1 Corinthians 12:8-11
Ps Paul Cheng
~7 min read
Dear Bethelites,
In his discussion about the varieties of spiritual gifts by the Holy Spirit to profit, edify and build up the body of believers, the church, the Apostle Paul spoke about permanent and temporal gifts. He began with the permanent gifts like wisdom, knowledge and faith, and then moved on to speak on the temporal gifts.
I. The Gift Of Healing
1 Corinthians 12:9b, to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;
The gift of healing was the first category of the temporal sign gifts. As mentioned earlier, the sign gifts were given to authenticate the apostolic message as the Word of God, until the time when the Holy Scriptures, the Word of God, was completed and became self-authenticating. Therefore today, the gifts of healing have ceased.
Does God still heal miraculously? Most certainly! God may still heal miraculously, in response to the faithful prayers of His children. But as far as the gift of healing is concerned, no Christian today has this gift. No Christian can behave like Christ and the Apostles, and walk up to someone, with just one word or one touch, he is able to heal the person instantly. No believer can ever do that!
The great commission does not include a call to heal bodies, but only the call to heal souls through the preaching of the gospel. It is not that God is not interested in our physical healing, or the church is not concerned with our physical well-being, but the point is that God’s healing work through miracle is no longer required as a sign-gift because the Bible is completed, and He no longer gives such gifts to the believers.
II. The Gift Of Miracles
1 Corinthians 12:10a, To another the working of miracles;
The gift of miracles was the next temporal sign gift. The definition of miracle is an act of God that is contrary to the ordinary works of nature. It is a divine intervention or supernatural intrusion into the natural world and its natural laws.
In the New Testament, Jesus performed miracles like turning the water into wine, feeding the five thousand, walking on water and raising the dead. Why did Jesus perform miracles? John 20:30-31 explained, And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.
The Apostles performed miracles like the casting out of demons. Why did they perform miracles? Hebrews 2:4 explained, God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will? B.B Warfield said, “These miraculous gifts were part of the credentials of the apostles, as authoritative agents of God in founding the church. Their function confined them distinctly to the apostolic church, and the necessarily passed away with it.” Those signs accompanied God’s Word only as long as He was revealing the Word, but when the revelation stopped, the sign gifts also stopped.
Today, God may still do miracles, if He chooses to do so. But as far as the gift of miracles is concerned, no believer has the gift. No Christian can behave like Christ and the Apostles, or like Moses and say, “Be open,” and the Red Sea is split into two!
III. The Gift Of Prophecy
1 Corinthians 12:10b, to another prophecy;
The word prophecy simply means to speak forth, or to proclaim. It can mean to fore-tell (like telling the future pertaining to certain individuals or events) or to forth-tell (in the sense preaching the Word of God according to what has already been revealed). When the Holy Scripture was completed, God gave the command not to add or subtract from the Bible, the gift to fore-tell the future had ceased (c.f. Revelations 22:18-19).
Today, the gift of prophecy means to forth-tell, by declaring what is revealed in the Holy Scripture. For example, if one says, “Jesus is coming soon, and He will rule the world for one thousand years,” that is a future event. However, he is forth-telling the future prophecy of the Bible which is true and will surely happen.
No believer has the gift of prophecy as in fore-telling the future, like having new revelations pertaining to the future, or to things relating to your marriage life, family, living and working conditions, etc. As one theologian said succinctly, “Gift of prophecy as in preaching? Yes! Gift of prophecy as in new revelation? No! We want faithful messengers, not fortune-tellers!”
IV. The Gift Of Discerning Spirits
1 Corinthians 12:10c, to another discerning of spirits;
Here, the gift of discernment is the ability to determine what is true and false, what is genuine and counterfeit. Satan is the great deceiver and the father of lies, and ever since the fall of man, he and his demons have counterfeited God’s message and messengers. Therefore, all believers should judge carefully what they hear and read. 1 John 4:1, Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
But sometimes, it is hard to tell the difference because what appears to be biblical on the surface may actually be deception. So, God has given a special ability to certain believers to recognize the deception.
A classic example is found in Acts 16:18. On that occasion, Paul and Silas were ministering in Philippi, and there was a certain slave girl who was possessed by the spirit of divination, and she belonged to her master who made use of her to make money by fortune-telling. She followed Paul and Silas, and cried out, These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation. On the surface, what the girl said not only was true, it seemed to support the gospel as well. But her purpose and motivation were exactly the opposite. The demons who controlled her wanted to attract the people, gain their trust, and then attack God’s Word and His messengers. God had given to Paul the gift of discernment to determine that though her words were true, she was controlled by the demons. Therefore, Paul turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And the spirit came out the same hour.
Today, there are all sorts of teachers, preachers and ministers who claim to be evangelical and biblical. But are they really true? How can we know whether they are true or false? We have to judge by comparing what they say and do with the Holy Scripture. A good example is the Bereans in Acts 17:11.
Since Paul was speaking in the context of spiritual gifts in this passage, some theologians believe that this gift of discernment would include the ability to discern whether a particular spiritual gift is true or imitation. In other words, God has given to some believers the ability to discern whether the person exercising the gift in the power of the Holy Spirit, or he is serving for his own selfish reasons, to glorify himself, or he is serving under some demonic forces.
In the church, everyone claims to be serving the Lord, whether in the Sunday school, fellowship group, choir ministry, etc. Is everyone truly serving the Lord to glorify Him? Most certainly not! Well, God has blessed certain people like the church leaders, with the gift of discernment, to ascertain if they are serving with the right spirit and motivation, through careful observation and prayerful consideration.
V. The Gift Of Tongues
1 Corinthians 12:10d, to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:
Next is the gift of tongues. This is the ability to speak in a language one has never known or studied before. Both the gift of speaking and interpreting of tongues will be further discussed in detail in chapter 14. Therefore here it is sufficient to say that both are temporal sign gifts, and just like the other sign gifts, with the completion of the Bible, they are no longer active in the church today.
1 Corinthians 12:11, But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.
There is one Holy Spirit, and the Spirit divides or distributes to each believer individually, the different gifts. One person may say, “I wish I could preach,” and another person may say, “I wish I could sing solo,” yet another may say, “I wish I could lead.” God in His sovereignty says, “The church is my body, and it is my decision to give to you certain gifts that I would not give to others. Likewise it is my decision to give to others certain gifts that I would not give to you. It is my will!”
Oftentimes, people would ask, “What is my gift? How do I find out what my gift is?” The way to discover one’s gift is to serve God, and he serves Him, it is the Holy Spirit who worketh (energeo) or energizes him as he serves. And the Holy Spirit will make it apparent to him and the people who have profited from his ministry, his spiritual gift.
Dear friend, as we serve the Lord in the church, we need to understand what are the spiritual gifts that are still in operation today, and what are the spiritual gifts that have already ceased - the temporal and permanent gifts. If you are still struggling to figure out how you can serve the Lord with your spiritual gifts, ask yourself these questions, “How can I serve the Lord in the church? What are the different works and jobs to be done in the church? How can I contribute to the encouragement, edification, profit and good of the believers in the church?” The Spirit will reveal to you what He has given to you to serve and glorify God!
With love in Christ,
Pastor Paul Cheng
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