by the one Spirit … to another [not to ALL] various kinds of tongues."
- One Spirit — Paul repeats "by the same Spirit" because we prize only the gift that appeals to us and forget how varied His work is.
- One faith, two meanings — this is not the faith that saves, which all believers share. It is an energy that rises above danger and difficulty.
- One recipient at a time — "to another" is not "to all"; no gift on this list is the mark of every Spirit-filled Christian.
- One hand on the switch — healing was never the healer's to command. Paul left Trophimus sick, and his wish could not heal him.
- One refuge — when need comes, the resort is not to God's gifts but to the faithfulness of the Giver.
and to another operations of miracles; and to another prophecy; and to another discerning of spirits; and to a different one kinds of tongues; and to another interpretation of tongues.
Five more gifts of the Spirit appear in this verse: miracles, prophecy, distinguishing between spirits, tongues and their interpretation. Each raises the same questions: what did the gift do, why is it placed here, and who received it?
The words translated "the working of miracles" mean, more exactly, powers in action. They cover more ground than the healings just named.
Another might have "operations of powers." The Rheims and King James Versions wrongly render this as "the working of miracles." These were not "healings." They were power over material things, or over spiritual beings, as promised in Mark 16:17-18 and shown in the Acts of the Apostles.
Prophecy is easy to mistake for prediction. Its main work reaches the conscience, and one writer holds that in this sense the gift continues.
Thinking of the Old Testament prophets, we may limit prophecy to foretelling future events. But that was only a small part of the prophet's work, even in Old Testament days. His great mission was to apply the word of God to the conscience and heart, to build people up. This is still the prophet's service in Christian times, and in this sense the gift continues.
Other ministry builds people up without being prophecy. The difference lies in what prophecy does to the conscience.
A man surely builds others up when he strengthens souls by holding up Christ and making His love better known. So does the man who exhorts or teaches well. But none of these things is prophesying. Prophesying is that character of truth which puts a man's conscience in the presence of God. It gives the soul the certainty that His mind is in what is spoken. It strips and lays bare thoughts, motives, feelings, everything.
This gift did not show whether a person was truly converted. It tested the source behind what was being said.
This gift is not about discerning whether or not people were Christians. It is about discerning whether the spirit by which they spoke was of God or of Satan.
The gift met a real danger in the early church.
This was one of the gifts in the early church, needed for "testing the spirits," because even then many false prophets had gone out into the world. 1 Cor. 12:10; 1 John 4:1-3. This gift was especially necessary at the time when the word of God was not fully written.
Tongues and interpretation are two gifts, not one, and they go to two different people.
The deliberate distribution of these gifts stands out in the last two. "Kinds of tongues" means a variety of languages the speaker never learned. It is set apart from "interpretation of tongues," which is given to another, though 1 Corinthians 14:13 suggests how desirable it is for the two to go together.
Tongues stand at the end of the list. That placement is deliberate.
Tongues, and the interpretation of tongues that completes them, come at the close of this list. That shows their relative importance from God's point of view. The primary gifts are always those that develop the church in love and faith and the knowledge of Christ. Scripture, on the other hand, always places the sign-gifts lowest on the scale, though people tend to value them differently and far too highly.
Tongues were a sign aimed at unbelievers. That shaped the rule for using them when the church gathered.
1 Corinthians 14 makes it clear that the gift of tongues was not only miraculous. It was also a sign to unbelievers, unlike prophesying, which was expressly for building people up. So it was forbidden to speak "in a tongue" in the Christian assembly, unless someone there could interpret the unknown language for the profit of the saints. The sign-gifts are the ones the Holy Spirit has seen good to withdraw. He still grants all the others that are needed for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, and for building up the body of Christ.
Taken together, these writers hold that the sign-gifts were withdrawn. Prophecy remains, because it applies God's word to the conscience.
The repeated phrase in the verse is small but decisive. It is "to another," never "to all."
It is taught that every believer who receives the baptism of the Spirit shows it by speaking with tongues. But that is not the teaching of Scripture. 1 Corinthians 12:9-10 says, "to another [not to ALL] gifts of healing by the one Spirit… to another [not to ALL] various kinds of tongues."
- One Spirit. Miracles, prophecy, discernment, tongues and interpretation are not five sources. They are five gifts from the one Spirit.
