GOODMORNING-SPIRITUAL GIFTS AND THEIR PURPOSE

Oftentimes, discussions about spiritual gifts turn into debates about cessationism versus continuationism and whether or not it is proper for Christians to utilize psychological testing to determine what their spiritual gifts are. While those debates are important and must be addressed, we will next focus instead on the origin and purpose of spiritual gifts. But before we get ahead of ourselves, lets first review our definition of spiritual gifts from Part I:

Spiritual gifts are divine enablements for ministry, characteristics of Jesus Christ that are to be manifested through the body corporate just as they were manifested through the body incarnate. [J. MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary on 1st Corinthians, (Chicago, Ill, Moody, 1984), 283.]

The NASB Study Bible defines it concisely,

. . . a spiritual gift is a manifestation of the Holy Spirit enabling one to minister to the needs of Christ’s body, the church . . .” [p. 1663]

Thus, 1 Corinthians 12 can be summed up in one sentence:

Spiritual gifts are God-given for the purpose of ministering to others and glorifying God.

Remember that we defined the church this way:

The Christian church is a living organism that’s established by Jesus Christ and empowered by His Spirit for the purposes of glorifying God through evangelism, teaching, discipleship, and service (John 13:34-35). As a living spiritual organism, its sole head is Christ and its body is made up of the individual members who play an integral part in serving the rest of the body and witnessing to the world.

We went on to note that just as Paul was answering questions about spiritual gifts (cf. 12:1), so we too seek answers to some of our questions about spiritual gifts. Some common questions are:

Does every Christian have a spiritual gift(s)?
How many are there?
How can a person know if they have a particular gift?
What is their importance to the life of the individual Christian and the life of the church?
What is the baptism of the Holy Spirit and now does it relate to the gifts?
Are all of the gifts available to the church now or are only some operative while others ceased long ago?
Can some of the gifts be counterfeited, and if so, how can we recognize the true from the false?

In Part I, we answered the last question in the affirmative, and today we are going to deal with the following questions in some detail:

How many gifts are there?
How can a person know if they have a particular gift?
What’s their importance to the life of the individual Christian and the life of the church?

After reminding the Corinthians that they came out of pagan idolatry, Paul gave them two tests in v. 3 to tell whether they had truly been saved out of that paganism and whether someone’s teaching was really of the Spirit. The point he is moving towards is this: It is our sovereign God who gives people a correct understanding about who Jesus is and gives unity and supernatural power to the body.

The Corinthians had become worldly with that they were behaving fleshly rather than spiritually. They quarreled, were factious, and in some instances they were grossly immoral. They took one another to court; they practiced corrupt marriage relationships, and also were hurting others in the body by abusing their Christian liberty. Overall, their misunderstanding and misuse of the spiritual gifts was a result of their carnal divisiveness.

Paul ministered in Corinth at least a year and a half and he had carefully taught them about the proper use of spiritual gifts. But they had forgotten his former teaching and perverted it and so he goes back to reinforce what they should have already known and practiced; namely, that that Spirit gives a variety of gifts to be used in a variety of ministries, with a variety of effects, but that they all have a common origin and a common purpose.

TEACHING & APPLICATION

I. Their Origin: The Holy Spirit (vv. 4-6).

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. 6 There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons.

