Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Corinthians 12:4

Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.

Now there are diversities of gifts – There are different endowments conferred on Christians. For the meaning of the word gifts, see the note at Rom 1:11; compare Rom 5:15-16; Rom 6:23; Rom 11:29; Rom 12:6; 1Co 1:7; 1Co 7:7.

But the same Spirit – Produced by the same Spirit – the Holy Spirit. What those diversities of gifts are, the apostle enumerates in 1Co 12:8-11. The design for which he refers to these various endowments is evidently to show those whom he addressed, that since they are all produced by the same Holy Spirit, have all the same divine origin, and are all intended to answer some important purpose and end in the Christian church, that, therefore, none are to be despised; nor is one man to regard himself as authorized to treat another with contempt. The Spirit has divided and conferred those gifts according to his sovereign will; and his arrangements should be regarded with submission, and the favors which he confers should be received with thankfulness. That the Holy Spirit – the third person of the adorable Trinity – is here intended by the word Spirit, seems to be manifest on the face of the passage, and has been the received interpretation of the church until it was called in question by some recent German commentators, at the head of whom was Eichhorn. It is not the design of these notes to go into an examination of questions of criticism, such as an inquiry like this would involve. Nor is it necessary. Some of the arguments by which the common interpretation is defended are the following:

(1) It is the obvious interpretation. It is that which occurs to the great mass of readers, as the true and correct exposition.

(2) It accords with the usual meaning of the word Spirit. No other intelligible sense can be given to the word here. To say, with Eichhorn, that it means nature, that there are the same natural endowments, though cultivated in various measures by art and education, makes manifest nonsense, and is contrary to the whole structure and scope of the passage.

(3) It accords with all the other statements in the New Testament, where the endowments here referred to wisdom, knowledge, faith, working of miracles, etc., are traced to the Holy Spirit, and are regarded as his gift.

(4) The harmony, the concinnity of the passage is destroyed by supposing that it refers to anything else than the Holy Spirit. In this verse the agency of the Spirit is recognized, and his operations on the mind referred to; in the next verse the agency of the Son of God (see the note on the verse) is referred to; and in the following verse, the agency of God – evidently the Father – is brought into view; and thus the entire passage 1Co 12:4-6 presents a connected view of the operations performed by the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in the work of redemption. To deny that this verse refers to the Holy Spirit is to break up the harmony of the whole passage, and to render it in no small degree unmeaning. But if this refers to the Holy Spirit, then it is an unanswerable argument for his personality, and for his being on an equality with the Father and the Son.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

1Co 12:4-6

Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.

Diversities of gifts

1. The glory of the Apostolic Church was not merely in her faith, zeal, conversions, or martyrdoms; but above all, and as their source–in the possession of the Holy Spirit.

2. Her miraculous gifts have been long laid aside; but the Holy Spirit is still the glory of the Church, endowing her with even nobler gifts; and of them the text is still true. There is variety in unity.

I. In spiritual, endowments.

1. There is the greatest diversity–

(1) In the natural order.

(a) Take a family. One has more ability than another, and the abilities run in such different lines as make the same treatment or destination impossible.

(b) Take the little world of school. Each boy has his own capacity, one seemingly promising, another the opposite according to our artificial standard–a standard to be reversed in after life.

(c) Take the greater world. What diversities here–the orator, and the man of no utterance, but a man of deeds; the poet and the stern man of facts, etc. And all these diversities are for the well-being of man, and we are not to despise any of them.

(2) Now granting that religion is the work of the same God, should we not anticipate a kindred diversity in His spiritual gifts? All Christians have their spiritual talents, some five, some two, etc., but every man according to several ability. All Gods children–

(a) Are taught of the Lord by a Divine illumination. But how great the diversity between the apostle soaring in inspired vision and the unlettered Christian who simply knows her Bible true–her Saviour sufficient.

(b) Are, in common, partakers of like precious faith; but here there are diversities between the faith that staggers not at promised impossibilities, and the faith that can only say, Lord, I believe, help Thou mine unbelief.

(c) Love Christ. But what striking diversities between the love that rejoices to surrender all for Him, and the love that can but keep the garments unspotted and is ever ready to wax cold! From this diversity, then, it follows that some will become more remarkable for faith, some for love. Some have the grander, sterner qualities predominating; others have the softer, more gentle.

2. Over all these diversities there is a pervading unity of the one Spirit that creates and sustains them. As all the diverse works of nature prove the unity of the Creator, so all the gifts of grace bear the broad arrow of His hand. Some are like great rivers diffusing fertility through an empire, sustaining a mighty population on their banks, and bearing great navies on their bosom; others are as little rills, which serve only to gladden the eyes of a household or two, and then disperse into the great waters; yet all of them are channels, filled with the same living water; each has its own flow from the one mountain range, each is of the like quality, each has its own separate beauty.

(1) The humblest gifts of grace have a use and a value, surpassing all gifts of genius and wealth, and are not to be despised. True science finds its field not merely in scanning the firmament, but in studying the flowers.

(2) Nay, the more lowly and obscure these graces are, the more they are like Him whose chief glory shines in His condescension. The humblest gifts are the Divinest, for they do not inflate the heart with the sense of its own greatness. And in a higher world, may it not be found that these humble ones were the highest in Gods esteem, because the least mixed up with self?

II. In spiritual ministry. Property has its rights, it has also its duties–so have natural gifts. And the greater a mans powers, the more sacredly is he bound to minister to the welfare of humanity. And all gracious powers are held by the like condition. The Church is like a great palace where every man has his post, and the humblest ministry is as necessary as the most distinguished. In a great steamship, it is not enough that there be the master to issue instructions, the pilot to steer, the engineer to control its mighty powers; but there must be those who perform the meanest services, else all the skill and power of the others will be useless. So in the Church. What lives of power and productiveness were those of Paul, Luther, Knox, etc. How insufficient seem other ministries in comparison; yet the faithful steward of a few things is as useful in his way and as honourable as the faithful occupant of the most splendid office. There is a ministry of–

1. Parental instruction. You cannot transfer this to another hand, even were you anxious to do so to the wisest and best. You alone can travel the pathway to the affections and confidence of the youthful heart. For your childrens sake and for your own souls sake, renounce not this ministry. It is your noblest blessedness and theirs to have these children made yours by the double tie of nature and of grace.

2. Sympathy. This brings us into immediate communion with the Spirit of Jesus, who has consecrated all the sorrows of humanity by His own. In the Primitive Church this office was heralded by gifts of healing. These are gone, but we can sympathise with distress, and by that chord touch the heart, and gain a hearing for Christ. Mercy is twice blessed, etc.

3. Liberality. What a magnificent power of blessing to the Church is a rich man who, with a heart delivered from selfishness, is willing to use his Masters stores in his Masters service!

4. Prayer. The Church is mightiest on her knees.

III. In spiritual operations. Nothing could be more infinitely varied than the operations of God in nature and in providence. There is the tempest, as well as the soft west wind; the gentle breath of spring, and the summer heat. And there are corresponding diversities in Gods dealings with the sinner.

1. In the act of preparation for, or in the want of it. In the sunrise in our own land the darkness of night gradually passes into the pale grey of dawn, the grey into the saffron, and the saffron into the ruddy tints of morning, and how these in their turn melt away in the bright light they herald. Whereas, in tropical lands the sun rises at once. And is it not the same with the dawn of new life on the soul? I have stood on the sea-shore, and for a considerable time could not tell whether the tide was coming in or going out. Again, I have stood beside it when its mass of waters was tossed by the fierce tempest, and when it swept all before it, as it rolled its mighty waves to the shore. And in these different aspects of the ocean we have a picture of the diverse experiences of the soul in passing through the great change. Take the case, e.g., of Lydia and the gaoler, John and Paul.

2. In the after experience of the Christian life. Some advance with uninterrupted progress. There are others whose course is like that of Israel of old in the wilderness. With some, the course is all among the deep shady valleys; others are walking on the high ground, always in the sun. The one class go on their way with joy and singing, the other advance with timid step, going, and weeping as they go. But however opposite the experiences of Gods children, and however diverse their paths, they are all led by the right way, by the one Spirit to the one home. (J. Riddell.)

Diversities of gifts

God hath distributed variety of gifts and graces in different degrees amongst His people. Every man hath his proper gift of God, and the gifts and graces of all are this way made useful and beneficial. Job was exemplary for plainness and patience; Moses for faithfulness and meekness; Josiah for tenderness. Athanasius was prudent and active; Basil heavenly and of a sweet spirit; Chrysostom laborious and without affectation; Ambrose reserved and grave. One hath quickness of parts, but not so solid a judgment; another is solid, but not so ready and quick. One hath a good wit, another a better memory, a third excels them both in utterance. One is zealous, but ungrounded, another well principled, but timorous. One is wary and prudent, another open and plainhearted. One is trembling, another cheerful. Now, the end and use of Churchfellowship is to make a rich improvement of all by a regular use and exercise of the gifts and graces found in every one. One must impart his light, and another his warmth. The eye, viz., the knowing man, cannot say to the hand, viz., the active man, I have no need of thee. Unspeakable are the benefits resulting from spiritual and orderly communion; but they are all cut off by dissentions; for as faith is the grace by which we receive all from God, so love is the grace by which we share the comfort of all among ourselves. (J. Flavel.)

Diversity of nature

Break off an elan bough three feet long, in full leaf, and lay it on the table before you, and try to draw it, leaf for leaf. It is ten to one if in the whole bough (provided you do not twist it about as you work) you find one form of a leaf exactly like another; perhaps you will not even have one complete. Every leaf will be oblique, or foreshortened, or curled, or crossed by another, or shaded by another, or have something or other the matter with it; and though the whole bough will look graceful and symmetrical, you will scarcely be able to tell how or why it does so, since there is not one line of it like another. (J. Ruskin.)

Unity in diversity

I. Intellectual progress consists in discovering the unity which underlies all diversity. In early ages everything appeared to be totally different from everything else. Gods many and lords many found in the material universe a convenient playground for their manifold caprices. The history of science is a record of the discovery in this primeval chaos of the unifying principal of law. Phenomena that seemed altogether dissimilar have turned out to be merely different operations of the same force. The apple which falls to the ground once seemed to have nothing in common with the moom which does not so fall; but now we know that both are equally under the control of gravity. Shooting stars may even yet appear to many to be extreme examples of lusus naturae; but investigation has proved that these eccentric objects contain animal remains which shows that in the most distant parts of the universe the same biological forces were ages ago at work which are in operation here and now.

II. This unity in the midst of diversity is to be found, also, in the spiritual sphere.

1. There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. These gifts may be roughly divided into the secular class, which includes gifts of teaching, healing, and government; and the religious class, which includes those of prophecy and of tongues. What the gift of tongues precisely was I do not know; but the unholy emulation to possess it St. Paul shows was foolish and wrong. In comparison with charity or enthusiasm of man for men it was nothing worth. The crucial test by which spiritual gifts may be known, and their relative value determined, was profit. Even a secular endowment, such as the power of healing, becomes a gift of the Spirit to him who uses it for the welfare of his fellow-man. Such a desire is an inspiration that can only come from above, and this inspiration transforms what would otherwise be a mere natural endowment into a gift of the Spirit. The mistake of the Corinthians was similar to one not uncommon in the present day. It is sometimes imagined that a clergyman, as such, is in a unique degree under the guidance of the Spirit. In spiritual matters there is no exclusive prerogative. I pity the clergyman who has never been ministered unto when he went to minister. Profitableness is the test of spiritual gifts. He is the most highly gifted man who does the most good.

