Tag: spiritual gifts

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1 Corinthians Devotionals

Building each other up

1 Corinthians

In this passage, we see a lot of instructions Paul gives the church, particularly concerning the use of the gifts of tongues and prophesy.

These instructions are important, but if that’s all we see, I think we’re missing something.

What is Paul’s main point?

His main point is that in the church, we should not be primarily thinking about ourselves and building ourselves up. Rather, we are to think of others and how to build them up.

Again and again, he talks about building up the church. But he’s not talking about building up the church as an organization. He’s talking about building up God’s people. For God’s people are the church.

Paul essentially says that when we go to church, if all we’re thinking about is if we’re being built up, we’re thinking like children. (1 Corinthians 14:20)

So many people come to church saying, “I want to be built up. I want to be encouraged.”

I hope you are built up and encouraged at your church. But Paul tells us that each person should bring something to build others up. (1 Corinthians 14:26)

So if you’re going to church this week, look for someone you can build up. Intentionally reach out and touch them. Encourage them. Pray for them.

And if you can only attend an online service, think of someone you can call or do a video chat with. Again, be intentional about it.

Let us be a church where we intentionally touch and build one another up.

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1 Corinthians Devotionals

What’s most important

1 Corinthians

It strikes me that as much as Paul is talking about the spiritual gifts, it is not his primary concern. He never goes into details on the gifts as he would have if the gifts themselves were his primary concern.

His concern is that the schisms in the church be taken out.

He reminds them again and again, “You are one body. You share the same Spirit, the same Lord, the same God. The gifts you have are to benefit all in the church. You need each other. You are to honor each other.

“Is one of you suffering? Their pain is your pain. Is one of you honored? Rejoice with them! They are part of you and you are part of them.

“You desire all these spiritual gifts. Great! But remember that you are one. So cast out the divisions among you.”

And that leads straight into 1 Corinthians 13.

How about you?

Do you value God’s church and the people in it as much as Paul did?

Or are you thinking like the Corinthians?

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1 Timothy Devotionals

Because we have hope

1 Timothy

In times like these, it can be easy to get tired of remaining faithful to God and living a godly life.

It is easy to let our consciences get seared (1 Timothy 4:2), and to start giving into sin.

And according to Paul, the Spirit explicitly says some will depart from the faith. (1)

But we have a hope that this world does not have. Our God is alive. And he has not only saved us from our sin, but one day, Jesus will return and make all things new. (10)

This is not just a hope. It is a certainty.

So let us not get weary of doing right. Rather, let us train ourselves in godliness (7), specifically in our speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity. (12)

And let us not neglect our gifts in these times, but instead use them to bless each other, and to touch this world that desperately needs Jesus.

We have hope! Let us live each day in that hope.

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1 Corinthians

Understanding our gifts

1 Corinthians

This is one of the harder passages to interpret. I’ve heard several interpretations on it.

I’m not sure that the one I have is the correct one and it may change in the future, but for what it’s worth, here it is.

Again, Paul is talking about the contrast between tongues and prophecy and why he prefers to see prophecy in the church rather than tongues. He first says,

Brothers, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults. (1 Corinthians 14:20)

In what way were the Corinthians like children?

They were acting like children in that spiritual gifts, particularly the gift of tongues, was like a new toy to them.

They played with it, without really thinking about what it was for or what effects it might have on others.

All they knew was that they enjoyed “playing” with it, perhaps for the spiritual benefit it gave them in their souls (verse 4), and perhaps for the fleshly benefit of showing off what they could do to unbelievers.

And Paul says, “Hey. With regard to evil, be as innocent as infants. But in the way you think about spiritual gifts and other matters, grow up. Don’t just consider yourself. Consider the unbelievers among you and how your actions affect them.”

How were the Corinthians thinking?

This is a guess, but it seems that they thought it actually had a positive effect on unbelievers, possibly because of what happened on Pentecost.

But they failed to take into account something very important. There were actually foreigners visiting on Pentecost who could understand what was being said.

