SERIES: Christ is the Answer When the Church Is in Crisis
Body Building: An Introduction to Spiritual Gifts
SCRIPTURE: 1 Cor. 12:1-13
Introduction: There’s a body building craze going on in the U.S. today. Health clubs are being franchised all over the country and body-building contests are a thriving business. Women as well as men are into six packs and greasing down their bodies (for some of the most grotesque poses you could imagine). I understand that there are over 100 body-building magazines published every month.
God is interested in body building too, only not the kind we’ve just been referring to. Ever since Jesus proclaimed 1900 years ago, “I will build My Church,” the work of putting together a people of God and building them into a unit known as “the Body of Christ” has been God’s Job One.
Unfortunately, Christians often hinder this Body building program rather than enhance it. One of the ways we hinder it is through ignorance of the essentials of Body Building. I want to highlight three of these essentials this morning as found in 1 Cor. 12. In the process we are going to get an introduction to a very important NT theme, that of spiritual gifts. Please read with me 1 Cor. 12:1-13:
Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant. 2 You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. 3 Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.
4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.
7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. 11All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.
12The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. 13For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body–whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free–and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
The Holy Spirit is essential to body building.
Looking at our text this morning, I would like for you to note how often the Holy Spirit is mentioned. You will find Him referenced 11 times in 13 verses. Neither Jesus nor God the Father are left out of the picture, for each is mentioned several times, but the Holy Spirit is obviously the key instrument for the Body Building activity Paul is describing.
I see at least three distinct ministries which the Holy Spirit undertakes in these first 13 verses:
He leads people to ascribe Lordship to Christ. (1-3) Paul’s introduction to the subject of spiritual gifts seems a bit strange. He begins by reminding them that when they were pagans, they were constantly being led astray to dumb idols, that is, idols that couldn’t even speak. What he doesn’t say, but what is widely known, is that pagan worship had a strong element of the ecstatic—hypnotic chants, out-of-body trances, and the like. But now they were Christians, and a Christian’s worship should bear no resemblance to that of a pagan.
I think it likely (though I would find it difficult to prove) that someone in the Corinthian church had gotten carried away in some ecstatic speech, and in an effort to elevate the ministry of the Holy Spirit had disparaged the ministry of Jesus. Perhaps he actually said, “Jesus is accursed.” (verse 3) Paul in effect responds that a statement such as that is thoroughly pagan, and it couldn’t possibly be generated by the Holy Spirit. On the contrary, when the Holy Spirit moves men to speak, it is to ascribe Lordship to Jesus Christ. Christ Himself, in predicting the coming of the Holy Spirit, said, “He shall glorify Me.”
It’s a tragedy that many who give mental assent to Trinitarianism do not actually practice it. The liberals talk mainly of God, giving little attention to Jesus or to the Holy Spirit. The charismatics often speak only of the Holy Spirit, giving short shrift to Christ and the Father. And some holiness groups actually teach “Jesus only.” Here in Corinth it seems that the Spirit’s ministry that was being emphasized to the detriment of the Father and Son. Paul considered that heretical.
He follows that up with the observation that “no one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit.” The Apostle doesn’t mean that no one can mouth the words, but that no one can say the words and mean it, unless the Holy Spirit motivates him. I love those words, “Jesus Is Lord.” That’s the chief slogan of the Christian faith.
So that’s the first ministry which makes the Holy Spirit essential to Body Building—He’s the one who ascribes Lordship to Jesus Christ, who is the Head of the Body.
He enables believers to function. In verses 4-11 the emphasis is upon spiritual gifts and ministries. Nine gifts are mentioned, (certainly not an exhaustive list), gifts which enable believers to fulfill various important functions in the Body of Christ. And it is the Holy Spirit who is specifically named as the source of this enablement. Note verse 7: “Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.” Look also at verse 11: “All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.” We’ll be expanding upon this concept later this morning, but for now we simply want to point out that the Body Building functions that each believer possesses are an enablement of the Holy Spirit.
