29The Source and Purpose of Spiritual Gifts (12:4-7)
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. And there are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. (12:4-7)
After reminding the Corinthians of the pagan and idolatrous lives most of them had once lived, Paul gave two tests, one negative and one positive, for determining if a professing Christian is truly saved out of that paganism and if what he says is genuinely of the Holy Spirit (12:1-3). It is God Himself who gives right understanding of Jesus as Lord to individual believers and who gives oneness and power to the church.
Because the Corinthian Christians were behaving in response to the flesh rather than the Spirit, they quarreled, became factious, took each other to court, fell back into immoral and idolatrous practices, corrupted marriage relationships, abused their Christian liberty, and became self-centered, overconfident, and worldly. Their misunderstanding and misuse of spiritual gifts was a major result of their carnal divisiveness.
The Spirit gives gifts (capacities for spiritual ministry) to believers to express and strengthen the unity they have in their Lord Jesus Christ. But misuse of those gifts shatters unity, divides believers, ruins their testimony before the world, and short-circuits their growth and effectiveness in the Lord’s service.
Paul no doubt had taught the Corinthians carefully about spiritual gifts when he ministered among them for a year and a half. But they had forgotten or perverted much of what he had taught. He now reiterates and reinforces what they already should have known.
In this passage the apostle explains that the Spirit gives a variety of gifts, to be used in a variety of ministries that have a variety of effects, but a common source and a common purpose.
VARIETIES OF GIFTS
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. (12:4)
Charisma (plural, gifts) means essentially “gift of grace” or “free gift,” and in sixteen of its seventeen New Testament uses is connected to God as the Giver. In Romans, Paul uses it in reference to the gift of salvation (5:15-16; 6:23), the blessings of God (1:1; 11:29), and divine enablements for ministry (12:6). Every other use of the word by Paul, and the one by Peter (1 Pet. 4:10), relates it to the divine enablements for believers to minister in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Spiritual gifts are not talents. Natural talents, skills, and abilities are granted by God just as everything good and worthwhile is a gift from Him. But those things are natural abilities shared by believer and unbeliever alike. An unbeliever can be a highly skilled artist or musician. An atheist or agnostic can be a great scientist, carpenter, athlete, or cook. If a Christian excels in any such abilities it has nothing to do with his salvation. Though he may use his natural talents quite differently after he is saved, he possessed them before he became a Christian. Spiritual gifts come only as a result of salvation.
Spiritual gifts, however, are not natural, but rather are supernaturally given by the Holy Spirit only and always to believers in Jesus Christ, without exception (v. 7). Spiritual gifts are special capacities bestowed on believers to equip them to minister supernaturally to others, especially to each other. Consequently, if those gifts are not being used, or not being used rightly, the body of Christ cannot be the corporate manifestation of its Head, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the work of God is hindered.
Essential to unity is diversity. Unity of spirit and purpose can be maintained only through diversity of ministry. But unity is not uniformity. A football team whose players all wanted to play quarterback would have uniformity but not unity. It could not function as a team if everyone played the same position. That is Paul’s point here. God gives His people varieties of gifts just as players on a team have varieties of positions.
Varieties (diaireseis) basically means “apportionments,” “allotments,” or “distributions,” with the derived idea of varieties. God distributes His gifts in many forms, in many varieties, to His children. He has a multiplicity of gifts, which are given to every believer. They fall into two general types, speaking gifts and serving gifts (see 1 Pet. 4:11).
The New Testament contains several lists of the categories of spiritual gifts, one of which is here in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10, 28 (see also Rom. 12:6-8; cf. 1 Pet. 4:11). Bible scholars do not agree on the exact number and distinction of kinds of gifts. Because the scriptural lists are not identical, it seems clear that God did not intend to give His church either a rigid or a precise and exhaustive compilation, but rather general categories. One should be careful not to overdefine the gifts. Because they may resist overclassification, there is not much value in taking tests, formal or informal, to determine what spiritual gifts we have. A believer’s gifts can be an overlapping combination, taken in different proportions from the categories of gifts. One person may be obviously strong in a single gift, such as teaching. Another may not be strong in any one gift but have some measure of three or four categories. It is best to see each person’s gift as a unique blend of the categories of giftedness, granted to that individual in connection with his or her traits and experiences and the needs of the church. Each believer becomes as unique spiritually as his fingerprints are physically.