2. Not only do different gifts proceed from the same Spirit, but there are different developments of the same gift. The office of the Spirit is not to provide us with an infallible set of doctrines, or with an immaculate set of actions; but to give us powers, instincts, emotions, and sentiments, which will be differently developed in different individuals and according to different circumstances. God fulfils Himself in many ways, lest one good custom should corrupt the world. Barren uniformity is death. Our spiritual life consists in our co-operation with God, and the co-operation of different individuals under different circumstances leads of necessity to a diversity of opinions and practices. The same desire to honour God may manifest itself in the most diverse ways. Some think it incumbent to go through an elaborate ritual, while to others a bold simplicity will seem more in harmony with worship. Some will feel that music draws them heavenwards; others that it ties them down to earth. Some will find that they can hardly pray without a form of words; others that they can hardly pray with it. There are diversities of working, yet it is the same God who worketh. What we have to look for in the spiritual as in the physical spheres is not uniformity but unity–the unity manifested through diversity.

3. This is a lesson which many find it very hard to learn. Some time ago the author of Religious Denominations was told that in the North of Scotland there was a sect nearly dying out, the members of which were peculiarly sure that they alone were in the way of salvation. He went to the house of the chief representative of this expiring sect. The man was away, but the wife admitted that they had lost member after member from unsoundness of views, until at last, as she pathetically put it, There is only just myself and my husband left, and I am not so very sure of him. Now, we may smile at this foolish old woman, yet she is only an extreme specimen of many who seem to find supreme comfort in the assurance that Gods Spirit is working only in the very select few who agree in doctrine and practice with themselves.

4. In heaven, if not on earth, men will discover that their differences were much less, and their agreement much greater than at the time appeared. All honest seekers after God are in heart united, whether they know it or not; though distinct as the billows, they are one as the sea; though distinct as the colours of the rainbow, they are as the pure white light which those colours compose. The mount of truth has many paths; those who are ascending it by different ways look too often upon each other with suspicion and contempt; but they will all be led onwards and upwards by the Holy Ghost, till eventually they find themselves standing side by side before the throne of the Eternal. (Prof. Momerie.)

Unity with diversity

Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord, but there are distinctions in the Divine nature: in the Old Testament He is called Elohim, plural noun joined to singular verb; and in the New He is spoken of as Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Again, the moral law is also one summed up, like the Divine character, in love; but it has a diversity of applications. There is unity with variety in–

I. The works of God.

1. In the matter of the universe. Matter is the same in all time and in all space. Chemistry and geology both prove this. But in what a diversity of modes does it appear: in earth, water, air, and fire; in the trunks, branches, fruits, etc., of plants; in the bones, muscles, etc., of animals.

2. In the forces of the universe. The sum of force is always one and the same. If you consume it in one form it appears in another. A large portion of it coming from the sun is taken up by the plant, which is eaten by the animal, and becomes in us the power which we use to serve our purposes. But in what a diversity of modes does this force appear; in matter attracting matter, and holding atoms and worlds together; in elements combining according to their affinities; driving our steam engines, heating our homes, quivering in the magnetic needle, blowing in the breeze, smiling in the sunshine, striking in the lightning, and living in every organ of the body; ever changing and yet never changing; imparting unceasing activity, and yet securing an undisturbed stability.

3. In the orderly arrangement of the matter and forces of the universe. He who created the elements and their properties has so disposed them that they fall in order like the stones in a large building, or soldiers in companies, every one with a duty to discharge. The issue is–

(1) Beneficent and highly complex laws, such as the revolution of the seasons. What a number of agencies, e.g., are involved in the periodical return of spring.

(2) The adaptation of law to law, so as to bring about individual events. This is what constitutes providence. This providence is general, reaching over the whole, because it is particular providing for every being, and for all wants.

4. In our mental talents and tastes. The mind is suited to the position in which it is placed in the world, and the world is adapted to the minds which are to observe and use it. Mans intellect, formed after the image of God, delights in unity with variety, and nature presents these everywhere.

II. In the word of God. This was written at very different times by different men in different styles and about different topics: but there is unity from beginning to end. It is one creed in regard to God, Christ, man, this world and the world to come. This arises–

1. From the circumstance that there is one God inspiring the writers. As the Lord our God is one Lord, so the Word He has inspired is also one. While all Scripture is given by the inspiration of God, it is profitable for a variety of purposes.

2. From the whole being a development of the one plan of redemption. There is a universal harmony in nature, but somehow a discordant element has been introduced. Looking within, we find conscience indicating that man is not at peace with God nor with himself. Looking without, we see wars, bloodshed, disease, disappointment, and death. All these things can be traced directly or indirectly to sin. Now the Word of God reveals a way by which this discordance is removed. In its evolution the plan assumes various forms, the patriarchal, the Jewish, the Christian. But it is substantially the same along the whole line. God appears everywhere as a holy God, saving sinners through the suffering of His Son. Except in the degree of development there is no difference between God as revealed in Eden, on Sinai, and on Calvary. The first book of Scripture discloses to us a worshipper offering a lamb in sacrifice, and the last shows a lamb as it had been slain in the midst of the Throne. In heaven they sing the song of Moses the servant of God and of the Lamb.

3. From the unity with variety in the experience of believers. In essential points the experience of all is alike, and has been so from the beginning; but because the Spirit works in a certain way in the breast of one believer, this is no reason why He should work in the same way in the heart of every other. He suits His manifestations to the difference of their state and character.

III. There is an accordance between the works and Word of God and yet there is a difference.

1. Both come from God and therefore reflect His character, but in a somewhat different light. The works manifest His power and His wisdom; the Word His holiness on the one hand and His mercy on the other.

2. There are times when science and Scripture seem to contradict each other; but only as one branch of science may seem to be inconsistent with another. Geology, e.g., requires long ages to explain its phenomena, whereas astronomy seems to say, that so long time has not elapsed since the earth was formed by the rotation of nebulous matter, every one believes that sooner or later the seeming inconsistencies will be cleared up. Account for it as we may, there is a general correspondence between Genesis and geology, and with such correspondences we may leave the apparent irreconcilabilities to be explained by future investigation. At times it is not easy to reconcile profane history with Scripture; but ever and anon the monuments of Egypt, Nineveh, and Moab, tell us that the Old Testament gives us a correct picture of the state of the nations in ancient times.

3. I might dwell on the numerous analogies between nature and revelation. Both give the same expanded views of the greatness of God; the one by showing His workmanship, the other by its descriptions. The heavens declare, etc. Both show that there is only one God; the works, which are bound in one concatenated system, and the Word when it declares that the Lord our God is one Lord. Note–Two points brought into prominence by recent science.

(1) The operation of evolution. It is not proved, as some would aver, that there is nothing but development. For there cannot be development without some previous seed. We see a like operation in the kingdom of grace the Jewish economy is developed out of the Patriarchal, the Christian out of the Jewish; and the seed planted eighteen hundred years ago has become a wide-spread tree.

(2) The state of things in which we are placed. The frivolous may feel as if the Scriptures have drawn too dark a picture of our world; but all who have had large experience of human life acknowledge that the account is a correct one. How much of history is occupied with the narrative of desolating wars. We boast of our splendid cities, but in every one of them you will find crime and misery fermenting. There are warring elements in every human bosom, and in every society. Any one seeking to remove the causes of discord will be sure to irritate and to meet with determined opposition. The greatest men have been martyrs, who, in order to pull down the evil, have had themselves to perish. And science gives the same picture. What mean these discoveries of worlds being formed out of warring elements? What means the struggle for existence? Science, as well as Scripture, shows that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. The two are thus seen to be in curious correspondence; but they differ in this, that while both speak of a troubled day, the latter and more comforting revelation assures us that at evening time there shall be light. (J. McCosh, D.D.)

Allegorical time-keepers

On the face of a watch are three workers, and an ignorant man would conclude that the second hand was the most important. But you might remove that, and even the minute hand, and yet be able to tell the time if the steady hour hand were left. So there are diversities of operations in the Church, and we are liable to form wrong conclusions as to their relative value. We have little fussy men, who can turn round sixty times before another man will turn round once, but they are not always the most reliable as to spiritual time, nor are they the most important workers in the Church. What we want is men and women of steady, reliable character, on the dial of whose conduct the true time is always registered. I once went into a clockmakers at noon, and the clocks were striking the hour. There were diversities of operations, but the same spirit actuated them all, viz., to tell everybody that it was twelve oclock. It was amusing to hear little clocks tip off the whole twelve before larger ones had got more than nicely begun. But each did its own work, according to its own promptings, and found no fault with others because they had different methods of doing the same thing. The effect of a quarrel would have been loss of time and damage. I learn from this–

1. That all Christians should be busy at their great life-work.

2. That Christian activity must be prompted and controlled from within.

3. That uniformity of method is impossible, and therefore that each should work in his own way, and find no fault with those whose methods may differ.

4. That method is quite secondary. What is the quality of the work done? Let me describe the clocks I saw.

I. The clock that did not strike. A fine-looking clock, which only told the time to the eye, whereas others told it to the ear as well. Now, as a rule, all true Christians are made to strike, but now and then you will come across one who appears to lack the striking weight or the bell; but, in many cases, if you look on the dial of their conduct you will find it unvarying as the sun. I have often lain awake at night wondering what time it was, when suddenly the faithful clock struck off the answer. It is a great blessing to the world, in the midst of its moral darkness, that there are so many Christians who fearlessly publish the time.

II. The clock that made only a buzzing noise. It went through all the motions of striking without making one the wiser as to what it was trying to tell. So some well-meaning people go through all the motions of bearing witness for the Master, but no one can understand them. This, however, is in very many instances the result of habit or inconsistency. I knew a most powerful political speaker who, in relating his Christian experience, seemed to be afraid of everybody present; and I know good sisters, whose voices can ring all over the place, who can only mumble their Christian experience.

III. The clock that struck too much. There was a clock that appeared to like to hear itself strike, and was little short of a nuisance: yet the bending of a little wire, about the eighth of an inch, would have made it as orderly as any in the room. So those who pray and speak too long in our churches only require a gentle, brotherly suggestion, and the trouble in many cases would be at an end, yet not in all. For, when very highly tempered, the wire sometimes breaks in bending, and then I have known them to sink themselves in ill-natured silence, and scarcely as much as tick in public afterwards. Some of these great talkers are very poor tune-keepers. I have heard them strike off Twelve oclock, spiritual noonday here, when the hands on the dial of their conduct scarcely indicated spiritual sunrise.

IV. The clock that needed starting. I thought perhaps it was out of gear or not wound up, but the gentleman told me that it was in going order, but that he had forgotten to start it. So there are persons who just need the gentle touch of Christian encouragement to start them in the path of righteousness. And in the Church there are many who would pray in the prayer-meeting, labour in the Sunday-school, or give liberally if they once got started.

V. The clock that was not plumb–which was just in the act of stopping. There was something under it. How many church members are swayed all to one side by things that are inconsistent with the Christian character. While in such an attitude you may ask, but you can receive no spiritual blessings.

VI. The one feature the clocks all had in common. I noticed amid all the diversities of size, mechanism, and operations, that all these clocks had a tendency to run down. So with all Christians. You may be as punctual at church, and as exemplary in your department as usual, and be running down all the time. The pendulum of profession may continue to wag when the mechanism is clogged with the dust of worldliness or forbidden pleasures. No Christian can run on time, if left to himself, for a single hour. What, then, must be the condition of those who live loose from God six days out of seven. Some clocks are so made that they can run for weeks and keep good time; but I never knew a Christian that could do it, and I have known many who gave it a fair trial. Conclusion: I well remember my first watch. Sometimes it would rattle off an hour in fifteen minutes, while at other times it could not make an hour in twenty-four. I spent a good deal of time in finding out the time and giving it to my watch, by turning the hands into proper position. My father at length, to save time I presume, took it to the watchmaker, and I thought my watch was ruined as the man took it to pieces, but when the job was done, it could keep its own hands to the true time without any help from mine. Many in our churches act towards themselves as I did towards that old watch. Their inner mechanism is clogged and deranged by the dust and defilement of sin. When they perform any Christian duties it is all mechanical and outside work with them. You cannot keep time from the outside. You must come under Gods cleansing and regulating hand before you can run the way of His commandments. (T. Kelly.)

