Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Corinthians 12:9
To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;
9. faith ] Not the rudimentary principle which was the essential condition of all Christian life, but that higher realization of things Divine which enables a man to remove mountains (St Mat 17:20; ch. 1Co 13:2).
the gifts of healing ] As in St Mar 16:18; Act 3:7-8; Act 5:15-16; Act 9:34; Act 19:11-12; St Jas 5:14-15.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
To another faith – Another shall he distinguished for simple confidence in God; and his endowment is also given by the same Spirit. Many of the most useful people in the church are distinguished mainly for their simple confidence in the promises of God; and often accomplish more by prayer and by their faith in God than others do who are distinguished for their wisdom and learning. Humble piety and reliance in the divine promises, and that measure of ardor, fearlessness, and zeal which result from such confidence; that belief that all obstacles must be and will be overcome that oppose the gospel; and that God will secure the advancement of his cause, will often do infinitely more in the promotion of his kingdom than the most splendid endowments of learning and talent. Indeed, if a man were disposed to do good on the widest scale possible, to do the utmost that he possibly could in saving people, he would best accomplish it by seeking simple faith in Gods aid and promises, and then under the influence of this, engage with ardor in doing what he could. Faith is one of the highest endowments of the Christian life; and yet, though all may obtain it, it is one of the rarest endowments. Perhaps by many it is despised, because it may be obtained by all; because it is a grace in which the poor and the humble may be as much distinguished as the man of splendid talents and profound learning.
To another the gifts of healing – See Mar 16:18. This was promised to the disciples of the Saviour; and in the early church was conferred on many; compare Act 5:12, Act 5:15-16; Act 19:12. It would seem from this passage that the gift of healing was conferred on some in a more eminent degree than on others.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
To another, he saith, is given faith: by which cannot be understood that faith which is common to all Christians, for he is speaking of such gifts as were given to some Christians, not to all; he must therefore mean, either a faith of miracles, that is, a persuasion that God would work a miracle in this or that case, or a great knowledge in the matters of faith, or a great confidence and boldness in the discharge of their office.
To another the gifts of healing, of healing diseases miraculously, without the application of ordinary rational medicines.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
9. faithnot of doctrines, butof miracles: confidence in God, by the impulse of His Spirit, that Hewould enable them to perform any required miracle (compare 1Co 13:2;Mar 11:23; Jas 5:15).Its nature, or principle, is the same as that of saving faith,namely, reliance on God; the producing cause, also, in the same,’namely, a power altogether supernatural (Eph 1:19;Eph 1:20). But the objects offaith differ respectively. Hence, we see, saving faith does not saveby its instrinsic merit, but by the merits of Him who is the objectof it.
healingGreekplural, “healings”; referring to different kinds of diseasewhich need different kinds of healing (Mt10:1).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
To another faith by the same Spirit,…. Not the grace of faith, which is common to all believers, though given by the same Spirit: but rather the doctrine of faith, and ability to preach it, and boldness and intrepidity of spirit to assert and defend it in the face of all opposition; all which are from the Spirit of God, and are more or less given to pastors and teachers, the third office in the church. Though generally this is understood of a faith of working miracles, as in 1Co 13:2 but the working of miracles is mentioned afterwards as distinct, unless it can be thought that this is the general name for miracles, and the rest that follow the particulars of them.
To another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; of healing all manner of sicknesses and diseases: this power Christ gave his disciples, when he first sent them out to preach the Gospel, and which he repeated when he renewed and enlarged their commission after his resurrection; and which was exercised with effect, sometimes only by overshadowing the sick with their shadows, as by Peter, Ac 5:15 sometimes by, laying hands on them, as the father of Publius, and others, were healed by Paul, Ac 28:8 and sometimes by anointing with oil, Jas 5:14. Now these gifts were bestowed in common, by the Spirit, on apostles, prophets, and pastors, or elders of the church, in those early times: the Alexandrian copy, and the Vulgate Latin version, read, “by one Spirit”.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Faith (). Not faith of surrender, saving faith, but wonder-working faith like that in 13:2 (Matt 17:20; Matt 21:21). Note here (in the same Spirit) in contrast with and in verse 8.
