The Truth comes to Corinth

Paul List nine (9) separate Gifts given by the God the Holy Spirit to Believers Part 2

1 Corinthians 12:10 “To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy” KJV

Paul continues in his broadcasting of some of the gifts or charisma given to believers by God the Holy Spirit as he comes now to the fifth of the nine (9) and that is the gift of “working of miracles” and this English word “working” is the same Greek word we discovered in our study two (2) studies ago used in verse 6 for “operations” and that Greek word is energema which means the effect or activities or the thing wrought by the gift. Now the second English word “miracles” Paul uses which is the primary description of the gift is translated by the Greek word dunamis which means force; miraculous power and by implication a miracle itself; a worker of miracles; strength, power, ability inherent power, power residing in a thing by virtue of its nature, or which a person or thing exerts and puts forth power for performing miracles; moral power and excellence of soul. This gift given to a believer enables that person to be a vessel for God the Holy Spirit to exert His mighty supernatural force, strength, and power to bring about an action that cannot be explained nor understood from our human perspective as the writer of Hebrews declares God did through the early disciples when he wrote, “For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will” (Hebrews 2:2-4).

Also we have the record of this gift being worked out through the Apostle Paul against one of the agents or instruments of satan a man named Elymas the sorcerer as documented for us by these words recorded by Dr. Luke, “When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a magician, a Jewish false prophet whose name was Bar-Jesus, who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence. This man summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. But Elymas the magician (for so his name is translated) was opposing them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. But Saul, who was also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, fixed his gaze on him, and said, ‘You who are full of all deceit and fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to make crooked the straight ways of the Lord? Now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and not see the sun for a time.’ And immediately a mist and a darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking those who would lead him by the hand. Then the proconsul believed when he saw what had happened, being amazed at the teaching of the Lord” (Acts 13:6-12).

The sixth of the nine (9) is the gift of “prophesy” and this English word is translated by the Greek word propheteia which means a foreteller or an inspired speaker or writer or poet; a discourse emanating from divine inspiration and declaring the purposes of God, whether by reproving and admonishing the wicked, or comforting the afflicted, or revealing things hidden; the divine mind, to which the prophetic faculty is due of the endowment and speech of the Christian teachers called prophets; the gifts and utterances of these prophets set apart to teach the gospel for the kingdom of Christ. This gift is given to men or women to foretell future events and also to be able to speak forth and write God’s gospel truth with power, authority, and clarity that those in the flock of God would be fed His Word that would grow them up into spiritual maturity. The question most raised today and in every generation since our Lord Jesus’ ascension back to heaven is the question of whether men or women are still given the aspect of this gift to speak of or write of future events that will take place in the life of an individual or a church or a city or country or the whole world for that matter.

“The Cessationists believe that the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit, such as speaking in tongues, prophetic utterances and faith healing, ceased being practiced early in Christian Church history. Cessationists generally believe that the miraculous gifts were provided only for the foundation of the Christian Church, during the time between the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost,  33 AD, as described in the 2nd Chapter of Acts, and the fulfillment of God’s purposes in history, usually identified as either the completion of the last book of the New Testament (Book of Revelation), or the death of John the Apostle, the last of the Twelve Apostles. The counterpart to Cessationaism is Continuationism, which teaches that the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit have remained available for use by the church ever since Pentecost. Disputes over Cessationism versus Continuationism have since led to denominational schisms within the Church” (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia).

The problem I have with these “isms” is simply both have to deny certain parts of the Scripture to make their theology have Biblical legs to stand on, therefore, it is my view that Paul was speaking to individual and collective Christian brothers and sisters who none of them saw our Lord Jesus Christ “in His Body” like Paul did and nowhere in his discourse here does he qualify any of these nine (9) gifts for a certain Christian to be endowed or given and others to be refused based on when they were saved. We must always submit to the authority of the Scripture no matter what camp one identifies with and concerning the gift of prophesy (as with any of the gifts) the enemy or the devil can and does counterfeit them through the men and women under his control as we learned above in Paul’s encounter with Elymas the sorcerer as well as others Paul encountered like the girl with the “spirit or demon of divination” and she was able to foretell or predict future events and she was used to do so to make her slave master money.