The dispensation of the Spirit

The ages of the world are divisible into three dispensations.

1. Of the Father when God was known as a Creator; creation manifested His eternal power and Godhead.

2. Of the Son when God manifested Himself through man; the Eternal Word spoke through the inspired and gifted of the race. Its climax was the advent of the Redeemer.

3. Of the Spirit in which God has communicated Himself by the highest revelation, as a Spirit mingling with a spirit. There is a twofold way in which the operations of the Spirit may be considered.

I. Spiritual gifts conferred on individuals. In verse 28 these are divided into two classes; the first are those capacities which are originally found in human nature, elevated and enlarged by the gift of the Spirit; the second are those which were called into existence by the sudden approach of the same influence. Just as if the temperature of this northern hemisphere were raised suddenly, and a mighty tropical river were to pour its fertilising inundation over the country, the result would be impartation of a vigorous and gigantic growth to the vegetation already in existence, and at the same time the development of life in seeds and germs which had long lain latent in the soil, incapable of vegetation in the unkindly climate of their birth. Consider–

(1) The natural gifts.

(a) Teaching is a gift, natural or acquired. To know is one thing; to have the capacity of imparting knowledge is another.

(b) Healing is no supernatural mystery; long and careful study of physical laws capacitate the physician for his task.

(c) Government, again, may be learned, but there are some who never could so acquire it. Some men seem born to command. Now the doctrine of the apostle was, that all these are transformed by the Spirit so as to become almost new powers.

(2) Supernatural gifts. Of these we find two pre-eminent gifts.

(a) The gift of tongues was not merely the imparted faculty of speaking foreign languages; it would rather seem that the Spirit of God, mingling with the soul of man, so glorified its conceptions, that the ordinary forms of speech were found inadequate for their expression. In a far lower department, when a man becomes possessed of great ideas, his language becomes broken, But it often happens that when perfect sympathy exists, incoherent utterances–a word–a syllable–is quite as efficient as elaborate sentences. On the day of Pentecost all who were in the same state of spiritual emotion as those who spoke understood the speakers; to those who were sceptically watching, the effects appeared like those of intoxication. A similar account is given in chap. 14.

(b) The gift of prophecy seems to have been a state of communion with the mind of God, more under the guidance of reason than the gift of tongues.

2. Upon these gifts we make two observations.

(1) Even the highest were not accompanied with spiritual faultlessness. Disorder and vanity might accompany these gifts, and the prophetic utterance itself might be degraded to mere brawling, therefore St. Paul declared the need of subjection and rule over spiritual gifts; the spirits of the prophets were to be subject to the prophets; if those endowed with tongues were unable to interpret what they meant, they were to hold their peace. There is nothing precisely identical in our own day with these gifts, but there are those which stand in a somewhat analogous relation. The flights of genius appear like maniac ravings to minds not elevated to the same level, and are perfectly compatible with moral disorder. The most gifted of our countrymen was the greatest, wisest, meanest of mankind. The most glorious gift of poetic insight is too often associated with degraded life.

(2) The gifts, which were higher in one sense, were lower in another; as supernatural gifts they would rank thus–tongues–prophecy–teaching; but as blessings to be desired, this order is reversed. The principle upon which that was tried was that of a utility whose measure was love (1Co 14:19). Our estimate is almost the reverse of this: we value a gift in proportion to its rarity. One of our countrymen has achieved for himself extraordinary scientific renown, but the same man applied his rare intellect to the construction of that simple lamp which had been the guardian of the miners life. The most trifling act which is useful is nobler in Gods sight than the most brilliant accomplishment of genius.

II. The spiritual unity of the Church–the same Spirit. There are two ideas of unity: sameness of form and identity of spirit. Some have fondly hoped to realise an unity for the Church of Christ which should be manifested by uniform expressions in everything. There are others who have thrown aside entirely this idea as chimerical; and who, perceiving that the law of the universal system is manifoldness in unity, have ceased to expect any other oneness for the Church of Christ than that of a sameness of spirit, showing itself through diversities of gifts. Among these was Paul.

1. All real unity is manifold. Feelings in themselves identical find countless forms of expression. In the world as God has made it one law shows itself under diverse, even opposite manifestations.

2. All living unity is spiritual, not formal. You may have a unity shown in identity of form; but it is a lifeless unity. The illustration given by the apostle is that of the human body. Uniformity here would have been irreparable loss–the loss of every part that was merged into one. The bodys unity is the unity of a living consciousness which animates every separate atom of the frame, and reduces each to the performance of a function fitted to the welfare of the whole.

3. None but a spiritual unity can preserve the rights both of the individual and the Church. Some have claimed the right of private judgment in such a way that every individual opinion becomes truth, and every utterance of private conscience right; thus the Church is sacrificed to the individual; and the universal conscience, the common faith, becomes as nothing. Again, there are others who, like the Church of Rome, would surrender the conscience of each man to the conscience of the Church. Spiritual unity saves the right of both in Gods system. It respects the sanctity of–

(1) The individual conscience. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. The belief of the whole world cannot make that thing true to me which to me seems false.

(2) The individual character. Out of the millions of the race, a few features diversify themselves into so many forms of countenance, that scarcely two could be mistaken for each other. There are no two leaves on the same tree alike; nor two sides of the same leaf, unless you cut and kill it. Each man born into this world is a fresh new soul intended by his Maker to develop himself in a new fresh way. (F. W. Robertson, M.A.)

The gifts of Christianity

Christianity claims to be, and is, in the belief of all its truest sons, a universal religion. And consider what that means. It means that it is a religion for all peoples, whatever their land, whatever their character; for the emotional races of the south as well as for the sterner and harder dwellers in the north, for the subtle and dreamy oriental as for the strong and practical inhabitant of the west. It means that it is a religion for all ages; that it can adapt itself to changing times. It means that it is a religion for all classes; that it can appeal to the rich as to the poor, to the cultivated intellect of the few as to the untrained reason of the many, to woman as to man, to the child as well as to the old. It means that it is a religion for all temperaments. Let us see what right Christianity has to claim to be and to do all this. Through what agencies dues it work? Are they fitted to make it accomplish the end of its being? Let us never forget, in the first place, that the one great agency to which it must look, nay the one which is its very life and inspiration, is the Holy Spirit of God. Without Him there can be no religion, no Christianity; without His work and influence no soul of man can be born again unto the kingdom of heaven. And if there is one attribute of His working which is dwelt upon more than another in the Bible it is its diversity. You cannot set limits to it; you cannot assign reasons for it. It can seize hold of a self-seeking Balaam or a narrow-souled Saul and make them its mouthpieces as easily as it can rest upon an Elijah, or a John the Baptist, or a St. Paul. It is on this boundless power, this power to change and to exalt, this power to fire the various capacities of men, to give them new strange gifts, that the apostle dwells so eloquently in this passage in the Corinthian epistle. And then pass on to another agency, which is in one sense not another, but the same; I mean the Book which the Spirit of God has inspired and which the Church of Christ bears in her hand for the teaching of the nations. What is the character of it? Not, as might have been expected, a short and logical and exact book of reference. The Bible is a book of what marvellous variety! Truly a book of marvellous diversity and yet of no less marvellous unity, for the golden thread of Gods purpose of salvation in Christ runs through it and binds it in one from its beginning to its end. There is yet another agency which Christianity must use, and that is the Church. St. Paul, in the passage on which I am dwelling, makes it clear that here too, in his view, is to be the same diversity in unity. The Church is to be one, to know but the one Body, and one Spirit, and one Hope of our calling, one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism, one God and Father of us all: and yet it is to find place and play for all manner of minds and characters, as the body finds work for all its differing members. God fulfils Himself in many ways; there is room in the church for all temperaments, and characters, and minds; her true aim as a Church is to follow up the work of the Spirit, not to attempt to manufacture Christians after a single exemplar, but rather to take what is strongest and best in the character of each, and to make it do service to God; not to crush the enthusiasm out of a St. Paul, or the independent thought out of an Augustine, or the artistic power out of a Fra Angelico, or the poetry out of a Milton, or the scientific spirit out of a Livingstone, but to turn their special gifts to Gods ends and consecrate them to all holy purposes. There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit, differences of ministries, but the same Lord, diversities of operations, but the same God which worketh all in all. And yet, in spite of this universality of which we have been boasting, it is useless to shut our eyes to the fact that there is much failure to mourn over, much success that is only partial at best, in the progress of Christianity. Are there no Christians who have faith without charity, whose belief in Christ is a belief of the mind, whose religion is dogma without love, bigotry without humility? We may well ask, if Christianity is what, it claims to be, whence come these failures? And when we set ourselves to, answer that question, the first thing we find is that one failure is due to another. If the religion of Christ has failed in this or that part of the world, it is because it has not got thoroughly hold of the nation which preaches it. Yes, if we want to find the explanation of the comparative failure of Christianity among the races of the world, or among the labourers of our own land, we must seek it in this, that we are only one-sided Christians ourselves. But then we carry our inquiries a step further back. Why is it that there is so much of this one-sided Christianity? And the answer to that is that men do not entirely realise the ideal which is set before them. For that ideal is this–that every part, and power, and capacity, and tendency within them must be illuminated and inspired by the Spirit of God, given over to His supremacy and to His government, subordinated and made obedient to His will. Man is a many-sided being; and it is not enough, it is not the whole of the religion of Christ, if the intellect is convinced but the conscience silenced, if the emotions are kindled and the life untouched. The surrender, if surrender it is to be called where surrender means victory, must be complete; the service of the heart to God, if service it be where service is perfect freedom, must be unreserved and unqualified. But I shall be told very likely that I am contradicting myself; that a surrender, a service, a uniformity, a harmony so complete is practically just that dead level, that absence of diversity, which just now I disclaimed. But that is not so. God asks you for all your powers, but He does not ask you to exert them all in equal measure; He does not demand the same interest, the same fruit from your mind and heart if one is by nature greater than the other. He leaves you free. Thus with one man religion is the consecration of his intellect to God. The truth of Christs message and mission has come upon him like a revelation; it fills his thoughts; the conviction that has seized him bears him on like a flood; it is life to him now to learn more and more of the knowledge of God. Or, again, with another, religion is the consecration of the will and the affections; the salt which saves him from moral corruption and decay. The strength of his life, the flower of his service to God, is not intellectual, but moral and spiritual. His part in the great warfare is less an active one than one of stedfastness and rest. In quietness is His strength. And yet once more: the religious life may be the consecration of the energies. We are familiar all of us with men who have neither exceptional ability nor any singular power of self-restraint; but whatever they do they do it with their might, seeing but one thing in front of them and making for that with every power and capacity that they possess. Theirs is no ambition to be in the vanguard of the march, but to save the stragglers and strengthen the weary and the weak as they falter and fail. Well for you if Gods Spirit takes your intellect and makes it His own; well for you if He uplifts you to a life of holiness lived in the very presence of God; but if neither of these lots may be yours, then pray Him to make you one of His workers, wherever your field may lie. (H. A. James, B.D.)

