1 Corinthians 12:8-11

"For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills."

The Spirit has complete liberty to grant whatever gifts He chooses to grant. If you know my belief concerning miraculous sign gifts—that they have stopped and are not for today—you might think my last statement to be contradictory. But I don’t feel in conflict with myself on this matter. I have an understanding from scripture that I believe is accurate and universal. However, God is not confined by my understanding of Him or by how He typically does things. He can do whatever He wants whenever He wants.

So what kind of gifts does He grant (or has he granted in the past)? I have not studied these phrases in depth. Therefore, the following definitions are in no way authoritative but are my thoughts on what these gifts might look like.

Utterance of wisdom / knowledge - these are two different gifts, but both have to do with the ability to communicate something true. God has gifted some believers with an amazing ability to communicate truth in an interesting and understandable manner.

Faith - all believers have been given the gift of saving faith. But some believers have been given a special measure of faith. For us, this gift seems to be coming through the experiences that God has been allowing to come into our lives.

Gifts of healing - the text does not specify whether the gift is the ability to heal someone or if it is the gift of personal healing from some kind of illness. Both might have been in view at the time of the book’s writing. However, I don’t believe God uses healers anymore, but I do believe that God miraculously heals people. Why else would we pray for sick people?

Working of miracles - I believe that God still does miracles and that He can use an individual as a vessel through which that miracle flows. However, I don’t believe that God is currently gifting people to work the supernatural. And yet, our lives as Christians ought to be filled with things that unbelievers can’t explain.

Prophecy - a much broader term than we think of it today. It goes beyond foretelling the future and focuses primarily on the message of truth from God for those in need. Frequently, prophecy was a call to turn from sin. In the Old Testament, it was said that people would prophecy on musical instruments. Both men and women should be declaring God’s truth in church today.

Ability to distinguish between spirits - some people trust everyone. They haven’t met someone who isn’t a great guy (until they stab them in the back later). But others are more discerning. I have met some people that seem to be able to accurately describe a person after talking with them for five minutes. My pastor seems to be this way. Early in our relationship, he kept on saying, “Joshua you are like this (and he would describe some personality trait of mine), and therefore you will need to do this.” I would think, “Yes, that’s right, but how do you know that?” Perhaps it is a special ability given to him by the Spirit.

Various kinds of tongues / interpretation of tongues - these gifts are dealt with in greater detail later. I will address them then.

1 Corinthians 3:18-23

"Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,” and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.” So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's."

This paragraph seems to serve as a wrap up for the first three chapters of the book. We remember that there are those who think that they are wise and choose to reject that which they esteeme to be the foolishness of God and of His gospel. The people who reject the all-wise God, calling him foolish, have been deceived and are deceiving themselves.

The way for the wise of this world to know true wisdom is for them to become foolish. That is not to say that they become stupid and ignorant. Those qualities are never esteemed as virtues in the scripture. Instead, they need to realize that what they have falsely labeled as foolishness (i.e. the gospel) is really wisdom and what they had falsely labeled as wisdom (i.e. their own wisdom) is really foolishness. They should accept the wisdom that they had previously rejected. If the wise of this world fail to accept God's wisdom, they are foolish and worthless. The only way to true wisdom is to admit that your own wisdom is foolishness. You must reject your own way and accept the gospel.

But those who are already Christians must not forget the major application to them in these verses. You Christians (who have rejected your own wisdom) continue to understand your own wisdom's futility and do not revert to your worthless human wisdom in your human relationships. Do not behave in a merely human way in your human relationships.

Do not elevate one Christian over another. There are no super-Christians who are worthy of your devotion. We all have rejected our own wisdom and have come to Christ. And we all belong to Christ. Every believer is "Christ's, and Christ is God's." This is both humiliating and exalting. It is humiliating because you cannot extol yourself over others, but it is exalting because you belong to God, the one who is over all.

1 Corinthians 2:15-16

"The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. 'For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?' But we have the mind of Christ."

The believer has the Spirit, and this enables him to descern spiritual truths that are incomprehensable to unbelievers. Unbelievers can not understand spiritual truths in general nor can they understand spiritual truths as they are fleshed out in individual believers' lives.

Sometimes unbelievers attempt to understand why believers do things. But if a believer's actions are motivated by spiritual reasons, an unbeliever will not be able to understand the motives of the believer. He will not understand because the motives are spiritual. The believer is following the will or mind of the Lord. And no one can understand the mind of the Lord unless he has the Spirit.

If we are believers, then we have Christ's mind. That statement seems extreme to me. But it is so. If misunderstood or misapplied, these it could potentially foster pride in a believers heart. It does not mean that we know all that God knows or that we always act like Christ. Nor does this mean that believers are better or smarter than unbelievers. But when motivated by the Sprit, we have Christ's mind.

Sometimes I do not act this way, but I should. I can have the mind of Christ. And having the mind of Christ, I should act with reason-defying obedience to Him.

1 Corinthians 2:14

"The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned."

