Lesson #17

1CORINTHIANS 12:1-11
Lesson #17
GIFTS FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT

• Memory Verse 1Cor 12:4
• In 1Corinthians chapters 1-11 Paul dealt with the many carnal problems in the church that threatened to destroy that church. This section of 1Corinthians dealt with correction of the church.
• Divisions over personalities
• Sexual problems
• Legal problems
• Marriage problems
• Clothing and hair styles
• Drunkenness and gluttony
• In 1Corinthians chapters 12-14 Paul deals with spiritual problems in the church. This section of 1Corinthians deals with edification of the church.
• The giving of spiritual gifts
• The energy of spiritual gifts
• The use of spiritual gifts in the church
• Introduction of Spiritual Gifts:
• Because there is much confusion and a great variety of teaching on spiritual gifts and their use, we are going to look at them from a strict Biblical point of view, using the words from the Bible.
• Many Bible teachers and pastors include everything in the category of gifts from cleaning toilets in the church to preaching the gospel. Yes, all the things that we do for Christ are important and rewarded by God, no matter how small. However, the Bible does not speak of every good work that a believer does as a gift.
• In this strict viewpoint, the words of the Bible divide the gifts into three categories conforming to the function of the Holy Trinity.

• Read 1Cor 12:1-3
• Paul does not want the Corinthian church to be ignorant about spiritual gifts.
• Paul needed to explain the gifts because in the Corinthian culture, there were mystical practices that many Christians thought were manifestations of the Holy Spirit. These were practices like:
• Trances, seizures, rantings, ecstatic utterances.
• There is an increase in spiritual mysticism of this kind within some Christian churches today. Therefore, we must pay attention to exactly how Paul describes these gifts to determine the true from the false.
• The word, “gifts” is not in the original Greek manuscripts.
• How do we know this?
• In the King James Bible, words that are in italics indicate that the specific word was not in the original manuscripts but added by the translators for the purpose of making the meaning more clear.
• What is Paul saying?
• Paul does not want baby Christians to be ignorant of spiritual things.
• Paul uses the Greek word, “pneumatika“. (“gifts”)
• This is the word for, breath, from which we get the word “pneumonia” which is an illness of the lungs that inhibits breath.
• The same word is used in relationship to the Holy Spirit who breathed life into man at creation and who gives new life to man at salvation. (Gen 2:7 Joh 20:22)
• “…dumb idols…”

(2)

• The Corinthian Christians came out of the pagan worship of idols to become Christians.
• Those idols did not speak. They did not guide the people into truth. They did not give guidance to a person’s life. Therefore, Paul calls them “dumb idols” which refers to their inability to speak. (Hab 2:18)
• Instead, now that those Corinthian Christians were born again, they had the living Holy Spirit inside of them. The Holy Spirit gave them life and now gives them direction in their lives.
• The Holy Spirit’s presence in the life of a believer enables that believer to call Jesus Christ, Lord.
• Read Mat 7:21-23
• The presence of the Holy Spirit inside of the believer enables God to use the believer in two ways:
• =1= The Holy Spirit speaks the words of God through the believer.
• =2= The Holy Spirit works the acts of God through the believer.
• However, notice that the believer must make Jesus Christ Lord of his life before God can use him.
• If the believer is not dominated and controlled by Jesus Christ, he will not be effective in speaking God’s words and doing God’s works.
• The Lord Jesus Christ must be your master if you want the Holy Spirit to give you God’s words to say and God’s acts to do.

• Read 1Cor 12:4-6 The Unity of the Trinity Divides the Biblical gifts
• =#1= Diverse “gifts” (pneumatika charismata) (4)
• These are the Supernatural Spiritual Gifts (1Cor 12:8-11)
• The Greek words, pneumatika charismata, means that these gifts are Spirit-breathed supernatural abilities or miraculous gifts..
• Notice that verse 4 says that these supernatural gifts come to the believer by the Holy Spirit.
• In other words, the Holy Spirit breathes life into these gifts of supernatural ability as they operate through the believers.
• There are many Christians who say that these gifts disappeared when the first apostles died, or that they gradually disappeared. However, there is no scripture that tells us this.
• There is as much need in the body of Christ for these gifts today as there was in the early church.
• =#2= Diverse “administrations” (diakonia) (5)
• The Greek word, diakonia, is where we get the word, deacon. A deacon is a leader in the church. (Eph 4:11)
• Therefore, these “gifts” are people placed in positions in the body of Christ.
• Notice that verse 5 says that these gifts to the body of Christ come by the Lord Jesus Christ.
• Read Eph 4:8
• During the 3 days and nights in the tomb, just before the resurrection, Jesus gave these gifts to men. At that time these gifts were given first to the disciples to establish the church and subsequently to other believers through history.
• =#3= Diverse “operations” (energamata) (6) (Rom 12:1-8)
• The Greek word, energamata, is where we get the word, energy. In other words, the energy to operate is the same as the word, motivate. Therefore, these are motivational gifts.
• Notice that verse 6 says these gifts of motivation work by God, the Father.
• To review these three categories of gifts, on the following chart, we can see the relationship between all the gifts, how they are manifested, and how they relate to the Holy Trinity.

