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Timothy: I Corinthians 12:1-11
Spiritual Gifts

Dear God, my Beloved Father, I respectfully offer my praise and gratitude to You. You are the Almighty God and my Father in Heaven. I thank You for granting me restful sleep today and relieving me of my weariness. I am grateful to You for this new day You have given me in this life. Please help me fulfill the tasks You have entrusted to me. I pray to the Lord Jesus Christ to heal any illnesses or ailments in my physical body and to give me renewed strength. I ask the Holy Spirit to bestow wisdom on my spirit so that I may understand the true Word of God.

Father, I now present to You my reflections on I Corinthians 12:1-11 as follows:

1 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant.

Verse 1: The Apostle Paul wanted the people of God in Corinth to understand the works of the Spirit in relation to the Church and the spiritual gifts He has bestowed upon them. Paul refers to these gifts as spiritual because they belong to the realm of the spiritual world.

2 Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led.

3 Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.

Verses 2 and 3: Paul reminds the people of God in Corinth that they used to be Gentiles, led astray to worship dumb idols. But now, through their faith in Him, they have become children of God. This is evident in the gift of knowledge about Christ that they have received from the Spirit. As a result, they honor Jesus as Lord and recognize Him as such. The knowledge of Christ is the understanding in their spirits, referred to as the spirit of God, which is the awareness that comes from God.

4 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.

5 And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.

6 And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.

Verses 4 to 6: Spiritual gifts are blessings bestowed upon the people of God by the Spirit. These gifts include authority, power, wisdom, and skills. The gifts are given to certain individuals along with positions of service within the Church. The gifts are also given to those without positions of authority so that every work they do in the Church may be accomplished, bringing goodness to the Church. There is only one Spirit who bestows different spiritual gifts within the Church.

There is only one God who establishes various positions of service within the Church. There is only one Lord, Jesus Christ, who grants different positions of service to each individual within the Church. The Three Persons of the Triune God act together in all matters concerning the Church to build and protect it.

7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.

Verse 7: The people of God may not physically see the Spirit, but they can perceive His existence and actions through the spiritual gifts He bestows upon each person in the Church. These gifts bring benefits to the Church, such as strengthening the faith of God’s people, addressing their needs and problems, and bringing benefits to those outside the Church.

8 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;

Verse 8: Paul lists some of the spiritual gifts that the Spirit bestows upon the people of God in the Church. The gift of “the word of wisdom” refers to the ability to speak profound truths about God’s Word, things, and events as revealed by the Spirit in their spirit. This is a direct understanding from God, not acquired through learning, experience, or personal reasoning. The gift of “the word of knowledge” is the ability to discern between right and wrong, good and evil, through words. Both gifts of wisdom and knowledge are given by the Spirit.

9 To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;

Verse 9: The gift of faith is the bestowal of faith that relates to various aspects of the believer’s life, beyond faith in the Gospel for salvation. The gift of faith is necessary to fulfill the duties of service within the Church, and the Spirit will provide each person of God with an adequate measure of faith, depending on their circumstances, if their hearts truly love and obey God. Faith in God’s protection brings peace to the people of God in the face of difficulties, dangers, and material scarcity. Faith in the promise of eternal life makes the people of God faithful until death. Faith in the words spoken by Christ in II Corinthians 12:9 enables the people of God to remain peaceful even when not granted physical healing by the Lord, entrusting their lives to Him. The gift of healing is the grace, in the name of Jesus Christ, to heal those whom the Lord desires to heal. The one who possesses this gift is discerned by the Holy Spirit, who reveals whom the Spirit desires to heal in the name of Jesus Christ. Both gifts, the gift of faith and the gift of healing, are bestowed by the Spirit.

10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:

Verse 10: The gift of working miracles is the ability to perform supernatural wonders, such as the miracles performed by prophets, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the apostles, as recorded in the Bible. The gift of prophecy includes the ability to proclaim the greatness of God and to praise Him; to declare what God will do; to expose the sins of God’s people or the entire Church and call for repentance; to speak words of comfort and encouragement to God’s people; or to proclaim the truths of the Scriptures. The gift of discerning spirits is the ability to distinguish between true and false spirits; to discern genuine preachers of God’s Word from those who preach false doctrines; to discern those who are speaking in a foreign language by the Holy Spirit’s enablement from those who are uttering meaningless sounds under the influence of evil spirits. The gift of speaking in tongues is the ability to speak languages of human beings other than one’s native tongue without having learned those languages. The gift of interpretation of tongues is the ability to understand and translate the languages of human beings into one’s native tongue without having learned those languages.

11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.

Verse 11: All these gifts are bestowed by the same Spirit. It is the Spirit who works in the people of God, enabling them to act according to His will through His power. One may desire these gifts, but no one can ask to be given a gift. For the giving of gifts is according to the will of the Spirit and is granted individually to each member of the people of God.

Father, I thank you for clearly revealing the gifts bestowed by the Spirit in the Church. Sadly, there are many people of God who do not reflect on the Scriptures to discern the truth. Instead, they listen to and believe in the teachings of false doctrines within the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements. They are captivated by supernatural phenomena that are not in line with the Scriptures, and they fall into the schemes of the devil. Their lives are either consumed by the pursuit of fame and material wealth, or immersed in the pursuit of signs, wonders, dreams, and visions that are completely contrary to the Scriptures. I pray for your mercy, Father, and I ask for a revival in the Church before the coming of Christ. I am grateful to you, and I pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen!

In the grace of Jesus Christ, my Lord.

Timothy Christian Huynh
05/22/2023