1 Corinthians 12:1 " Now concerning spiritual [gifts], brethren, I would not have you ignorant." Some times our bibles add words to sentences for the purposes of trying to clarify their meaning. In the quoted passage, the word gifts was added by the translators to bring our attention to what Paul then went on to write about. Now although he is talking about the gifts of the Holy Spirit, he is really saying he does not want us Christians to be ignorant about spiritual matters, which include the gifts bestowed on believers. It is amazing to me to watch how hard some Christians try to dance around anything that has to do with the power of God in their lives. What Paul wrote there is as true for a believer today as it was then. Nothing has changed when it comes to the bible. We shouldn’t be ignorant when it comes to the spiritual, but I am sad to say that many Christians are.
There is a strong deception at work in many Christians today. The problem is this; they don’t see the manifestations of the gifts of the Holy Spirit in their churches or their lives. However, instead of doing what the apostle Paul admonished them to do, "Follow after charity, and desire spiritual [gifts]..."(1 Corinthians 14:1 ),
"But covet earnestly the best gifts..." (1 Corinthians 12:31 ), and,
"Follow after charity, and desire spiritual [gifts], but rather that ye may prophesy."(1 Corinthians 14:1 ), they simply try to deny them. The reason for this is simple - pride.
Pride prevents people from admitting that they are not walking in the power of the Holy Spirit and need to learn how. Instead of agreeing with the bible and expecting the gifts of the Holy Spirit to be manifested in their lives, they try as hard as they can to find a reason why the gifts don’t have to be there, even going as far as to misinterpret clear scripture and deny the truth. Why? Well, it is much more comforting to our egos to believe that we are doing everything right. Nobody likes to find out they are wrong about, or don’t understand something. The devil tries to bring condemnation on people like that and will try to say things like,
"if you don’t have spiritual powers you are not a good Christian", which is as far from the truth as you can get. But some Christians believe this lie of satan, so rather than admit to themselves that they don’t know much about the gifts of the Holy Spirit, they would rather there be a reason that the gifts are no longer for us today. That way they can comfort themselves into believing they are walking the full Christian walk without any spiritual endowments. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
There is nothing wrong with finding passages in the bible that you don’t understand. It doesn’t mean you are not a good Christian, it just means you have more to learn, as we all do. This Christian walk never ends, but we keep learning and striving until death or the coming of our Lord, whichever comes first. Instead of trying to throw out scripture and say it isn’t for us today, we should be humble and meek and ask Jesus to teach us about them. He is our teacher and no one else. What we have done instead is make what we see, hear and experience in our lives and the lives of others more real than what the bible teaches. Yes, the Gospel we preach is a simple one. The simplicity is summed up in what Jesus told Jairus to do when the messenger came to him with the news his daughter had died. Jesus told him,
"... Be not afraid, only believe."(Mark 5:36) That is as simple as you can get, only believe. When it comes to spiritual gifts, only believe. That is simple. It is much simpler to believe what the bible says than to try to find reasons why it doesn’t mean what it says.
One verse I was shocked to hear used in this way is 1 Corinthians 13:10, which reads,
" But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away." Some people have tried to reason that the "perfect" which Paul was referring to is our modern bible, so now we don’t have to have spiritual gifts. The "perfect" that Paul was referring to was very clearly our Lord Jesus, who ascended to heaven and will return with a shout, the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God. Paul explains how at this time, while we are still in our mortal bodies, we only know in part and prophesy in part. We see as if through a glass darkly, but when Jesus returns and our bodies are changed and we are made like Him, we will know as we are known. How are we known? Well, God knows us perfectly. When we are made like Him then we will know as we are known.
