1 Corinthians 12
12
Varieties of Spiritual Gifts
1 Now concerning spiritual gifts,#Or “spiritual things”; possibly “those who possess spiritual gifts” brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant. 2You know that when you were pagans, you were led astray to the speechless idols, however you were led. 3Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is accursed,” and no one is able to say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit.
4Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit, 5and there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord, 6and there are varieties of activities, but the same God, who works all things in all people. 7But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for what is beneficial to all. 8For to one is given a word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another a word of knowledge by the same Spirit, 9to another faith by the same Spirit, to another#Some manuscripts have “and to another” gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10to another#Some manuscripts have “and to another” miraculous powers#Literally “activities of power”, to another#Some manuscripts have “and to another” prophecy, to another#Some manuscripts have “and to another” distinguishing of spirits, to another kinds of tongues, to another#Some manuscripts have “and to another” interpretation of tongues. 11But in all these things one and the same Spirit is at work, distributing to each one individually just as he wishes.
Unity in the Midst of Diversity
12For just as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of the body, although they#*Here “although” is supplied as a component of the participle (“are”) which is understood as concessive are many, are one body, thus also Christ. 13For by#Or “in” one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free persons, and all were made to drink one Spirit. 14For the body is not one member, but many. 15If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,” not because of this is it not a part of the body. 16And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body, not because of this is it not a part of the body. 17If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? 18But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body just as he wanted. 19And if they all were one member, where would the body be? 20But now there are many members, but one body.
21Now the eye is not able to say to the hand, “I do not have need of you,” or again, the head to the feet, “I do not have need of you.” 22But by much more the members of the body which are thought to be weaker are necessary, 23and the parts of the body which we think to be less honorable, these we clothe with more abundant honor, and our unpresentable parts come to have more abundant presentability, 24but our presentable parts do not have need of this. Yet God composed the body by giving more abundant honor to the part which lacked it, 25in order that there not be a division in the body, but the members would have the same concern for one another. 26And if one member suffers, all the members suffer together; if a member#Some manuscripts have “one member” is honored, all the members rejoice with it.
27Now you are the body of Christ, and members of it individually#Literally “by part”, 28and whom God has appointed in the church: first, apostles, second, prophets, third, teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helps, administrations, kinds of tongues. 29Not all are apostles, are they?#*The negative construction in Greek anticipates a negative answer here Not all are prophets, are they?#*The negative construction in Greek anticipates a negative answer here Not all are teachers, are they?#*The negative construction in Greek anticipates a negative answer here Not all are workers of miracles, are they?#*The negative construction in Greek anticipates a negative answer here 30Not all have gifts of healing, do they?#*The negative construction in Greek anticipates a negative answer here Not all speak with tongues, do they?#*The negative construction in Greek anticipates a negative answer here Not all interpret, do they?#*The negative construction in Greek anticipates a negative answer here 31But strive#Or “you are striving” (some understand the form of this verb to be indicative mood rather than imperative mood) for the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.
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1 Corinthians 12
12
Spiritual Gifts
1-3What I want to talk about now is the various ways God’s Spirit gets worked into our lives. This is complex and often misunderstood, but I want you to be informed and knowledgeable. Remember how you were when you didn’t know God, led from one phony god to another, never knowing what you were doing, just doing it because everybody else did it? It’s different in this life. God wants us to use our intelligence, to seek to understand as well as we can. For instance, by using your heads, you know perfectly well that the Spirit of God would never prompt anyone to say “Jesus be damned!” Nor would anyone be inclined to say “Jesus is Master!” without the insight of the Holy Spirit.
4-11God’s various gifts are handed out everywhere; but they all originate in God’s Spirit. God’s various ministries are carried out everywhere; but they all originate in God’s Spirit. God’s various expressions of power are in action everywhere; but God himself is behind it all. Each person is given something to do that shows who God is: Everyone gets in on it, everyone benefits. All kinds of things are handed out by the Spirit, and to all kinds of people! The variety is wonderful:
wise counsel
clear understanding
simple trust
healing the sick
miraculous acts
proclamation
distinguishing between spirits
tongues
interpretation of tongues.
All these gifts have a common origin, but are handed out one by one by the one Spirit of God. He decides who gets what, and when.
12-13You can easily enough see how this kind of thing works by looking no further than your own body. Your body has many parts—limbs, organs, cells—but no matter how many parts you can name, you’re still one body. It’s exactly the same with Christ. By means of his one Spirit, we all said good-bye to our partial and piecemeal lives. We each used to independently call our own shots, but then we entered into a large and integrated life in which he has the final say in everything. (This is what we proclaimed in word and action when we were baptized.) Each of us is now a part of his resurrection body, refreshed and sustained at one fountain—his Spirit—where we all come to drink. The old labels we once used to identify ourselves—labels like Jew or Greek, slave or free—are no longer useful. We need something larger, more comprehensive.
14-18I want you to think about how all this makes you more significant, not less. A body isn’t just a single part blown up into something huge. It’s all the different-but-similar parts arranged and functioning together. If Foot said, “I’m not elegant like Hand, embellished with rings; I guess I don’t belong to this body,” would that make it so? If Ear said, “I’m not beautiful like Eye, transparent and expressive; I don’t deserve a place on the head,” would you want to remove it from the body? If the body was all eye, how could it hear? If all ear, how could it smell? As it is, we see that God has carefully placed each part of the body right where he wanted it.
19-24But I also want you to think about how this keeps your significance from getting blown up into self-importance. For no matter how significant you are, it is only because of what you are a part of. An enormous eye or a gigantic hand wouldn’t be a body, but a monster. What we have is one body with many parts, each its proper size and in its proper place. No part is important on its own. Can you imagine Eye telling Hand, “Get lost; I don’t need you”? Or, Head telling Foot, “You’re fired; your job has been phased out”? As a matter of fact, in practice it works the other way—the “lower” the part, the more basic, and therefore necessary. You can live without an eye, for instance, but not without a stomach. When it’s a part of your own body you are concerned with, it makes no difference whether the part is visible or clothed, higher or lower. You give it dignity and honor just as it is, without comparisons. If anything, you have more concern for the lower parts than the higher. If you had to choose, wouldn’t you prefer good digestion to full-bodied hair?
25-26The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don’t, the parts we see and the parts we don’t. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance.
27-31You are Christ’s body—that’s who you are! You must never forget this. Only as you accept your part of that body does your “part” mean anything. You’re familiar with some of the parts that God has formed in his church, which is his “body”:
apostles
prophets
teachers
miracle workers
healers
helpers
organizers
those who pray in tongues.
But it’s obvious by now, isn’t it, that Christ’s church is a complete Body and not a gigantic, unidimensional Part? It’s not all Apostle, not all Prophet, not all Miracle Worker, not all Healer, not all Prayer in Tongues, not all Interpreter of Tongues. And yet some of you keep competing for so-called “important” parts.
But now I want to lay out a far better way for you.
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.