1 Corinthians 12
12
God’s spirit gives Christians special power
1My Christian friends, you know that the Holy Spirit gives special power to Christians. I want to tell you more about that, so that you will understand it properly. 2Remember this. Before you knew God, you listened to other people that didn’t know God, and you did what they did. You used to respect those statues that you thought were gods, but you know, they are just dumb statues, they can’t say anything. 3Now listen, I want you to understand this. If God’s spirit is inside somebody, they can never say, “Jesus, get away from me.” And the only people that can really say, “Jesus is my leader,” are the people that have God’s spirit inside them.
4You know, the Holy Spirit gives us special powers to do things. We call those powers the gifts that he gives us. There are different sorts of gifts, but they all come from the same Holy Spirit.#Romans 12:6-8 5We work for God in a lot of different ways, but all of us work for Jesus. 6Different people can do different things, but it is the same God that gives each person the power to work for him.
7It’s like this. The Holy Spirit works in each one of us. He gives us these gifts so we can help each other. 8The Holy Spirit gives one person the power to say a wise message for somebody, and he gives another person the power to know something special. 9The same Holy Spirit gives another person the power to believe God strongly for something. And he gives another person the power to make sick people better. 10The same Holy Spirit gives another person the power to do great things. And he gives another person the power to tell messages straight from God. The same Holy Spirit gives another person the power to know if something comes from God’s spirit, or if it comes from bad spirits. He gives another person the power to talk in special languages, and he gives another person the power to say what those special language words mean. 11It is the same Holy Spirit that does all those things. He gives gifts to each person, just the way he wants to.
One body has a lot of parts
12You know, a body has a lot of parts. All those different parts make only one body. And it is like that with Jesus Christ too. We Christians are like his body.#Romans 12:4-5 13Some of us are Jews, and the rest of us are not Jews. Some of us are free, and some of us are like prisoners that have to work for no pay. But no matter what we are, God put his spirit into all of us, that is, he baptised us in his spirit. He did that to join us together into one body. Now we all have that same Holy Spirit in us.
14And you know that a body doesn’t have just one part. It has a lot of different parts. 15Suppose a foot thinks to itself, “I’m not a hand, so I don’t belong to this body.” That doesn’t change anything, it is still a part of the body. 16Or suppose an ear thinks to itself, “I’m not an eye, so I don’t belong to this body.” But no matter what it thinks, it is still a part of the body. 17Suppose the whole body was an eye, it wouldn’t hear anything. Or suppose the whole body was an ear, it wouldn’t smell anything. 18-19Suppose each part of the body was the same, it wouldn’t really be a body. But, you see, God put all the different parts in the body just like he wanted them. In the same way, God put different Christians together to become the church. 20Yes, a body has a lot of parts, but they make only one body. 21And a body needs every part. Its eye can’t reckon, “I don’t need that hand.” And its head can’t reckon, “I don’t need those feet.” 22A body needs every part, even the parts that we think are weak. In the same way, the church needs every sort of Christian.
23There are some parts of our bodies that we think are not very nice, and we don’t want anyone to see them, so we carefully look after those parts and cover them up. 24But we don’t need to cover the beautiful parts of our bodies. God has joined all those parts together to make one body. We might think some parts are not important, but God has made them really important. 25So all the parts of our bodies live quietly together and help each other. 26If one part of a body hurts, every other part hurts with it. Or if one part of a body is feeling good, every other part is happy with it.
27You see, you are all like Jesus Christ’s body. Each of you Christians is a part of his body. 28And God gives people different jobs in his church, and he gives them the power to do those jobs.
– 1st, there are Jesus’s special workers, that God sends to other places to tell people his good news.
– 2nd, there are those other people that God uses to tell his messages.
– 3rd, there are those people that can teach other people.
– After that, there are those people that have the power to do great things.
– Then there are those people that have the power to make sick people better.
– And there are those people that can help other people.
– And there are those people that can lead other people.
– And there are those people that can talk in special languages.#Ephesians 4:11
29Did God send all of you out to other places to be Jesus’s special workers? No, he didn’t. Did he give all of you the power to tell his messages? No. Did he give all of you the power to be teachers? No. Did he give all of you the power to do great things? No, he didn’t. 30And he didn’t give all of you the power to make sick people better. He didn’t give all of you the power to talk in special languages, and he didn’t give all of you the power to say what those special language words mean. 31You see, God gives different powers to different people. So you have to really want the best powers from God.
It is very important to love God and other people
But there is another really good way, so now I will tell you about that way. It is the best way.
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1 Corinthians 12
12
Spiritual Gifts
1Brothers and sisters, I don’t want there to be any misunderstanding concerning spiritual gifts. 2You know that when you were unbelievers, every time you were led to worship false gods you were worshiping gods who couldn’t even speak. 3So I want you to know that no one speaking by God’s Spirit says, “Jesus is cursed.” No one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.
4There are different spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit gives them. 5There are different ways of serving, and yet the same Lord is served. 6There are different types of work to do, but the same God produces every gift in every person.
7The evidence of the Spirit’s presence is given to each person for the common good of everyone. 8The Spirit gives one person the ability to speak with wisdom. The same Spirit gives another person the ability to speak with knowledge. 9To another person the same Spirit gives ⌞courageous⌟ faith. To another person the same Spirit gives the ability to heal. 10Another can work miracles. Another can speak what God has revealed. Another can tell the difference between spirits. Another can speak in different kinds of languages. Another can interpret languages. 11There is only one Spirit who does all these things by giving what God wants to give to each person.
12For example, the body is one unit and yet has many parts. As all the parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13By one Spirit we were all baptized into one body. Whether we are Jewish or Greek, slave or free, God gave all of us one Spirit to drink.
14As you know, the human body is not made up of only one part, but of many parts. 15Suppose a foot says, “I’m not a hand, so I’m not part of the body!” Would that mean it’s no longer part of the body? 16Or suppose an ear says, “I’m not an eye, so I’m not a part of the body!” Would that mean it’s no longer part of the body? 17If the whole body were an eye, how could it hear? If the whole body were an ear, how could it smell? 18So God put each and every part of the body together as he wanted it. 19How could it be a body if it only had one part? 20So there are many parts but one body.
21An eye can’t say to a hand, “I don’t need you!” Or again, the head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22The opposite is true. The parts of the body that we think are weaker are the ones we really need. 23The parts of the body that we think are less honorable are the ones we give special honor. So our unpresentable parts are made more presentable. 24However, our presentable parts don’t need this kind of treatment. God has put the body together and given special honor to the part that doesn’t have it. 25God’s purpose was that the body should not be divided but rather that all of its parts should feel the same concern for each other. 26If one part of the body suffers, all the other parts share its suffering. If one part is praised, all the others share in its happiness.
27You are Christ’s body and each of you is an individual part of it. 28In the church God has appointed first apostles, next prophets, third teachers, then those who perform miracles, then those who have the gift of healing, then those who help others, those who are managers, and those who can speak in a number of languages. 29Not all believers are apostles, are they? Are all of them prophets? Do all of them teach? Do all of them perform miracles 30or have gifts of healing? Can all of them speak in other languages or interpret languages?
31You ⌞only⌟ want the better gifts, but I will show you the best thing to do.#12:31 Or “Desire the better gifts, and I will show you the best thing to do.”
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