In their church services, however, there were unbelievers who had no idea what was being said when the Corinthians spoke in tongues.

Because of this, they were not impressed by the Corinthians speaking in tongues; rather, they were turned off.

So Paul is saying, “You guys are all speaking in tongues during your services, and you seem to think that unbelievers will be impressed by this gift that you have and come to Christ. But think about what the scripture says.”

Through men of strange tongues and through the lips of foreigners I will speak to this people, but even then they will not listen to me. (1 Corinthians 14:21, quoting Isaiah 28:11-12)

The context is that the people of Israel were considering the words of God as babble.

And so God was saying, “Fine, you consider my words babble. I will show you what babble is. You will find yourselves exiled in a land of people whose words to you will truly be babble. And even then you won’t repent.”

Paul then applies this passage in reference to tongues and says, “Don’t you see? Tongues uninterpreted and used in front of unbelievers is indeed meant as a sign for them. (1 Corinthians 14:22)

But it’s not a sign meant to convert them, but to express judgment on them. They rejected words that they could understand, and so God makes all his words babble to them.

The result of this is not that they repent, but that they become even more hardened.”

And so Paul says,

So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and some who do not understand or some unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind? (1 Corinthians 14:23)

Even on Pentecost, you see the unbelieving Jews saying this (Acts 2:13).

Prophecy, on the other hand is a sign for those who believe. (1 Corinthians 14:22)

But if an unbeliever or someone who does not understand comes in while everybody is prophesying, he will be convinced by all that he is a sinner and will be judged by all, and the secrets of his heart will be laid bare.

So he will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, “God is really among you!” (1 Corinthians 14:24-25)

Now, full disclosure here: there is no word “would” before “believe” in verse 22. But it does seem to me that it best explains Paul’s meaning here in context.

So what do we take from this?

The Corinthians didn’t rightly understand their gifts and what they were for. As a result, Paul warned that their gifts could have the opposite effect of what they were expecting.

How about you? Do you rightly understand and use your gifts, remembering who and what they are for?

If you use them wrongly, whether it be with wrong motivations or in wrong situations, you may be shocked by the results you reap.

The most important thing, though, is to remember that our gifts are not primarily for our benefit or blessing, but to accomplish God’s purposes and to glorify him.

How are you using your gifts?

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1 Corinthians

A glimpse of what is to come

1 Corinthians

As I look at this passage, it strikes me that our spiritual gifts are a glimpse of what is to come when we reach heaven.

Paul says,

But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. (1 Corinthians 13:8-10)

The gifts that Paul mentions here are I suppose what you could call “imperfect gifts.”

There are some gifts that I get the impression we will continue to use in heaven.

I would guess that administration is one and serving is another. I would guess gifts of music would also still be around as well.

But prophecy is one gift that Paul says will pass away. Why won’t we need it in heaven? Because prophecy is essentially saying the words of God to others. But in heaven, we will all hear from God directly.

Tongues also will pass away.

One thing that tongues helps us to do is to pray completely in accordance with the will of God. But in heaven, again, we will already know what the will of God is.

Tongues in another form is used for declaring God to those of other languages. But in heaven, everyone will already know God, and not only that, will understand each other without any language barriers.

Knowledge as we have it is imperfect, especially our knowledge of God. There is so much about God we don’t know. But in heaven, we will come to know him as fully as an infinite God can be fully known.

And so all these gifts are glimpses of what we will have in heaven.

Though to some degree we can hear from God now, we will hear him clearly in heaven.

Though communication between others and God is possible now, in heaven, it will be possible to communicate perfectly.

Though we know some things about God now, in heaven, we will know him much more fully.

Put another way,

Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. (1 Corinthians 13:12)

Everything in life we see is a poor reflection of what heaven is. But when we see Jesus face to face, we will see him as he truly is, and we will see life as God truly intended for us from the very beginning.

I don’t know about you, but that gives me hope. Though this world can be miserable at times, we are merely seeing a dim reflection of the life we will have.

But things will not always be that way.

