Alan Lewis
Elon, North Carolina
July 2024
Last week, we began our study of spiritual gifts. We looked at seven principles of spiritual gifts from I Corinthians 12. We looked at seven body life principles.
Today, we want to look at some of the gifts Paul lists in this chapter. What are these gifts? Are they still around today?
There is a huge controversy raging in the church. It is a controversy that has to do with spiritual gifts.
This is a topic that divides Christians. It is a topic that divides churches. It is a topic that divides whole denominations.
Christians fight over this topic. They make it a test of fellowship. If you don’t agree with their particular view, you are a heretic. You can’t join the church. You can’t serve in the church.
It is a problem because spiritual gifts were given to produce unity in the church. The very topic which was intended to produce unity has produced disunity and division.
Two Extremes
When it comes to spiritual gifts, many people are not balanced. Some underemphasize the gifts and some overemphasize the gifts.
Some are obsessed with spiritual gifts. This is their favorite chapter of some. They get their name from this chapter. The word “charismatic” comes from the Greek word Paul used for gift (χαρίσματα).
There is another extreme in the church and that is to deemphasize these gifts. Many in the church today believe that these gifts do not even exist in the church today.
Both errors come from one thing. They come from IGNORANCE. That was the first thing that Paul said about spiritual gifts. He said, “Don’t be ignorant.”
Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I don’t want you to be ignorant. (I Corinthians 12:1 ISV). Paul did not want the Corinthians ignorant, and he does not want us ignorant either. Ignorance is a big problem in the church today.
We have churches full of them. That is why there are not too many people in Sunday School classes. Few have any desire to go any deeper in their faith. They are satisfied with a shallow faith.
Some of them have been in churches for years, some for decades but they know very little of what Bible says and the OT is a complete mystery. One area that there is ignorance today is in the area of spiritual gifts. Let’s look at these gifts.
Paul actually gives three lists of spiritual gifts in the NT. He gives us one in Romans, one in I Corinthians, and one in Ephesians but the longest list is found in I Corinthians.
To one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. (I Corinthians 12:8-10 NKJV)
Basic Observations
What do we notice about this list? Let’s make a few observations before looking at the list.
1. This list describes the more extraordinary gifts of the Spirit.
Some spiritual gifts seem ordinary, like helps. Others seem extraordinary. These are the more flashy gifts.
2. This list contains nine special gifts.
Many of these gifts go together. Word of wisdom and word of knowledge go together. Wisdom and knowledge are almost synonyms.
Tongues and the interpretation of tongues go together. If you are in a public setting, you should not have one gift without the other gift.
The gift of faith goes with the gift of healing. James 5 says that the prayer of faith will save the sick (James 5:15).
When the Apostle Paul was on one of his missionary journeys, he encountered a man who could not walk and had been that way since birth in the city of Lystra (which is in Turkey today).
We are told that when Paul saw that he had faith to be healed 10 and called out, “Stand up on your feet!” At that, the man jumped up and began to walk. (Acts 14:9-10 NIV).
The gift of faith is also related to the gift of miraculous powers. Jesus said that if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can make mountains move and nothing will be impossible for you to do (Matthew 17:20 NIV).
3. This list can be divided into different categories.
These nine gifts fall into three different categories. The standard outline of these nine gifts is as follows.
Gifts of KnowledgeThey include word of wisdom, word of knowledge, discerning of spirits. The words knowledge, wisdom and discernment are all related. They are all things you know. They all have to do with a supernatural knowledge that you cannot get on your own. Gifts of PowerThe second group is related to supernatural power in some way (faith, healing and miraculous powers).. They are not things you know but are things you do. Gifts of SpeechThese are not things you do but things you say (prophecy, tongues and the interpretation of tongues).. They involve supernatural speech or utterance. They involve not just speech, but Spirit-inspired speech. |
Word of Knowledge
What is the difference between the word of wisdom and the word of knowledge? Word of knowledge is the ability to discern someone else’s situation, thoughts or sins.
Someone knows something about you, and you have no idea how they knew it. They will say to you, “How did you know that?” No one told them. It is completely supernatural (e.g., John 4:16-18).
It may be supernatural knowledge about sickness. Many have watched a TV program and received a word of knowledge about their medical condition and been supernaturally healed.
Charles Spurgeon was preaching one time in the 1800s and suddenly stopped his sermon, looked at someone and said, “Young man, those gloves you are wearing are not yours. You stole them from your employer.”
The man came up later and confessed to stealing them. Spurgeon said this happened to him many times while he was preaching, and he was a Baptist.[1] He wasn’t a Pentecostal.
Word of Wisdom
Wisdom is a little different from knowledge. What’s the difference? Knowledge is information. Wisdom is how you apply that information practically. Wisdom is how to live in a specific situation.
A word of wisdom is when you have supernatural wisdom to give someone advice, but it is not just normal advice. It is the Spirit of God is speaking and using you to do it.
My wife used this in one of our small groups with a young college student. She had three different career paths to take. My wife told her that she felt God was leading her to take the physical therapy path. It turned out to be exactly right for her.
