Translation and Sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ the Redeemer Church, Manhattan, KS, 28 Jun 2009, 19 July 2026.
1. Now concerning the things of the Spirit, brothers, I am not willing for y’all to be ignorant.
2. Y’all have known that when y’all were being pagans, whenever y’all were being led, y’all were being led away toward the voiceless idols.
3. Therefore I am making known to y’all that no one speaking in the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is accursed,” and no one is able to say, “Jesus is Lord,” except in the Holy Spirit.
4. Now, there are various portions of giftings yet the same Spirit,
5. and there are various portions of services and the same Lord,
6. and there are various portions of energizings yet the same God energizing all of them in everyone.
7. Now, to each is given the manifestation of the Spirit toward the [goal of] bearing together, for:
8. to one a word of wisdom is given through the Spirit,
but to
another, a word of knowledge – according to the same Spirit,
9. to yet another, faith – in the same Spirit,
but to
another, gifts of healings – in the same Spirit,
10. and to another, energizings for miracles,
but to another,
prophecy,
and to another, the distinguishing of spirits,
to
yet another, kinds of foreign-languages,
and to another,
interpretation of foreign-languages.
11. But one and the same Spirit is energizing all these, variously apportioning to each individual just as He wills.
The other day, one of our neighbors came over to visit, and in the course of conversation, she mentioned that she had met a person who was involved in the Wiccan religion. She was appalled to find out that this person actually worshiped in front of a carved image and sacrificed blood as part of the ceremony. But pagans have been doing these kind of things for thousands of years, and they were worshiping “voiceless idols” back in Corinth, too. As we saw earlier in 1 Corinthians 10:20, sacrifices to idols are really led by (and sacrificed to) demons.
Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:12 “You were once Gentiles [pagans], without God, strangers to the hope of salvation” (ASV)
In the Old Testament, the Prophet Habakkuk wrote: “How can a carved-image bring benefit when its craftsman has carved it? [The same goes for] a molten-image and a teacher of falsehood. For the craftsman trusts upon his own craftsmanship to make mute idols! Woe to the one who says to wood, ‘Please become active!’ – to silent stone, ‘Stir yourself up!’ As for that, let it instruct! Look at it! It is bound up with gold and silver, and there isn't any breath within it!” (Hab. 2:18-19, NAW, cf. Psalm 95:5-7, 115:5-7)
“Idolatry is anything we put in place of Jesus Christ. Any concept or thing that begins to shape our thinking and demands most of our time is an idol. This could be money, a job, a house, a car, a mate, a girlfriend, a boyfriend, sports, politics, recreation, TV, drugs, alcohol, or a hundred other things which would be given first place above Christ… Behind all idolatry is the power of mind control exercised by demons.” (Jack Arnold)
Paul, before he was converted, actually may have tried to get the early Christians of Jerusalem to say that Jesus was “accursed,” for Deuteronomy 21:23 teaches that anyone who is hung on a tree is “accursed.” Acts 26:11 “And punishing them oftentimes in all the synagogues, I strove to make them blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto foreign cities.” (ASV)
Other Jews also may have used this phrase, which Luke may have been calling blasphemy in Acts 13:45 “But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with jealousy, and contradicted the things which were spoken by Paul, and blasphemed… 18:6 And when they opposed themselves and blasphemed, he shook out his raiment and said unto them, ‘Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean: from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles.’” (ASV)
This is not just about blatant blasphemy. “Anyone who says that Jesus was a mere sinful man, a good teacher, a wonderful example, that person is lumping Him with the rest of sinful humanity, which is under the curse of Adam… Every teacher or group who does not acknowledge Jesus as Lord is not Christian but a false religion. This includes other religions like Muslims, Confucians, Buddhists, Shintoists, Hindus…Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, Christian Scientists, Unitarians, end every other cult in the world which does not see Jesus as full deity and full humanity.” (Jack Arnold)
Classical Greek scholar Marvin Vincent, from the 19th century, translated the last verb in v.2 “blindly hurried.”