A third ministry of the Holy Spirit in Body Building is that …
He baptizes believers into One Body. People today are often being encouraged to seek the baptism of the Holy Spirit or to experience the baptism of fire. 1 Cor. 12:12-13 constitute the single most important passage in the Bible on Spirit baptism. Let’s read it: “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. 13For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.”
Much of the confusion on the subject of Spirit baptism was created by an unfortunate mistranslation in the KJV of the little word “were” in verse 13. The Authorized Version reads, “are baptized,”indicating that the baptism by the Holy Spirit is a present experience which a believer ought to have if he hasn’t had it yet. But the Greek reads “were,” past tense, indicating that the baptism by the Spirit is a positional rather than experiential truth. In other words, it is something that has happenedto the believer, not something he hopes will happen or seeks to make happen.
No one in Scripture is ever told to seek Spirit baptism. Only once, in Acts 19, is anyone told to waitfor it, and that was during the transitional age when new groups were being introduced to the indwelling ministry of the Spirit, a ministry that was unknown in OT times. The reason no one is told to seek it is that it is a positional truth—it is true by virtue of one’s position as a believer. A person is baptized by the Holy Spirit into the Body of Christ at the moment of salvation.
Not only is Spirit baptism positional; it is also universal. That is, it is true of every believer. The proof is again in verse 13–the little word, “all.” Paul is speaking to the most carnal church in the NT and yet he says that all of them were Spirit-baptized. That proves that Spirit baptism is not a sign of maturity or of an advanced stage of Christian growth.
Thirdly, Spirit baptism is permanent—positional, universal, and permanent. Verse 13 says, “we were all given the one Spirit to drink.” The Greek could really be translated, “We have all been saturated with one Spirit.” And the fact that this saturation with the Spirit is permanent is indicated by the fact that no one in the NT receives Spirit baptism more than once. If the Holy Spirit places you into the Body of Christ, you’re there permanently.
Now contrast, if you will, what we have seen so far with the doctrinal statement of the Women’s Aglow Fellowship, which is a Pentecostal and charismatic organization. One of its doctrinal assertions reads, “We believe … in the baptism in the Holy Spirit as distinct from the new birth.” If it were distinct from the New Birth, it would certainly be something that believers should seek. And if it were something we should seek, the Apostles were certainly remiss in not telling us where to find it or how to get it.
John MacArthur has suggested that the idea of the baptism of the Spirit as a second work of grace, distinct from the new birth, originated in the Middle Ages with the teaching that a person is saved when baptized as an infant, and only later receives the Holy Spirit at confirmation, after coming of age. Sincere and otherwise biblical evangelicals modified the idea as a means for trying to enliven lifeless Christians. Because the church was lethargic, carnal, worldly, and fruitless, they sought to infuse vitality by encouraging believers to seek an additional work of the Spirit. But the problem has never been the insufficiency or incompleteness of the Spirit’s work. Christ provides nothing but perfect salvation. And it is sad that so many are seeking some formulized key to instant spirituality, when the Lord simply calls for trust in His finished work and obedience to the Law of Christ.
However, there is no doubt that some Christians are not experiencing the power of the Holy Spirit in their lives. Some are grieving the Spirit, others are quenching the Spirit, and some even lie to the Spirit. There is a desperate need in many Christians’ lives for advancement to maturity, for more complete obedience, and for a deeper commitment. But our Pentecostal friends mistakenly refer to such commitments as the “baptism of the Spirit,” when they should be referred to as the “filling of the Spirit,” or perhaps “renewal by the Spirit,” or better yet, “control by the Spirit.”
I trust that enough has been said from these first 13 verses to demonstrate that the Holy Spirit is essential to building the Body of Christ. We cannot ignore His ministry and still prosper as a Body.
Briefly, I want us to examine a second essential element in Body Building, and that is a sort of tandem concept. It is this:
Differences and similarities are both essential to Body Building.
