First Corinthians 12 Part 3 The Godhead At Work In Christ's Church

1 Corinthians 12:1-3  Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant. 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. 

The Spirit of God directed Paul to address very real abuse and misunderstanding of gifts dispensed by the Spirit to carelous Christians.

During the birth of the church and while the apostles were alive, God used miracles to authenticate their ministry. 

Thus, in the early church we read of the apostles healing the sick, raising the dead, casting out demons, or speaking in tongues.

Just as God used signs in the Old Testament to certify that a prophet was speaking for Him, so He did in the New Testament with Christ's apostles.  

Prophets were still needed until God completed the New Testament revelation. 

Signs, wonders and miracles served their purpose as the church was birthed at Pentecost. 

Jesus' disciples did miracles while preaching the gospel.

Luke 9:1-6  Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases. 2)  And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick. 3)  And he said unto them, Take nothing for your journey, neither staves, nor scrip, neither bread, neither money; neither have two coats apiece. 4)  And whatsoever house ye enter into, there abide, and thence depart. 5)  And whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them. 6)  And they departed, and went through the towns, preaching the gospel, and healing everywhere. 

The Son of God, Jesus Christ initiated the proper use of signs and miracles. 

He empowered His twelve disciples with power to cast out demons and heal the sick as they preached the gospel.

They went out as Jesus commanded and preached the gospel throughout Israel, casting out demons and healing the sick.

In Luke 10, Jesus sent out seventy two more men to preach the gospel, cast out demons, and heal the sick. 

After they traveled to all places where Jesus sent them to preach the gospel, they returned with great joy and gave an account to Christ (See Luke 10:1-20). 

Jesus said the Holy Spirit would give His disciples power at Pentecost.

Acts 1:6-9  When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? 7)  And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. 8)  But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. 9)  And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. 

Before the Holy Ghost came at Pentecost, Jesus commanded His disciples who numbered about one hundred twenty, to wait at Jerusalem until the Spirit of God came.

At that point the Holy Spirit would give them power to preach the gospel and to verify the apostolic ministry.

God's Spirit appeared as cloven tongues of fire resting upon the heads of each person present at Pentecost.

He enabled them to speak the good news in eighteen different languages so that all the religious pilgrims in Jerusalem could hear the gospel in their normal language (See Acts 2:1-13).

Peter was filled by the Holy Spirit to preach his first sermon (See Acts 2:14-41).

The book of Acts contains a full accounting of signs done by the apostles and prophets including healing, casting out demons, raising the dead, and speaking in tongues.

Speaking in tongues was especially valuable because Christians were given the ability to preach the gospel in foreign languages that they never learned.

Diversities of gifts come from the same Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 12:4  Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. 

Notice that the full trinity of the Godhead is on display in these texts. 

Gifts are attributed to the Holy Spirit, administrations to the Lord Jesus, and operations to God the Father.

The Spirit of God is found in verse four, the Son of God in verse five and the Father in verse six.

Therefore, there are three distinct aspects recorded by Paul.

The Spirit of God administers diverse gifts within each local church. The Greek word translated "gifts" is "charisma" and it has a very specific meaning.

According to Thayer's Greek lexicon, the word gifts refers to "gifts denoting extraordinary powers, distinguishing certain Christians and enabling them to serve the church of Christ, the reception of which is due to the power of divine grace operating on their souls by the Holy Spirit." 

Romans 12:4-5  For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: 5)  So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. 

It is the same Holy Spirit blessing Christ's church with a wide array of spiritual gifts. Some gifts eventually passed away as the apostles died, but some remain active in the church today.

There is a purpose for the wide variety of gifts administered to individual Christians by the Holy Spirit.

The apostle teaches us that our gifts are to be used to help Christians mature in their faith. Our gifts are to be used for doing the work of the ministry with the purpose of edifying the body.

In writing to the Romans, Paul reminds us that the body of Christ is His church. He will teach this same truth to the Christians at Corinth.

He has already warned the Corinthians to diligently avoid sexual immorality because one man or woman's sin can impact the whole body of believers (See 1 Corinthians 6:15-20).

Christ's body is a living temple of God composed of all people in every place who have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit (See Ephesians 2:19-22). 

What we need to see here is that each Christian is one of many members in a local church. We are connected with each other by the Spirit of God who also joins us with Christ.

Paul underscores something that is a real problem at Corinth. All members of the body of Christ do not all have the same office. 

Each Christian is gifted by the Holy Spirit as He deems best for us and for the church family we belong to.

The Corinthians were fighting about who had the most important gifts and who was the best at what they did.

Their views were skewed and Paul needed to correct them. The first part of his corrective is reminding each Christian that the Spirit of God administers the gifts according to His perfect will.

Diversity of offices and functions come from the calling of Christ. 