Gifts of healings ( ). , old word from , common in LXX, in N.T. only in this chapter. It means acts of healing as in Ac 4:30 (cf. Jas 5:14) and Lu 7:21 (of Jesus). Note here as just before.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Faith. Not saving faith in general, which is the common endowment of all Christians, but wonder – working faith.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “To another faith by the same Spirit;” (etero pistis en to auto pneumati) The term “by the same Spirit” refers to the Holy Spirit by which one is first begotten or born into the family of God, Joh 6:63; 1Jn 5:1, and second to the Holy Spirit sent on Pentecost to empower the church, and to give her members special gifts, including faith, Eph 2:9.
2) “To another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit” (allo de charismata hiamaton en to eni pneumati) “And to another gifts of cures by the one Spirit.” All genuine healing or cure of ills and sickness is Divine healing, whether it be by supernatural intervention or gradual healing and cure of mind, body, or spirit, aided and empowered by use of physical medicine and means employed by men. The gift of instantaneous miraculous healing, empowered by the Holy Spirit, ceased with the completion of the New Testament. See 1Co 13:13.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(9) Faith.This cannot mean the faith which is necessary to salvation, for that belongs to all Christians; but such faith as is mentioned in Mat. 17:20, Luk. 17:6, the results of such a faith being here enlarged, and not embracing miracles alone, but prophecy and the discerning of spirits. In the Greek the word of wisdom is said to be given by the Spirit; the word of knowledge according to the Spirit; and the faith and gift of healing in the Spirit. By the use of this variety of expression the Apostle probably means to indicate the variety of methods of operation of the Spirit, as well as the diversity of the gifts which He lavishes.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
9. Faith Chrysostom and the current of modern commentators understand the faith of miracles, which can remove mountains. 1Co 13:2. But that is included in the working of miracles itself, in 1Co 12:10. Hodge comes nearest to the truth: “Such a faith as enabled men to become confessors and martyrs, and which is so fully illustrated in Heb 11:33-40. This is something as truly wonderful as the gift of miracles.” Or, as we should express it, that realization of divine realities by which a powerful and heroic Christian character is formed, shown in maintaining truth resistlessly, and suffering for it unshrinkingly. St. Stephen, both in his contests with gainsayers and his martyrdom, was a striking specimen. Thus there is the faith of miracles and the faith of heroism.
Healing See note Act 3:4. Healing, though usually included under miracles, is placed by itself, inasmuch as there were those endowed with the power for this only.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1Co 12:9. Faith by the same Spirit. In the following chapter, where these gifts are again mentioned, the Apostle explains the nature of the faith here reckoned among the gifts of the Spirit, by calling it a faith which could remove mountains, or such a faith as was attended with a power of controlling nature; alluding to that want of faith with which Jesus upbraids his disciples, where he says, “If ye have faith as a grain of mustard-seed ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place, and it shall remove.” Mat 17:20. The two next gifts, of healing and working miracles, 1Co 12:10 are two species of the foregoing genus. By healing is meant, that salutary assistance administered to the sick, in a solemn office of the church, as directed by St. Jam 5:14. Is any sick among you, let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith, that is, the faith mentioned just before, shall save the sick, &c. By working miracles is meant, a more extemporaneous use of the same power, though less confined in its objects. The gifts of healing, , properly express gifts belonging to the church as such; and the working of miracles , implies virtue residing in or immediately given to, the individual or particular agent. Besides, we may observe that gifts of healing was a less degree of miraculous power than the working of miracles, and is expressly intimated so to be, 1Co 12:28.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
1Co 12:9 . ] not again, because introducing another class which differs in kind from the preceding one. Comp on Gal 1:6 ; 2Co 11:4 ; Mat 16:14 .
] cannot be the fides salvifica in general, seeing that this is a possession common to all and required of every Christian, not a peculiar charisma of certain individuals. Hence it has been understood by most commentators, following the Fathers (see in Suicer, Thes. II. p. 727), to refer to the fides miraculosa , Mat 17:20 . But this is clearly too narrow a meaning, since not only the and are ranked under this head, but also the and the . What is intended, therefore, must be a high degree of faith in Christ produced by the Holy Spirit, a heroism of faith , [1949] the effects of which manifested themselves in one in healings, in another in wonders, in a third in prophecy (Rom 12:6 ), in a fourth in discernment of spirits.
