Doug Van Meter - 4 February 2024
Exalting the Lordship of Jesus (1 Corinthians 12:7–11)
The church in Corinth was experiencing division due to both social (11:17–34) and spiritual stratification (chapters 12–14). Having addressed the matter of “spiritual things” in 12:1–6, Paul begins in vv. 7–11 to teach the church about spiritual gifts and, practically, how they are for the purpose of corporately confessing, conforming, and communicating the lordship of Jesus Christ. He instructs concerning: 1. The Expression of the Spirit (v. 7) 2. The Effect of the Spirit (vv. 8–10) 3. The Empowerment of the Spirit (v. 11)
Scripture References: 1 Corinthians 12:7-11
From Series: "1 Corinthians Exposition"
An exposition of 1 Corinthians by Doug Van Meter.
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Soon after the Spirit of God enlightened and empowered me to confess Jesus as Lord, I began attending meetings with other Christians at my university. I remember two choruses I had never heard before: “Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God” and “He is Lord.” The latter reads, in part, “He is Lord, he is Lord, he has risen from the dead, and he is Lord! Every knee shall bow, every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.”
Brothers and sisters, this is what the local church is all about. We are to confess that Jesus is Lord. We are to be conformed to Jesus, who is Lord, and we are to communicate to others that he is Lord. This is our corporate responsibility. This is the purpose of the Spirit’s gifts. The gifts are not the goal, the lordship of Jesus is. And this is Paul’s burden as he writes chapters 12–14.
Paul had received word from the house of Chloe (1:11) that there was contention, strife, and quarrelling in the church. There were several components to this, but a major one was that of spiritual arrogance, arising from scriptural ignorance.
Not only was there the problem of social stratification in the church (11:17–34); there was also the ugly presence of spiritual stratification (chapters 12–14). Some apparently thought that they were the bee’s knees because they had a spectacular spiritual gift, while those without such obvious gifts were deemed second class Christians and church members. They were deeply confused about what it meant to be “spiritual.” They needed instruction concerning “spiritual [things]” (v. 1).
As we saw previously, Paul commences this section by emphasising that the proof that one has the Spirit of God—and therefore the ultimate test of being “spiritual”—is the confession of Jesus Christ as Lord. Jesus taught that the mouth speaks out of the abundance of the heart (Matthew 12:34). Therefore, what do they say about Jesus Christ? Do they confess him as Lord?
Those with the Spirit of God will joyfully confess, not only that Jesus is the Lord, but that he is their Lord. They will confess their allegiance to him—not as a means of being saved, but rather as a manifestation that they have been saved.
Paul was deeply concerned that the church make this corporate confession. Amid all the frenzy of the spectacular spiritual gifts, the most important matter was the promotion of the lordship of Jesus Christ. This is the manifestation of the Spirit that they should desire and should pursue. Unfortunately, their approach to the Spirit’s gifts promoted themselves as lord.
Having introduced this matter in order to reform their corporate worship (vv. 1–6), Paul expands on it in vv. 7–11. He begins to teach them about the spiritual gifts (by which they had been enriched—1:5–7). He will instruct them concerning the expression of the Spirit (v. 7), the effect of the Spirit (vv. 8–10), and the empowerment of the Spirit (v. 11). He does in order to continue to drive home their need to exalt the lordship of Jesus Christ in their community of faith.
The Expression of the Spirit
First, he instructs the church concerning the expression of the Spirit: “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good” (v. 7).
Having emphasised the triunity of the triune God (vv. 4–6), Paul begins what will be a relatively long discourse on the value of each member in the local church and each individual’s contribution to the building up of the church into a unified, corporate confession of the lordship of Christ. This is the goal of the Holy Spirit (John 16:13; 2 Corinthians 3:17–18; Romans 8:26–30). He therefore gives gifts to those born again for the purpose of the local church looking more like Jesus Christ (see Ephesians 4:11–16). As each member uses his or her gifts, the congregation practically expresses what it looks like to confess Jesus Christ as Lord. This is indicated by the phrase “to each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”
Paul again makes clear that the gifts (v. 4) are given. The word “given” is repeated in v. 8 but is implied throughout vv. 8–10. Paul wants the Corinthians to know (v. 2) that their spiritual contributions to the building up of the body of Christ is God’s gift to them. Therefore the folly of exalting themselves.
The words “the manifestation of the Spirit” importantly teach us that the use of the gifts results in the Spirit of God providing evidence of the presence of the triune God as well as expressing the lordship of Jesus Christ.
