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.