vv. 4-6 – Different gifts and different ministries all point back to the same indwelling Holy Spirit who works all of this together for His glory and the benefit of His people.
The word “gifts” (charisma) is used 17x in the N.T. and 16x it is always connected to God as the giver. In Romans, Paul uses it to refer to the gift of salvation (5:15-16; 6:23), the blessing of God (1:1; 11:29), and divine enablement for ministry (12:6). Every other use of the word by Paul and one by Peter (1 Peter 4:10) relates it to the Holy Spirit given ability to minister to others.
It is important to state at this point that spiritual gifts are not to be equated with natural talents. It is true that just as God gives all good things, so He gives natural talents. But both believers and unbelievers alike have natural talents (i.e., music, athletic ability, etc.). If a Christian excels at such natural talent, that is fine and wonderful, but he must understand that those natural talents are not spiritual gifts. He may use those natural talents differently after he is saved, but spiritual gifts are not natural, they are supernatural, and thus, they come about only as a result of salvation. Again, spiritual gifts are “special capacities bestowed on believers to equip them to minister supernaturally to others, especially to each other.” [MacArthur, 290]
“[V]arieties” in v. 4 (diaiareseis) means “apportionments”, “allotments”, or “distributions”, with the idea of that of a team with different players with different functions but who are all seeking a common goal; to win! (Phil. 3:14) God has a variety of gifts that are given to believers, and they fall into two general types: speaking and serving gifts (cf. 1 Peter 4:11). The N.T. contains several lists of spiritual gifts (1 Cor. 12:8-10, 28 cf. Rom. 12:6-8; 1 Peter 4:11) and because the lists are not identical, it is clear that God did not intend to give you a rigid, precise list, but instead general categories. Some believers can have several gifts with varying degrees of strength whereas others may have only one predominant gift that is excels above all the others. Each believer’s mixture of gifts can be thought of like a spiritual fingerprint. Just as no two physical fingerprints are the same between any two individuals, so it is with the spiritual fingerprint of believers.
The word “ministries” in v. 5 is diakonia, from which we get the English noun “deacon”. The idea here according to Thayer’s is “service, ministering, especially of those who execute the commands of others . . .” [Bibleworks 8.0]. So whose commands are we executing? Luow-Nida defines it as, “to render assistance or help by performing certain duties, often of a humble or menial nature – ‘to serve, to render service, to help, service, help.'” [Ibid.] Who are you serving? Jesus Himself set the paradigm for us in Mark 10:45, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Jesus came to serve others for God, and just as His Spirit gives us gifts, so we should follow His pattern and do the same! Spiritual gifts are not badges of privilege but tools for ministry. The Lord gives them for service and the unending varieties of service are matched with the varying degrees of gifting in the body. There are varieties of ministries. Some are good at evangelism to large crowds whereas others are better at one-to-one witnessing. Others may be strong in teaching, and so their gifts will center on doctrine and exhortation. Some have the ability to teach complex ideas to seminary students whereas others may focus on comforting and helping others in time of dire need. The overall point is this: a gift exercised in private apart from serving the body is a perverted gift. God gives spiritual gifts to us but for others. Peter says, “As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” (1 Peter 4:10) Stewards are called upon to wisely use something they are loaned by the one who loaned it to them. Since what they are loaned really isn’t theirs and they are to use it wisely (lest they be bad stewards), we ought to take heed to what Peter says!
The word “effects” in v. 6 is energema; it can be literally translated “workings” or “activities”. God is the one who provides the power for these “workings” in order to make them effective. Spiritual gifts are supernaturally energized just as they are supernaturally given. Again, you can’t take credit for this! There is no such thing as a self-made man when it comes to effectively using spiritual gifts. Yes, sin can hinder the effective working of them (Eph. 4:30), but their effectiveness comes from God and not from man.
Diversity within unity is expected because this is the nature of God Himself (i.e., economic Trinity – F, S, HS all don’t have same functions though all are equally God).
Diversity, not uniformity, is essential for a healthy church. “If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? . . .” (vv. 14-20). Uniformity is a concern of the natural man, not unity. When you see a church full of uniform people who all want to be their own governors, you have a church full-of carnal, selfish people who are more interested in appearance, outward show, and notoriety than they are in using their gifts to build up the body in love and unity. The more showy gifts are not the only gifts!
Again spiritual gifts are just that, gifts. We don’t earn them or work for them. God gives them to us whether we want them or not as we are passive in the process of receiving them. This is seen by carefully studying the phrase “. . . but to each one is given”. “[G]iven” (didotai) is a verb that is in the passive voice, which means that the receiver of the gift is completely passive in the process of receiving the gift. There was nothing that they did to get the gift. Thus, God gives what kind of gifts He wants, He gives them to whom He wants, and He gives them when He wants.
This directly contradicts the common Charismatic practice of trying to “learn” how to speak in tongues. You don’t “learn” how to conjure up a spiritual gift like you would a magic spell because they are freely given to you by God. When you receive them you also automatically use them; albeit imperfectly. So the question “How can a person know if they have a particular gift?” is answered this way: find something that you like to do in the church and do it! If you are gifted for that particular thing, God will make that evident to all, especially you. If your gifts are typically the more showy, outward kinds like teaching (v. 28), then those gifts are usually evident in some way fairly soon after conversion. However, if someone is gifted in a way that isn’t always immediately noticeable to the body (i.e., “helps” – v. 28, exhortation/encouragement/mercy – Rom. 12:8), then it may take longer to discern their gifting.

II. Their Purpose: For the Common Good (v 7).

But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

v. 7 – “. . . each ‘gift’ is a ‘manifestation,’ a disclosure of the Spirit’s activity in their midst.” [Gordon Fee, The First Epistle to the Corinthians, (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans), 589] So, spiritual gifts are an obvious, evident activity of the Holy Spirit in the church that is manifested for “the common good” of the church. Spiritual gifts make known the presence of the Holy Spirit in the church such that to say that they are “private gifts” is to state an oxymoron.
For those who wonder what their spiritual gift is, the real question is this: do you desire to serve God’s people? If not, then that contradicts verse 6-7a which says, “There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. 7 But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit . . .”
It takes some people longer than others to determine what their spiritual gifts are, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that you aren’t a believer.
However, if you have no desire to serve God’s people (i.e., “the manifestation of the Spirit”, then you are not part of God’s people! Consider the following simple argument:
Premise 1 – Every Christian is gifted by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12:6-7).
Premise 2 – I am not gifted by the Holy Spirit.
Conclusion – Therefore, I am not a Christian.
A misuse or non-use of the gifts in the body hurts the body whereas their proper use and implementation strengthens the body and its witness to the world.
Note the last phrase in v. 7, “. . . for the common good.” It answers the question as to why do we desire to serve the people of God: for the benefit of the body. The gifts are given for the mutual benefit of the body. Using our spiritual gifts in the body not only helps others, but it can help them grow in utilizing their gifts. Just as a pastor-teacher faithfully teaches the word, he builds them up spiritually and equips them for the work of the ministry (Eph. 4:11-12), so it is with the rest of the body (Eph. 4:13-16).
If we fail to minister our gifts in the body, we hinder others from ministering theirs. This is why some churches that have very spiritually gifted people are so spiritually sick. Not only are some of them full of false converts, but also some of the real believers are not exercising their gifts and thus further hurting the body. Just as the healthy human body works with symmetry, synergism, and proper function in order to maintain that healthy balance, so it should be with the church body. Each member has a very important part to play, and when one of the members suffers, the rest of the body suffers right along with it (i.e., sickness). When one member rejoices, the others will rejoice right along with it (i.e., health).

IN CONCLUSION, when you claim to be a believer yet you have no obvious desire to minister to the body with your time, talents, and treasure, you are telling everyone that you are not a Christian. My friend, if you profess faith in Christ and that is your condition, then that ought to frighten you. On the other hand, when the church ministers its gifts, God’s leaders become apparent, servants serve, and the rest of the body uses its supernatural abilities to maintain the homeostasis of the rest of the body. The result is love, unity, and fellowship and these things are produced in such a way that no amount of human ability, planning, or effort can conjure them up.