The Category of Gifts 1Cor 12:4-6	The Scriptural Location	Given by	Explanation	The Number of Gifts in the List
Gifts (pneumatika charismata)	1Cor 12:8-11	The Holy Spirit	Supernatural manifestations that are temporary	9
Administrations (diakonia)	Eph 4:11	The Lord Jesus Christ	Positions of people in the body of Christ, the church	5
Operations (energamata)	Rom 12:1-8	God, the Father	Motivational gifts that are permanent to energize the believer for service	7

• Because the first two of these categories of gifts are mentioned in 1Corinthians, we are going to discuss in detail only these two categories. The third category is discussed at length in the study of the book of Romans. (Rom 12:1-8)

• Read 1Cor 12:7
• The purpose of all the gifts, no matter from which of the three categories they come is to use the believer to minister to others, so that the gift :
• — is to profit man. (7)
• The gifts are to benefit the body of Christ, the church, not one individual.
• The promotion of all the gifts, no matter from which of the three categories they come:
• — is to promote the Lordship of Jesus Christ (3)
• Unless Jesus Christ is lifted up by the use of gifts, the gifts are not from God.
• Read 1Cor 12:8-11 The Supernatural Spiritual Gifts
• As we have just discovered, these gifts are supernatural, dynamic abilities breathed by the Holy Spirit. They are manifestations of the Holy Spirit.
• These gifts are not permanently resident in the believer. They move from one believer to another as the Spirit moves. They are given to believers at a moment in time to meet a specific need in the body of Christ.
• There are nine of these gifts. Because numbers in the Bible have significance, we can discern the meaning of the number, nine. The Biblical number for the Holy Trinity is 3. The Biblical number for man is 6 (Rev 13:18). Therefore, the function of these gifts occurs where there is cooperation between the Holy Trinity of God and man.
• Because Paul is going to discuss the use of these gifts in detail in 1Cor 14, we must first understand their basic definitions and functions.
• =#1= The Supernatural Spiritual Gifts:

{pneumatika charismata)

• -1-The Word of Wisdom
• God gives abundant wisdom to all believers that ask for it. (Jam 1:5) This is general wisdom, like that which Solomon had, that enables the believer to live his Christian life.
• However, there is a specific supernatural giving of wisdom according to this gift that manifests itself differently. This kind of word of wisdom is in the future tense.
• The manifestation of the gift of the word of wisdom:
• Read Luk 12:12
• Wisdom is insight into truth.
• This is wisdom that looks into the future.
• This is wisdom that discerns between good and evil. (Pro 2:10-11)
• This is wisdom that discerns direction for the future. (Act 15:2)
• When a believer supernaturally knows of some event in the future, this is a word of wisdom.
• He may not know everything that will occur, but he will have assurance that he knows some of what will happen. He may not know how he knows this bit of information, but he is confident that it will certainly occur.
• Read Joh 7:6-8
• Jesus used the gift of the Word of Wisdom.
• -2-The Word of Knowledge

• God gives general knowledge to all believers who study His Word. (Psa 119:66 2Pet 3:18 2Pet 1:5)
• However, there is a specific supernatural manifestation of knowledge that comes from the Holy Spirit.
• When ministering spiritual truth to other people, sometimes the Holy Spirit gives a supernatural knowledge of a current or a past event in that person’s life.
• Read Joh 4:17-19
• Jesus used the gift of the Word of Knowledge.
• Jesus supernaturally knew the woman’s past life so that he could minister to her more fully and specifically at the point of her need.
• Read Act 5:3
• Peter used the gift of the Word of Knowledge to discern sin.
• -3- Faith

• There is a general measure of faith that God gives to all believers when they are born again, so that they will be saved. (Rom 12:3)
• However, there is a specific gift of Faith given by the Holy Spirit to meet a specific need that is often an emergency situation. (Luk 7:2-10)
• Sometimes a Christian will have a great deal of faith for a specific need in the church or in the life of another Christian. That faith appears to be beyond that Christian’s usual level of faith.
• -4- Gifts of Healing

• The physical body has a certain capacity to heal itself which was built into the physical body at creation.
• However, there is this supernatural gift that exceeds the physical body’s capacity of healing.
• There is something unusual about this gift that we should notice in order to understand this gift.
• Notice that the Bible says “gifts of healing”. The word, gifts, is plural while the word, healing, is singular.
• In other words, this is not a person that is often called a “healer”. If the Bible said, “gift of healings”, it would be this type of person. This person would have a singular gift to go about doing many healings (plural). But as we have seen, these gifts are not permanently resident within the individual Christian.
• Instead the Holy Spirit gives many occasions of gifts to complete healing. Each healing is a separate manifestation of the Gifts of Healing.
• Read Act 9:32-35
• -5- Working of Miracles