Discerning of Spirits
What is this gift and what is this gift not? The gift of discernment is not the gift of criticism. It is not the gift of attacking other people in ministry.
It is not just the ability to discern truth from error, although that is needed today. This gift is called the discerning of sprits to discern true spirits from false spirits.
It is the ability to discern what is going on in the spiritual realm. It is the ability to determine what spirit is at work. It is the ability to determine if you are sick due to an evil spirit or from natural causes.
We are to “test the spirits to see whether they are from God” (1 John 4:1 NIV). The person who has this gift can see what is going on in the spirit realm (Acts 5:3; 16:16).
Faith
What is the gift of faith? There is a difference between faith and the gift of faith. Every Christian has faith but not every Christian has the gift of faith.
The gift of faith is the supernatural ability to believe that God is going to act in a particular way in a given situation. People who have this gift have faith in an impossible situation.
They believe God can do the impossible. When you are around someone with this mountain-moving faith, your faith increases.
“A person with the gift of faith will not be able to believe for everything he wants on all occasions, but only for what the Spirit enables him to believe for on certain occasions.”[2]
George Muller is a good example of this, although he denied that he had the gift of faith. He worked with orphans in England in the 1800s and had incredible faith. He had all kinds of needs but never told anyone. He just asked God. There is one famous story about Muller.
“The children are dressed and ready for school. But there is no food for them to eat,” the housemother of the orphanage informed George Mueller. George asked her to take the 300 children into the dining room and have them sit at the tables. He thanked God for the food and waited.
George knew God would provide food for the children as he always did. Within minutes, a baker knocked on the door. “Mr. Mueller,” he said, “last night I could not sleep. Somehow I knew that you would need bread this morning. I got up and baked three batches for you. I will bring it in.”
Soon, there was another knock at the door. It was the milkman. His cart had broken down in front of the orphanage. The milk would spoil by the time the wheel was fixed. He asked George if he could use some free milk. George smiled as the milkman brought in ten large cans of milk. It was just enough for the 300 thirsty children.”[3]
Healing
Now, we need them doctors and medicine. God uses the medicine profession to help people and to save lives, but this is different. Any unsaved person can be doctor.
This is a gift only given to believers. It is a supernatural gift to heal sickness and disease. This healing goes beyond what the medical profession can do.
There are some people who can lay hands on you and pray for you, and sickness leaves your body. There are people who have a ministry of healing.
Many say that God heals people today. They believe in healing but not healers, but this is one of the gifts of the Spirit. God gave this ability to some people in the church.
Some have more success with some illnesses than others. That is why Paul speaks, not of “the gift of healing” but “gifts of healing” (plural).
Miracles
Those who have this gift have the ability to do miracles. The first one in the Bible to do miracles was Moses. He was the first miracle-worker. By divine power, he sent plagues on the Egyptians.
What is the difference between the gift of healing and the gift of miracles? The gift of healing involves a miracle, but it just involves the body. It involves sickness. Power over sickness is a miracle but it is not the only miracle.
Power over nature, power over demons and power over death also involve miracles. Walking on water, turning water into wine, casting out demons, raising the dead, controlling the weather are all miracles.
Many say that God still does miracles. They believe in miracles but not miracle-workers. The only problem is that this is a spiritual gift. God gave this gift to people in the church.
Prophecy
This gift is mentioned in all three of Paul’s lists (Romans, I Corinthians, Ephesians). What is prophecy?
It is speaking supernatural words from God. It is not your own thoughts or insights. It is something that God impresses on you and tells you.
Is prophecy the same thing as preaching or teaching? No. Prophesying is giving new information from God. Preaching is proclaiming what He has already given. Prophecy and teaching are two separate gifts of the Spirit.
And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. (I Corinthians 12:28 NIV)
So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers (Ephesians 4:11 NIV).
There were both prophets and teachers in the church at Antioch (Acts 13:1-2). They were different gifts. In fact, prophecy can come to someone in the middle of teaching. God can bring something to mind that is different from what a teacher has prepared to deliver.
God is still speaking today. He is not writing Scripture, but He is still speaking. Wayne Grudem gave a personal illustration of this from about thirty years ago when Dr. Grudem was living in Illinois.[4]
He and his wife got in a big argument in the car. He said he had a good marriage but they both got mad at each other and quit talking to each other.
When they got home, there was a giant bouquet of flowers on the table. He said it would probably cost $150 today. It was from Pastor John Wimber who lived in California.
He sent the flowers with a note which said, “Margaret, God wants you to know you chose the right husband, Love John.” They both laughed and realized they were arguing about something stupid.
Dr. Grudem called John and said, “Thanks for the flowers but why did you send them?” Wimber said, “He did it because God told him to do it.”
Speaking in Tongues
Contrary to what some people say today, speaking in tongue is not of the devil. It is a supernatural gift of the Spirit. Grudem defines it as “prayer or praise in syllables not understood by the speaker.”[5] We will learn more about it in I Corinthians 14.
