start from 12:27; see 12:12, 14, 18, 20; Rom.12:5.
- Appreciate the gifts rightly.
- 12:28. Eight kinds of gifted people are listed. This is like verses 8-10, but there is a hierarchy of value or of profitability.
- Apostles are first. See John 19:35; 1 Cor.9:1; Acts 1:21-26. Without a knowledge of apostolic truth, there is no church.
- Prophets. These spoke directly from God – Acts 11:27-28; 13:1; 21:8-9.
- Teachers. Pastor-teachers teach what the apostles taught.
- Miracles. He means ‘workers of miracles’ as the NIV has it.
- Gifts of healings. B. B. Warfield said that they confirmed the authority of the apostles but here they are in a separate category.
- Helping. Calvin and Charles Hodge say this refers to the deacons. Chrysostom says it is about those who support the weak.
- Administrating. Calvin and Hodge say this refers to the elders. It comes from a word which refers to piloting a boat.
- Various kinds of tongues. Chrysostom says this is the ‘last rank’.
- No one has all the gifts.
- 12:29-30. All seven questions demand a ‘No’ answer. Verses 12-13 tell us all are baptized in the Spirit, but not all speak in tongues.
- Seek the higher gifts in a loving way.
- 12:31.
- Get the gifts right. Put first things first, and seek to understand and to practise what is best for the kingdom. We can grow in our gifts – 1 Tim.4:15; 2 Pet.3:18. Love is not a gift but a fruit of the Spirit – Gal.5:22. Evaluate rightly and implement lovingly.