.] in the same Spirit , so that, contained in this Spirit, the is given, and the Spirit thus includes in Himself the gift.
. .] gifts, through means of which healings are effected . The instances in the Acts of the Apostles show that this does not mean natural skill, but cures wrought by spiritual power upon bodily maladies (miraculous cures). Comp Mar 16:18 ; Act 4:30 . It does not, however, exclude the application of natural means in connection with the power that wrought the cure (Mar 7:33 ; Mar 8:23 ; Joh 9:6 , al [1951] ; Jas 5:14 ). The plural points to the different kinds of sickness, for the healing of which different gifts were needful. [1952]
[ 1949] “Ardentissima et praesentissima apprehensio Dei in ipsius potissimum voluntate, ad effectus vel in naturae vel in gratiae regno singulariter conspicuos.” BENGEL.
[1951] l. and others; and other passages; and other editions.
[1952] As Baur rationalizes all these charismata: being, according to him, a peculiarly strong faith in Divine Providence ; the being the gift of praying with special power and fervency for the sick, with more or less confident promise of recovery, if it please God; and the . . being proofs of extraordinary mental fortitude and energy in the interests of Christianity.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
9 To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;
Ver. 9. To another faith ] The faith of miracles, which a man may have, and yet miscarry, 1Co 13:2 . So doth not any one that hath the faith of God’s elect; that fails not, Luk 22:32 . Some say the apostle here meaneth historical faith; and this seems the more probable, because he speaketh of the working of miracles, 1Co 12:10 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
9. ] , as Chrys.: , , . . . . ( Mat 17:20 ). ( Luk 17:5 ). . Hom. xxix. p. 263. This seems to be the meaning here; a faith, enabling a man to place himself beyond the region of mere moral certainty, in the actual realization of things believed, in a high and unusual manner.
. . .] in , i.e. by and through, as the effective cause and the medium.
] gifts of (miraculous) healings; plur., to indicate the different kinds of diseases, requiring different sorts of healing.
, see above.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
another. App-124.
faith. App-150. Compare Gal 1:5, Gal 1:22. Eph 2:8.
healing. Greek. iama. Only here and verses: 1Co 12:28, 1Co 12:30. Compare Luk 6:17.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
9.] , as Chrys.: , , . … (Mat 17:20). (Luk 17:5). . Hom. xxix. p. 263. This seems to be the meaning here; a faith, enabling a man to place himself beyond the region of mere moral certainty, in the actual realization of things believed, in a high and unusual manner.
. . .] in, i.e. by and through, as the effective cause and the medium.
] gifts of (miraculous) healings; plur., to indicate the different kinds of diseases, requiring different sorts of healing.
, see above.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
1Co 12:9. , faith) The faith here spoken of is not that, which is common to all the saints, but it is a peculiar gift, and distinguished too from the four species, which immediately follow; and yet it is joined more with them, than with that first and third genus of gifts, 1Co 12:8, and 1Co 12:10 at the end. This faith then is a very earnest and vividly-present apprehension of God, chiefly in regard to His will, as to the effects, that are particularly conspicuous either in the kingdom of nature or of grace; therefore it is connected with the operation of the miraculous powers, ch. 1Co 13:2 (of which the principal, because the most useful to others, was the power of curing diseases), and with prophecy (to which the discerning of spirits was closely related, ch. 1Co 14:37); Rom 12:6. And from this description, which we have now given, it is evident, how common or saving faith, and miraculous faith, which is a peculiar gift, may either agree or differ, how the one may, or may not be, without the other, and either of them may, or may not be, without love. Men even without righteousness and love may have an intelligent perception of the omnipotent will of God in Christ, Mat 7:22 : but none but holy men can apprehend the will of God reconciled to us in Christ: and in these things [as respects this apprehension] there is not one faith working miracles, another saving faith, but one and the same faith. In its first act it always has a miraculous power; for it is something entirely supernatural, Eph 1:19, although not always in such a degree, or on such a particular occasion, as that it should exert itself conspicuously; see Note on Chrys. de Sacerd., 416.- , gifts of healing) Not only miraculous cures are meant, Act 5:15; Act 19:12; Act 28:8, but also the gracious blessing on the cure of the sick, by natural remedies; as it cannot be denied, that some physicians are more fortunate than others, which should be attributed not merely to their skill, but especially to Divine grace; E. Schmidius. This remark may also be applied to other gifts; for as the king of Judah substituted shields of brass for those of gold, which had been lost; so after the Church lost what were purely gifts, grace still lends its aid more secretly beneath the guise of human efforts and instrumentalities, and that too the more abundantly, in proportion as the more opportunity is given to it.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
1Co 12:9
1Co 12:9
to another faith, in the same Spirit;-A faith that enabled one to remove mountains, of which Jesus speaks. It enabled one to exert power.