Diversities of gifts in the Church

The work of God, the life of His Church–how strange, confused, and mixed, and accidental it looks, as we pass our eyes over the surface! And St. Paul, here, in my text, is looking on at his Church at Corinth; and he is hard pressed by accidents of circumstance, and by local details. Disordered as it may all look in its crude outward scene, to him, looking below, it is all under the control of a single principle, it is all the evidence of a single Supreme Agent. There is no accident and no chance, but everywhere one determining Force, and that Force is the Spirit of God, the Holy Ghost. He it is who is the swing of all these eddying motions. Wherever men believe, it is He who makes faith possible; and all varieties of human character, all the distinctions of personal peculiarities, do but display His solitary activity. Wherever and however, and so far as, men, through whatever means, loyally confess that the Man Jesus is the Christ of God, there we are to recognise, and to reverence, the prompting of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit has no higher task than that which is set for it, and circumscribed for it, by the body of Christ. Wherever it speaks or works, it will be perfectly certain to make Jesus, the Man, prominent and emphatic. It will testify to His authority; it will make yet more precious His bodily appearance; it will magnify His historical position. Nothing that lowers the importance of Jesus, or dissolves His supremacy, or makes light of His unique value, can come from the Spirit. No man, speaking with the Spirit of God, calleth Jesus accursed. The Incarnation, then, operates upon the world of man with perfect regularity of law through the one Agent. He is the Worker, this Spirit of God; what, then, is His work? how does He apply the Incarnation of Jesus Christ to men? He does so in two modes, that to the outsider might seem contradictory, but which are but the effects of this one cause. First, the effect of the Spirits stirring is seen in the outburst of spiritual gifts. Each soul is quickened by a new impulse; it thrills with a sense of fresh-born vitality; and new powers spring forth, and gifts break out from it. St. Paul watched the Spirit at work in that new church of his at Corinth; and how strong was that new wine, and how fiery the flame–how loud and full the prophecy! Each soul, made alive in Jesus, is brimming with the glory of its new endowment, the stress and storm of the Spirit are shocking these souls into ecstasy. Here it was intellectual insight, there it was prophetic vision; here it was spiritual passion, there it was administrative capacity. That was the outcome of the Spirit, the outbreak of individual freedom from experience. And then St. Paul looked, and there was another vision and another sight altogether. There he saw arising a stately and orderly fabric, the Church of God, the body of Christ. There he watched it, laying limb to limb, until the body came together, by joints and sinews, compacted together and bonded. There was the double vision: on the one side, an inner inspiration of individual souls exalted, varied, and ecstatic; on the other side, an outer assertion of visible order, administrative, complete, whole, and harmonious. And yet here was this point: contradictory as these effects might look, they are the symptoms, the outcome of one and the same Spirit. If the Spirit that quickens the individual gifts be the same that builds up the corporate Church, then, on the one hand, the inner and private experiences of souls need not view with suspicion and dislike the discipline of ecclesiastical rule or theological formulae; neither, on the other hand, ought the ecclesiastical system to condemn or distrust the freedom of individual spiritual experiences. Let us take the first point. These individual spiritual experiences, however manifold and varied, in being required to harmonise themselves with the Church order and with the formulated creed, are not asked to yield to some arbitrary restraint, to submit their claims to some general convenience not their own, to conform to a conventional expedient, necessary, perhaps, but still a bondage. Every corporate rule springs out of the same source as the individual experience. The Spirit that gives inner special personal experience is the same Spirit that builds the Church. In asserting their own peculiarities, no one gift can attribute a value to itself which it must not by the same necessity attribute to all the rest, for its one value comes to it from the Spirit in which they equally share. Whatever prerogative one gift possesses, that same advantage must all the other gifts possess. That purpose with which He allots the gift to this man must be the same with which He allots that other gift to that other. He who authorises the gift authorises the end, and if that ultimate purpose have no valid right, neither has the gift. And what is that purpose?–edification–the building of the body of Christ, the edification of all separate individual capacities to the enrichment of the corporate Church. If the Spirit who fills and frames the ecclesiastical fabric is still and always the Spirit that stirs into action all the manifold variety of individual gifts, then the Church, the system, ought not to have to condemn or dislike these inner spiritual experiences. Yet there is a very natural repugnance here. To us, loving the sweet calmness of the Spirits orderly working, there cannot but be a shock as we face the turmoil and confusion which often beset the outbursts of His work in individual souls. Surely here is something repellent, something out of harmony with Gods mind, something out of kinship with Christs ancient heritage! So many instinctively feel, and, when they feel so let them remember that the Spirit always has its double manifestation, remember that the same Spirit which shapes the sweet fabric which they love so dearly is the same Spirit who, as He stirs in the individual soul, shapes it into those passionate outbursts; those upheavals, they are His proper material, out of which He delights to build; not another spirit enkindles them, but He Himself. And, as He raises them, so He will not confront them as a foe, but will approach them as One who is at home with them, who is aware of their inner significance, who can greet them as a friend. True, He may have many a great lesson yet in store for these experiences. He does not for a moment desire that they should remain as they are in their present temporary disorder. But, for all that, He will not come to them as that which is to Him alien, shocking, or distressing. He will know the secret that is alive in all this stormy outpouring? As it bends down, then, in gracious seemliness, it will be in fullest sympathy. Come to Me, it will be saying to all souls made alive in the Spirit, come under My discipline, conform to My rule, not because you are bad, or dangerous, or human, or erring, not because you need some arbitrary external repression, but come to Me and obey My gift. You are already My own, of My malting, My inspiration. I awoke you because I needed you; I have a place for you in the work; for Me and by Me you were made; find, then, in Me your peace. And for ourselves we will remember, finally, that there is but one rule laid down by St. Paul to govern all our treatment of gifts and spiritual experiences, whether in ourselves or others–the rule of love, of edification. Love, first in relation to gifts not our own. Love will rejoice to recognise by how many paths men are brought to Christ, to recognise how infinite are the resources of the Spirit. It will be quick to recognise how sacred are individual diversities. It will respect all it can, find work in all it can, just because it is the very character and note of the one Spirit to exhibit His excellence in infinite diversity of operation. The first aim of love is to make its gift intelligible to all, useful to all, a common possession, a common good, and a common joy. (Canon Scott Holland.)

The gifts of the Spirit

I. Their nature. They are–

1. Ordinary. These the Spirit conveys to us through our own endeavours, as he who both makes the watch and winds up the wheels of it may be said to be the author of its motion. Amongst these we may rank oratory, philosophy, etc. And God ordinarily gives these to none but such as labour hard for them. God is ready to do His part, but not to do His own and ours too.

2. Extraordinary. These are entirely from God, as, e.g., the gifts of miracles, healing, etc., which might indeed be the object of mens admiration and envy, but never the effect of their endeavours. Some will perhaps inquire how long these extraordinary gifts continued in the Church. Just as long as the settling of a new religion in the world required. Wherefore the purpose of miracles being extraordinary, and to serve only for a time, they were not by their continuance to thwart their design, nor to be made common by their being perpetual. The exact period of their duration can hardly be assigned; but certain it is that now these are ceased, and that upon as good reason as at first they began. For when the spiritual building is completed, to what purpose should the scaffolds any longer stand?

II. Their diversity. What is meant by this diversity of gifts. Note here–

1. Something by way of affirmation, which is variety. This variety is–

(1) For use. In the Church there are, and must be, several members having their several uses and stations (verse 28); the employment of so many parts subserving the joint interest and design of the whole–as the motion of a clock is a complicated motion of so many wheels fitly put together; and life itself but the result of several operations, all issuing from and contributing to the support of the same body (verses 29, 30). As in the natural body the eyes do not speak, nor the tongue see, so neither in the spiritual is every one who has the gift of prophecy endued also with the gift and spirit of government, etc. Now God has use of all the several tempers and constitutions of men, to serve the Church by. E.g.—

(a) Some men are of a sanguine and cheerful disposition. And these are fitted for the airy, joyful offices of devotion. Again, there are others of a reserved arid severe temper, and these are the fittest to serve the Church in a retirement from the world, and a settled composure of their thoughts to meditation, and in dealing with troubled consciences.

(b) Some, again, are of a fervent spirit; and God serves His Church even by these as being particularly fitted to preach the rigours of the law to obstinate sinners. And on the contrary, there are others again of a gentler genius, and these are serviceable to speak comfort and refreshment to the weary, etc. And thus the gospel must have both its Boanerges and its Barnabas; the first, as it were, to cleanse the air and purge the sold, before it can be fit for the smiles of a Saviour.

(2) For ornament–to dress and set off the spouse of Christ. Where would be the beauty of the heavens and the earth; where would then be the glory and lustre of the universe, if our senses were forced to be always poring upon the same things without the quickening relish of variety? And, moreover, does not such a liberal effusion of gifts equally argue both the power and the bounty of the giver?

2. As this diversity of the Spirits gifts imports variety, so it excludes contrariety; different they are, but they are not opposite. There is no jar or contest between them, but all are disposed of with mutual agreements and a happy subordination; for as variety adorns, so opposition destroys. The spirit of meekness and the spirit of zeal, e.g., do equally serve and carry on the great end and business of religion.

III. Their lessons.

1. If the Spirit works such variety and multitude of supernatural gifts, it is but rational to conclude that He is a being superior to nature, and so God.

2. This great diversity of the Spirits gifts may read a lecture of humility to some, and of contentment to others. God, indeed, has drawn some capital letters, and given some men gifts, as it were, with both hands; but for all that none can brag of a monopoly of them. He has filled no mans intellectual so full, but he has left some vacuities that may sometimes send him for supplies to lower minds. Moses with all his knowledge and ruling abilities required Aarons elocution; and he who speaks with the tongue of angels may yet be at a loss when he comes to matters of controversy. And this should prevent the despondency of the meanest understandings (verses 21, 22). Let not the foot trample upon itself because it does not rule the body, but consider that it has the honour to support it. Nay, the greatest abilities are sometimes beholding to the very meanest. The two talents went into heaven as easily as the five.

3. We have here a touchstone for the trial of spirits; for such as are the gifts, such must be also the Spirit from which they flow.

4. This emanation of gifts from the Spirit assure us that knowledge and learning are by no means opposite to grace; since we see gifts as well as graces conferred by the same Spirit. (R. South, D.D.)

The Trinities

I. Personal.

1. The same Spirit.

2. The same Lord.

3. The same God.

II. Real.

1. Gifts.

2. Administrations or offices.

3. Operations or works.

III. Actual.

1. Dividing.

2. Manifesting.

3. Profiting.

The three real are the ground of all. The three personal are from whence those come. The three actual are whether they will.

(1) Divided.

(2) So divided as to make manifest.

(3) So made manifest as not only–

(a) To make a show but to some end.

(b) That end to be not the hurt or trouble, but the good.

(c) The good, not private, of ourselves, but common, of the whole body of the Church. (Bp. Andrewes.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Verse 4. There are diversities of gifts] Gracious endowments, leading to miraculous results; such as the gift of prophecy, speaking different tongues, &c. And these all came by the extraordinary influences of the Holy Spirit.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Gifts signifieth the same thing with habits, or powers, or abilities to actions; our actions being either natural, as eating, drinking, sleeping, &c., or moral, or spiritual. These powers are either natural, which are in an ordinary course of providence bred with us, as the infant hath a power to eat, drink, sleep, cry, &c.: or acquired, and that by imitation, or human learning, as the child gets a habit of speaking, or a power to write, understand languages, arts, and sciences: or infused; and those are either merely infused, as faith, love, and all habits truly spiritual are, and therefore called graces, or spiritual gifts of the highest natures; or else such as are obtained by the use of means on our parts, but yet not without the influence of the Holy Spirit of God; such are abilities to pray, preach, &c. There are some common powers, that is, such as those might have, who should never be saved, which might be merely infused, and were extraordinary in those first times of the gospel; such as the gift of tongues, prophecy, healing, &c. These powers, especially such as are not natural and common to all in an ordinary course of providence, nor acquired merely by imitation, or study, or the teaching of others, but infused either in whole or in part, are those which the apostle here calleth gifts: and he saith there is a diversity of them; there was the gift of prophecy, of healing, of tongues, &c.; but he tells them, this diversity of gifts flowed all from one and the same Spirit, the Spirit was not diverse, though his influences were divers.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

4. diversities of giftsthatis, varieties of spiritual endowments peculiar to the several membersof the Church: compare “dividing to every man severally”(1Co 12:11).

same SpiritThe HolyTrinity appears here: the Holy Spirit in this verse; Christin 1Co 12:5; and the Fatherin 1Co 12:6. The terms “gifts,””administrations,” and “operations,” respectivelycorrespond to the Divine Three. The Spirit is treated of in1Co 12:7, c. the Lord,in 1Co 12:12, c. God,in 1Co 12:28. (Compare Eph4:4-6).

