1 Corinthians 12
12
The different functions of the Spirit
1Now as to the phenomena of your faith which show in a special way the presence of God and the action of the Spirit. Recollect this Spirit is one. Many of you are moved far beyond your ordinary capacity, and do things which in your own strength would be utterly impossible to you, — you prophesy, teach, heal, speak with tongues, and perform wonders, marvels — and this is not yourselves, it is the Spirit by which you are possessed. 2But recollect, my brethren, there is nothing in this similar to those possessions by spirits you were once familiar with in the old religions. At one time that worship was part of your life. You were carried away willy-nilly as you were led in the service of these dumb idols. 3-5And because this type of worship was so familiar to you, I bid you remember that, if anyone is possessed and cries out a curse on Jesus, such possession you will know comes not from God, whilst on the other hand to acknowledge Jesus as Lord can never be done except by those to whom the Spirit has been imparted. Now this Spirit, as I say, is one, absolutely one, throughout all its manifestations, and that is why all those phenomena which represent to us its operations are so mutually harmonious and complementary. 6-8One man may evidence one kind of gift or service, one man’s sphere of usefulness or inspiration may differ entirely from another’s, but he will not differ in the spirit.
The oneness of the Spirit
9It is the same Spirit, the same Lord, the same God which imparts, ordains, inspires, possesses. 10The word of knowledge, the word of wisdom, faith, gifts of healing, inspiration and genius, prophecy, spiritual insight and discernment, tongues and the interpretation of tongues — 11these all proceed in varying degrees displayed by different individuals from the one infinite Spirit. He, that Spirit, is all in all, and one, and all these gifts are constituted in His action and operation. 12The Christ is as it were one infinite body, wherein all the parts and members are mutually helpful and interdependent. 13In the unity of the same organism there cannot be inharmonious contradictory parts. 14-16Hand cannot say to foot, I have no need of you. Ear and eye are different members and have different functions, but what if the ear said to the eye, “because I am different from you, we belong to different bodies,” would it be true? And so all of us were baptised into one vast body, the infinite Christ, — Jews, Greeks, slaves, and free — and we all drank the wine of the one Spirit. Hence these different gifts, functions and offices which operate in us. This very variety constitutes the essential being of the Spirit, because the Spirit includes all. 17If the body were all eye, where would the hearing be? If it were all ear, where would the eyebrow be? 18-21Every part is beautifully formed to assist and be complementary to the others; none is otiose, negligible or useless, 22but on the contrary those very parts which are held in least honour often have the most important functions, 23-25and the visible parts of the body which form its beauty are the most dependent on the organs which are not seen and are less esteemed. 26If one member suffer, all suffer with it, and no one part of the body can be affected, for good or ill, without all the others feeling it. 27So is it in that infinite spiritual body of the Christ, which we together constitute, of which we are all members. 28Whether in the church there be those that are called apostles, prophets, teachers, healers, helpers, officers, speakers with tongues — what is this but the activity of one life? 29Because it is one thing, all are not therefore apostles, nor all prophets, nor all teachers, 30nor all healers, nor all speakers with tongues, nor all interpreters. 31True, some gifts are greater than others, and it is right to wish for the greatest gifts of all, and in that respect, I will point out to you a way that is better than all others.
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Translated in 1916, published in 1937.
1 Corinthians 12
12
1Now about “spiritual gifts.”#12:1. Paul takes up another issue that the Corinthians have asked him about. My brothers and sisters, I want to explain this to you. 2You know that when you were pagans, you were deceived, being led astray by worshiping idols who couldn't even speak. 3Let me make it clear to you: no one who speaks in the Spirit of God says, “Curse Jesus!” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord!” except by the Holy Spirit. 4Now there are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but they come from the same Spirit. 5There are different kinds of ministries,#12:5. Or “service.” but they come from the same Lord. 6There are different ways of working, but they come from the same God, who is at work in all of them. 7The Spirit is given to each of us and is revealed for the good of all. 8One person is given by the Spirit the ability to speak words of wisdom. Another is given a message of knowledge by the same Spirit. 9Another receives the gift of strongly trusting in God by the same Spirit. Another receives gifts of healing from that one Spirit. 10Another is given the ability to perform miracles. Another receives the gift of prophecy. Another is given the gift of spiritual discernment. Another receives the ability to speak different languages, while another is given the gift of interpreting languages. 11But all of these gifts are the work of the one and the same Spirit, sharing with each person as he alone chooses.
12Just like the human body is one unit but has many parts—all the parts of the body even though there are many of them, make up one body—so is Christ. 13For it was through one Spirit that we were all baptized into one body. It doesn't matter whether we are Jews or Greeks, slave or free—we all were given the one Spirit to drink. 14The body is not made of one part, but many parts. 15If the foot were to say, “Because I'm not a hand, I'm not part of the body,” would that make it not part of the body? 16If the ear were to say, “Because I'm not an eye, I'm not part of the body,” would that make it not part of the body? 17If the whole body was an eye, how could you hear anything? If the whole body was an ear, how could you smell anything?
18But God has arranged each part in the body, every last one of them, placing them just as he wanted. 19If they were all the same part, what would happen to the body? 20However, since there are many parts, they make up the body. 21The eye can't tell the hand, “I don't need you,” or the head tell the feet, “I don't need you.” 22Quite the opposite: some of those parts of the body that seem the most insignificant are the most essential. 23In fact those parts of the body we do not consider to be decent to reveal we “honor” more by covering them up—what is indecent we treat with greater modesty! 24What's presentable doesn't need such covering up. God has so arranged the body that more honor is given to the parts that are less presentable. 25This is so there wouldn't be any conflict within the body—the different parts should care equally for each other. 26So when one part is suffering, all the other parts of the body suffer with it, and when one part is treated well, then all the other parts of the body are happy too!#12:26. Here Paul seems to be thinking far more of the body of the church than a physical body.
27Now you are the body of Christ, and each one makes up a part of it. 28In the church, God has arranged first for some to be apostles, secondly for some to be prophets, thirdly teachers. Then there are those who perform miracles, those with healing gifts, those who can help others, those good at administration, and those who can speak different languages. 29Not everyone is an apostle, or a prophet, or a teacher, or able to perform miracles. 30Not all have healing gifts, or the ability to speak languages, or to interpret languages. 31But you should really want to have the most significant gifts.#12:31. Having discussed the different spiritual gifts, Paul states that believers should desire the most important ones. Of course which these are would be a matter of much debate. What he really is doing is setting the scene for the next chapter, for without love none of these gifts, even those considered the most significant, are worth anything. So now I will show you a far better way.
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com