So as we look at our gifts, and not only our gifts, but all the people and the creation around us, let us remember that these things are only dim reflections of the hope that we have. The hope that,

When he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. (1 John 3:2)

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1 Corinthians

How we are to use our gifts

1 Corinthians

In summing up the truth that our spiritual gifts should unite us and not divide us, Paul goes on to show us how we are to use those gifts in one of the most famous passages in scripture.

He calls it, “the most excellent way,” probably meaning, “the most excellent way to use our gifts.” (1 Corinthians 12:31)

He says,

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging symbol.

If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. (1 Corinthians 13:1-3)

In short, we can have the most incredible gifts in the world, we can sacrifice all we have, even our very lives, but if we don’t have love for God and for others, all of that means nothing.

So many people exercise their gifts or make great sacrifices, not because of their love for God and others, but because of pride. All that they do is for the praise of man, and to be seen and recognized by them.

It is that very pride that also causes people to envy others and the gifts they have. It is that same pride that causes people to look down on others as less spiritual if they don’t have the same gifts they have.

The end result of all this is a divided church filled with hypocrites. That’s not how God intended our gifts to be used.

Our gifts are to be expressions of our love for others. Any other usage is an abuse of the gifts God has given to us.

How about you? How do you use your gifts?

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1 Corinthians

Being eager for gifts

1 Corinthians

I wonder sometimes how much more God would give us if we would only ask.

Too often we refrain from asking because we are afraid we are being selfish, or that in some way our motives are wrong.

Now don’t get me wrong. We ought to inspect our motives. But at the same time, it shouldn’t stop us from asking.

If in the midst of our asking, God convicts us that our motives aren’t right, then of course we should repent.

But one thing that we should remember is that God is a God that loves to give good gifts to his children, and so we should never be ashamed to ask.

That includes spiritual gifts. And so Paul says,

But eagerly desire the greater gifts. (1 Corinthians 12:31)

What does he mean by the greater gifts? We’ll look at it later, but it seems from chapter 14 that he’s talking about the gifts that build up the church. (1 Corinthians 14:12)

And that’s the main thing we should be thinking about as we pray for gifts.

Not how much having them will build up our reputation in the church or how much they will be for our own spiritual benefit.

But how much it will bless the people around us in the church. Spiritual gifts should have us looking outward, not inward.

The other thing that we should remember as we seek spiritual gifts is that God gives them to us as he sees fit. (1 Corinthians 12:11)

He has given us our place within the body, and he will equip us with those gifts which can help us fill that role.

He may give us more than that, but the simple truth is that he never promises to give us whatever gift we ask for. As Paul says,

Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? (1 Corinthians 12:29-30)

This of course is a rhetorical question, and the answer is of course “No.”

Still, it can’t hurt to ask for more gifts, especially as you look at what you’re doing, and you see the gifts that could help you accomplish that ministry better. So ask.

And then trust that God will give you whatever you need to accomplish the tasks that he has given you.

You may be surprised at just how often he says yes.

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1 Corinthians

How we see others in the body

1 Corinthians

I talked last time about how we see ourselves as a part of the body of Christ. But how should we see others?

Paul writes,

The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ.

For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body–whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free–and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. (1 Corinthians 12:12-13)

The key thing that Paul is saying here is that we are all one. Sure there are many parts within the body, but we are ultimately one body, and all the parts belong to each other.

He then says that we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body and we were all given one Spirit to drink.

Because of this, because it is the same Spirit that has placed us into the body, and the same Spirit that works in each one of us, how then can we look down on others?

When we see others, we should see the Spirit who is living within them. Should we then despise the Spirit and his work in them?

We saw earlier that Paul strongly states that we cannot say to another member of the body, “I don’t need you,” for we all need each other. All of us are essential to the proper working of the body. (1 Corinthians 12:21-22)

More, Paul says,

On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable. (1 Corinthians 12:22)

Recently I broke my right ring finger playing basketball. I never knew how indispensable it was. I couldn’t grip anything with it wrapped in a splint.

Typing became an absolute pain. Things I used to take for granted became difficult if not impossible with my ring finger injured.

Paul adds,

And the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor.