In the spiritual world of Body Building there is variety, but there is also sameness. I hope the importance of this concept will become clear as we look at two propositions Paul sets forth. The first I have expressed as follows:
While spiritual gifts differ, the Giver remains the same. (4-10) Look at verses 4-6 first. Three times the word “different” appears and three times the word “same” appears. First, there are differences of gifts. The word for “gifts” here is the Greek word, charismata, which means “spiritual gift,” and from which we get our English word, charismatic. Spiritual gifts are special capacities bestowed on believers to equip them to minister to others.
At least 18 spiritual gifts are mentioned specifically in the NT, but since every biblical list of gifts is different, it seems clear that God did not intend to give the church a rigid and exhaustive compilation. Rather than give heavy attention to the particular gifts mentioned in our passage today, I would like for us to wait until we come to the end of this chapter and combine this list with the one given in verses 28ff.
The Church cannot function, and it certainly cannot mature, without God’s people properly and faithfully using the gifts God gives for ministry. Satan will try to counterfeit the Spirit’s gifts, and he will try to induce believers to ignore, neglect, misunderstand, abuse, and pervert them. The Corinthian Church is proof that a misuse of gifts shatters unity, divides believers, and ruins their testimony before the world. It also short-circuits their growth and effectiveness in the Lord’s service. Therefore, Paul’s teaching here is critical.
The variety is important so that the Body can work together as a team. But if all we had was variety, we would probably have chaos. The glue that binds the whole together is the Spirit.
It’s significant that right after mentioning the variety of gifts, Paul speaks of the variety of serviceand the variety of works, each time reiterating that the variety is counterbalanced by the fact that the same Lord and God is operating behind them.
The distinction between gifts and service seems to be that Christians with the same basic gift may be led to manifest that gift in many different ways. One teacher may be especially gifted in teaching young children; another may be gifted in teaching seminarians, and still another gifted in one-on-one discipling. The word “service” reminds us that spiritual gifts are not given for self-glorification or self-service, but for the edification of the Body of Christ.
The distinction between the terms “gifts” and “service” on the one hand and the term “working” on the other seems to be that “working” is looking at the results produced. Even the same person exercising the same gift will not always see the same amount of fruit produced. But that shouldn’t concern us, for the same God “works all of them in all men.” That is, He does not give spiritual gifts for which He does not also give the power to use them. Actually, this is a very freeing kind of concept. I don’t have to feel inferior if I’m not as successful as Chuck Swindoll or Charles Stanley, because we have been given different gifts by the Holy Spirit, we have been assigned different ministries by the Lord, and different results have been sovereignly planned by God.
Well, that’s the first proposition: While the gifts differ, the Giver remains the same. A second proposition is similar:
While the distribution of gifts differs, the Distributor remains the same. (11) Verse 11 reads, “All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.” Spiritual gifts are not just manufactured and offered on a first-come, first-served basis, nor are they sold to the highest bidder. They are distributed. And the distribution varies according to each individual. Isn’t it neat that God treats us as individuals? He sees our needs, our native abilities, our hearts, and He gives us gifts and ministries that fit us.
We have a tendency in the Church to categorize people. He’s a troublemaker, so let’s not nominate him to such and such a position. She’s a musician, therefore she’s bound to be temperamental. He’s divorced, so he’s not eligible for this office. Or he’s irresponsible, so let’s not give him any special duties. As humans we find it very difficult not to categorize one another. But God sees past all those categories and the Holy Spirit distributes gifts and ministries to each one of us individually. Instead of writing us off for our weaknesses, the Spirit says, “Let’s find a task uniquely suited to him, considering both his weaknesses and his strengths.” The same Spirit does all the distributing.
So far we have looked at two essentials of Body Building. First, the Holy Spirit is essential. And secondly, a balance between differences and similarities is essential.
A third essential in Body Building is another tandem concept:
God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility are both essential to Body Building.