And this is the encounter Paul had with this “demon” as recorded again for us by Dr. Luke, “It happened that as we were going to the place of prayer, a slave-girl having a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing her masters much profit by fortune-telling. Following after Paul and us, she kept crying out, saying, ‘These men are bond-servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation.’ She continued doing this for many days. But Paul was greatly annoyed, and turned and said to the spirit, ‘I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!’ And it came out at that very moment. But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the market place before the authorities, and when they had brought them to the chief magistrates, they said, ‘These men are throwing our city into confusion, being Jews, and are proclaiming customs which it is not lawful for us to accept or to observe, being Romans.’” (Acts 16:16-21).

Paul in this instance again exercised his gift of the “working of miracles” by the Holy Spirit’s Power when calling out this demon from that slave girl, but if this slave girl with a “spirit of divination” could tell the future certainly by means of satanic power, then how much more does the “Spirit of Truth” give men and women the ability to speak forth future events (John 16:13) as God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ deemed necessary for the working out of His Purposes in His Church and for keeping His Saints from the attacks of the evil one. I am neither a Cessationists or a Continuationists, but I consider myself a Bibleist (which is not a word) but I am one who just believes the Bible and that I am what the Bible says I am “in Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:17) and that I have what the Bible says I have “in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3) and I can do all that I do “in Christ” (Philippians 4:13) and finally that I am gifted by the Holy Spirit as He sees fit for the edifying of Christ Body (1 Corinthians 12:8-11).   

“I never have any difficulty believing in miracles, since I experienced the miracle of a change in my own heart.” Augustine

“Miracles are a retelling in small letters of the very same story which is written across the whole world in letters too large for some of us to see.” C. S. Lewis

“We need a baptism of clear seeing. We desperately need seers who can see through the mist--Christian leaders with prophetic vision. Unless they come soon it will be too late for this generation. And if they do come we will no doubt crucify a few of them in the name of our worldly orthodoxy.” A. W. Tozer

“When our Lord ascended back to heaven and gave gifts to men, He did not say that some of you will be Cessationists and some Continuationists, but instead He said “follow Me” and if someone follows Him they will be endowed with whatever gift our Lord Jesus deems necessary for that person to have to work out His Purposes on the earth because He is the same today, yesterday, and forever (Hebrews 13:8) and let us not be confused by satan’s counterfeits or imitations of the true gifts of the Holy Spirit, but let us just be vigilant in testing the spirits that speak and write claiming to do so for our Lord Jesus Christ, for He will always expose the counterfeits to His children.” Clifford D. Tate, Sr.

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.

Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…

The Truth comes to Corinth

Paul List nine (9) separate Gifts given by the God the Holy Spirit to Believers Part 1

1 Corinthians 12:8-9 “For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit” NKJV

Paul now begins to disclose some of the specific gifts bestowed on individual believers when they are born from above into the family of God. Paul in this letter list nine (9) gifts that all come from the same source and that is God the Holy Spirit and I will attempt to describe in detail the function of each one of these gifts, but I feel utterly incapable of doing justice to these great words written by the Apostle Paul here, but I pray that you Dear Holy Spirit (the Author of these words) will guide and direct my words for Your Glory Amen! The first of the nine (9) is the gift of  the “word of wisdom” and the English word “word” is the Greek word logos which in this context it means reasoning including thought and then something said. The English word “wisdom” is translated by the Greek word sophia which as used in this context means higher spiritual knowledge that cannot be learned from any human teacher; the skill and discretion in imparting Christian truth or the knowledge and practice of the requisites for godly and upright living or supreme intelligence, such as belongs to God.

This gift of the “word of wisdom” is God the Holy Spirit imparting to one of His children a part of His Supernatural ability to dig out of the Word of God deep spiritual truths that are partly from study of the Word of God but not only obtained by regular or normal study of the Word of God as the Apostle Peter wrote concerning the Apostle Paul when he said, “Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction” (2 Peter 3:14-16). Peter writes that even he was not given the “wisdom” Paul was given by our Lord Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit’s endowment for the common good of all and Peter was not jealous or envious of Paul’s gift of the “word of wisdom” because he understood that it was our Lord’s prerogative to give gifts to men as He sees fit.

Paul prayed that God the Holy Spirit would impart this gift to the Ephesian believers when he wrote this to them, “For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints, do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him” (Ephesians 1:15-17). The second of the nine (9) is the gift of the “word of knowledge” and we already know what word or logos means as it is used again here in the same context as before but the English word “knowledge” here is translated by the Greek word gnosis which means the act of knowing or understanding the general knowledge of Christianity and the deeper more perfect and enlarged knowledge of Christianity, especially of things lawful and unlawful for Christian right living or moral wisdom.