First, spiritual gifts offer evidence of God’s presence. Later, Paul will address the matter of visitors coming to the church and seeing orderly, word-driven worship and consequently confessing that God is in their church (14:24–25). This is to be the corporate experience as we gather. This is what the Spirit of God intends for the gifts he gives. He wants us to experience the risen Lord. He wants our confession to be matched with communion with God. The exercise of spiritual gifts is not for the purpose of manifesting one’s contributions for corporate experience of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The church should corporately experience something of the lordship of Christ when the congregation sings (Ephesians 5:18–20). Corporate prayer should recognise the lordship of Christ with a corporate amen. God’s presence should be felt as the word is preached. When we sing and pray, “Show us Christ,” this is what we are asking for. As we use our gifts, we should be asking the Holy Spirit to use them for the manifestation of the Lord’s presence. As we use our gifts, we should be humbled rather than haughty. The plague of celebrity Christianity needs the vaccine of this passage.
Second, spiritual gifts are an expression of the lordship of Jesus Christ. This is “the common good” to Paul refers. Let me ask, how would you define “the common good” as we gather? What are you expecting? What are you looking for? Let’s make sure it aligns with Paul’s meaning.
This phrase is the translation of the words “helpful” or “beneficial” or “profitable” in 6;12; 10:23, 33. Literally it means “to be the better for.” Without belabouring the point, the use of the Spirit’s gifts, the reason for the ministries of the Lord Jesus, the purpose of the working of God the Father (vv. 4–6) is so that everyone (v. 6) will be a blessing to each for the common good of helping one another to confess, conform, and communicate that Jesus is Lord.
Brothers and sisters, as we use the gifts of the Spirit, as we receive the benefits of the Spirit’s gifts given to others, our church will come increasingly to look like Jesus and our confession of him as Lord will more than mere words. Our congregation will increasingly resemble Jesus’ love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness (meekness), and self-control. Our congregation will increasingly be submissive to the word of Christ. This will be true in church life and in all of life.
Before moving on, it is important to pause at the words “to each.” The text indicates that the Spirit of God gives at least one gift to every Christian. This means that every believing church member is expected to contribute to the common good. There are no irrelevant members.
The Effect of the Spirit
Second, Paul instructs concerning the effect of the Spirit:
For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 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.
(1 Corinthians 12:8–10)
In these verses, Paul enumerates some of the gifts that the Holy Spirit gives to those he regenerates—which is everyone who subsequently confesses, “Jesus is Lord.” The dynamic of these gifts is the Spirit of God, the distribution of these gifts is by the Spirit of God, and the determination of who gets which gifts is by the Spirit of God.
We can summarise by observing that those who have the Spirit of God not only confess “Jesus is Lord” but the same Spirit will effectively use each “confessor” to build up the local church to honour Jesus as Lord. The effect of the gifts of the Spirit of God is to construct the local church (the temple of God) to see and to savourand to show that Jesus is Lord.
An Old Covenant Example
Exodus 31:1–11 offers us something of an example of this principle under the old covenant:
The LORD said to Moses, “See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, to work in every craft. And behold, I have appointed with him Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. And I have given to all able men ability, that they may make all that I have commanded you: the tent of meeting, and the ark of the testimony, and the mercy seat that is on it, and all the furnishings of the tent, the table and its utensils, and the pure lampstand with all its utensils, and the altar of incense, and the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the basin and its stand, and the finely worked garments, the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments of his sons, for their service as priests, and the anointing oil and the fragrant incense for the Holy Place. According to all that I have commanded you, they shall do.”
(Exodus 31:1–11)
God commanded Moses to oversee the construction of his tabernacle, where he would dwell among his people. It was to be constructed according to his blueprint: “And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst. Exactly as I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle, and of all its furniture, so you shall make it” (Exodus 25:8–9).
When the time came to put it all together, the Spirit of God filled certain members for this task. This was not merely a matter of artistic talent. They may have had inherent talent, but the Spirit of God empowered them to use their talents in a unique way for corporate worship, which was essential for the spiritual condition of the old covenant church.
Likewise the new covenant church is equipped by the Holy Spirit for the proper construction of the new covenant temple, the local church. Spiritual gifts are not simply inherent talents; they are Spirit-empowered enablement for a ministry that promotes a corporate confession and conformity to the lordship of Christ. A converted CEO of a company is not necessarily gifted by God’s Spirit for church leadership. He may be a skilled executive, but does he have the spiritual skill to lead a church to submit to the lordship of Jesus? A converted school-teacher or university lecturer, who is highly skilled in teaching, does not automatically have the Spirit’s enablement to effectively teach God’s word in such a way that the church loves and follows the Lord Jesus Christ more faithfully. A converted medical doctor may be at the top of his field, but this does not necessarily mean that he or she has the Spirit’s enablement as a counsellor when it comes to the disease of sin.
This is a very important matter, and understanding it will go a long way towards guarding the church against a secular model. I observed this when I researched and wrote on pastoral transition. Too often, the corporate model is the pattern, and this is not good for the church!
This raises the question as to whether spiritual gifts are “for life” or more spontaneous and perhaps temporary. We will try to answer this later.
