God + Others

When the spiritual gifts truly begin to manifest in a person, your faith is at a point where you are moving from a “God + Me” state of faith to more of a “God + Others”. Your faith is much more than just rational thought or awareness of God. You have a keen awareness of Christ being at the center of your faith and the consequences not knowing Him. The death of Christ is the only means of redeeming humanity from eternal death. You understand that your past sins have been pardoned not by the good works you do but because of Jesus Christ.

When you heart changes so does your perspective. Good deeds and works are done because of your faith, not in order to gain favor with God. You understand that no amount of good deeds that you do will provide any sort of salvation. The salvation only comes through Jesus Christ. With this knowledge you have compassion for others and are moved to do good works in His name. That is the difference.

James 2:14-16 illustrates this point.

Faith and Deeds

¹⁴ What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? ¹⁵ Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. ¹⁶ If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? ¹⁷ In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. ¹⁸ But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. ¹⁹ You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. ²⁰ You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? ²¹ Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? ²² You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. ²³ And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. ²⁴ You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone. ²⁵ In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? ²⁶ As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

James 2:14-26 NIV

The manifestation of the spiritual gifts within you are a clear sign of this change in your faith journey. God provides you with a means to follow the longing in your heart to help your fellow man. It’s an activation of your faith on a higher level. Your spiritual senses are activated and directed to their proper purpose through faith. The application of the spiritual gifts in your daily life is the next step.

Still not sure what your gifts might be? Take our free online assessment now and start your journey.

Love is the Fuel

Love is the fuel of this newfound spiritual awareness and use of the spiritual gifts. Paul writes of love’s connection with the gifts in 1 Corinthians 13:

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. ⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. ⁸ Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰ but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. ¹¹ When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. ¹² For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. ¹³ And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 13:1-13 NIV

Consider these 3 guideposts in the application of the spiritual gifts:

Pray for Guidance

God has provided you with a spiritual gift for a specific purpose. The only way you are going to know how to use that gift is if he provides you with that answer. Earnest prayer asking God to reveal his purpose is the first and most important step.

Look for Opportunities

Keep your spiritual gift(s) forefront in your mind in your daily lives. Look for ways that you can apply your gift to assist others. Remember that the body of Christ is four walls of a church building. The body of Christ is a living, breathing organism representing all that follow Him. Do not limit your use of the gifts to only your local congregation.

Opportunities will Present Themselves

I have found in my own experience and in the experience of others that opportunities to use your gifts will manifest regularly in your lives. There are probably opportunities right in front of your eyes that you did not see before the gifts manifested in your faith journey. Keep an open mind and expect opportunities to arise.

Share Your Experiences

Please share your thoughts in the comments below on how the gifts are manifesting in your life and faith journey. Help others learn from your experiences.

Thank you!

The post Application of the Spiritual Gifts appeared first on The Spiritual Gifts Project.

In addition to the external forces, the new church in Corinth was struggling internally. The spiritual gifts were very prevalent among the members but they were being misused by some. There was internal strife and power struggles with various gifts being treated as more important. Paul addresses these items within this chapter.

Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. ² You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. ³ Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:1-4 NIV)

Paul begins this chapter by talking about how easy it is during this time to be led astray by others. In verse three, Paul emphasizes that the Holy Spirit is present in those that believe and the Holy Spirit leads us. This verse can be confusing to some degree as we all know that pretty much anyone can say the words Paul notes here. Charles Hodge in his commentary on 1 Corinthians explains this very well:

“What the apostle says, is that no man can make this acknowledgement but by the Holy Ghost. This of course does not mean that no one can utter these words unless under special divine influence; but it means that no one can truly believe and openly confess that Jesus is God manifest in the flesh unless he is enlightened by the Spirit of God.”¹ (Emphasis mine)

All Gifts from the Holy Spirit

⁴ There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. ⁵ There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. ⁶ There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. ⁷ Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. ⁸ To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, ⁹ to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, ¹⁰ to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. ¹¹ All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines. (1 Corinthians 12:4-11 NIV)

In this passage, Paul begins by stating very clearly that God distributes the spiritual gifts as He sees fit. As the Greeks give various emotions and human traits to various gods in their temples, the spiritual gifts were different as they came from the one true God. There was no place for division on the origin of the gifts.

Secondly, Paul makes a very important statement in verse seven that all of the gifts are “given for the common good”. The gifts are not to be used selfishly by the person given the gift. The gifts are to be used in harmony with all followers for the greater good of the whole. He then goes on to call out many of the gifts individually and reiterate the fact that they are given by the same Holy Spirit as God wishes them to be given.

Hodge writes on these verses the following:

“They are not designed exclusively or mainly for the benefit, much less for the gratification of their recipients; but for the good of the church. Just as the power of vision is not for the benefit of the eye, but for the man. When, therefore, the gifts of God, natural or supernatural, are perverted as a means of self-exaltation or aggrandizement, it is a sin against their giver, as well as against those for whose benefit they were intended.”²

Comparison to the Human Body

¹² Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. ¹³ For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. ¹⁴ Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many. ¹⁵ Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. ¹⁶ And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. ¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? ¹⁸ But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. ¹⁹ If they were all one part, where would the body be? ²⁰ As it is, there are many parts, but one body. (1 Corinthians 12:12-20 NIV)

The emphasis in this passage is the comparison of the human body to that of the body of Christ, the church. No one part of the human body is more important that the other and so it is with the spiritual gifts and the body of Christ. Every part of the body has a specific purpose for the whole to function correctly. Paul reminds the church that God has given the gifts as He wanted to give them, and there is no gift more important than another.

All Spiritual Gifts are Important

²¹ The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” ²² On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, ²³ and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, ²⁴ while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, ²⁵ so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. ²⁶ If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. (1 Corinthians 12:21-26 NIV)

Paul continues with his analogy of the human body and the church body in this passage. He makes it clear that even though you may see your gift as “weaker” or less desirable than others, it is just as important to the functioning of the whole body as the gift that may seem more important. Roy Laurin in his book First Corinthians – Where Life Matures writes about the gifts that may be less visible: “A steel truss in a building supports its roof, yet is not sen. Without the truss the roof would be impossible.”³ This is so true relating to the gifts that may be seen as not as important as others. Without them nothing would get done.

Greater Gifts

²⁷ Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. ²⁸ And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. ²⁹ Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? ³⁰ Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? ³¹ Now eagerly desire the greater gifts. (1 Corinthians 12:27-31)

Now you might be saying to yourself “Wait a minute – Jeff just got through writing about how no gift is more important than another one, and here is Paul talking about the ‘greater gifts’!” That’s right – I did, and I still feel that way although this passage seems to contradict that. What Paul is calling out here are not that some gifts are “better” than others, but they are “greater”. To me, greater is describing the responsibility the gift carries with it, not some sort of perceived stature of the gift. We will discuss the greater gifts in later posts.

I hope that this brief study of 1 Corinthians 12 has helped you understand the spiritual gifts and their purpose. In my next post we will study the spiritual gifts noted in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians.

1. Hodge, Charles, A Commentary of 1&2 Corinthians, Versa Press Inc., East Peoria, IL, 1964, p.241
2. Hodge, Charles, A Commentary of 1&2 Corinthians, Versa Press Inc., East Peoria, IL, 1964, p. 243-244
3. Laurin, Roy L., First Corinthians – Where Life Matures, Dunham Publishing Company, Findlay, OH, 1950 p. 226

The post Unpacking Paul – 1 Corinthians 12 appeared first on The Spiritual Gifts Project.