and to another gifts of healings, in the one Spirit;-The gift of healing diseases is one of the powers bestowed by the Holy Spirit.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
faith: 1Co 13:2, Mat 17:19, Mat 17:20, Mat 21:21, Mar 11:22, Mar 11:23, Luk 17:5, Luk 17:6, 2Co 4:13, Eph 2:8, Heb 11:33
the gifts: Mat 10:8, Mar 6:13, Mar 16:18, Luk 9:2, Luk 10:9, Act 3:6-8, Act 4:29-31, Act 5:15, Act 10:38, Act 19:11, Act 19:12, Jam 5:14, Jam 5:15
Reciprocal: Psa 30:8 – unto Act 5:16 – healed Act 28:8 – and healed
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1Co 12:9. This faith is the miraculous kind such as Mat 17:20; 1 Co-inthians 13:2. Miraculous healing requires this gift of faith, but the phrase is used as a specification of it, in relieving persons of their physical ailments.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Vv. 9. If we hold that the substitution of for is not accidental, the gifts which follow should have a different character from the two preceding, and this new character ought to reappear identically in the five gifts enumerated down to the following (end of 1Co 12:10). Now it is easy to prove that it is so. The two preceding gifts were exercised in virtue of a communication of light; the following five proceed from a communication of force, in other words, from an influence of the spirit, no longer specially on the understanding, but on the will. By faith the apostle certainly does not understand saving faith in general; for this is not a special gift, it is the portion of all Christians. Faith is the root of the Christian life, not one of its fruits. We see clearly from the passage 1Co 13:2 that the apostle distinguishes between faith in general and faith as a particular gift. As such, it is the possession of salvation taking the character of assurance in God, of heroic daring, resolutely attacking and surmounting all the obstacles which are opposed to the work of God in a given situation. Father, I know that Thou hearest me always! Such is the cry of this faith which removes mountains, and of which the history of the Church affords so many examples; witness a Francke, a Wilberforce, a George Mller, and so many others. It is to this gift the saying of Jesus, Mat 17:20-21 refers. The preposition , in or by, indicates that the force of this confidence rests on the Holy Spirit’s indwelling in the soul.
There follow the gifts of healings, which are closely connected with faith thus understood, for they have as their basis confidence in the power of God applied to disease. here there is not only a confident prayer; there is a command given in the consciousness of complete harmony with the will of God, such as the: Rise, and walk, of St. Peter (Act 3:6). The substantives gifts and healings are put in the plural as relating to the different classes of sicknesses to be healed.