I want you to notice how heavy the emphasis is in chapter 12 on the sovereignty of God. Look at the following verses with me:
Verse 6: “God works all things in all persons”
Verse 11: “just as He wills”
Verse 18: “just as He desired”
Verse 24: “God has composed the Body”
Verse 28: “God has appointed in the Church”
Now that’s a pretty strong emphasis upon God’s sovereignty. And I’ve listed three implications of that emphasis.
There is no room for complaint, comparison or conflict. Many of the conflicts in a local church are the result of comparison of one believer to another, from which jealousy arises because one person’s gifts attract more attention than another’s. There’s no room for complaint in the Body ifGod is the one who placed you where you are and gifted you for a particular area of ministry. To complain is to say, in effect, that God didn’t know what He was doing or that He made a mistake.
But the sovereignty of God is not the total picture. If it were, we might end up with the attitude, “If God wants to build the Body of Christ, He’ll do it without any help from me.” That’s basically the attitude that the skeptical church leaders in England exhibited when William Carey decided to go to India as a missionary. He was told, “If God wants to save the heathen, He’ll do it without your help.” That is a very unbiblical attitude.
But while there is no room for complaint, comparison or conflict over spiritual gifts and ministries (because they were given sovereignly by God), there is also no room for laziness and apathy. Or to put it positively,
There is much room for choice and action by those who have been gifted. Despite the fact that spiritual gifts are sovereignly distributed, the individual believer has to choose to function in the capacity God has gifted him. The whole purpose Paul has in mind in discussing this subject is not to teach the doctrine of spiritual gifts, but rather to get believers to function as gifted people. And many are not.
I know an extremely gifted young man who refuses to use any of His spiritual gifts in ministry in the Body of Christ. I met him when he was one of my students in Bible College. Immediately I recognized in him a real ability with the biblical languages. After college he went on to seminary where he became a genuine Greek and Hebrew scholar, graduating with high honors from Dallas Seminary. He served his student internship under me in Wichita, at which time I recognized that Calvinism had become more important to him than Scripture, and that a love for theology had taken precedence over his love for the Lord. Now that grieved me to see, because I have a great appreciation for Calvinistic theology. But I warned him that the path he was on would lead to conflict rather than unity in the Body of Christ.
After Seminary my friend and former student became a teaching elder in a Reformed Presbyterian church, which split wide open six months later on issues unrelated to him. He joined another similar church and in less than a year the same thing happened. He became disillusioned with ministry, and ended up, of all places, in Wichita selling auto parts. He attended our church most of the time the last three or four years I was in Wichita, but I was never able to get him to even teach a Sunday School class. Gifted? Yes, to an incredible degree. Building the Body? No, actually tearing it down through an example of spiritual apathy.
There are people listening to me right now who are not functioning in any significant way to build up the Body of Christ. Do you want to hear some of the excuses I’ve heard over the years?
“Others are more capable.”
“I’ve done my share—let others do theirs.”
“I’m too busy at work.”
“We have a new baby.”
“I got burned once and it takes a long time to recover.”
“I haven’t decided whether this is going to be my church home.”
“The Elders have made some decisions I don’t like.”
Others don’t give excuses. They just say “no” every time they’re asked. Thank God not everyone reacts this way. Some people say “yes” anytime they are asked to serve, which tends to prove the contention that if you want something done, ask a busy person to do it. That’s worldly wisdom, though. It’s not God’s intention for the Church.
Conclusion: I would like to remind you that Jesus Christ is building His Church and that the Holy Spirit is playing His essential role in building the Body of Christ. God has sovereignly equipped you just the way He wanted you to function within the Body.
What are you doing to build the Body? Are you witnessing? Are you discipling? Are you serving? Are you helping? Are you using the gifts and abilities God has given you through His Holy Spirit to build the Body of Christ into the organism (not organization) that God wants it to be? If not, the Body is suffering, and you are suffering.
DATE: August 25, 1985