The unbeliever rejects the truth of God because he cannot understand it. He simply is not able to wrap his mind around spiritual truth because he lacks the spiritual discernment that comes with believing. I think about the different theological arguments for the existence of God, and I think about all the work that apologists do to try to convince people of the truth of spiritual things. These arguments are often helpful and reasonable, and they serve their place. But they will not enlighten the unbeliever. Only the Spirit can do that. I suppose that the Spirit can use the arguments, but it is the Spirit that does the work.

1 Corinthians 2:13

"And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual."

Spiritual truths cannot be conveyed with human wisdom. Not even a person who understands the spiritual truths can convince someone of them using human wisdom. When we share spiritual truths. only those who are taught by the Spirit will be able to understand.

If I want someone to understand a spiritual truth, I cannot rely on my own intellect or powers of persuasion. I need to pray that the Spirit opens their eyes to the truth of God's word. To rely on my own wisdom (or even wisdom gleaned from leadership seminars) is futile.

1 Corinthians 2:11-12

"For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God."

People frequently try to judge other people's motives. Some times they might get it right, but they can never be truly certain because they cannot see inside that person's mind and discern what they are thinking. Psychologists try really hard to do this. And some people behave in a way that psychologists have a pretty good guess as to what the person is thinking. But sometimes things are more complex than they psychologist realizes, and he gets it wrong.

If it is true that one person cannot know another person's thoughts and motivations, how much more is it true that we cannot know God's thoughts. Compared to God, our minds are very simple and formulaic. God is infiate, and His ways are completely beyond our comprehension. How could a person ever expect to understand things of God? Can he understand God through the Bible? Well yes, the Bible is necessary, but the Bible is not enough to understand the things of God. We need God's Spirit to enlighten us. This is the only way that we can comprehend spiritual things. The Spirit gives us understanding.

Those who do have not received God's Spirit, i.e. those who have not trusted Christ as their savior, do not understand spiritual things. They understand the things of the world because they have the spirit of the world. But they do not understand God or His ways. It's true that not even Christians can understand God fully, but we can understand what He reveals about Himself. Unbelievers cannot even do that.

Contrawise, Christians do not understand the world, because they don't have the spirit of the world. When I was at Bob Jones University, I remember thinking, of many of my classmates, that they were out of touch with the world. I went to public school and had had much contact with unbelievers. But many of my classmates had grown up in church and in Christian schools and had little to no understanding of the world. But these verses seem to indicate that I was no expert myself, and that is o.k. I cannot understand the world, and I do not have to. I understand something far better.

1 Corinthians 2:8-10

“None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written, ‘What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him’—these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.”

God has done something unimaginable for us. He sent His Son to be crucified. The Lord of glory was brought to shame and was cursed for our sake. But people rejected Him and humiliated Him. Even now there are those who reject him. They will not believe; they cannot believe.

But the Spirit has revealed (to believers) the truth of what Christ accomplished for us, and now we love God because of what we know about Him and because of what we know that He has done. How could you do anything else?

1 Corinthians 2:6-8

“Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”

All this talk about the man’s wisdom not being how a person comes to understand the gospel and setting aside the use of wise speech in proclaiming the gospel might lead one to think that God does not value wisdom. But this is certainly not so. God just doesn’t value the kind of wisdom that the world values. The world’s wisdom is flawed, but God’s wisdom is perfect and complete--glorious. God’s wisdom is superior to the world's wisdom.

But God’s wisdom cannot be known by just anyone. It is a secret wisdom. It is not a secret wisdom in the gnostic sense, where there is a group of people who know something but are keeping it from everyone else somehow. Christians are not hiding the wisdom of God from the world. The world is simply unable to understand God’s wisdom. Therefore, they reject it as folly.

1 Corinthians 2:1-5

“And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”

There are times that God chooses to select gifted people to accomplish wonderful things for Him. But we need to realize that God does not ever need man’s talents to work in people’s hearts. And even the gifted man should not rely on his giftedness to accomplish God’s work.

Paul was very gifted. He was well advanced religiously, privileged socially, and accomplished academically. But when he sets off to proclaim the gospel, he doesn’t rely on any of his own abilities or privileges. He proclaimed the truth of what Jesus Christ accomplished, and he proclaimed it knowing his own weakness.

I should never seek to convince people with my own abilities. I must always rely on the Spirit’s working in the lives of people. The simple proclamation of the gospel is an opportunity for God to display his power, and true salvation comes from the work of the Spirit. The kind of faith that rests in the wisdom of men does not have the power of God behind it.

1 Corinthians 1:29-31

“So that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.’”

God often chooses someone who is average or below average and accomplishes extraordinary things through him. God does this to display His marvelous power and to keep the person from boasting. If the person knows that he is insignificant, when God accomplishes amazing things through him, he is not as prone to claim the credit for himself. But when someone is well above average, he might find it easier to take the credit for the wonderful things that God does through him. Therefore, God usually chooses the lesser man (by worldly standards) to display His power and wisdom.

This fact should keep both the regular and the gifted person from boasting. It should lead me to glory in what Christ can do. I get to play a part in it, but I am not responsible for it. And if God chooses to use me, it is not because I am worthy. It is God’s work and God’s power, and He can display His wonders in whomever He chooses. I must boast in Him.

