Getting the Gifts Right (1 Corinthians 12:27-31)

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start from 12:27; see 12:12, 14, 18, 20; Rom.12:5.

  1. 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.
      1. 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.
      2. Prophets. These spoke directly from God – Acts 11:27-28; 13:1; 21:8-9.
      3. Teachers. Pastor-teachers teach what the apostles taught.
      4. Miracles. He means ‘workers of miracles’ as the NIV has it.
      5. Gifts of healings. B. B. Warfield said that they confirmed the authority of the apostles but here they are in a separate category.
      6. Helping. Calvin and Charles Hodge say this refers to the deacons. Chrysostom says it is about those who support the weak.
      7. Administrating. Calvin and Hodge say this refers to the elders. It comes from a word which refers to piloting a boat.
      8. Various kinds of tongues. Chrysostom says this is the ‘last rank’.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.