And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. (1 Corinthians 12:23-24)

Compare our feet with our hands for example.

I’ve heard people talk about the beauty of another’s hands, but I don’t think we ever talk about the beauty of a person’s feet.

That said, I would daresay that feet get massaged much more than hands do and we’re careful that the shoes we wear not only look good, but also make our feet comfortable.

And so Paul concludes,

But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. (1 Corinthians 12:24-25)

“Equal concern.”

Again, this goes totally against the selfish and prideful attitudes people have towards others and their gifts.

Do your gifts make you more concerned about yourself, or about others? Are your gifts making you more inward-focused or outward-focused?

When you look at Jesus and all the powers he possessed, he never used them to glorify himself. Rather, he was always outwardly focused, caring for the people around him.

Paul then adds,

If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. (1 Corinthians 12:26)

Pain is a funny thing. It tends to focus your mind on the part that hurts. Every other part of your body may feel fine, but when you break your finger like I did, you don’t think, “Oh, I’m 99% healthy.”

You think, “Ouch!”

And that’s how we should see others. When we see our brothers and sisters in pain, we shouldn’t just ignore them. We need to reach out to them and minister to them.

For as Paul said,

Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. (1 Corinthians 12:27)

So let us never look down on others within the body. God doesn’t. Neither should we.

Instead we should see them as God does, as people honored and valuable in his sight.

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1 Corinthians

For God’s purposes, for God’s glory

1 Corinthians

As I think about the problems of pride and jealousy within the church because of spiritual gifts, I think a lot of it comes down to the fact that we forget our lives, as Rick Warren once put it, is not about us.

We were not created to live for our own purposes and our own glory. Rather we were created for God’s purposes and God’s glory.

We see this in verses 4-6. We all have different gifts, but it’s not as if those gifts were something we created within ourselves. Rather, they were gifts given from God himself.

And as Paul said in chapter 4,

For who makes you different from anyone else? (God).

What do you have that you did not receive? (Nothing).

And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not? (For no good reason). (1 Corinthians 4:7)

Yet so often, we act as if we are God’s gift to man. In a sense, I suppose we are. We are to be a blessing to those around us.

But that is not for our glory and for our benefit. It’s for God’s glory and for the benefit of those around us.

Like I mentioned in the last blog, the gifts we have been given are to be used for the common good. (1 Corinthians 12:7)

Paul goes on to say,

All these (gifts) are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines. (1 Corinthians 12:11)

Again, we see that these gifts are not only from the Spirit, but it is he who decides, for his own purposes, who to give them to.

Paul then adds,

But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. (1 Corinthians 12:18)

Here again we see that it is for God’s purposes that we are given our place in the body.

Because of this, there’s no room for pride. It is for God’s purposes that you have been placed where you are and given the gifts you have received, not your own.

And there’s no need for jealousy. God has specially placed you in where you are for his own good reasons.

It’s not that he said, “Well, I kind of messed up when I made you. I can’t use you for much, so I guess I’ll just stick you here.”

Rather God, when he created you, looked at you and said, “I have a special purpose for you. I need someone to fill in this position for my body, and I specially designed you to fill that need.”

How about you? Do you see your gifts as something that should bring you glory and fulfill your purposes?

Or do you see them as something that should bring God glory and fulfill his purposes.

A self-centered attitude concerning your gifts will lead to jealousy and pride. What kind of attitude do you have?

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1 Corinthians

Gifts given to unite, not divide

1 Corinthians

As I read this passage, I can’t help but think that Paul still had in the back of his mind the problems of division within the Corinthian church.

He had already dealt with it twice in this letter, and though he doesn’t specifically criticize the Corinthians for being divided about spiritual gifts, I think he saw a very real danger of that problem seeping into the church.

I can hardly question his judgment because we see that kind of division today.

So from the very beginning, he makes clear that our gifts should not be used to divide the church but unite it.

He says,

There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.

There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. (1 Corinthians 12:4-6)

I don’t think I’ve ever noticed this before, but we see the Trinity in the gifts of the Spirit very clearly here.