Remember from 1 Corinthians 10:20, that, “...what the nations are sacrificing is to demons (They are not sacrificing to God!)…” (NAW)
Some years ago, I heard a former witchdoctor named Shoefoot, from the Yanomamo tribe in the Amazon jungle, describe how he talked with spirits and killed other tribesmen through the power of those spirits, but those spirits warned him to stay away from a certain powerful spirit which they called “the enemy god.” The God of the Bible being preached by the missionary was this “Enemy God” about whom the evil spirits were warning the witchdoctor, but he decided to make contact with the missionary’s God anyway, and thus he discovered that the evil spirits had been lying to him all long. (A couple of weeks ago, I shared over the church GroupMe the testimony of yet another Yanomomo witchdoctor who converted to Christianity, too.) God is not our enemy; Satan and his demons are our real spiritual enemies, but we humans are so easily led astray!
This starts with becoming a Christian: Romans 10:9 “because if thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord, and shalt believe in thy heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved...” (ASV) Don’t just say it; submit to His leadership and worship Him!
1 John 4:1-3 “Loved ones, do not believe in every spirit, but rather, judge the spirits whether they are out of God, because many false prophets have come out into the world. By this y'all know the Spirit of God: every spirit which agrees that Jesus Christ has come in a physical body is out of God, and every spirit which does not agree with Jesus Christ [having come in a physical-body] is not out of God, and this is the [spirit] of the antichrist, which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is in the world already.” (NAW, cf. 5:1-2)
Back in the second century A.D., the pagan Romans captured a Christian pastor named Polycarp and tried to get him to renounce his faith. The Roman soldiers said, “We will kill you if you do not say, 'Caesar is Lord.' Go ahead; say it!” But Polycarp replied, “Jesus is Lord.” “No, we really mean it, we are going to kill you if you don't say, 'Caesar is Lord,'” But Polycarp had the Spirit of God and would not deny Jesus. Two more times he answered, “Jesus is Lord!” and so they killed him and he went to heaven.
May God give us that kind of steadfast faith through His Spirit to acknowledge that Jesus is Lord and never deny it. How do we do that? Where does this Spirit come from that enables us to do this?
The Spirit is God, the third person of the Divine Trinity.
We even see all three persons of the Godhead mentioned in this passage: the Spirit (in v.4), the Lord (in v.5), and God – referring to God the Father (in v.6). Paul focuses on the Spirit in these first 11 verses. “Lord” is the same as Jesus (“Jesus is Lord” – v.3, and the “body” in v.12 is the body of Christ). God the Father is mentioned in v.28 as “appointing” the leadership in the body.
In Acts 5, Peter tells Ananias that he has “lied to the Holy Spirit,” therefore he has “lied to God,” equating the Holy Spirit with God.
Some people think there is no such person as the Holy Spirit but that the Bible merely speaks of a spirit of holiness as an idea, not as a person.
However, here in 1 Corinthians 12, the Spirit is referred to as “giving” gifts to believers. Later in v.11, the Bible says that the Holy Spirit has a will and acts according to His own will. This is a characteristic of a person, not of an impersonal force or idea.
John 15:26 uses a personal pronoun – not a neuter indicating an “it,” but a masculine pronoun – to refer to the Spirit: “when the Comforter has come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He shall bear witness of me:” John goes on in the next chapter to explain, (16:14) “He shall glorify me: for He shall take of mine, and shall declare it unto you.” (ASV) The Holy Spirit is a person, and He is God.
If you are a Christian, it is because the Holy Spirit has done this work in your heart to lead you to Jesus, because otherwise you would be “led away” (v.2) from Jesus to follow dumb idols.
You don’t have to wait for a separate experience of being filled with the Spirit. When you became a Christian, you were filled with the Holy Spirit, and you still have the full presence of the Spirit. Paul already affirmed in 2:12 and 3:16 that believers have already received the Spirit from God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in them1.
