1 Corinthians Week 27

Day 1 

READ 

1 Corinthians 12:4-6 

⁴ There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. ⁵ There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. ⁶ God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us. 

Notice the mention of the three persons of the one Godhead in this verse—the Spirit, Lord, and God. Although there are various kinds of gifts, it is the same God distributing them. Those gifts are given to people who will use them to help the body of Christ and honor God.  

REFLECT 

Consider that the various gifts have the same source. They are intended to be different ways of serving and honoring the Lord by helping fellow believers. 

RESPOND  

With a friend read other portions of Scripture that talk about spiritual gifts. Together read Romans 12:6-8; Ephesians 4:7-13 and 1 Peter 4:10-11. These passages will give you more understanding about spiritual gifts and gifted people.  

Day 2 

READ 

1 Corinthians 12:7 

⁷ A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. 

This verse needs extra consideration. There are many believers in Jesus who do not think they have been gifted to do anything. Yet, this verse says a spiritual gift “is given to each of us.” No believer is excluded in this statement. Notice also why the gift is given: “so we can help each other.” The gift is not for you to use for your glory but to use to help others in the body of Christ. 

REFLECT 

As a believer, think about what spiritual gift you have been given. How are you using it to help others? 

RESPOND 

Visit with a Christian friend and discuss what spiritual gift each of you think you have. Sometimes it is discovered by helping spiritually with whatever you can. Then you may find one thing you do is especially helpful to fellow Christians. That may be your gift.  

Day 3 

READ 

1 Corinthians 12:8-9 

⁸ To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. ⁹ The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. 

The emphasis in this passage is that the various gifts come from the same Holy Spirit. Although the gifts have to do with “wise advice”; “special knowledge”; and “the gift of healing”; they are each given to a believer by the same Spirit. It seems the Corinthians were divided about which gift was the best and Paul was reminding them that all spiritual gifts came from the same Spirit. 

REFLECT 

Are you sensitive to the fact that whatever spiritual gift you have it has been given by the Holy Spirit? This means He should get the praise for what you are enabled to do. 

RESPOND 

Spend time with a friend thanking God for the ministry He has given each of you. Pray for the friends you have been able to encourage spiritually.  

Day 4 

READ 

1 Corinthians 12:10-11 

¹⁰ He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. ¹¹ It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have. 

Paul lists more gifts the Holy Spirit gives. One must remember that Paul was writing this about A.D. 55 before the Scriptures were completed as they are today. “Prophecy” in that day included both “forth telling” and “foretelling.” That is, it had to do with giving out God’s message before the Scriptures were completed. Sometimes it included future predictions. The “unknown languages” were languages not known to the speaker but were known at that time in the world.  

REFLECT 

If you have questions about some of these gifts, you should visit with your pastor.  

RESPOND 

The book of Jude has only one chapter. See verse 3 about Jude’s statement that he was writing about the faith God had given His people “once and for all time.”  This indicates that nothing needs to be added to the Scriptures that are available today.  

Day 5 

READ 

1 Corinthians 12:12-13 

¹² The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. ¹³ Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit. 

This is an important verse explaining what “baptism” refers to. It is mentioned other times in the Scriptures, but this passage reveals it has to do with being placed into the body of Christ at the time one believes in Jesus as Savior. Regardless of one’s nationality or ethnic group, all are placed into the same body of Christ known as the universal Church.  

REFLECT 

Thank the Lord that others from different backgrounds are in the same body of Christ you are if they have believed in Him as Savior. The universal Church includes believers from all over the world. A local church is what you hopefully are part of with fellow believers. 

RESPOND 

The basic meaning of baptism has to do with identification. See 1 Corinthians 10:2 to see the Israelites were “baptized” as followers of Moses. They did not get any water on them; they were identified with him. After trusting in Jesus as Savior, believers are baptized to show their identification with Him and His followers.