The List or a List?
Nine gifts are mentioned in this text. Later, Paul will identify four more. In Romans 12, he mentions five additional gifts. Peter also identifies a handful of gifts, but they are duplications found in these other lists (1 Peter 4). To my reckoning, there are eighteen various gifts mentioned in the New Testament. But is this list exhaustive? Is this a list or the list?
I don’t believe we have sufficient grounds to affirm that these lists are exhaustive. I think they are rather representative of all the gifts.
It seems that some of these are categories in which other gifts might be included. For example, someone may be gifted by the Holy Spirit to care effectively in a Christ-impacting way for very young children. This might fit under the category of teaching, or helps, or service, or wisdom, etc. We should be careful of button-holing Christians as having a particular gift, as listed in the New Testament. In some cases, it may be obvious; perhaps not so much in other cases.
We should stay clear of “spiritual gift inventories.” To think that we can identify a gift by the use of an exam with a lead pencil is probably wrong-headed, despite a good motive.
The Effectual Enablement by the Spirit of God
We will look briefly at a description of some of the representative gifts that Paul mentions. It seems that he selected some of the more spectacular gifts, over which there seemed to be contention because of (shameful) competition.
The exact description of these gifts is not clearly defined in Scripture. By piecing together Scripture, primarily from 1 Corinthians where possible, we can make an educated assumption about what some of these gifts looked like. Most likely, these gifts are more easily detected than described.
Let’s be clear on our definition: A gift from the Spirit is a divine enablement for the purpose of exalting the lordship of Jesus primarily for the sake of the church.
The Utterance of Wisdom
Paul consistently uses the word “wisdom” in this epistle to describe God’s enlightening the believer to see the beauty of Jesus Christ and the power of his cross work of redemption. Wisdom is therefore the ability to see Jesus accursed by God for our sakes (see 2:6–8). We are told that every Christian has this wisdom (1:30) and therefore this gift must be an exceptional “effectual use” of wisdom. Perhaps someone with this gift is able to instruct concerning the cross in an unusually effective way (John Stott).
Perhaps someone with this gift has a unique “competence in the vast complexities of life” (Tim Keller). This is what Proverbs (a wisdom book) is all about. And some believers have a unique competence to unravel various complexities in life. They help us to find solutions by pointing us to the lordship of Jesus Christ amid the chaotic complexities. This gift is doubtless related to the gift of teaching.
As members use this gift, we are helped in our problems to see that the Lord Jesus Christ in whom the sum of all wisdom dwells (Colossians 2:3).
The Utterance of Knowledge
This is related to wisdom. It most certainly has to do with biblical knowledge, but it may include at times the ability to have specific insight into a situation. Jesus manifested this often in his ministry. I am quite sure it does not mean is Mark Driscoll’s claim that he “see things” and “knows” about people’s past or current sins.
The Christian with this gift will be able to teach and apply God’s revelation to life’s situations, helping us to see and to savour and to show Jesus Christ as Lord.
Faith
This is not saving (justifying) faith, for every Christian has that faith. This is rather an extraordinary confidence in the power and promises of God. Jesus manifested this in numerous ways. A believer gifted with this will help the church to confidently, boldly move forward. The Lord uses those with this gift to bolster our confidence as a congregation in the Lord Jesus Christ. Such gifted sisters and brothers are effectual in helping us to believe and behave like we believe Matthew 16:18 and Matthew 6:33 and Luke 1:37 and Matthew 28:18–20.
Gifts of Healing
Literally, Paul speaks of “gifts of healings,” where the plural probably points to the comprehensiveness of this gift (that is, all kinds of healings). The plural indicates that this is not a gift that signifies someone who is a “healer.” Rather, the Spirit of God gifts church members according to his sovereignty as an instrument of healing. It might be the elders (James 5:13–16). It might be an individual who prays for a fellow member. It might be a specially gifted church member who helps the grieving or those with emotional issues. The relative silence in Scripture about the gift should give us pause before developing “healing ministries.” Equally, we should be careful about quenching the Spirit. We will address this down the road when we deal with the questions of the continuation of some of the gifts of the Spirit.
The church should be a place of healing, beginning with the disease of sin. And when God, through his gifts, heals, people say, “Jesus is Lord!”
Working of Miracles
This is just what it indicates. The Christian thus gifted is not a “miracle worker.” Instead, the Spirit has used them to accomplish something that defies natural laws. One thinks of those in the New Testament record who raised the dead, or Paul who was bitten by a venomous serpent and not succumbed, or the lame man who walked (Acts 3). No doubt, demonic deliverance is the expression of such a gift. Nevertheless, there is no basis for “deliverance ministries” or “exorcists.” When the need is there, the Spirit will meet it.