1 Corinthians 12:5  And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.

The idea of diverse administrations has more of a focus upon an office like an apostle, prophet, teacher, deacon or elder. 

The qualifications for such offices, as well as the appointments themselves, come directly from our Lord Jesus Christ.

The qualifications from Jesus Christ for the various offices are recorded by the apostle Paul (See 1 Timothy 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-16).

Jesus called His disciples and gave them power for gospel ministry.

Matthew 4:18-22  And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. 19)  And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. 20)  And they straightway left their nets, and followed him. 21)  And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them. 22)  And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him. 

Jesus called the twelve men who became His disciples and He gave them a new vocation. 

These men were to end their career as fishermen seeking to sell their fish in the market. 

Instead, Jesus would make them go fishing for the souls of men in the vast sea of humanity. 

When Jesus called His disciples, they immediately left their old life behind and followed Christ. 

Here is the pattern Jesus established for filling the diverse administrations that Paul speaks of.

A man of God must be called by Christ into ministry, whether as a Pastor, Evangelist, Teacher or lay leader. 

The chief trait of those who are called by Christ is that they leave their old life and vocation behind, in order to follow Christ as their King Master. 

Such a life is marked by a surrender of one's will to the will of Jesus Christ, God's Son. 

Jesus empowers them for ministry as we noted in the examples of Christ sending out the twelve and the seventy two. 

Jesus gives those whom He calls a brand new commission of doing His kingdom work. 

The idea of diversity is in how Jesus empowers people to serve Him.

Some are pastors who preach the gospel of Christ and shepherd their church family by showing them how to walk in the ways of God.

Some are evangelists or missionaries who are called to take the gospel to unreached places and start Bible believing churches.

Some are teachers who seek to help other Christians understand the Word of God.

The Father is the source of all

1 Corinthians 12:6  And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. 

Jesus had much to say about His Father in the gospels. Paul also teaches us about our Father in heaven.

The Greek word translated "operations" is found in the word "energized" or "energetic." 

Our Father is the underlying power in all things. His power is omnipotent, irreversible and irresistible. 

He set His plans of eternal redemption into motion in eternity past, before He created the world, before man was ever created and before man sinned.

Ephesians 4:6-7  One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. 7)  But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. 

There is one God and Father of all. He is above all. He is through all and He is in all believers in Christ because the Spirit of God joins us to Christ who is one with the Father. 

At the individual level, each Christian is given gifts according to the grace of God the Father. 

Philippians 2:13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. 

The idea is that we work with reverential fear of God, giving Him the honor that He rightly deserves. 

Our Father works in us and through us according to the good pleasure of His perfect will. 

This is why Paul can say that all things work together for good to them that love God (See Romans 8:28).

The Father gives the ability to submit our will to Him and to do the work that He calls us to do.  

It is the grace of God which inclines our will to do that which is good in the sight of God.  The Father works in us to enable us to perform good works that He ordained for us to do (See Titus 2:12-15). 

Isaiah 26:12-13  LORD, thou wilt ordain peace for us: for thou also hast wrought all our works in us. 13)  O LORD our God, other lords beside thee have had dominion over us: but by thee only will we make mention of thy name. 

Our Father strengthens us to live by every word that proceeds from His mouth (See Matthew 4:4). 

We have peace with God the Father through repentant faith in Jesus Christ, His Son. 

When we learn to submit to the purposes and calling of God upon our lives, we also find peace, joy and great satisfaction. 

Thus, Isaiah says the Father ordains or plans such peace for us and He has prepared works for us to do for His kingdom.

As there is no strength in us, so there is no merit in us for our Father to be so loving and gracious toward His children. 

We have no power without God's grace and we have no basis to claim it. It is God's good will to us which is the cause of his good work in us.  

Ephesians 1:3-6  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 4)  According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: 5)  Having pre-destinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6)  To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. 

What we have learned is that God is sovereign and He is working all things out perfectly according to the good pleasure of His will.

The Holy Spirit is dispensing gifts to each Christian according to His will and the needs of our local churches. 

The Lord Jesus Christ is calling men and women to serve Him in various capacities. 

Men are called to preach, teach and evangelize. Men are called by Christ to shepherd each church and to lead in the church.

Women are called to support ministries like Dorcas in Acts 9:36-43. Women are uniquely gifted by God to provide ministries of compassion, care and serve others with great empathy.

Last, we learned that it is the Father working in all things, working in and through us and moving all things according to the good and perfect purposes of His will.

Is it any wonder that Paul says that this is "all to the praise of the glory of His grace wherein He hath made us accepted in the beloved (Jesus Christ)?"

May our hearts be filled with joy and praise and adoration for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Without His redeeming work on the cross, we would be headed to eternal condemnation in Hell.

Bob