Scripture Reference: 1 Corinthians 12-13
Unity: The Gift of the Spirit
Please review 1 Corinthians 12:1-13 for background to this section.
Since there was division in the Corinthian church, Paul began with an emphasis on the oneness of the church. He pointed out four wonderful bonds of spiritual unity.
We confess the same Lord (verses 1-3). Paul contrasted their experience as unconverted idolaters with their present experience as Christians. They had worshiped dead idols, but now they belonged to the living God. Their idols never spoke to them, but God spoke to them by His Spirit, and He even spoke through them in the gift of prophecy. When they were lost, they were under the control of the demons (1 Corinthians 10:20) and were “carried away.” But now the Spirit of God lived in them and directed them.
It is only through the Spirit that a person can honestly say, “Jesus is Lord.” A sneering sinner may mouth the words, but he is not giving a true confession. (Perhaps Paul was referring to things they had said when influenced by the demons prior to conversion.) It is important to note that the believer is always in control of himself when the Holy Spirit is at work (1 Corinthians 14:32) because Jesus Christ the Lord is in charge. Any so-called “Spirit manifestation” that robs a person of self-control is not of God; for “the fruit of the Spirit is . . . self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23).
If Jesus Christ truly is Lord in our lives, then there should be unity in the church. Division and dissension among God’s people only weakens their united testimony to a lost world (John 17:20-21).
We depend on the same God (verses 4-6). There is a trinitarian emphasis here: “the same Spirit . . . the same Lord . . . the same God.” We individually may have different gifts, ministries, and ways of working, but “it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13). The source of the gift is God; the sphere for administering the gift is from God; and the energy to use the gift is from God. Why, then, glorify men? Why compete with one another?
We minister to the same body (verses 7-11). The gifts are given for the good of the whole church. They are not for individual enjoyment, but for corporate employment. The Corinthians especially needed this reminder, because they were using their spiritual gifts selfishly to promote themselves and not to prosper the church. When we accept our gifts with humility, then we use them to promote harmony, and this helps the whole church.
The various gifts are named in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10 and 28, and also in Ephesians 4:11 and Romans 12:6-8. When you combine the lists, you end up with nineteen different gifts and offices. Since the listing in Romans is not identical with the listing in 1 Corinthians, we may assume that Paul was not attempting to exhaust the subject in either passage. We need to remember that God is sovereign and while the gifts named are adequate for the ministry of the church, God is not limited to these lists. He may give other gifts as He pleases.
To Be Continued
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD 
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