- Power. "Working of miracles" is more exactly "operations of powers." It means power over material things and over spiritual beings, and it reaches wider than healing.
- Conscience. Prophecy is not mainly about foretelling. It applies God's word, so the soul knows it stands in His presence.
- Protection. Discerning of spirits judged the source behind what was said, not whether the speaker was a Christian. It mattered most before the word of God was fully written.
- Last for a reason. Tongues sit at the end of the list. Without an interpreter they were barred from the assembly, because a sign is for unbelievers and building up the saints matters more.
But all these things operates the one and the same Spirit, dividing to each in particular according as he pleases.
Paul has been listing the gifts God gives to Christians. Here he names the one source behind them all, and settles who decides who gets what.
The closing phrase claims for the Spirit what only God can claim.
Here it is what God does, not man. The Spirit gives to one the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge, to another faith. To another He gives miraculous gifts, to another prophecy, to another the gift of tongues. "AS HE WILLS" covers all this. It is the assertion of sovereignty, an essential attribute that belongs to God alone.
A force cannot choose. Here the Spirit chooses, and that tells us who He is.
Many passages prove His personality — a matter of great importance, often lost sight of by those who constantly speak of Him as an influence. Ananias lied to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:3). He "apportions to each one individually as He wills" (1 Cor. 12:11).
The verse does two things at once. It spreads the gifts among many people, and traces them all back to one worker.
Here we see the unity of the Spirit. He not only distributes each gift to each person; He works all the gifts, so keeping up dependence on His power. We see no less His sovereign activity as a divine Person… Evil and error may have as many springs as there are men and demons with their varied and often conflicting wills, lusts, and passions. But the very same Spirit works all that glorifies Christ in these different gifts. He gives them out at His pleasure to each servant of the Lord.
Many gifts under one will is not disorder. It is God's own arrangement, and human systems tend to replace it.
God's order for His assembly is a variety of gifts, given to different people, exercised by one will — the power and will of the Holy Spirit. All true order in the assemblies of God's people is the outcome of God Himself working among His people. The Christian world at large ignores this order in practice, if not in doctrine. It does so by its human arrangements, its appointed ministers and its fixed ritual.
The words "to each one" leave no group outside. Yet church practice has often marked off one class of Christians from the rest.
Setting aside a special class as priests limits the action of the Spirit of God to one class. It plainly contradicts the Scripture, "who apportions to EACH ONE individually as HE wills" (1 Cor. 12:11).
If the Spirit decides, no one at Corinth had grounds for self-display.
The Corinthians, unmindful of these truths, wanted to exercise the gift of tongues for their own exaltation and self-glorification. Yet what was it but a gift given to them, and by the Spirit just as He would? In truth, every gift was what its name meant — charisma, a favour. The Holy Spirit granted it to the one who had it, just as He chose. The person had not deserved it, and could not claim it. He only received it. Each gift of the Spirit was for the profit of all.
The Spirit chooses freely. That does not mean He is careless about whom He uses.
God is sovereign in His choice of instruments, true; but He morally fits the instrument for the purpose He has in view… So it is always true that in giving His gifts the Holy Spirit "apportions to each one individually as He wills" (1 Cor. 12:11). It is equally true that for the exercise of these gifts He selects those whom prayer and the diligent study of His word have fitted for His service.
This truth also ends copying and fault-finding among Christians.
The Holy Spirit is Sovereign, but He does not work in one member independently of all the others. I think no two gifts are alike. There are varieties of gifts, but one Spirit, and He alone has distributed them. We would do well to pay attention to this, and to the fact that services differ while there is one Lord. Man cannot make gifts; God gives them… If we understood the differences of services, and that each of us is responsible to the Lord, it would keep us from imitating others, or criticizing them.
- One Giver. The same Spirit works every gift on the list, loud or quiet. The variety is wide; the source is one.
- One Will. "As He wills" claims sovereignty, which belongs to God alone. It shows the Spirit is a Person who chooses, not an influence.
- One Reach. He gives to each one. No believer is without a gift, and no special class can own what the Spirit hands out.
- One Response. A gift is a favour no one deserved or could claim; it was never given for self-glorification, but for the profit of all.
- One Result. The Spirit alone hands out the gifts. Knowing that cures discontent with our own place and criticism of everyone else's.