The context is that such miraculous effects are for the purpose of exalting the lordship of Jesus Christ. When God does something miraculous in the life of a church member, the purpose is to praise and thank and worship the Lord Jesus Christ, not to exalt the one who experienced the miracle (see Mark 5:19–20).
Prophecy
We can best define this as a discourse emanating from divine inspiration, declaring the purposes of God. It can take on the form of instruction, rebuke, comfort, or prediction. This gift plays a large role in these chapters, and we will have occasion to unpack this in more detail in upcoming studies. For our purposes here, we need to see that the proclamation of God’s word is always about helping the church to see, savour, serve, and show the lordship of Jesus Christ. If the exercise of prophecy does not do this, then the Spirit is not in it. After all, he inspired the Scriptures and his zeal is for the glory of the Son.
The Ability to Distinguish between Spirits
This was particularly important in the days of the early church that conducted daily life without a complete canon of Scripture. In other words, these young believers could not as thoroughly compare Scripture with Scripture as we who have the competed New Testament can.
Passages such as 1 Timothy 4:1 and 1 John 4:1–6 speak to this gift. The Spirit of God is the Spirit of truth (John 14:17) and he cares about it. He particularly cares about the truth as it is in Jesus (Ephesians 4:21). He therefore equips some believers with a gifted ability to discern what is and what is not conducive to the church living in the light of the lordship of Jesus Christ.
We should beware of many of the so-called “discernment ministries.” Most have little to do with the local church and most have a lot to do with a bad spirit!
Various Kinds of Tongues
These are the same tongues as those in Acts 2, which were spoken on the Day of Pentecost when, by the Holy Spirit, the new covenant church was birthed. This was a Spirit-wrought ability to speak in a foreign language previously unlearned. It would be like me preaching in Zulu or Afrikaans.
This was the at the hub of the spiritual stratification in this church. It was shameful that a gift given to exalt Jesus (Acts 2:11) was being hijacked to exalt self. A gift given to unite diverse peoples under the lordship of Jesus Christ was being used to cause division.
The Interpretation of Tongues
This, presumably, was the Spirit-wrought gift of enabling someone to interpret a foreign tongue—who did not know that foreign tongue. It would be like me accurately translating a sermon preached in Zulu or Afrikaans.
Summary
Paul’s point here is to emphasise the effective ministry of the Spirit of God in the life of the church. He gives divine enablement to individual Christians to strengthen our devotion to Jesus Christ as we see, savour, serve, and show him as Lord. Any claim to a spiritual gift that is not used to edify the body of Christ is either a sham or poor stewardship at best.
The Empowerment of the Spirit
Paul concludes this section reminding the Corinthian church that the One Spirit empowers all gifts in all members: “All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills” (v. 11).
Paul’s emphasis is that of vv. 4–6: the unity of the church though diversity of gifts. If the same Spirit empowers every believing member of the church, how could anyone boast that they are “somebody” and denigrate another as “nobody”? How could they exalt themselves when they were “merely” the recipient of God’s gift? How could they draw attention to themselves when the Spirit of God, who had empowered them, was exalting Jesus Christ?
Paul says three things about the gift-giving Spirit of God.
The Dynamic of the Spirit
“Empowered” is the first of three verbs in the sentence. The sovereign Spirit sovereignly empowers the Christian, and thus the local church, for ministry. Whenever we gather, let us do so in dependence upon the Spirit of God. A lot of moving parts is not the goal; the moving of the Spirit, pointing us to Jesus as Lord, is the issue. One can teach and yet be lifeless. We must pray!
The Distribution by the Spirit
“Apportions” is the second verb. It means to distribute (Luke 15:2). The Holy Spirit sovereignly “divides” the various gifts within the church according to his sovereign grace, wisdom, and design.
No Christian will have all gifts. No Christian will be without a gift. No Christian can therefore live independently of other Christians, for we need the gifts of one another. When you withhold your contribution, all suffer. But most importantly, the honour and glory of Jesus Christ suffers. When a “portion” is missing, the rest feel it.
The Determination by the Spirit
“As he wills” is the third verbal statement. The distribution is divinely determined. It is not wrong to pray for a particular spiritual gift. It is wrong to demand it.
In the meantime, “discover” your gift by getting involved. As we submit to and serve the Lord Jesus Christ, we will experience the empowerment and, I believe, the enjoyment of the Spirit as we edify the body of Christ. Why? Because this will exalt the Lord Jesus.
As we close, let me confront us with the most important issue when it comes to spiritual gifts: Do you confess Jesus as Lord? Are you a Christian? Don’t be concerned about the Spirit’s gifts until you first have his greatest gift: a new heart—the new birth (John 3:1–8).
Christian, are you concerned about conformity to the Lord Jesus Christ? Are you submissive to his lordship? If not, then connect with the church and experience the effective empowerment of the Spirit as each members ministers for this common good.
AMEN