VARIETIES OF MINISTRIES
And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. (12:5)
God gives His gifts to be used in varieties of ministries. Even Christians with the same basic gift may be led to manifest that gift in many different ways. One teacher may be especially gifted in teaching young children; another may have special ability with the original biblical languages and be highly qualified to teach seminarians. One evangelist may be able to powerfully address large crowds, while another’s strength is in one-on-one witnessing. One person’s service of teaching may emphasize exhortation and doctrine, while another’s may focus on comfort and mercy. The emphasis here is on variety.
Ministries is from the same basic Greek term as serve, servant, and deacon (one who serves). Speaking of Himself, Jesus said, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve” (Mark 10:45). Jesus came to minister to others for God, and His Spirit gives gifts to His people so they can do the same. Spiritual gifts are not given as badges of privilege or prestige but as tools for ministry. The Lord gives them to His servants so they can serve, and He gives them for a limitless variety of services. All gifts are for service, but the types of service are immeasurable.
It is critical to understand that spiritual gifts are not given for self-edification. A teacher who studies the Word and then writes lessons that only he reads, or records messages that only he hears prostitutes his gift. A person with the gift of discernment who keeps his Spirit-given insights to himself is an unfaithful steward. Nor are God’s gifts given for self-service. A Christian with the gift of helps must, by definition, be involved in serving others, just as service, by definition, involves helping others. In the broad sense, therefore, every gift is a helps gift because every gift is a service gift. A gift exercised in private is a perverted gift. God gives His gifts to us but/or others. We are personally blessed when we use our gifts in the Spirit’s power to serve others in His name, but that blessing is the by-product not the purpose.
“As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God” (1 Pet. 4:10). We are stewards of God’s gifts. They are loaned to us; they belong to Him. They are for us to use, but by its power in His service and to His glory. Peter uses “gift” in the singular, emphasizing that each of us has a gift, which is the unique single enablement for us by God’s design and grace, so that we are unique in our service for Christ.
‘VARIETIES OF EFFECTS
And there are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. (12:6)
Effects (energēma) means literally “what is worked out or energized.” The One who provides the spiritual gifts also provides the energy and power, as well as the faith (Rom. 12:3b) to make them effective. Just as spiritual gifts are given supernaturally, so they are energized supernaturally. Christians, no matter how well trained and experienced or how unselfishly motivated, cannot exercise their gifts in their own power. We may exercise our talents, skills, intelligence, and other natural abilities in our own power, but only the Giver of spiritual gifts can empower them and make them effective. Just as God gives no commands for which He does not also give the ability to obey, He does not give spiritual gifts for which He does not also give the power to use. We must be pure from sin and be willing to be used, in order that the Holy Spirit can make our gifts productive. Both the bestowing and the empowering are the Lord’s exclusive domain. A “self-made” Christian is a self-contradiction. He cannot be in the right place and cannot be doing the right thing. He harms himself, he harms those to whom he tries to minister, and he harms the Lord’s work. Obviously, the Word of God carries enough power on its own to accomplish divine results through the gifts He gives; but used by a carnal believer, a gift is not able to bring personal fruitfulness and blessing to that believer.
Like the gifts themselves, the energizing of spiritual gifts is sovereignly varied (cf. Matt. 13:23). The same gift may be used by the Lord in countless ways, in many varieties. Even the same person exercising the same gift will not always see the same kind or extent of result. We should not all expect to have the same gifts, nor should we expect them to operate in the same ways or produce the same quantity of fruit. God’s people and God’s gifts are like snowflakes; no two are exactly alike.
The natural man, however, is always more concerned with uniformity than with unity. In their immaturity and carnality, the Corinthian believers tended to be superficial copiers. They were more interested in appearance than in substance, and they tried to copy the gifts and practices of those who seemed to be the most successful, popular, and powerful. Like many Christians today, they liked formulas for solving problems, formulas for success, and even formulas for doing the Lord’s work. They were more interested in being “successful” than in being submissive, and in being noticed and praised than in being obedient and faithful. That is why they so highly valued the more dramatic gifts, especially speaking in tongues. They were not concerned with using the Lord’s gifts in His power to serve Him and His church but in using them in their own power and for their own selfish and proud purposes.
The emphasis here on varieties seems to imply that the Corinthians thought that the more dramatic gifts were the only gifts, or at least the only gifts worth having. But Paul tells them that the Holy Spirit gives gifts to all Christians, that He gives a variety of gifts, and that every gift is as spiritual and important as any other. We should not envy those who seem to be greatly gifted. Our concern should be to discover, to faithfully use, and to be grateful for the gift the Lord has given us. God makes no mistakes. His gifts to us are the best possible ones He could give us for doing what he wants us to do. Not only is every believer gifted, but every believer is perfectly gifted.