• The word, miracles, is the same word in Acts 1:8 for power. In other words, by using the power of the Holy Spirit, a miracle occurs.
• These are miracles other than healing where the natural operation of physics is interrupted.
• Read Act 8:39-40
• -6- Prophecy

• The word, prophecy, in Greek, literally means = to flow forth, to let drop, or to lift up.
• This meaning tells us exactly what this gift contains.
• The words of God flow directly from God through the believer to the ears of his audience. Those words “let drop” a warning or they encourage and “lift up” those who hear the word of prophecy.
• There is a general concept of receiving words directly from God. The sermons that pastors preach fall into this concept of receiving general messages from God.
• However, the gift of prophecy is a supernatural gift where the believer speaks unplanned words from God directly to the people. Therefore, the gift of prophecy is not a sermon.
• Read Act 21:10-12
• The believer through whom this gift flows may or may not be a prophet. In other words, there is the position of a prophet which we will consider later in 1Cor 12.
• In Act 21, the word of prophecy came through Agabus, a person who had the position of a prophet, but in Acts 2:19 there were four women that frequently received the gift of the word of prophecy. These women did not have the position of a prophet.
• -7- Discerning of Spirits

• The Holy Spirit gives all believers a general ability to discern good from evil and truth from error. (Joh 14:17; 15:26; 16:13)
• However, there is a supernatural gift where the believer receives s supernatural ability to discern the spirit of another person or the spirit behind a situation.
• Read Act 5:1-4
• -8- Diverse Tongues

• The word, “diverse” is not in the original manuscripts.
• The word, tongues, is the same word that we find in Act 4 when the believers spoke in diverse languages on the Day of Pentecost. These were languages that they had never learned.
• On the Day of Pentecost the believers, filled with the Holy Spirit, went out of the upper room and spoke in a variety of earthly languages that foreign visitors to the city of Jerusalem could understand. (Act 2:7)
• However, there is another type of tongues that Paul explains in 1Cor 14. This is the speaking of a heavenly language. Unfortunately we do not see this distinction between a heavenly language and an earthly language in the Greek word tongues.
• Because of that, many Christians say there is no such thing as the supernatural gift of tongues given by the Holy Spirit.
• However, following sound logic, Paul says that this is one of the supernatural gifts given by the Holy Spirit. Then in 1Cor 14, he says that the use of this gift in the church must follow a specific order. Therefore, the gift must legitimately exist along with all the previous gifts already listed.
• -9- Interpretation of Tongues

• The gift of interpretation of tongues is a supernatural manifestation that interprets the previous gift. In other words, the gift of tongues and the gift of interpretation of tongues work together. When the gift of tongues manifests itself, there must be an interpretation of tongues.
• We will discuss this further in our study of 1Cor 14.
• These nine supernatural spiritual gifts which are the supernatural manifestations of the Holy Spirit can be divided into three areas according to their function. This division is not specified by scripture but by observation of how these gifts function.

The Gifts of Revelation The Power to Know	The Gifts of Power The Power to Do	The Gifts of Speaking The Power to Say
The Gift of the Word of Wisdom	The Gift of Faith	The Gift of Prophecy
The Gift of the Word of Knowledge	The Gift of Miracles	The Gift of Diverse Tongues
The Gift of the Discerning of Spirits	The Gifts of Healing	The Gift of the Interpretation of Tongues
These Gifts Operate in the Realm of the Mind	These Gifts Operate in the Realm of the Will	These Gifts Operate in the Realm of the Emotions

• Application:
• How do the spiritual gifts mentioned in verses 1-11 relate to the divisions in the Corinthian church?
• In a church suffering with various types of divisions, Paul instructed the Corinthian church about gifts that they were already using in their church.
• Paul wanted those Christians to understand that the gifts are given by one spirit for the purpose of ministering to the body of Christ.
• Notice that the phrase “the same Spirit” is repeated 7 times in 1Cor 12:1-11.
• Therefore, it is the Holy Spirit working through believers in ministry within a congregation of believers that unifies a church.
• One believer ministering to another in love is what heals the divisions in a church.
• What do all the spiritual gifts have in common?
• These Spiritual gifts have the power of the Holy Spirit in common.
• What is required for a person to receive one or more of these gifts periodically in his life?
• =1= A person must be a born-again believer with the Holy Spirit dwelling inside.
• =2= Jesus Christ must be the Lord of a believer’s life. (3)
• =3= The believer must be filled with the Spirit. (Eph 5:18-21)
• Paul says that every believer has the potential for receiving at least one of these gifts. (7) But it is the Holy Spirit that decides which gift a person receives and when. (11)

HOMEWORK
1CORINTHIANS 12:12-31
This is a self-study. Please do not send homework answers to the teacher forcorrection.

• Application of 1Cor 12:1-11
• What experience have you had with these Spiritual Gifts?
• What prevents you from allowing the Holy Spirit to use you more frequently in the operation of these gifts?

• Preparation of 1Cor 12:12-31
• Read 1Cor 12:12-31
• Paul commands in verse 31 to covet the best gifts. Which do you think are the best gifts? Why?

Memory verse: 1Cor 12:18