1 Corinthians 12 - Hand/Eye Coordination
You have a gift and others are counting on you to use it!
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1 Corinthians 12 (ESV)
1 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed.
2 You know that when you were pagans
you were led astray to mute idols,
however you were led.
3 Therefore I want you to understand that
no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!”
and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.
4 Now
there are varieties of gifts,
but the same Spirit;
5 and there are varieties of service,
but the same Lord;
6 and there are varieties of activities,
but it is the same God
who empowers them all
in everyone.
7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
8 For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom,
and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit,
9 to another faith by the same Spirit,
to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit,
10 to another the working of miracles,
to another prophecy,
to another the ability to distinguish between spirits,
to another various kinds of tongues,
to another the interpretation of tongues.
11 All these are empowered
by one and the same Spirit,
who apportions to each one individually as he wills.
12 For
just as the body
is one
and has many members,
and all the members of the body,
though many,
are one body,
so it is with Christ.
13 For in one Spirit
we were all baptized into one body—
Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—
and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
14 For the body
does not consist of one member
but of many.
15 If the foot should say,
“Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,”
that would not make it any less a part of the body.
16 And if the ear should say,
“Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,”
that would not make it any less a part of the body.
17 If the whole body
were an eye,
where would be the sense of hearing?
If the whole body
were an ear,
where would be the sense of smell?
18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body,
each one of them,
as he chose.
19 If all were a single member, where would the body be?
20 As it is,
there are many parts,
yet one body.
21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,”
nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”
22 On the contrary,
the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable,
23 and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, 24 which our more presentable parts do not require.
But God has so composed the body,
giving greater honor to the part that lacked it,
25 that there may be no division in the body,
but that the members may have the same care for one another.
26 If one member
suffers,
all suffer together;
if one member
is honored,
all rejoice together.
27 Now you are
the body of Christ
and individually members of it.
28 And God has appointed in the church
first apostles,
second prophets,
third teachers,
then miracles,
then gifts of
healing,
helping,
administrating,
and various kinds of tongues.
29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers?
Do all work miracles?
30 Do all possess gifts of healing?
Do all speak with tongues?
Do all interpret?
31 But earnestly desire the higher gifts.
And I will show you a still more excellent way.
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Read previous DIG DEEPER posts on 1 Corinthians
1 Corinthians 12 Summary
The Church is a trinitarian creation. It's called by the Father (Ephesians 1), it's the gathered body of Christ (v13-14), and you are both drawn to it (v3) and equipped for service in it by the Holy Spirit (v13).
Notice in v7 that each Christian has been gifted by the Spirit. This chapter lists a few of those gifts, but only a few in order to show how they are different in character but are equal in value. If you don't know what your Spiritual gift is, this catalog will show some more possibilities. Can't find one that seems to describe you? Let me know, and we'll find it together.
Dig Deeper
Paul seems to give a massively wide range to what Spirit filled people can and cannot say. One the one hand, it makes sense that a someone with the Spirit of Christ in them would not be able to say "Jesus be cursed," but on the other it seems like lots of very non-Christian people have said that "Jesus is Lord;" certainly cult leaders and the like didn't have the Spirit in them as they say this phrase.
But there's a big difference between saying something and saying something, right? If you were to read the beginning of v3 out loud, you would say the words "Jesus be cursed," but certainly that wouldn't be an indication the Spirit is not in you. In the same way, anybody can say 'Jesus is Lord,' but to truly say it you must know what each word means:
JESUS: The only person to be fully man and fully God, who lived a perfect life and died to pay for our sins. He rose victorious from the dead and now reigns in heaven until He returns to make all things new.
IS: Not was or will be Lord, but has been, is now and always will be Lord.
LORD: The creator and sovereign ruler of all that is.
When a cult member or nominal Christian says these words, they are equivocating (changing the definition) of one or more the words. Just saying these words in an empty way does not make a person a Christian. True knowledge of Jesus comes only comes by the Spirit.
AAA Prayer:
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: God, the Father of all, who empowers all gifts found in all Christians (v6)
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Be grateful for the gift you have, but also pray that you would earnestly desire the higher gifts (v31)
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