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

Now there are diversities of gifts,…. Of spiritual ones, as in 1Co 12:1 which spring from the free grace, and good will and pleasure of God, and are not owing to the merits of men; and therefore such who have the largest share of them should not boast of them as acquired by themselves, or be puffed up on account of them; and those who have the smallest measure should be content and thankful; for though the gifts are different, some have greater, and others lesser, none have all, but all have some, yet not alike:

but the same Spirit; is the author and giver of all as he pleases; the lesser gifts, and the smallest degree of them, come from the Spirit of God, as well as the greater. Gifts here seem to be the general name for all that follow; and

administrations and

operations are the two species of them; and of these a particular account is afterwards given.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Diversities (). Old word for distinctions, differences, distributions, from , to distribute, as (dividing, distributing) in verse 11. Only here in the N.T.

Of gifts (). Late word and chiefly in Paul (cf. Ro 12:6) in N.T. (except 1Pe 4:19), but some examples in papyri. It means a favour (from ) bestowed or received without any merit as in Ro 1:11.

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

Diversities [] . Only here in the New Testament. It may also be rendered distributions. There is no objection to combining both meanings, a distribution of gifts implying a diversity. Ver. 11, however, seems to favor distributions.

Gifts [] . See on Rom 1:11.

Administrations [] . Rev., better, ministrations. Compare Eph 4:12. In the New Testament commonly of spiritual service of an official character. See Act 1:25; Act 6:4; Act 20:24; Rom 11:13; 1Ti 1:12; and on minister, Mt 20:26.

Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament

DISTRIBUTION AND EXERCISE OF SPIRITUAL GIFTS

1) Now there are diversities of gifts. (diaireseis de charismaton eis) “Now there exist difference of gifts and charismatic distributions.” These (charis) Grace – “distributions” or gifts in and for spiritual matters, in plurality form, had been a possession of the church from Pentecost.

2) “But the same Spirit- (to de auto pneuma) “but the same Spirit.” The one Holy Spirit, vice-gerent of Jesus Christ, third person of the God-head, was the empowering dispenser of these gifts, often conferred by the Apostles, following Pentecost, by the laying on of the Apostles’ hands, Act 8:14-21; Act 19:6; 1Ti 4:14.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

4. Now there are diversities of gifts The symmetry of the Church (730) consists, so to speak, of a manifold unity, (731) that is, when the variety of gifts is directed to the same object, as in music there are different sounds, but suited to each other with such an adaptation, as to produce concord. Hence it is befitting that there should be a distinction of gifts as well as of offices, and yet all harmonize in one. Paul, accordingly, in Rom 12:6, commends this variety, that no one may, by rashly intruding himself into another’s place, confound the distinction which the Lord has established. Hence he orders every one to be contented with his own gifts, and cultivate the particular department that has been assigned to him. (732) He prohibits them from going beyond their own limits by a foolish ambition. In fine, he exhorts that every one should consider how much has been given him, what measure has been allotted to him, and to what he has been called. Here, on the other hand, he orders every one to bring what he has to the common heap, and not keep back the gifts of God in the way of enjoying every one his own, apart from the others, (733) but aim unitedly at the edification of all in common. In both passages, he brings forward the similitude of the human body, but, as may be observed, on different accounts. The sum of what he states amounts to this — that gifts are not distributed thus variously among believers, in order that they may be used apart, but that in the division there is a unity, inasmuch as one Spirit is the source of all those gifts, one God is the Lord of all administrations, and the author of all exercises of power. Now God, who is the beginning, ought also to be the end.

One Spirit This passage ought to be carefully observed in opposition to fanatics, (734) who think that the name Spirit means nothing essential, but merely the gifts or actions of divine power. Here, however, Paul plainly testifies, that there is one essential power of God, whence all his works proceed. The term Spirit, it is true, is sometimes transferred by metonymy to the gifts themselves. Hence we read of the Spirit of knowledge — of judgment — of fortitude — of modesty. (735) Paul, however, here plainly testifies that judgment, and knowledge, and gentleness, and all other gifts, proceed from one source. For it is the office of the Holy Spirit to put forth and exercise the power of God by conferring these gifts upon men, and distributing them among them.

One Lord. The ancients made use of this testimony in opposition to the Arians, for the purpose of maintaining a Trinity of persons. For there is mention made here of the Spirit, secondly of the Lord, and lastly of God, and to these Three, one and the same operation is ascribed. Thus, by the name Lord, they understood Christ. But for my part, though I have no objection to its being understood in this way, I perceive, at the same time, that it is a weak argument for stopping the mouths of Arians; for there is a correspondence between the word administrations and the word Lord. The administrations, says Paul, are different, but there is only one God whom we must serve, whatever administration we discharge. This antithesis, then, shows what is the simple meaning, so that to confine it to Christ is rather forced.

(730) “ La proportion et ordre bien compasse qui est en l’Eglise;” — “The proportion and well regulated order that is in the Church.”

(731) “ Consiste en vne vnite faite de plusieurs parties assemblees;” — “Consists of a unity made up of many parts put together.”

(732) “ I1 vent donc qu’un chacun se contentant du don qu’il a receu, s’employe a le faire valoir, et s’acquitter de son deuoir;” — “He would, therefore, have every one, contenting himself with the gift that he has received, to employ himself in improving it, and carefully discharge his duty.”

(733) “ Pour en iouyr a part, sans en communiquer a ses freres;” — “So as to enjoy them apart, without imparting of them to his brethren.”

(734) “ Vn tas d’esprits enragez;” — “A troop of furious spirits.”

(735) “ De discretion;” — “Of discretion.”

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

Butlers Comments

SECTION 2

Source of Diversity (1Co. 12:4-11)

4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; 6and there are varieties of working, but it is the same God who inspires them all in every one. 7To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11All these are inspired by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.

1Co. 12:4-7 Provenance: The word inspires in 1Co. 12:6 is a translation of the Greek word energon which actually means, energizing, working, or operating. Paul emphasizes over and over that it was the same God or same Spirit who energized or operated the miraculous gifts through those who were given them. These special gifts all came from God and were, therefore, to be used to edify (build up) the church, not to divide and destroy its oneness. These gifts all had their source in the power of One Divine Person, so, there was one purpose (Gods) for their use. If it was the same God who was the Source of all the gifts, then they were all given for the common good (Gr. sumpheron, literally, together-profiting). They were not given to promote the superiority of those possessing themthey were to serve every member, one way or another, in the body of Christ. No gift of God to man, whether miraculous or non-miraculous, is ever given to be used selfishly for the promotion of human pride or superiority, Gifts are given for service. It may not have been Pauls intention to teach the doctrine of the Trinity, but the oneness of the threefold personage of the Godhead is certainly delineated when he states, . . . the same Spirit . . . the same Lord . . . the same God.

1Co. 12:8-10 Particularity: In 1Co. 12:4 the apostle indicated there were varieties of gifts given to the Corinthians. The Greek word translated varieties is diaireseis and means literally, to take apart, or, in many parts, hence, differences or distinctions. The Corinthian church probably had a full complement of all the gifts God intended the first century church to have. 1Co. 12:4 also contains three significant Greek words explaining the purpose of the variety. The Greek word translated gifts is charismaton; literally, things of grace. The Greek word translated service is diakonion; literally, deaconries. The Greek word translated working is energematon; literally, operatings. God purposely gave great variety of miraculous gifts in order that the whole church might have a miraculously sustained ministry, so necessary for the extremely crucial infant years (approximately 30100 A.D.) of its existence. The emphasis is definitely on variety for the purpose of service and ministry.

Nine supernatural gifts are listed. Each had a particular function to perform in sustaining and maturing the church. When we read that these gifts were supernatural we must not forget the trials, temptations, doubts and fears those first century Christians endured. The New Testament (Acts, Hebrews, I Peter, Galatians, Thessalonians, Revelation) documents for us a fearsome record of their sufferings. They needed divine demonstrations to nourish courage, faith and endurance. Christians of that century did not have Bibles of their very own. Precious and few were the manuscripts or copies and those were circulated from one church to another. The infant church also needed direct, divine guidance in discerning the truth from all the deceptive falsehoods of paganism and the Judaizers.
The gifts as Paul lists them are:

a.

the utterance of wisdom (Gr. logos sophias); probably supernatural power to reveal Christian principles of thought and behavior; revealed applications of gospel facts.

b.

the utterance of knowledge (Gr. logos gnoseos); probably supernatural guidance in knowing the facts of the gospel so they might confirm prophecies; the importance of this is evident from I Corinthians chapter 15.

c.

faith (Gr. pistis); probably the faith to move mountains (1Co. 13:2; Mat. 17:20) or do miraculous works; J. W. McGarvey said that no amount of personal faith ever enabled one to perform a miracle to whom such power had not been given. We must be careful to distinguish between the use of faith in connection with spiritual gifts and the personal faith that saves. Jesus gave Judas faith to perform miracles (Mat. 10:1-8) but Judas did not, evidently, possess faith of his own in Christ sufficient to acknowledge him as his savior.

d.

healings (Gr. iamaton); undoubtedly supernatural power was given to certain individuals to cure illnesses and diseases; perhaps some could heal certain diseases and others different diseases; it is not stated that anyone had power to heal all diseases.

e.

the working of miracles (G. energemata dunameon, operations of powers); probably has to do with miracles other than healings; perhaps supernatural power to bring the judgment of God upon persons opposing God (Ananias and Sapphira, Elymas) or powers over nature and things.

f.

prophecy (Gr. propheteia); probably supernatural endowment to proclaim (and predict when necessary) and preach the gospel inerrantly, and directly without having been eye witnesses as the apostles were; the word prophecy may be used for non-miraculous preaching (see Rom. 12:6).

g.

ability to distinguish between spirits (Gr. diakriseis pneumaton); literally, critiquing of spirits; probably supernatural endowment of the ability to judge between true and false teachers and doctrines with immediacy. In the infant church (without a proliferation of written scriptures) there was no objective test available to determine correct teaching versus false so supernaturally endowed gifts to make such distinctions were necessary. Now, with the Bible complete, in thousands of human languages, the supernatural gifts are no longer necessary. Doctrine and teachers are to be measured according to the written apostolic word (see 1Jn. 4:1-6; 2Th. 3:6-15; 2Ti. 3:16-17).

h.

various kinds of tongues (Gr. gene glosson); probably supernatural endowment to speak in a human (foreign) language unknown, except by miraculous endowment, to the speaker and often unknown to the listeners requiring an interpreter. These tongues (languages) were human languages. They were not totally unknown (as the KJV implies) (see Act. 2:8 ff.) (see comments on 1Co. 14:1 ff.).

i.

interpretation of tongues (Gr. hermenia glosson). The word hermenia is the word from which we get the English word hermeneutics, the science of interpretation and explanation. When a Christian, under supernatural power of Gods Spirit, spoke in a language foreign to himself and his hearers, it required someone supernaturally endowed with the gift of understanding the unknown language to translate the message in the language known to the hearers. The main purpose of the phenomena of speaking in a language unknown to the speaker was the manifestation of a miracle (see 1Co. 14:22). At the same time, however, getting the message of the unknown tongue to the audience was so important, Pauls instruction to the Corinthian church was, if there is no one to interpret, let each of them (tongues speakers) keep silent in the church. Those with the gift of foreign-language-speaking could control their utterings. (See Joh. 1:41-42 for two examples of the Greek word hermenia being used to mean translate.)