Every Christian not only has the Holy Spirit, but also has at least one gift from the Holy Spirit. Verse 7 says that these gifts are “being given to each,” and v.11 also says He is “distributing/apportioning/giving to each individual.” All His people get gifts from the Spirit!
Note that in both cases, the giving is in the present tense, indicating an ongoing giving, not a one-time experience.
How can you tell what your spiritual gift is? Try one of the spiritual gift inventories published online, or just study the lists of spiritual gifts in the Bible for yourself and consider which ones describe the things you care most about and love most to do, and that will probably bring your spiritual gift to light. Talk about it with others in the church and ask what they think your spiritual gifts are for further confirmation.
In verses 4-6, three words are used which describe what the Holy Spirit gives to us and does through us:
The first word is “gifts.”
The Greek word for “gifts” is charismata: indicating something given for free, unearned, emphasizing the undeserved graciousness of the gift.
Romans 12:6 also uses this Greek word, “...we have gifts according to the grace which was given to us…” (NAW)
The second word is “ministries/services.”
This is the same Greek word from which we get the word “deacon.” It describes the “spiritual service of an official character” (Vincent) or “a specific way to serve God” (Ratliff). It emphasizes how your spiritual gifts benefit others.
Paul spoke of his apostleship to the Gentiles as his “ministry/service” in Romans 11:13, Acts 20:24, and 1 Timothy 1:12,
and he also used this word to describe the collection he took for the poor in 2 Corinthians 8:4.
Furthermore, Paul told Timothy to fulfill his “ministry” of the word and of church eldership (2 Tim. 4:5, Acts 6:4),
and he even spoke of the work of everyone in the church in building up the body of Christ as “ministry” (Eph. 4:11-12).
Finally, the third word describing what the Holy Spirit does is a Greek word from which we get our English word “energy.” It is commonly translated “activities,” “effects,” or “working.”
It is the “outward manifestations, results, and effects of spiritual gifts” (Vincent, Faussett).
Here’s an illustration of what this means: If I were to play an electric bass guitar without plugging it into an amplifier, most of you wouldn’t be able to hear it. But the moment I plug it in and crank the volume up, I could wake up all the neighbors on the street! The concept here in 1 Corinthians is that you are plugged into energy from an outside source – from God, and, as His power operates in you, you become able to do things at a level you could never have done by yourself.2
“[Y]’all should know... what the hyperbolic greatness of His power into us believers is, according to the energy of the might of His strength, which He worked in the Christ when He raised out of the dead and seated Him in His right hand in the heavens...” (Eph. 1:18-20, NAW)
Unlike evil spirits who seem to center upon one particular sin – whether it be lust or lying or fear, every spiritual gift comes from one and the same source, God the Holy Spirit.
APPLICATION: Since your gifts come from God, don’t boast about how great you are or how great your gifts are; boast about how great your God is Who gave you those gifts.
CONVERSELY, Since the Holy Spirit gave a unique gift to you intentionally, don’t fall into the trap of thinking He gave you a second-class gift that isn’t as good as someone else’s. In His wisdom He gave you what you have for a good reason; trust Him on this!
1 Corinthians 14:26 “What of it then, brothers? When y'all happen to come together, each has a psalm; he has a teaching; he has a revelation; he has a language; he has an interpretation – all things must happen toward the purpose of upbuilding.” (NAW)
1 Corinthians 10:23-24 “‘All things are permissible,’ but not all things bear together. ‘All things are permissible,’ but not all things build up. No one should continue to seek what is for himself, but rather what is for the other.… 33 just as I myself also am pleasing all men in all things, not seeking the bearing together of myself but rather that of the many, in order that they might be saved. (NAW, cf. Eph. 4:12, 1 Cor. 6:12, 14:26)
APPLICATION: Do not neglect to do what you are good at; use your skills and giftings. Don’t hide them! Don’t sit back and wait for the church leaders to recognize your talents and twist your arm to do something with them; take the initiative to start doing something that God has made you able to enjoy doing!