No child in the world could substitute for one of our own children. No matter how many children we might have, none could ever be replaceable. Neither are God’s children replaceable or the ministries He has given them replaceable. No other believer can take our place in God’s heart, and no other believer can take our place in God’s work. He has given no one the exact gift He has given us and He has given no one the exact ministry He has given us. If we do not use our gift no one else will; if we do not fulfill our ministry it will not be fulfilled.
ONE SOURCE AND ONE PURPOSE
But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.(12:7)
The manifestation of the Spirit restates what Paul has emphasized in each of the three previous verses: God is the source of all spiritual gifts. They are all given by and are manifestations of the divine Trinity. The gifts are given by “the same Spirit” (v. 4); the ministries are assigned by “the same Lord” (v. 5); and the effects are energized by “the same God” (v. 6).
Manifestation (phanerōsis) has the basic idea of making known, clear, or evident. That is what spiritual gifts do: they make the Holy Spirit known, clear, and evident in the church and in the world. They manifest the Spirit. The meaning is the opposite of hidden or private. Spiritual gifts are never given to be hidden or to be used privately. They are given to manifest the Holy Spirit, to put Him on display.
They are also given for the common good (sumpheron, from a verb meaning literally “to bring together”). The term also came to mean “to help, confer a benefit, or be advantageous,” and in the context of this verse means “mutually beneficial or advantageous.” Spiritual gifts are to be edifying and helpful to the church, to God’s people whom He brings together in His name.
Not only does the exercise of our spiritual gifts minister to others but it also helps them to better use their own gifts. A pastor, for example, who faithfully preaches and teaches his congregation not only builds them up spiritually but prepares them to be better stewards of their own gifts. God uses him “for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ” (Eph. 4:12). The Christian who ministers his gift of helps not only serves other believers but encourages them to be more helpful. The believer who exercises his gift of mercy helps his fellow believers to be more merciful. As we each minister our own gifts we help others to better minister theirs.
On the other hand, as we fail to minister our own gifts we hinder others in ministering theirs. A Christian who does not exercise his spiritual gifts cripples his own ministry and the ministry of others—to say nothing of forfeiting the blessing and reward that would have come to his own life.
Some years ago I attended an Olympic decathlon, the grueling contest in which each athlete competes in ten different track and field events. I marveled at how a human body can function with such amazing coordination, endurance, and efficiency. Every muscle, every organ, every blood vessel, every nerve, every cell is harnessed in a completely unified effort to win. How wonderful it would be if we who comprise Christ’s body, the church, would function with such efficiency and harmony! How wonderful if every part of His body would work together in total unity and interdependence. What an impact the church would have on the world if every believer would be as wholly responsive to the mind of Jesus Christ as the bodies of dedicated athletes are responsive to the minds of their owners.
When the church ministers its gifts as it should, at least four important blessings result. First, Christians themselves receive great blessing—both from exercising their own gifts and from the exercising of other’s gifts for their benefit. God never intended for the ministry of His church to be carried on by a few professional or specially talented men, while everyone else sits back and watches.
Second, when everyone does his part in ministry the church forms a dynamic witness, with power and effectiveness it cannot otherwise have. Not only are those with the gift of evangelism empowered to witness more effectively but every believer is used directly or indirectly in strengthening the testimony of the gospel before unbelievers. So all share in the results. When Peter preached at Pentecost three thousand people were saved (Acts 2:41). And when the Jerusalem church, including many of those new converts, began to faithfully and sacrificially exercise their various gifts, “the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved” (v. 47).
Third, when the church ministers its gifts, God’s leaders become apparent. In a faithfully functioning church, spiritual leadership inevitably emerges. Capable leadership is essential for the church to operate as it should, but a faithful church is also necessary to provide the environment in which leaders can develop and lead as they should. God’s leaders are not made by attending leadership seminars built on worldly techniques for creating success. God equips His leaders when they are saved, and when they come to have the spiritual and moral qualifications that come from obedience to His Word, their leadership blossoms and becomes evident. Spirit-filled leadership appears rapidly when God is freely at work in His body.
Fourth, a church that faithfully uses its gifts in the Spirit’s power experiences the joy of great unity, love, and fellowship—in ways that no amount of human ability, planning, or effort can produce.