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7Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.

When he says, 'to each is given', Paul has in mind here every single member of the Church of Christ -- that is, all those who share in the gift of the Holy Spirit through life-giving faith in the Savior. The underlying premise here is that the Spirit is not a power, but a Person. *He* is given to each member of the Church, and in the local churches the Spirit is the One whose presence assures growth, unity, true intercession, power and protection from all evil. And yet we must realize that God has made it so that all members of the local church work for that unity together -- the strong working with the weak, the wise with the foolish. The Corinthian church had seemed to consider the Spirit merely as a power wielded within a person's life measured by signs, miracles, or passionate corporate worship. Yet however anointed their corporate worship might have seemed, the church was under a spell of spiritual pride. The result was a gradation of members from the least apparently gifted to the most. Paul reminds them that the spiritual gifts are never an end, but are a means to building up the Church -- and the Spirit is not a power for our own glory but rather a Person given to us so that we may become like the One God who was manifested to us in the flesh in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Bookmarked 7 months ago.

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universal_church holy_spirit good spiritual_gifts local_church

1 Corinthians 12:4-6

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4There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit.

Here Paul uses a trinitarian formula to remind the Corinthians that God is One (see the 'shema' at Deuteronomy 6) -- and so all of His work in this world should point to this unity, especially His work in the Church universal and local. No one will be saved by the Son of God apart from the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit, just as no one can know and love the Father except through knowing and loving the Son (see John 5:37-38). If we understand God's trinitarian nature that is seen so clearly in the love, obedience, and joy of the Son toward the Father -- as well as the unity of thought and heart that comes to us through the Spirit's peaceful presence -- then we will begin to understand how to live in deep fellowship with believers. As the church, we are to be 'one' in the same way that the Godhead is One, always seeking to uphold and increase the unity of the Church by our efforts of love. This is a consistent theme running through the entire letter (see 1 Corinthians 1:10). We must never look only at our own giftedness; rather, we should marvel at how we might take part in building upon this huge work of God that is Christ's blood-bought and beloved Church.

Bookmarked 7 months ago.

Topics
holy_spirit spiritual_gifts unity trinity father son universal_church

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