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| Chapter 12 |
| Bible Text | Notes and Thoughts |
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1 ¶ Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant. 2 Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led. 3 Therefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed, and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, except by the Holy Spirit. 4 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. 6 And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God who worketh all in all. 7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit thereby: 8 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; 9 to another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; 10 to another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 But all of these that one and the selfsame Spirit worketh, apportioning to every man individually as He will. 12 ¶ For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we are Jews or Gentiles, whether we are bond or free, and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. 14 For the body is not one member, but many. 15 If the foot shall say, "Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body," is it therefore not of the body? 16 And if the ear shall say, "Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body," is it therefore not of the body? 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? 18 But now hath God set the members, every one of them, in the body as it hath pleased Him. 19 And if they were all one member, where would be the body? 20 But now there are many members, yet but one body. 21 And the eye cannot say unto the hand, "I have no need of thee"; nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you." 22 Nay, much more those members of the body which seem to be more feeble are necessary. 23 And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, upon these we bestow more abundant honor; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness. 24 For our comely parts have no need, but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honor to that part which lacked, 25 that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care one for another. 26 And whenever one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or when one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. 27 ¶ Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. 28 And God hath set some in the church: first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracle workers, then those with gifts of healing, helpers, administrators, and those with diversity of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles? 30 Have all the gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But covet earnestly the best gifts, and yet show I unto you a more excellent way. |
v1-11 The Believer and Gifts. It is not possible to look at the Body of Christ without also looking at the ministry of the Holy Spirit. It was by the action of the Holy Spirit that gave birth to the Body at Pentecost. It is the presence and action of the Holy Spirit which ministers in and through the Body of Christ. The Holy Spirit makes it one. The Corinthian church was not one, there were many divisions so Paul starts by emphasizing the oneness of the Body of Christ, the Church. v1-3 One Lord: The source of gifts. Paul reminds them of what they had been and had become now, they had worshiped dead idols, now they worshiped a living God, the idols were dumb, God now speaks to them through the Holy Spirit. Only a person who is in the Body of Christ will be able to say "Jesus is my Lord." Even if Jesus is Lord a believer is still in control of their life. So called "Spirit manifestation" where the person losses self control cannot be of God. 1 Cor 14:33. v4-6 The same God. God gives many kinds of gifts and abilities but they are all from the one God. Phil 2:13 It is interesting to note that the Bible text shows the Trinity of the God Head, "same Spirit"v4,"same Lord" v5, "same God" v6. v7-11 Gifts for the whole Church Body. All the gifts given by God are given for the benefit of the Church, Eph 4:11,12, not for personal enjoyment. The Corinthian Christians were guilty of using the gifts for their own pleasure. The gifts are given according to God’s will, v11. The various gifts are named in this chapter v8-10 ,v28, we also find additional lists in Eph 4:11 and Rom 12:6-8. There are listed 19 different gifts in these passages, God may give other gifts as He needs. v12-13 One Body, one Baptism. When we are converted, become a believer, the Holy Spirit baptized the person into the Body of Christ, giving a new life for God. This is a once for all baptism, no where are we told to seek this baptism. The Filling of the Spirit Eph 5:18ff has to be the handing over of our lives to the Spirits control, we are commanded to be filled, we can give a part or all of our life over, so it can be repeated. Our bodies are given for use by Christ. v14-31 The Gifts use in Church. v14 Makes a very important statement about our bodies, "one body but many parts" Paul then goes on to develop this thought and relates it to the Body of Christ. Each part of the body is totally dependant upon the rest of the body, for example an eye cannot function without the hand, or head without feet. Also there are parts of our body which we prefer not to mention, the less honorable, are given more honour, we often put pretty clothes on these area’s. So to the Body of Christ, a church needs a cleaner and pastor, the church will not function properly without both. In fact, if the church was so dirty you could not use it the cleaner could be, under some conditions, more important than a pastor!! Unity, (working together) without diversity (many different parts) would produce something exactly the same (uniform), which is a condition which will eventually produce death. To much diversity, or diversity not under control can also destroy the unity of the body. The body needs different functions, properly functioning to live and grow There is a tendency in today’s churches to make more important the "sensational gifts," this produces "1st" and "2nd" class Christians, the "have’s" and the "have not." Beware it can make a church very unbalanced. Paul opposed this in v23-24, the honorable and dishonorable parts of the body. The gifts of the Spirit are given as it pleased God v18, he does not make a mistake. v22-26 Dependence on each other. The diversity of the gifts shows the wisdom of God, no member can be independent. If part of your body starts to go its own way, we call it cancer, this eventually spreads through the body and kills. The misuse of gifts and abilities in a local church can cause it to die. This also applies to Christian Ministries, no ministry can get along without the members of the Body of Christ. If members of a church compete with each other it leads to disunity, but when each member cares for the other it leads to unity and growth, v26. v27-31 As planned by God. It is God who gives the gifts and decides who gets what according to His plan. Paul gives a list in v28 plus the earlier lists, the Bible nowhere tells us that all these gifts will be in all the churches. Paul points out that there is an order of importance, At the head of the list are apostles and prophets, they were needed in the initial spreading of the Gospel and setting up of the churches, and as such may not exist today, it is interesting that Paul put the gift of tongues at the end. v29-30 The answer has to be "NO" to these questions, no individual believer has all the spiritual gifts. Each has been given, as needed, by the Lord. v31 The word given ‘best’ means ‘The greater’ showing that some spiritual gifts do have a greater significance than others, Paul placed a greater value on prophecy, the Corinthians were seeking the more sensational gifts like tongues. Paul reminded them to seek after the ‘greater’ gifts. |
Easy English Translation
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