Modern Problem
Perhaps the biggest problem in the church today regarding spiritual gifts is unbelief. Many Christians don’t know what to do with this chapter. They try to explain it away.
God did these things in Paul’s day, but He stopped doing them. He used to do these things, but He does not do them anymore.
They believe that none of these gifts exist anymore. They believe that none of them are operative in the church today.
There are no Christians who can deliver a biblical word of wisdom or word of knowledge.
There are no Christians today who have the biblical gift of tongues and none who have the gift of the interpretation of tongues today.
There are none who have the biblical gift of healing today. No one has this gift anymore.
There are no real prophets today. Once the Bible was written, prophecy was no longer needed.
There are none today with the gift of miracles. That gift no longer exists. These were “sign gifts.” They were not signs for believers but unbelievers.
They were limited to the age of the apostles. When the apostles died, all of those gifts died out. These gifts were all confined to the first century. They are first-century gifts for first century Christians. These points are all easy to refute biblically.
1) Paul does not call these sign gifts.
He does not call these sign gifts. He calls them spiritual gifts. He calls them grace-gifts (χαρίσματα).
2) Spiritual gifts were all given for believers.
They were not given to unbelievers. They were given to edify the body. That was their primary purpose.
3) The Bible does NOT say that the gifts ceased when all of the apostles died.
There is no verse that says that. There is not a single verse in the Bible that says that these gifts died out in 70 AD. Paul wrote I Corinthians around 56 AD.
There is not a hint in the text that the gifts in this chapter would be around for only twenty years. That would be preposterous.
Nowhere does the Bible say that in the end-times, these gifts will no longer be around. In fact, it says the exact opposite.
“‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. 18 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.” (Acts 2:17-18 NIV)
That is interesting. The prophet Joel did not predict that these gifts would not cease in the last days. He predicted that they would be poured out on God’s people.
4) These gifts were NOT limited to the apostles.
These gifts were not limited to the apostles, even in the first century. There were people in the Book of Acts who performed miracles who were not apostles.
Stephen was not an apostle. He was just a deacon and yet he performed, not just signs, but GREAT signs and wonders (Acts 6:8).
Philip also was not an apostle, but he also performed incredible signs like exorcisms and physical healings of the sick (Acts 8:6-7).
Ananias was not an apostle. As far as we know, he was not even a deacon. He may just have been an ordinary believer and yet, he gave sight to a blind man (Acts 9:10, 17).
The Corinthians had charismatic gifts and they were not apostles. In fact, they were not even spiritual, but they had these gifts. They had all of them. They did not lack any spiritual gift (I Corinthians 1:7).
Danger Today
There is a problem of unbelieving believers in the church today. There are whole denominations of them. They are saved. They are going to heaven, but they do not fully believe what God says.
Does this describe you? This is not a new problem. Some of the first Christians had this problem two thousand years.
It was a problem for Thomas. He was a believer. He believed in Jesus. He was one of his apostles, but he didn’t believe in the empty tomb.
When Jesus appeared to people and they told him about it, he didn’t believe them. He was an unbeliever until he saw Jesus for himself. Thomas was a believer who didn’t believe.
It was a problem for Peter. Jesus told him to walk on water. He started to do it but did not believe he could do it and he started to sink. “Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” (Matthew 14:31 NIV)
It was a problem for the other apostles. Jesus told them that He was going to die but they didn’t believe him. He told them that He was going to rise from the dead, but they didn’t believe Him.
Jesus even rebuked them for not believing. Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen (Mark 16:14 NIV).
They didn’t believe when they were performing an exorcism. A father had a son who was demon-possessed. It was his only child (Luke 9:38).
He couldn’t talk. He was an epileptic. He had seizures. He is constantly falling down to the ground. He was foaming at the mouth (Matthew 17:15; Mark 9:17-18; Luke 19:39).
He was a demon-possessed mute epileptic. He has had this problem for a long time (Mark 9:21). His dad went to the apostles for help.
He begged them to help him. They tried to help him, but it didn’t work, and they were shocked. It worked before but it didn’t work this time.
The apostles experienced failure in ministry. That was new. It had never happened before. Jesus gave them the power to drive out demons and heal the sick (Matthew 10:8). They asked Jesus Why? They said, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”
Jesus gave two reasons. In Matthew, He said, “Because you have so little faith” (Matthew 17:20 NIV). In Mark, he said, “This kind can come out only by prayer” (Mark 9:29 NIV).
One of the reasons it did not work was their lack of faith. It makes you wonder if we are sometimes unsuccessful at things because of our lack of faith. We try things and they do not work.
“Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you” (Matthew 17:20 NIV).
Are you an unbelieving believer? Do you accept everything God says? Are you open to everything that He does and wants to do in your life?
[1] Ernest W. Bacon, Spurgeon: Heir of the Puritans (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1968), 156.
[2] Matthew Bartlett, The Pentecostal Bible Commentary Series: 1 Corinthians (Kindle edition)
[3] https://www.georgemuller.org/devotional/a-famous-story-about-mullers-faith
[4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZa0q_4o1j4
[5] Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, 1411.