1Co. 12:11Partitioning: Miraculous gifts were apportioned according to the sovereign will and choice of the Holy Spirit. It was not the desire of the recipient that determines the gift. Modern, pseudo, charismatic gifts are allegedly given on the basis of the recipients faith and desire. The Bible clearly documents the fact that supernatural endowments of the Holy Spirit of God were given exclusively according to Gods purpose. Paul makes it plain in three of his other epistles (Rom. 12:6; Eph. 4:7; Heb. 2:4) that all gifts, supernatural and natural, are distributed entirely according to the purpose of God.

In his parable Jesus taught that all talents and pounds were distributed according to the owners will. Servants all received different measures and were responsible only for the measure they had receivednot for what another had received. There is no room for pride or jealousy when we acknowledge the truth that everything we have is from the same God and according to his omniscient will.

The RSV is not as accurate as it could be in 1Co. 12:11 had it been a more literal translation. The Greek text reads: panta de tauta energei to en kai to auto pneuma, diairoun idia hekasto kathos bouletai. A more literal translation would read: And all these things the same Spirit operates, distributing separately to each one as he purposes. Christians, of all people, must recognize and admit that human beings have absolutely nothing at all (miraculous gifts, functional gifts, material gifts) unless received from God, to be used as he purposes in his revealed will, the Bible. He is the source of all we have so that no man might boast in the presence of God (cf. 1Co. 1:30).

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

(4-6) NOW there are diversities of gifts.Although conversion is identical in every case, yet afterwards there are spiritual gifts which vary according to individual capacity and character, but they all come from the one Spirit. There are varieties of ministration in which those spiritual gifts are employed, and (not but in the Greek) the same Lord is served by these varied ministries; there are varieties of operations resulting from these gifts and ministrations, but it is the same God who works them all in all cases. We have here a clear indication of the doctrine of the Holy Trinitythe HOLY SPIRIT, the direct source of spiritual gifts; the SON, the one in whose service these gifts are to be used as ministers; the FATHER, the one supreme origin of all powers thus bestowed in diverse manners by the one Spirit, and for diverse purposes in the ministering to the One Son. Thus, underlying this passage is the vivid realisation of the Trinity in unity, and unity in Trinity of the Divine Nature.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

4. Diversities of gifts Which Paul will soon enumerate.

Same Spirit Do not, as of old, suppose that one man is inspired by Apollo to prophesy; another by Minerva to utter the word of wisdom; another by the Muses to give forth a psalm or pour forth the utterances of tongues. All these, then, are the various breathings from one Power.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘Now there are diversities of gifts (charismata), but the same Spirit. And there are diversities of ministrations, and the same Lord. And there are diversities of workings, but the same God, who works all things in all.’

Paul then goes on the point out that there are in fact diversities of spiritual gifts (charismata – ‘gifts of grace’), all given and inspired by the same Spirit, differing ministries in the church, all performed and empowered under the same Lord, many types of workings in creation (or in all the churches, or in all Christians), but all energised through the One God, Who works everything (‘all things’) everywhere (or ‘in everyone’). Thus there is one Spirit, one Lord and one God Who is/are responsible for true spiritual gifts, for true spiritual ministry and for all that goes on either in Christians or everywhere. Note that the stress is on oneness, thus stressing also the oneness in triunity of the Spirit, the Lord and God Whose activity unites the people of God as one.

(We use the verb ‘is/are’ advisedly. Our problem when speaking of the triune God is that we have no human language with which to adequately describe Him. In the Old Testament the word for ‘God’ was plural with a singular verb emphasising this dilemma. There is nothing on earth that remotely parallels God. God is One and yet revealed in plurality. ‘Is’ emphasises the unity, ‘are’ emphasises the plurality. Neither is adequate to express the full truth about God).

Not all have the same gifts. And yet, as he is at pains to stress, if they are genuine they come from the one Spirit. Diverse gifts do not indicate disunity and disharmony, for each is necessary in the fulfilling of the church’s service and ministry This stress on unity is continued by emphasising that service within the church is through the one Lord, and that the bringing about of ‘all things’ in all (giving overall coverage of anything that takes place through the church, or indeed in creation) are the working of the one God. So, as with the Lord’s Supper earlier, there is a stress both on the Godward side, and here the oneness of God is revealed in triunity, and on the oneness of all believers because all are in union with Christ’s body, and all that they have comes from the one God. Note on the Godward side, the emphasis on the triunity of God; one Spirit, one Lord, one God (compare 1Co 8:6).

All ministries in the church are administered and empowered by the same Lord. This is not to separate the functions but to combine the activities of the Godhead in provision for His people. Ministries and gifts are seen as part of one whole in 1Co 12:28-30, the provision of both Spirit and Lord.

And it is God Who works everything everywhere/in everyone. This could mean everything in all the churches worldwide, or everything in creation. In context possibly it is the former that is intended. All that is true that occurs in the churches is of God’s working. But we would not exclude the other.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

1Co 12:4 . Although the fundamental character of all inspired speaking is not in any case different: there are, notwithstanding, distributions of grace-gifts (“divisiones gratiarum,” Vulg.), but it is the same Spirit (from whom they proceed). Comp Heb 2:4 , and Lnemann upon that passage. , [1932] a specifically N. T. word, foreign to ordinary Greek, is used here in the narrower sense (for in the wider sense, every manifestation of divine grace in particular, every part of the Christian possession of salvation, and every activity of the Christian life is a ). It means any extraordinary faculty, which operated for the furtherance of the welfare of the Christian community, and which was itself wrought by the grace of God, through the power of the Holy Spirit, in special individuals, in accordance, respectively, with the measure of their individual capacities, whether it were that the Spirit infused entirely new powers, or stimulated those already existing to higher power and activity, Rom 12:6 ff. Regarding , distribution , comp 1Co 12:11 ; Xen. Cyr. iv. 5. 55; Plat. Soph. p. 267 D, Phaedr. p. 266 B, Polit. p. 275 E; Polyb. ii. 43. 10; Sir 14:15 ; Jdt 9:4 . The charismatic endowment is not something undivided; we do not find a unity and equality among the gifted, but there are distributiones donorum , so that one has this peculiar , and the other that, dealt out to him as his own appointed share. If we take to mean differences (Beza, and many others, including de Wette, Ewald), this is equally lawful so far as linguistic usage goes (Plat. Soph. p. 267 B, Prot. p. 358 A), but does not correspond to the correlative purposely chosen by the apostle in 1Co 12:11 , .

[1932] Comp. Krumm, De notionib. psychol. Paulin. , Gissae 1858, p. 35 ff. As regards the difference between the general Christian and the extraordinary, see Constitt. ap. viii. 1. 1 ff.

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

(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 which worketh all in all.

The Apostle here enters upon the great subject of spiritual gifts to the Church of God. And, he begins at the fountain-head, in calling them gifts. All which sets at nought the idea of all merit. For what is of gift, or of grace, cannot be of debt. And what makes the subject so truly blessed is that he refers the whole unto one and the same Almighty Being, the Holy Ghost. However diversified, numerous, or extensive, God the Spirit is the Author and Giver of all. And what, if possible, is yet more endearing, He who anoints the whole of Christ’s members, is the same who anointed also the head. It is the same Almighty Spirit who works in all, and upon all, the whole family, who wrought in Christ, and upon Christ, when He was anointed with the oil of gladness for, or above his fellows, Psa 45:7 ; Heb 1:9 . In Christ, indeed, as a fountain. In his members, as in vessels. For the Spirit was not given by measure unto Him, Joh 3:34 . But to everyone of us, (saith the Apostle, speaking to the Church,) is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ, Eph 4:7 . Reader! cherish the thought, for it is truly blessed!

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

4 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.

Ver. 4. But the same Spirit ] As the divers smell of flowers come from the same influence, and the divers sounds in the organ from the same breath.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

4 6. ] But (as contrasted to this absolute unity, in ground and principle, of all spiritual influence) there are varieties (in reff. 2 Chron. and Ezra, used of the courses or divisions of the priests) of gifts ( = eminent endowments of individuals, in and by which the Spirit indwelling in them manifested Himself, the in each man: and these either directly bestowed by the Holy Ghost Himself, as in the case of healing, miracles, tongues, and prophesying, or previously granted them by God in their unconverted state, and now inspired, hallowed, and potentiated for the work of building up the church, as in the case of teaching, exhortation, knowledge. Of all these gifts, faith working by love was the necessary substratum and condition. See Neander, Pfl. u. Leit. pp. 232 ff.), but the same Spirit (as their Bestower, see the sense filled up in 1Co 12:11 ):

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

1Co 12:4-6 . “But,” while the Spirit prompts in all Christians the simultaneous confession Jesus is Lord , this unity of faith bears multiform fruit in “distributions of grace-gifts, services, workings”. These are not separate classes of , but varied designations of the collectively a trinity of blessing associating its possessors in turn with the Spirit, the Lord , and God the fountain of all. What is a (see 1Co 1:7 ) in respect of its quality and ground, is a in view of its usefulness (see 1Co 12:21-25 ), and an in virtue of the power operative therein. The identity of the first and second of the syns. rests on that of “the Lord” and “the Spirit” ( cf. 2Co 3:17 f.), and that of the second and third upon the relation of Christ to the Father (see Joh 5:17 ff; Joh 14:8-14 ). For the Trinitarian structure of the passage, cf. 2Co 13:13 , Eph 4:4 ff. and are correlative; all Church-ministry is directed by “the Lord” and rendered primarily to Him ( 1Co 4:1 , 1Co 7:12 , 1Co 8:6 , Rom 12:11 ; Rom 14:4-9 , Mat 25:40 , etc.). embraces every “work of ministration” (Eph 4:12 ): gradually the term narrowed to official and esp. bodily ministrations, to the duties of the (Phi 1:1 , etc.); see 1Co 16:15 , and cf. Rom 15:31 with 1Co 11:13 for the twofold use. ( effectus , rather than operatio , Vg [1841] ) the result of ; this favourite Pauline vb [1842] signifies an effective , and with an immanent activity. covers the whole sphere in which spiritual charisms operate: cf. Eph 4:6 . 1Co 12:2 refers the same to “the Spirit,” who is God indwelling; Power, in its largest, ultimate sense, “belongeth unto God” cf. Eph 1:11 , etc., Phi 2:13 ) “the same God, who works in all” (Rom 3:29 f.), knowing no respect of persons and operative in the doings of every Christian man; cf. 1Co 1:30 a , and note. appears to be act [1843] , dividings, distributings , rather than pass [1844] , differences, varieties ; see 1Co 12:11 . The pl [1845] points to the constantly repeated dealings out of the Spirit’s store of gifts to the members of Christ’s body.

[1841] Latin Vulgate Translation.

[1842] verb

[1843] active voice.

[1844] passive voice.

[1845] plural.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 1Co 12:4-11

4Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. 6There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. 7But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. 11But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.

1Co 12:4-6

NASB, NRSV “varieties”

NKJV”diversities”

TEV”different kinds”

NJB”different”

This term means (1) to distribute or (2) variety (cf. 1Co 12:4-6). There is an obvious literary parallel between 1Co 12:4-6, which unites the work of all three persons of the Trinity (see Special Topic at 1Co 2:10).