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
to another faith, in the same Spirit; and to another gifts of healings, in the one Spirit;
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
FAITH
9. This is not the gift of faith by which we are converted and sanctified, but the gift of faith which is entirely different. You are saved by grace (Eph 2:8), but you become instruments in the salvation of others by the gifts. Hence faith here has nothing to do with your personal justification or sanctification. But what a wonderful Archimedean lever in the salvation of others! As your faith is, so be it unto you, is as true of the gift as of the grace. Hence faith is omnipotent, as it takes hold on Omnipotent God. This is the secret of George Mullers feeding three thousand orphans year after year without a dollar of capital. In this way the present Holiness Movement, without financial resources, has more missionaries in the heathen field than all of the churches in Christendom, with their bushels of gold. A woman in Indiana received this gift for her wicked husband, a steamboat captain running from Cairo, IL, to New Orleans, LA. The morning following her midnight victory brought her a telegram stating that her husbands boat was burnt and he was lost. She read it, rolled it up and handed it to the boy, stating that it was a mistake; that her husband was alive, and coming home to get religion and go with her to Heaven. Sure enough, in three days her husband arrived. Meeting him at the door, she told him of the answer to her prayer, the telegram and her answer to it. Conviction struck him like a thunderbolt. Falling on the floor, he cried for mercy. Gathering in a few saints, they spend the day and night in prayer, the heavenly daybreak coming into his soul with the morning dawn. William Carvosso, the great Methodist class leader, long prayed for his giddy, impenitent daughter. Returning from meeting one night, he received the gift of faith for her. On arrival at his house he found her in awful agony, as if she would die. She died to live again, and live forever. Dr. Finney, in his Lectures, gives an account of an old consumptive who spent the last five years of his life confined to his room, but using his time praying for revivals in the churches within the boundary of his acquaintance, frequently sending for the preachers and stating to them: I have been enabled, by the grace of God, to pray the prevailing prayer for a revival in church. Go, and you will have it. Invariably the revival came as he said. After he was dead, his diary was examined, and found to give different dates when he was enabled to pray the prayer of faith for a revival in various churches scattered far and wide over the country. His diary was followed with protracted meetings, the revivals coming in every case as specified. I have much enjoyed this gift since the Lord sanctified me, and have seen it verified constantly in my ministry. When working at the altar, I have frequently labored with a penitent until I received the gift of faith for him, and then left him, feeling certain that he would be saved, often desisting and waiting to see him rise with a shout. I am an old revivalist, now working as a teacher of Gods Word, my physical ability somewhat inadequate to the stalwart campaign. I used to make it a rule to hold on to God till He gave me the gift of faith for a revival before I entered upon the work. This is the secret of prevailing prayer. Are the members of your family going to ruin? Go to God for this gift in their behalf. If you truly have faith for them, they will be saved according to your faith. Do not make the mistake of praying for their conversion instead of their conviction. God can not save them against their will, without dehumanizing them, but He can convict them nolens volens You can go to God until He imparts to you this gift. So you can pray such a conviction on them that they will think they are going to die, and refuse to eat or sleep until they get saved. The power of this gift is simply illimitable, because it actually appropriates the omnipotence of God. Oh, that the Church could only wake up to her power to save a world fast sinking into Hell! If she would only get in position to receive and utilize this gift, she could speedily girdle the globe with salvation, with holiness to the Lord; brink back her Divine Spouse and flood the world with Millennial glory. As the grace of faith is the measuring line of your personal experience and enjoyment, so the gift of faith is the measuring line of your real efficiency in the salvation of others.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
Faith is trust in God. Every Christian has some faith just as every Christian has some wisdom and knowledge. However some believers have more God-given ability to trust God than others just as some have more God-given wisdom or knowledge than others. All believers should seek to cultivate wisdom, knowledge, and faith, but some have a larger God-given capacity for one or another of them than other Christians do.
The "gifts of healings" (literally) by definition refer to abilities to cause healing to take place. Evidently there were various types of healings that those so gifted could produce, for example, physical, psychological, and spiritual healings. Counselors and medical doctors have a degree of ability to produce healing today. However most Christians believe God has not given the ability to restore people to health instantaneously today as He did in the early church. [Note: For a discussion of the temporary nature of some of the gifts, namely, that they were in use in the early church but not thereafter, see Thomas R. Edgar, "The Cessation of the Sign Gifts," Bibliotheca Sacra 145:580 (October-December 1988):371-86; and John F. Walvoord, "Contemporary Issues in the Doctrine of the Holy Spirit. Part IV: Spiritual Gifts Today," Bibliotheca Sacra 130:520 (October-December 1973):315-28. This article was reprinted under the title "The Holy Spirit and Spiritual Gifts" in Bibliotheca Sacra 143:570 (April-June 1986):109-21. See also Vern S. Poythress, "Modern Spiritual Gifts as Analogous to Apostolic Gifts: Affirming Extraordinary Works of the Spirit within Cessationist Theology," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 39:1 (March 1996):71-101.]