This gift given to a believer by God the Holy Spirit enables that person to receive illumination from God the Holy Spirit to understand that which is good and acceptable and the prefect will of God and the hope of our calling “in Christ” and to paint word pictures or to give earthly or human illustrations to convey a spiritual truth taught in the Word of God. It is the gift to use human stories to bring to life passages of Scripture to the listener or reader in a manner similar to the way our Lord Jesus Himself spoke in parables to bring to life heavenly truth, but of course no one will be gifted to reach the level of our Lord, but this is the goal of the one with this gift. It is what Paul meant when he continued his prayer for the Ephesian believers when he said, “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints” (Ephesians 1:18).

The third of the nine (9) is the gift of “faith” and this is not the faith we are given when we are born again, but it is an extra measure of “faith” that God the Holy Spirit implants into specific believers. The English word faith is translated here by the Greek word pistis which means in the context it is used here as moral conviction and the constancy or the ability to endure under extreme adverse circumstances coming against the believer or the extraordinary conviction to believe God for miraculous works of His Power in a tough situation i.e., the faith spoken of by the writer of Hebrews when he documented the miraculous things God worked out through the lives of certain believers in the past when he said, “And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight” (Hebrews 11:32-34).

The fourth of the nine (9) is the gift of “healing” and this English word is translated by the Greek word iama which means in the context declared here the ability to bring about a cure or an effect of making one better; to produce a remedy, repair, or to rectify a disease or illness; to make one whole. Of course the first obvious understanding of this gift is one endowed by God the Holy Spirit with the dunamis power of God to lay hands on someone diseased or ill and see them made whole instantly such as we have with Paul on this occasion, “And it happened that the father of Publius was lying in bed afflicted with recurrent fever and dysentery; and Paul went in to see him and after he had prayed, he laid his hands on him and healed him. After this had happened, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases were coming to him and getting cured” (Acts 28:8-9).

Likewise as declared by the Apostle James here, “Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him” (James 5:14-15). Also God the Holy Spirit works through gifting men or women in medicinal methods to heal men or women of certain illnesses as Paul prescribed for brother Timothy with these words, “No longer drink water exclusively, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments” (1 Timothy 5:23). The gift of healing also is the ability to speak a proper or appropriate rhema or word from the living Word of God into the spirit or soul of someone afflicted by mental disability or disturbance and bring about healing to that one’s soul as declared by the Psalmist with these words, “He sent His word and healed them, And delivered them from their destructions” (Psalms 107:20). These are four of the nine (9) gifts of the Spirit Paul list here for the Corinthian believers and us today to understand what presents are waiting to be unwrapped by every born again believer “in Christ” of every generation.

“The chief means for attaining wisdom, and suitable gifts for the ministry, are the Holy Scriptures, and prayer.” John Newton

 “By grace I understand the favor of God, and also the gifts and working of His Spirit in us; as love, kindness, patience, obedience, mercifulness, despising of worldly things, peace, concord, and such like.” William Tyndale

“Fish which always live in the depths of the ocean lose some of their faculties, like the Tibetan hermits who always live in the dark. The ostrich loses his power of flying because he does not use his wings. Therefore do not bury the gifts and talents which have been given to you, but use them, that you may enter into the joy of your Lord.” Sadhu Sundar Singh

“God the Holy Spirit endows every believer “in Christ” with a birthday present or gift the moment they are born again of incorruptible seed by the Word of God and it is purely at His discretion as to who receive what gift or gifts and likewise how the gift or gifts are to be employed for the building up of the Body of Christ and for Christ Glory.” Clifford D. Tate, Sr.

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.

Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…

The Truth comes to Corinth

Paul declares God the Holy Spirit gives diverse gifts for the good of Christ entire Body

1 Corinthians 12:4-7 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. NKJV

Paul after making that rock solid declaration of the Holy Spirit’s working in the “inner man” or “inner woman” of the true believer in verse 3 continues on to declare that it is the same Holy Spirit living in each believer that dispenses to him or her their birthday gift which is as He sees that it will edify or build up our Lord Jesus’ Mystical or Invisible Body. Paul uses the English word gift to describe what each believer receives and this word is translated by the Greek word charisma and this word is where we get our English word charismatic from. We define that English word charismatic in this way; a person possessing an extraordinary ability to attract or someone with a magnetic personality. However, the Greek word charisma means a Divine gratuity or a spiritual endowment or a miraculous faculty. This birthday gift given to every single regenerated born again believer is not a reward for any service or special quality found in the individual, but is purely from God the Holy Spirit for the believer to discover and then spend the rest of his or her sojourn and pilgrimage here on the earth as the aliens we have been made by Him to build one another up into a complete spiritual house as the Apostle Peter puts it in this manner, “And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:4-5).