ALSO, Instead of using your spiritual gifts to put yourself forward, consider how to use your gifts to add value to everyone else in the church.
For instance, if you are good at talking to people and making friends, use that gift to grow the church rather than just to get everybody currently in the church to like you.
If you are good at designing beautiful things, rather than just making yourself and your clothes look beautiful, consider also how to make your worship facilities beautiful.
And part of making sure it adds value to everyone else in the church is coordinating your efforts with the leadership of the church so instead of everybody running in different directions with their gifts, we’re pulling together in a coordinated way under the direction of the elders.
The word “diversities/varieties/different kinds” is used 4 times in the first 11 verses to describe the Spirit’s gifts.
And nine different gifts are listed between verses 8-11, or eleven gifts if you count “administration” and “service” from verses 5-6!
APPLICATION: Your gifts will be different from other people’s gifts. For instance, pastors like myself are typically gifted in teaching, so I find it very easy to read the Bible, and when I read the Bible, ideas and applications just pour through my mind. So a person like me can naturally assume that it is just as easy for everyone else to study their Bibles. I mean, what's so hard about it? But that's not the case for everybody. Some people can't even read! I have to recognize that not everybody has my gift and so I need to share it with others and not look down on them for not having my gift. Also I must not look down on them for being different; I need those differences to express the fullness of the body of Christ. (1 Peter 4:10 “[S]erv[e] up grace toward yourselves just as each has received it, like good administrators of the diverse grace of God.” ~NAW)
ALSO, Notice ways to blend your gift in with another’s gift:
for instance, people with the more spectacular gifts, such as speaking and faith leadership, desperately need helpers and administrators to complement them with the practical, behind-the-scenes preparations for ministry and follow-up after special events.
My Mom hates being in groups of people and gets uncomfortable with too much attention. She likes to sit on the back row at her church and slip out quickly without being seen. I, on the other hand, enjoy limelight in limited doses. But I don’t have it in me to be well-prepared all the time or to be all that a pastor should be, so my Mom prays for me as I prepare to lead worship and as I lead worship every Sunday. I believe that, even though we are hundreds of miles apart, her hidden prayers from her home and from the back row of her church are a strategic part of making me (and the other preachers she prays for) able to do God’s will.
The differences in our gifts can complement each other. “[W]hen the variety of gifts is directed to the same object, as in music, there are different sounds, but suited to each other with such an adaptation, as to produce concord [like a symphony orchestra].” ~J. Calvin
In v.7 we read, “to each is given the manifestation of the Spirit.” What is a “manifestation”? It is a “bringing into view” of something you couldn't see before.
So, for instance, God and His Name were “manifested” in the incarnation of Jesus – people could see God when they saw Jesus.
And the Gospel is “manifested” by preaching – preaching puts that good news out into audible form that people can hear.
So, what is a “manifestation of the Spirit”? God, who is a spirit, and therefore not discernable to our five material senses, uses these gifts to show Himself to the physical world.
Can the world around you see the Holy Spirit through you?
Spiritual gifts, or, to use the Greek word, charisma, are “manifestations of the Spirit.” The word charismata occurs in 12 chapters of the New Testament, and 3 of those chapters are in 1 Corinthians.
There are two other passages in the New Testament (in addition to 1 Corinthians 12) which provide a list of spiritual gifts: Romans 12, and 1 Peter 4, so I will be drawing primarily from these three passages to give an overview of these gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Interestingly, the three lists are not the same, so when anyone makes a compilation of the gifts listed in these three passages, it requires a certain amount of interpretation, and different people come up with different numbers of gifts depending on what gifts they consider to be the same gift going by different names in the different lists.
As I go through this list, consider which gifts the Holy Spirit has given you. Many of these spiritual gifts are given to all Christians, but in varying degrees:
Words of Wisdom - includes practical application of knowledge – knowing the right thing to do.