1Co 12:4-6 “Spirit. . .Lord. . .God” Note the action of the Trinity which emphasizes unity amidst diversity, not uniformity. The church is a group of gifted individuals. We need each other! Each one is important. Each one is gifted for ministry. The term “Trinity” is not a biblical term, but the concept is. See Special Topic: Trinity at 1Co 2:10.

1Co 12:4 “gifts” This is a different word than the one used in 1Co 12:1. This is the Greek term charisma. This is from the root term “chair,” which means to rejoice, or be full of joy (cf. 1Co 7:30; 1Co 13:6; 2Co 2:3; 2Co 6:10; 2Co 7:7; 2Co 7:9; 2Co 7:16 and the compound with sun in 1Co 12:26; 1Co 13:6). From this develops several concepts.

1. chara – joy, rejoicing

2. charis – generous gift (cf. 1Co 16:3; 2Co 8:4; 2Co 8:6)

a. grace (cf. 1Co 1:4; 1Co 15:10)

b. thanks (cf. 1Co 15:57)

3. charizomai

a. give generously

b. forgive (cf. 2Co 2:7-10; 2Co 12:13)

c. cancel a debt

4. charisma – a free gift (cf. Rom 5:15-16; Rom 6:23; 2Co 1:11) or divinely conferred adornment (cf. 1Co 12:4; 1Co 12:9; 1Co 12:28; 1Co 12:30-31)

God has freely gifted His church. The gifts are for building up and growing the body of Christ. In reality they are the work of Christ divided among His followers. Believers must unite their giftedness with love and cooperate with each other so that the church may win and disciple a lost world (cf. Mat 28:19-20; Luk 24:47; Act 1:8).

1Co 12:5 “ministries” This is the Greek term diakonos. It has several uses in the NT.

1. diakonos

a. a servant (cf. Mat 20:28; Mat 22:13; Mat 23:11; Joh 2:5)

b. a minister/preacher (cf. 1Co 3:5; 2Co 3:6; 2Co 6:4; 2Co 11:15[twice],23)

2. diakone

a. to serve (cf. 1Pe 4:11)

b. deacon (cf. Rom 16:1; 1Ti 3:8; 1Ti 3:10; 1Ti 3:13; also note Php 1:1)

c. administer (cf. Act 6:2; 2Co 3:3; 2Co 8:19-20)

3. diakonia

a. rendering aid (cf. Act 6:1; 2Co 8:4; 2Co 9:1; 2Co 9:12-13)

b. ministry for the gospel (cf. 1Co 12:5; 1Co 16:15; 2Co 4:1; 2Co 5:8; 2Co 6:3; 2Co 11:8)

c. a revelation from God (cf. 2Co 3:7-9)

The key idea is serving and helping others in need (i.e., spiritual or physical). God equips His church to serve-serve themselves and serve a lost and needy world.

1Co 12:6

NASB”effects. . .works”

NKJV”activities. . .works”

NRSV”activities. . .activates”

TEV”abilities. . .ability”

NJB”activity. . .work”

This is a play on the term energs from which we get the English term energy. Its basic meaning is to effectively accomplish a task. This sentence has the noun and the matching participle (present active). Paul used this term often in his Corinthian letters.

1. energs, energeia, energe, energma, 1Co 4:12; 1Co 9:6; 1Co 12:6; 1Co 12:10-11; 1Co 16:9-10; 2Co 1:6; 2Co 4:12

2. ergon and sunerge, 1Co 3:13-15; 1Co 9:1; 1Co 15:58; 1Co 16:10; 2Co 6:1; 2Co 9:8; 2Co 11:15

God’s work is effective work. It accomplishes its purpose. Believers are called to active service, but the energy and effectiveness is of God.

1Co 12:7

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

NKJV”But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all”

NRSV”To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good”

TEV”The Spirit’s presence is shown in some way in each person for the good of all”

NJB”The particular manifestation of the Spirit granted to each one is to be used for the general good”

This truth is so important for the life and ministry of the church.

1. Every believer has a freely-given grace gift given by the Spirit for ministry at salvation.

a. Every believer is important.

b. Every believer is gifted.

c. Every believer is a minister.

2. The purpose of God’s gift is not the elevation of the individual, but for the health and growth of the whole body. We need each other!

This truth was desperately needed by the factious, arrogant, assertive believers at Corinth (and in every age). The “common good” or “profit” (sumpheron, cf. 1Co 6:12; 1Co 7:35; 1Co 10:33; 2Co 8:10) is for the body and not the individual. Believers must take personal responsibility to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (cf. Eph 4:2-3). This is so radically different from western individualism.

SPECIAL TOPIC: CHRISTIANITY IS CORPORATE

1Co 12:8

NASB, NKJV”word of wisdom. . .the word of knowledge”

NRSV”the utterance of wisdom. . .the utterance of knowledge”

TEV”a message full of wisdom. . .a message full of knowledge”

NJB”the gift of utterance expressing wisdom. . .the gift of utterance expressing knowledge”

These are two different Greek terms, “wisdom” (i.e., sophia) and “knowledge” (i.e., gnsis). They reflect the Hebrew distinction between “wisdom” and “knowledge.” The first is practical and the second, more academic. The first relates to living the Christian life and the second to a proper explanation of Christian doctrine.

1Co 12:9 “faith” This refers not to saving faith like Mar 1:15; Joh 1:12, because the gifts are only given to believers, but to miracle working faith, which is made clear from 1Co 13:2 (cf. Mat 17:20; Mat 21:21).

“healing” This term (iaomai) is plural (cf. 2Co 12:7-9, 2Co 12:28,30), which is literally “gifts of cures.” Healing is a gift from the Spirit in this context and a ministry of the “elders” in Jas 5:14. Physical healing was/is an evidence of the love and care of God and a sign of spiritual healing (i.e., forgiveness of sins, salvation). For the Jews there was a connection between sin and sickness, righteousness and health (cf. Deuteronomy 27-28). However, Job and Psalms 73 clarify the issue as does John 9. The mystery is why some are healed and some are not. One’s faith cannot be the key ingredient, but God’s will. It is never how much faith we exercise, but the object of our faith (faith the size of a mustard seed moves mountains, cf. Mat 17:20).

Thank God for healing, healers, and caring churches!

1Co 12:10 “the effecting of miracles” This seems to be parallel to 1Co 12:9 a (i.e., miracle-working faith). Since this is a list, they cannot be completely synonymous. The exact distinction is uncertain.

“prophecy” There are at least two ways to understand this term: (1) in the Corinthian letters this refers to sharing or proclaiming the gospel (cf. 1Co 14:1), (2) the book of Acts mentions prophets (cf. Act 11:27-28; Act 13:1; Act 15:32; Act 21:10, even prophetesses, Act 21:9).

The problem with this term is, how does the NT gift of prophecy relate to OT prophets? In the OT prophets are the writers of Scripture. In the NT this task is given to the original twelve Apostles and their helpers. As the term “apostle” is retained as an ongoing gift (cf. Eph 4:11), but with a changed task after the death of the Twelve, so too, the office of prophet. Inspiration has ceased, there is no further inspired Scripture (cf. Jud 1:20). New Testament prophets’ primary task is proclamation of the gospel, but also a different task, possibly how to apply NT truths to current situations and needs. See SPECIAL TOPIC: NEW TESTAMENT PROPHECY at 1Co 14:1.

SPECIAL TOPIC: OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECY

NASB”distinguishing of spirits”

NKJV”discerning of spirits”

NRSV”discernment of spirits”

TEV”the ability to tell the difference between gifts that come from the Spirit and those that do not”

NJB”the power of distinguishing spirits”

There are three sources of human giftedness: (1) by nature (i.e., natural talents); (2) by the Spirit; and (3) by the devil. This gift is the ability to differentiate among these sources (cf. 1Ti 4:1; 1Jn 4:1-3).

“various kinds of tongues” This is the Greek term for “tongue” (i.e., glssa). It was used in the OT as a synonym for “nation.” In Greek it was used for speaking the language of a nation. This would imply that it had the connotation of a known human language. However, the need for an interpreter, which also is a spiritual gift, instead of a translator, along with Paul’s fuller discussion in chapter 14, leads one to think this was an ecstatic utterance at Corinth.

Exactly how the “tongues” of Corinth are related to the tongues at Pentecost recorded in Acts is uncertain. The miracle in Acts 2 is of the ear (cf. 1Co 2:6; 1Co 2:8; 1Co 2:11), not the tongue. The tongues experiences of Acts communicated the gospel directly to the Jews of the Diaspora who were present. It also functioned as a way to recognize the presence, power, and will of God for the inclusion of other groups, like the Samaritan (cf. Acts 8) and Cornelius, a Roman army officer (cf. Acts 10). The tongues in Acts were a sign to the believing Jews that God had opened the door for Gentiles to be included (cf. 1Co 15:8). Notice no need for an interpreter in Acts!

Tongues at Corinth are similar to the ecstatic speech of the Greek religions (e.g., Delphi). Corinthian tongues were apparently being misused or over-glorified (cf. 1Co 13:1; 1Co 14:1-33).

Tongues were a way for an individual believer to intimately commune with God, but without understanding. It is a valid gift (cf. 1Co 14:39), but it is not for all believers (cf. 1Co 12:29-30, which has a series of questions that expect a “no” answer). It is not a gift that proves one is saved or shows one is a spiritual person. Tongues plus interpretation was another means of communicating the gospel and its relevance.

“interpretation of tongues” Corinth was a cosmopolitan city, Roman in culture, Greek in geography. The city’s location combined with the danger of sailing around the cape of Greece in the winter combined to make it a commercial crossroads of the eastern empire and the western empire. Every nationality would be in Corinth, but tongues needed a spiritual gift to communicate its message for the church, not just a translator. Tongues in Corinth was not a known language.

1Co 12:11 This verse emphasizes the truth that the Spirit gives to each believer a ministry gift (cf. 1Co 12:7; 1Co 12:18). Also, which gift is the Spirit’s choice, not the believer’s. There is no hierarchy of gifts. All the gifts are to serve the body of Christ, the church (cf. 1Co 12:7). They are not merit badges, but servant towels.

SPECIAL TOPIC: THE PERSONHOOD OF THE SPIRIT

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

diversities. Greek. diairesis. Only here and verses: 1Co 12:5-6. Compare hairesis, 1Co 11:19.

gifts. App-184.

Spirit. App-101. In these verses: 1Co 12:4-6 we have the Spirit, the Son, and the Father working.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

4-6.] But (as contrasted to this absolute unity, in ground and principle, of all spiritual influence) there are varieties (in reff. 2 Chron. and Ezra, used of the courses or divisions of the priests) of gifts ( = eminent endowments of individuals, in and by which the Spirit indwelling in them manifested Himself,-the in each man:-and these either directly bestowed by the Holy Ghost Himself, as in the case of healing, miracles, tongues, and prophesying, or previously granted them by God in their unconverted state, and now inspired, hallowed, and potentiated for the work of building up the church,-as in the case of teaching, exhortation, knowledge. Of all these gifts, faith working by love was the necessary substratum and condition. See Neander, Pfl. u. Leit. pp. 232 ff.), but the same Spirit (as their Bestower,-see the sense filled up in 1Co 12:11):

Fuente: The Greek Testament

1Co 12:4. , divisions) The LXX. use this term to express the Hebrew word , concerning the orders of the priests. Comp. dividing, 1Co 12:11.-, but) an antithesis between the one fountain and the many streams.-, of gifts) Those endowments which in ver, 1 he had called spiritual things, now, after mentioning Jesus, he calls gifts.-, Spirit) The Holy Spirit is spoken of in this verse; Christ in 1Co 12:5; God the Father in 1Co 12:6 : and calling them gifts, ministrations, operations, agrees respectively with these names. The Spirit is treated of at 1Co 12:7, etc.: the Lord at 1Co 12:12, etc.: God at 1Co 12:28, etc.-[Comp. Eph 4:4-6.]