Paul declares that He (the Holy Spirit) dishes out different gifts which produce different administrations, but all the gifts and their functions come from the same source our Lord Jesus Christ working out His purposes for His Bride the Church, as He makes her ready for Him as Paul declares in his Ephesian epistle or letter in this manner comparing it to a Christian husband and wife relationship, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless” (Ephesians 5:25-27). The English word “administration” Paul uses in verse 5 is translated by the Greek word diakonia which means service or ministering or attending to others especially the Christian teacher. Paul now writes to these Corinthian believers and to us that not only are there different gifts and ministries that flow out of those gifts, but there is also different or diverse operations of the gifts in every individual.

The English word operations Paul uses in verse 6 is translated by the Greek word energema which means the effect or activities or the thing wrought by the gift. Paul declares that even though God the Holy Spirit might give the gift of teaching to many different people (and He does) none of them will be carried out or activated in the same manner as any other person. Paul is declaring that not only is the gift or gifts for a specific individual believer, but also no two people will exercise their gift or gifts in the same way, but all of the gifts produce the same results of building up the Body because it is God the Father who works all things for His purpose. The English word worketh or works Paul uses in verse 6 to describe what the Father does is translated by the Greek word energeo which means to be active and efficient; to be effectual (capable of producing an intended result; to be fervent or to be mighty in; put forth power to work for one or aid one to effect or to display one’s activity. Paul writes that it is God in the believer actuating, activating, and arousing the presence of the gift and then giving fervent and mighty power to the believer to work out this gift for the good of the whole Mystical Body of Christ Jesus our Lord as Paul declares with these words, “But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good” (1 Corinthians 12:7). The gifts given out by the Holy Spirit are done so in such a precise manner as to accomplish this end Paul writes about to the Corinthian believers and to the Ephesian believers and to us today and every generation of true believers.

“Each believer, being an heir of God, has the same amount of grace placed to his credit in the heavenly bank, on which he can draw in time of need. This is the parable of the pounds. Each servant received the same amount. But there are great diversities in the gifts with which we are endowed. Some have five talents, others two, and large numbers only one. A full enumeration of these gifts is made in 1 Corinthians 12:8-11, and it is a comfort to learn that to everyone something is allotted, 1 Corinthians 12:7; 1 Corinthians 12:11.” F. B. Meyer

“Whatever gifts God confers on any man, He confers them that he may do good with them, whether they be common or spiritual. The outward gifts of His bounty are to be improved for His Glory, and employed in doing good to others. No man has them merely for himself. They are a trust put into his hands, to profit withal; and the more he profits others with them, the more abundantly will they turn to his account in the end, Philippians 4:17. Spiritual gifts are bestowed, that men may with them profit the church and promote Christianity. They are not given for show, but for service; not for pomp and ostentation, but for edification; not to magnify those that have them, but to edify others.” Matthew Henry

“Each gift given to the new born babe “in Christ” mirrors the natural baby as he takes in his mother’s milk and grows up to the point he begins to eat solid food and he starts to discover the parts of his body the hands, feet, tongue, legs, etc. and what their functions are and begins to use them, so is it with the new born babe “in Christ” as he abides in the Word of God he discovers his “spiritual gift or gifts” and begins to use them to benefit the entire Body just as the natural baby does.” Clifford D. Tate, Sr.

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.

Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…

The Truth comes to Corinth

Paul says, “That it is by the Holy Spirit’s Power that Jesus Christ is yielded to as Lord in the heart of the Believer

1 Corinthians 12:1-3 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware. You know that when you were pagans, you were led astray to the mute idols, however you were led. Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is accursed”; and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit. NKJV

Paul now begins to shift the focus of his letter to expound or explain to these Corinthian believers and to us the various “spiritual gifts” given to the born again believer in Christ by God the Holy Spirit, but before Paul begins to list out and explain the gifts he first makes a profound statement that is true of every genuine believer in our Lord Jesus Christ. Again as we have declared in previous studies, Paul was well aware of all the false worship and pagan practices that were common place in the city of Corinth. Paul reminds these Corinthian believers (as though he were also drawing on all he has said to them thus far) how foolish or devoid of even good or common sense their worship was before they heard the gospel of Christ. Paul says that their worship was stupid and dumb because it was worship to statues made of wood and other man made materials that could not respond to them at all. Paul says it in this manner to them, “Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led” (1 Corinthians 12:2).