Word of Knowledge - The “knowledge” conferred by this gift has to do with information that comes from a relationship with God. I think that the “word of wisdom” and the “word of knowledge” together are the same as the gift labeled “teaching” in 1 Corinthians 12:28 and Romans 12:7, and labeled “speaking” in 1 Peter 4:10.
Faith - the gift of faith is entrusted to ALL Christians and yet, according to Jude 1:20-21, it is something that we are to “strive to grow in” and “build up.” Some believers, however have an extraordinary gift of trusting God through difficult situations to inspire other Christians toward more trust in God and to build up the body of Christ.
Gifts of Healings - Both words (“gifts” and “healings”) are plural in 1 Corinthians 12:9, perhaps indicating specialties in certain kinds of sickness, whether those of the mind and emotions, or those of a certain part of the physical body. I believe that this gift can describe skillful work of a gifted doctor or nurse as well as supernatural healings.
Helps/mercy - Acts 20:35 says “...ye ought to help the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” (ASV) According to Romans 12:8, this gift requires “cheerfulness.” If you have this gift, the natural human tendency to avoid the mess of other people’s brokenness is overcome by the Holy Spirit.
Energizings for Miracles – In many cases, the Bible uses this phrase in the context of healing ministry, but it also appears in many cases of spiritual power to curse and to save. The release of God’s power occasionally results in astonishing miracles, but usually, is exercised behind the scenes in prayer. God likes to do His own will after one of us asks.
Prophecy is “speaking forth” the word of God. There may be some prophecies today that provide a warning or exhortation to an individual in an extraordinary way but which do not reveal anything new about God and His salvation. But usually prophecy describes what pastors do in their sermons – proclaim God’s word as it is already written down in the Bible; it is related to teaching, preaching, and exhortation.
Distinguishing of Spirits: There are evil spirits, the Holy Spirit, the spirit of the world, and the spirit of a human. Someone with the gift of distinguishing spirits intuitively knows the source of a message and whether it is right or not. Everyone starts with some discernment, and discernment grows with Christian maturity.
Kinds of Languages/Tongues &
Interpretation of Languages – When the Bible says “tongues,” it is not describing a particular holy language spoken in heaven, it just means what we mean by the word “languages.” I think that having a predisposition for – and an enjoyment of – learning languages to share the Gospel throughout the world is the primary way this gift works today.
Various portions of Services/Offices/Administrations – I suspect that the “various portions of services” refer to the official roles of service in the church: Evangelists, Pastor/Teachers/Elders, and Deacons.
Giving – The supernatural dimension of the gift of giving is not just in being able to make money, but in the ability to make sacrifices to give generously, the ability to wisely perceive needs, and the ability to give with a cheerful attitude.
There are other gifts, such as the gift of marriage and the gift of celibacy from 1 Corinthians 7, but this pretty well surveys the different kinds of spiritual gifts mentioned in the Bible.
In light of the awesome truth of the person of the Holy Spirit and His ministry within us and the gifts He gives us,
Praise God the Holy Spirit for getting involved in your life and bringing spiritual life to you!
Follow the leading of the Holy Spirit as He leads you to acknowledge and submit to Jesus as your Lord/Master.
Praise God the Holy Spirit for giving spiritual gifts to you, and actually put them into practice, investing yourself in improving your ability to use His gifts.
Focus on using the gifts the Spirit has given you “for the common good/profit/advantage” of the church and the whole kingdom of Jesus Christ in this world. Notice ways to come alongside other Christians and blend your gifts together to help each other.
Encourage one another by noticing each other’s gifts and letting them know how their gifts are a blessing to you.
1See also Rom. 8:9,14, 2 Cor. 1:22, 5:5, James 4:5, 1 John 3:24.
2Cf. Mark 6:14, Eph. 3:7, Col. 2:12, James 5:16.