Different gifts, same (Holy) Spirit.

Different kinds of service, same Lord (Jesus).

Different kinds of working, same God (the Father).

And I think Paul’s point was that just as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have different functions and yet remain the one God, so our gifts may be different, but we should remain one as a church in heart and mind.

He makes this crystal clear in the very next verse, saying,

Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. (1 Corinthians 12:7)

Notice here that the gifts are not given to us for our own personal benefit, as most gifts are. Rather, each gift was given to us to benefit the people around us, especially our brothers and sisters in Christ.

And so once again, there should be no selfishness in our thinking when we consider the gifts of the Spirit. Rather, we should always be thinking, “How can I use these gifts God has given me to benefit others?”

What does this mean for us practically? There’s no room for pride or jealousy when it comes to spiritual gifts.

Paul says on one hand,

If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body.

And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. (1 Corinthians 12:15-16)

Yet some people in their jealousy for others’ gifts act this way.

They get bitter because they don’t like the gifts that God has given them. Or they see others that seem to have the same gift they do but in greater proportion.

As a result, it drives a wedge between them and God and between them and that other person.

Paul then points out the opposite problem,

The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” (1 Corinthians 12:21)

In this case, people look down on others with “lesser” spiritual gifts or gifting and basically brush them off as being unnecessary or unimportant.

Both attitudes are wrong, and both attitudes bring division in the church. And ironically, it all comes about because of gifts that were meant to unite us.

This is getting long, so I’ll continue this discussion in the next few blogs, but for now, ask yourself, “What is my attitude toward others? Are my attitudes concerning my gifts and the gifts of others causing unity in my church, or division?”

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1 Corinthians

Discerning the spirits

1 Corinthians

If there is one thing that you can count on Satan to do, it’s that he will counterfeit the good things God has created.

In place of a loving marriage, for example, he will promote sexual promiscuity. In place of a lasting joy that fulfills, he will substitute temporary pleasures that ultimately leave you empty.

The same is true with spiritual gifts. Satan counterfeits the very things the Spirit of God does in the lives of believers.

Within the cults and occult, for example, you will see counterfeit tongues, healing, miracles, and other things.

And so Paul was very concerned that the Corinthians be able to discern the real from the counterfeit. He wrote,

Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant.

You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. (1 Corinthians 12:1-2)

How the Corinthians were influenced and led astray is not clear, but in all probability, it was through the counterfeit spiritual experiences Satan gave them.

So Paul gives them a very basic test to discern what was coming from God and what was not. He said,

Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:3)

One test that we see is that no one can curse Jesus and be led by the Spirit. It is impossible.

Every once in a while, we’ll see that extreme and those are easy to detect. But Paul goes on to say that no one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.

So many people in the cults, occult, and other religions will say wonderful things about Jesus. “He was a very good man.” “He was a great religious teacher.” “He was a prophet.”

But one thing they will not admit is that he is Lord of all. That he is indeed the one true God in human flesh.

A word of caution, however. Just because someone says, “Jesus is Lord,” doesn’t necessarily mean their words come from the Holy Spirit.

I said before Satan throws out many counterfeits. Did you know he also has a counterfeit Jesus? Paul talks in 2 Corinthians 11:4 about “another Jesus.”

The Jesus of the Mormons is one of many gods and is the spirit-brother of Satan. The Jesus of the Jehovah’s Witnesses is the archangel Michael.

So whenever people say, “Jesus is Lord,” we also have to ask the question, “Which Jesus?” The real or the counterfeit?

And the only way you can tell the difference is by comparing the Jesus they preach with the Jesus of the Bible.

The key thing then, when discussing spiritual gifts and spiritual experiences is to discern where these things are coming from.

Are they coming from God? If they are, they will be completely consistent with what the Bible says.

That starts with acknowledging who Jesus is. That Jesus is the one true God come to this earth in the flesh, and that he is Lord of all.

So let us not just believe that every spiritual thing we see and experience is from God. Instead, let us test all things, holding fast to what is good. (1 Thessalonians 5:21)