1 Corinthians 1:26-28

“For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are,”

Of those trusting Christ, few meet the world’s standards for wisdom, few are in positions of power and influence, few are wealthy, and few are highly esteemed in the world’s eyes. The world often makes the mistake of assuming then that Christianity is in itself week and powerless and that becoming a Christian shows that you are stupid or emotionally needy.

Christians, on the other hand, make the mistake of putting other Christians who are worldly wise or influential in positions of special honor simply because the world respects them. We become respecters of persons, just like the world. But God has chosen that which is foolish, low, and weak to show is wisdom, power and glory.

This does not mean that we should strive for foolishness, weakness, or poverty. God's word directs us towards rather different goals. But it does mean that we need to recognize the superiority of God over all that the world has to offer. He delights in using those whom world places little value on to show that the world system has no value. The lowly believer can be wiser than the most brilliant of unbelieving scholars. And the commoner who is trusting Christ has greater authority than the most influential of world leaders.

1 Corinthians 1:24-25

“But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”

No matter who you are, what your background, or what you emphasis in life, if you are a believer, Christ is the axis upon which you life spins. The believer knows that Christ is the center, because the believer knows who Christ is. Christ is all powerful and all wise God. The wisdom and power of Christ is so far beyond our own that our meager attempts at wisdom and strength are utterly impotent in spiritual matters. They cannot bring us to God. God must come to us, and He has, and He does.

And though even unbelievers can manifest the virtues of wisdom or strength, all of us have limits, and we often fall short of even our own expectations. Sometimes wise people do foolish things, and sometimes very strong people are just worn out. It is disappointing to see people in these sad states. I remember being so surprised when I once saw someone who had always seemed very strong to me several days after he came out of major surgery. He was so weak. But we will never see God like that. God is never weak or foolish; He is always wise and strong.

If there was something that could be likened unto foolishness or weakness with God (when compared to what seem to be wiser and stronger acts), this so-called foolishness or weakness would still be infinitely wiser and stronger than anything that man could potentially muster up even when man is at his best. But, in reality, if we ever perceive God to be weak or foolish, our assessment is erroneous. He is never that way.

1 Corinthians 1:20-23

“Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,”

Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of those desires that we sinfully try to find fulfillment for in the things around us. These verses focus on two groups of people. One group is preoccupied by the desire for wisdom and the other is interested in displays of power. Christ is both all-powerful and all-wise, but they miss this truth because of pride and unbelief.

In earthly systems, you get ahead by being the best. If you work hard enough and long enough and make enough sacrifices, you will most likely succeed. So you might think that if you study hard enough or do enough research, you will be able to understand the world around you and maybe even the Creator of it. But this is not so. Even the most devoted of those who pursue this knowledge never come to the knowledge of God with their own wisdom. We come to know Him through the proclamation of His word. The worldly wise reject this, but in doing so they have rejected ultimate wisdom, mistaking it for folly.

1 Corinthians 1:19

“For it is written, ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.’”

God, the destroyer of wisdom--this does not seem right. God is an all wise God, and His word inseparably links wisdom with a healthy relationship with God. We are told to get wisdom because it is valuable and precious. So why would God destroy wisdom? The wisdom that He destroys is a fake wisdom. The “wisdom of the wise” is flawed. The false wisdom of the world has rejected God and thus is not wisdom at all. It is foolishness. And foolishness works against true wisdom. God will thwart the lofty but futile efforts of man to elevate himself above God in an attempt to prove himself to be wise. These foolish actions need to be combated, and God will do this.

James 3:13

"Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom."

What does "the meekness of wisdom" mean? Certainly, the text indicates that if one is wise then he will have the character quality of meekness reflected in his works. And verse seventeen explains that wisdom is "first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere." These words could also be used to describe someone who is meek. So perhaps the point is just that being meek is an integral part of being wise. Negatively, this implies that pride is foolish. That's certainly true.

James 1:5-8

After telling us how trials make us complete, we are told that if we lack wisdom we should ask for it in faith, without doubting. We must believe that God can do it, but I think the emphasis of this statement contextually is that we must want God to do it. We cannot falter in our desire for wisdom. Wisdom will come through trials. If you aren't willing to face the trials, then you don't really want the wisdom. You say, I want one, but without the other. That's double-mindedness and it shows a lack of faith. If you want one but aren't willing to go through the other, then you don't really want the one, and God's not going to give it to you.

James 1:5-8

"If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways."

It takes a certain amount of wisdom to recognize that you don't have enough, but having made such a realization, there is an appropriate course of action. Ask for it. God will give it and not in meager proportions. He will give wisdom with generosity. But there is a requirement beyond just making a request. It's not an additional requirement but a clarification as to how we are to make the request. We are to ask in faith without doubting. Why? Because the doubter is unstable. An unstable person will not receive anything from God.

But why would God withhold wisdom or any other thing from someone simply because they were unstable or double-minded? I need to meditate on that question.