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

1Co 12:4

1Co 12:4

Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.-The Holy Spirit came to the apostles, and through them bestowed a number of gifts or powers on others. The gifts differed in the work they enabled each to perform, and the degree of spiritual power they bestowed; but the same Spirit is the giver; it is he who is the immediate and proximate author of all these various endowments.

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

gifts

Cf. Eph 4:8; Eph 4:11; Eph 4:12. The Spirit gives gifts for service to men, Christ gives the gifted men to the churches.

Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes

there: 1Co 12:8-11, 1Co 12:28, Rom 12:4-6, Eph 4:4, Heb 2:4, 1Pe 4:10

Reciprocal: Exo 26:3 – coupled together Exo 31:3 – filled Exo 35:30 – See Exo 35:31 – And he Exo 35:35 – the cunning Num 4:47 – every one Num 11:17 – I will take Num 26:56 – General Num 27:18 – a man Jdg 3:10 – the Spirit 1Ch 26:8 – able men Isa 40:14 – understanding Hag 1:14 – stirred Mat 25:14 – and delivered Mat 28:19 – the name Mar 13:34 – and to Rom 12:6 – then Rom 15:19 – by the 1Co 3:5 – even 1Co 4:7 – who 1Co 12:1 – spiritual 1Co 12:11 – all 1Co 12:29 – all apostles 2Co 3:8 – the ministration 2Co 11:4 – receive Jam 1:17 – good 1Pe 4:11 – the ability 1Jo 5:7 – The Father Rev 1:4 – from the Rev 2:7 – let him Rev 4:5 – the seven

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

NEW NEEDSNEW METHODS

Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.

1Co 12:4

This is a lesson of surpassing moment to the Church in these trying times. We need courage, we need boldness, we need living faith. Above all else, we need faith in the spiritual vitality of the Church.

I. If the Church is a living thing with the Spirit of God for her vital principle, then He must be manifesting in her the gifts necessary for her work and her sustentation.What do we mean by gifts? Whatever is needed for her to profit withal. Whatever is necessary for her to do her work by, whether towards her own children or towards the hostile world. And therefore it is a sign of a woeful want of faith when Christian men look coldly or timidly on agencies issuing from the Churchs bosom to meet the wants of the age, merely because they are not exactly what were in use a generation ago, or when they themselves were young. Let us take the case of the present age. Its characteristics here in England are pre-eminently special. Its problems are peculiarly social. We have aggregations of human beings such as the Christian world has never known, and which outside of England can nowhere be found. If you grant the Church is a living organism, you must expect that she will throw out some agencies adapted to the need. If you grant that her life is a Divine and spiritual one, you must expect that some Divine and spiritual gift will be vouchsafed to cope with the unparalleled emergency.

II. The lesson is one for parishes as well as for churches in their larger aggregates.New needs are but the occasion of new gifts of the Spirit. And new methods, when they spring up harmoniously with the Churchs principles, are to be treated as fresh indications of the fount of spiritual life which is ever fresh within her. Slight them, suspect them, look on them coldly, if you will; but beware that you be not turning away from the very marks and tokens that God is still with you. The mission-chapel in the dark corners of our towns, the parish confraternity of young men whose hearts God has touched with zeal for Him and love for man, the sisterhood, the mission, all these things within our parochial boundaries may be as truly the spiritual gifts of our day and hour as ever were the manifold gifts of highly gifted Corinth. And if our Church is not to be untrue to her Lord and her vital principle, she will not be slow to utilise the lay agencies which are springing up around us and asking her for work. Why is not the order of Readers recognised as a gift for which she is responsible? And the Brotherhoodswhy are they not incorporated into her system and utilised? Alas! We have not faith in our own vitality. We judge by human expediency, by worldly wisdom and chilly human precedent, and we forget the Divine precedent and the Divine rule of the Apostolic Church and the doctrine of spiritual gifts.

III. We can all do something, it may be but little, but still it is something. In our conversation and in ordinary society we may at least speak reverently of every work of faith, putting down the sneers of worldly men and timid Christians, and we can all make it our prayer that we at least may not be like the Jews, whose condemnation was, that they knew not the day of their visitation.

Illustration

Life in action takes many forms. If it did not it would not be life. Mechanism can do much; but a machine can only do the one thing it was made to do. Life involves the idea of self-adaptation, and with adaptability comes the idea of variety in outward seeming. So the variety of outward seeming is but a testimony to the inward unity of life. A tree springs from one root and is all fed by the same sap. And yet the same sap is the vital force which is seen under the various results of bark and woody fibre, of leaf and flower and fruit. Each of these is but another form in which the one energy is manifested, and each of these contributes its share to the well-being of the whole. So in the Church. There is one self-determining vital force, and that is the Holy Spirit of God.

Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary

1Co 12:4. Up to this place the remarks of the apostle are general, and are offered as a preparation for instruction on the true spiritual gifts and the disciples possessing them. The dissensions over the gifts previously mentioned are now the direct subject that Paul is considering. Diversities of gifts . . . same Spirit. The Corinthians were contending with each other over the comparative importance of their different gifts. The point Paul is making is that since there is but one Spirit, there could be no actual difference as to the value of the various gifts.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Second principle:Spiritual gifts, though diverse in character, have one Divine source.

Ver. 4. Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spiritto whose peculiar department it belongs, in the economy of grace, to impart all spiritual gifts.

Ver. 5. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord (Jesus)to whom, as the Churchs Head, it belongs to institute such ministries and appoint the men to discharge them (Eph 4:11).

Ver. 6. And there are diversities of workings, but the same God, who worketh all things in allas the absolute Fountain of all good, with whom, by eternal arrangement, all the functions of the Son and of the Spirit are regarded as originating. The systematic precision of these statementsas to the way in which the operations of grace for behoof of the Church are distributed among the Persons of the one Godhead, is eminently noteworthy.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

That is, there is a great variety and diversity of spiritual gifts, but it is the same Spirit from whence they all proceed and flow; and there are different administrations and offices in the church, but it is the same Lord who hath appointed all these offices; and there are diversities of operations performed by these officers in the church, but it is the same God who worketh in them all.

Here gifts are ascribed to the Holy Ghost, administrations to the Lord Christ, and operations to God the Father; but in all these there are great diversities both of kinds and degrees; they differ in their nature, extent, and use.

Thus it is with reference to spiritual gifts: but in the case of sanctifying graces it was far otherwise; these are all bestowed jointly, or not at all.

God cannot give humility to one, purity to another, charity alone to a third; because there is such an inseparable union and alliance among the graces of the Spirit, (a concatenation of graces, as some call it,) that where one really is, there all the rest must be.

Hence probably it is, why the whole of religion is sometimes expressed by one particular duty of it, sometimes by faith, sometimes by hope, sometimes by repentance, sometimes by charity; because the combination of these saving graces is such, that the mentioning of one implies and concludes all the rest.

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

The Purpose of Spiritual Gifts

Different gifts allowed their possesser to accomplish different tasks, but one Spirit gave all gifts. Further, the apostle said different services were rendered by Christians in behalf of their Lord. For instance, on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit gave the apostles the ability to speak in languages they had never studied. Each listener was able to hear in the tongue, or language, in which he was born. They thereby knew God was speaking through the men standing before them. The Almighty was witnessing that their words were true ( Act 2:1-21 ; Heb 2:3-4 ).

God, through the various workings of Christ and the Holy Spirit, showed his support for the church. Each member of the Godhead had his part or role to play. Christ came to speak the words the Father had given him. The Holy Spirit was sent by Jesus to reveal all truth ( Joh 7:16 ; Joh 12:44 ; Joh 12:49 ; Joh 16:12-13 ; Act 2:32-33 ). Similarly, gifts were given for the benefit of the whole church and should not have been a source of false pride ( 1Co 12:4-7 ).

Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books

1Co 12:4-6. Now there are diversities of gifts , gifts of grace, both as to kind and degree; but the same Spirit Divers streams, but all from one fountain. This verse speaks of the Holy Ghost, the next of Christ, the sixth of God the Father. And there are differences of administrations Of offices or functions in the church, wherein those gifts are to be exercised, which are indeed but services, and therefore not fit fuel for pride; but the same Lord Appoints them all. Christ, who, as King of his church, instituted all these offices, prescribes the manner of executing them all; and calls one person to one kind of ministry, and another to another. And there are diversities of operations , of energies, or effects produced. The word is of a larger extent than either gifts or administrations, the two former words used: but it is the same God who worketh all these effects in all The persons concerned.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

2. The unity of spiritual forces in their diversity. Vers. 4-12.

The first and most profound diversity which strikes the mind as it contemplates the display of Divine power within the Church, is the difference between the Divine gifts, ministries, and operations. More than this: in each of these three principal classes there is seen to be a subordinate variety of kinds and species. But these principal and secondary diversities all proceed from one and the same principle, and all tend consequently to one and the same end: 1Co 12:4-6.

Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)

Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.

Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)

4. There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.

Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament

1Co 12:4-11. Having given a criterion for detecting the spurious, Paul proceeds to discuss the gifts. There are diversities in the manifestation but none in the source. The same Spirit is manifested in manifold gifts, the same Lord in manifold ministrations, the same God in manifold activities. Unity in the source is accompanied with rich diversity in the effects. The gift is imparted to each; none is passed by, but it is given not for self-gratification but for the benefit of the church. It is to one and the same Spirit that are due the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, faith, gifts of healing, power to work miracles, prophecy, discrimination of spirits, tongues, interpretation of tongues. All are operations of the same Spirit, who imparts to each of His own unshackled will. The collocation of Spirit, Lord, God should be observed; cf. 2Co 13:14. 1Co 12:8-10 should be compared with 1Co 12:28, Rom 12:6-8*, Eph 4:11.

Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible

Verse 4

The same Spirit; it is from the same Holy Spirit that they come.

Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament

12:4 {4} Now there are diversities of gifts, but the {d} same Spirit.

(4) In the second place, he lays another foundation, that is, that these gifts are different, as the functions also are different and their offices different, but that one self same Spirit, Lord, and God is the giver of all these gifts, and that to one end, that is, for the profit of all.

(d) The Spirit is plainly distinguished from the gifts.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

2. The need for varieties of spiritual gifts 12:4-31

Paul planned to return to the subject of glossolalia (ch. 14), but first he wanted to talk more generally about spiritual gifts. In the verses that follow he dealt with differences in gifts in the church.

"Having given the negative and positive criterion of genuine spiritual endowments as manifested in speech, the Apostle goes on to point out the essential oneness of these very varied gifts." [Note: Robertson and Plummer, p. 262.]

Diversity, not uniformity, is necessary for a healthy church, and God has seen to it that diversity exists (1Co 12:6-7; 1Co 12:11; 1Co 12:18; 1Co 12:24; 1Co 12:28). Notice that the Corinthians were doing in the area of spiritual gifts essentially what they were doing in relation to their teachers (1Co 3:4-23). They were preferring one over others and thereby failing to benefit from them all. This section of Paul’s argument puts the subject of gifts into proper theological perspective whereas the previous pericope put it into its proper Christological perspective.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

Diversity in the Godhead and the gifts 12:4-11

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

Although there is only one Holy Spirit, He gives many different abilities to different people. Everything in this pericope revolves around these two ideas. "Gifts" (Gr. charismata, from charis, meaning "grace") are abilities that enable a person to glorify and serve God. God gives them freely and graciously. That they are abilities seems clear from how Paul described them here and elsewhere (Romans 12).

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)