The English phrase “carried away” Paul uses in this second verse is translated by the Greek word apago which means to take off or to lead away in the same sense as someone being led off to prison for punishment. These Corinthian people Paul preached the gospel to were living lives under the authority and power of the devil and being influenced by demon spirits in their idolatry, but they looked to man-made images as the object of their worship. Paul speaks this in the imperfect tense with the indefinite particle signifying their habitual, customary, and common practice of allowing themselves to be led away into this stupid, useless, and worthless worship. Paul did know the devices of the devil, for he did warfare with him and his demons every day, therefore, Paul wanted to make it clear to these Corinthian believers and did not want them through the lack of understanding or knowledge to recognize the complete and holy difference their worship of our Lord Jesus Christ would be from their days of idolatry. Paul wanted them to understand that it was God the Holy Spirit who was their permanent gift to live in them (John 14:16-17) and also that it is God the Holy Spirit who gives out the ministry gifts to every individual believer in Christ. Paul wanted to correct some of the disorder through the envy and strife taking place in the fellowship as he just finished correcting them on the observance of the Lord’s Supper, now he wants the understanding of spiritual gifts to be complete not only in what they are, but also in how they are to be used for the good of the whole body of believers.

Paul did not want them to be “carried away” or apago by what they perceived to be the working of the Holy Spirit as they were in the days of their ignorance in idolatry. Paul makes it clear to them that God the Holy Spirit works in the believer in mighty power, but it does not render him or her “out of control” or “carried away” in some behavior that is dishonoring to our Lord Jesus Christ, for Paul says this, “Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, ‘Jesus is accursed’; and no one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:3). Paul declares emphatically that it is by the Spirit’s Power that a dead in trespasses and sins sinner is moved to declare Jesus Christ as his or her Lord, Master, and Supreme Ruler and Controller (2 Corinthians 3:17). No natural man can experience this submission of his spirit, soul, and body to Christ Rule and Authority because this comes by way of the Holy Spirit’s influence on the regenerated born again heart. Our Lord Jesus Himself testified of what the Holy Spirit would do at His request with these words, “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you” (John 16:13-14).

Paul declares that it is the Holy Spirit that dispenses the “spiritual gifts” like speaking with other tongues, but whatever language He enables, energizes, and empowers a believer to speak in, it will most assuredly be the Word of God and the gospel of grace which glorify Christ Jesus our Lord. The Holy Spirit is God and He cannot be manipulated by believers into some worthless worship of Christ, but He seeks only and always to lead the believer into worship that brings glory to our Lord Jesus Christ. The English word Lord is translated by the Greek word kurios which means he to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has power of deciding; master, lord the possessor and disposer of a thing the owner; one who has control of the person, the master in the state: the sovereign, prince, chief, God, the Messiah. The reference to Jesus as Lord back then was of utmost seriousness because the Romans only viewed their Emperor as Lord or Kurios and for any Jew or Gentile (in those days) to say “Jesus is Lord” surely came from a regenerated heart activated by the Holy Spirit’s Power because to defy Caesar or any other Roman Emperor meant certain death, therefore, this is why Paul wrote these words in 1 Corinthians 12:3 because they were only spoken by a true believer moved by the Spirit’s Power who was not afraid of losing his life because he knew Jesus as Lord experimentally and no threat of death or any other such thing could keep him or her quiet about his Lord.

“To own this truth before men, and maintain it to the death, and live under the influence of it, could not be done without the sanctification of the Holy Ghost. No man can call Christ Lord, with a believing subjection to Him and dependence upon Him, unless that faith be wrought by the Holy Ghost. No man can confess this truth in the day of trial but by the Holy Ghost animating and encouraging him.” Matthew Henry

“The reality of Jesus Christ being Lord means nothing to the man or woman still spiritually dead but to the awakened soul “Jesus is Lord” is his or her whole world and they would have it no other way.” Clifford D. Tate, Sr.

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.

Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…