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
1Now, dear brothers and sisters,#12:1 Greek brothers. regarding your question about the special abilities the Spirit gives us. I don’t want you to misunderstand this. 2You know that when you were still pagans, you were led astray and swept along in worshiping speechless idols. 3So I want you to know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God will curse Jesus, and no one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit.
4There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. 5There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. 6God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us.
7A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. 8To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice#12:8a Or gives a word of wisdom.; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge.#12:8b Or gives a word of knowledge. 9The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. 10He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages,#12:10 Or in various tongues; also in 12:28, 30. while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. 11It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.
One Body with Many Parts
12The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. 13Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles,#12:13a Greek some are Greeks. some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.#12:13b Greek we were all given one Spirit to drink.
14Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. 15If the foot says, “I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,” that does not make it any less a part of the body. 16And if the ear says, “I am not part of the body because I am not an eye,” would that make it any less a part of the body? 17If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything?
18But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. 19How strange a body would be if it had only one part! 20Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. 21The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.”
22In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary. 23And the parts we regard as less honorable are those we clothe with the greatest care. So we carefully protect those parts that should not be seen, 24while the more honorable parts do not require this special care. So God has put the body together such that extra honor and care are given to those parts that have less dignity. 25This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other. 26If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad.
27All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it. 28Here are some of the parts God has appointed for the church:
first are apostles,
second are prophets,
third are teachers,
then those who do miracles,
those who have the gift of healing,
those who can help others,
those who have the gift of leadership,
those who speak in unknown languages.
29Are we all apostles? Are we all prophets? Are we all teachers? Do we all have the power to do miracles? 30Do we all have the gift of healing? Do we all have the ability to speak in unknown languages? Do we all have the ability to interpret unknown languages? Of course not! 31So you should earnestly desire the most helpful gifts.
But now let me show you a way of life that is best of all.
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Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
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