Most problems like this come from simple miscommunication. When you talk about receiving revelations from God, someone always pipes up that there are no new revelations. This response gives a very clear insight into what they think "revelations" are. They think you are talking about extra-biblical revelations. Let me explain something that may shock you. The revelations Paul and all other writers of the New Testament received from God were directly from the Old Testament. All the truth was already there, but they needed revelation from God to open their eyes to it. That is what we are talking about as "revelation". It is revelation about the Word of God. God didn’t change anything or throw out Old Testament prophesies, and replace them with new ones. All the truths of the New Testament can be found referred to in the Old. God cannot contradict Himself, and in the Old Testament the prophet Isaiah says,
"To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, [it is] because [there is] no light in them."(Isaiah 8:20) So from this we understand that everything the New Testament writers said was according to the law and the testimony. It had to be, or Isaiah 8:20 would mean that there was no light in them.
Every revelation received by anyone must be confirmed by the word of God. Now if someone says they received a revelation that doesn’t line up with the word, that they’re revelation supersedes the Word of God, you can know that there is no light in it. When we talk about revelations, we are talking about God revealing the Scriptures to us. You can see what happens when we depend on ourselves to interpret scriptures. If you go to any Christian bookstore you can buy 10 books with 10 different opinions about one passage in the bible. We must let God show us what the Word means, and that is revelation from God. The apostle Paul said,
"... In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established."( 2 Corinthians 13:1 ) Every understanding you get will have at least 2 or 3 witnesses to it in the bible. If you can’t find 2 or 3 witnesses to an understanding you have, then you have to look at that understanding again and possibly throw out what you thought. Nothing is more important than the truth, so you should carefully examine everything you believe to be truth and be willing to change your thinking on something if you cannot establish it as truth using the criteria the bible sets down.
Now Paul the apostle did not set out to write the New Testament. He was writing letters to churches he and others had established to help them and teach them. It was a sovereign act of God Almighty to compile those letters and others into what we call the New Testament. To try and say Paul was referring to the letters he was writing as the "perfect" in 1 Cor 13:10, and not the only perfect person, Jesus the Christ, is not supported in any way by the bible, Old or New Testament. The only reason someone would even suggest that is to try to find a reason they don’t have to live up to the clearly defined way of life a believer should be leading. That would be saying that the apostle Paul nullified the words of Jesus Himself when He said,
"And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover."(Mark 16:17-18) Jesus said it and that settles it. To try to say that that was only for the church of that time is just a theological cop out, something used to try to get out of doing those things the bible clearly says the believers should be doing. They try to get out of having to pray the prayer of faith that makes the sick person well. There are 2 manifestations of the gift of tongues talked about in the bible. One is the ministry gift of tongues and interpretation. This gift is used for a sign to unbelievers. 1 Corinthians 14:22 declares,
" Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not:" I will give an example of this. My grandfather was a non-denominational minister. In a meeting once, he gave a message in tongues and interpretation. After the meeting a lady walked up to him and started speaking to him in a language he didn’t understand, for he only spoke English. When he told her this, she looked rather confused and exclaimed, "But you were just speaking fluent Greek!" This was sign to her, to confirm to her that it was the Holy Spirit at work. It built up her faith and proved to her God was real and still at work in the lives of those in His church.
We know that not everyone in a church has this gift of tongues and interpretation for the apostle Paul makes that clear (1Cor 12:30). There are only needed 1 or 2 in a church to have this gift. The other gift of tongues is the simple act of praying in the Spirit which is between you and God alone. 1 Corinthians 14:2 says,
"For he that speaketh in an [unknown] tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth [him]; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries." This gift is simply allowing God to use you to pray for that which you may not know how to pray, as well as building you up in the Spirit and personal edification. This is different than the ministry gift in that it is available to all believers. 1 Corinthians 14:5 says,
"I would that ye all spake with tongues,...". He refers to it as speaking with the tongues of angels.(1 Cor 13:1) This is not referring to a language of men, but a heavenly language. Some call this gift a prayer language. Say you wanted to pray for a friend of yours, but don’t know exactly what to pray. This gift is used for that reason. It is your spirit that is praying (1 Cor 14:14-15) with your mind. Your mind knows that the prayer is directed at your friend, and by praying in tongues you are allowing your spirit to pray for that person directly to God. Spirit to Spirit. You may not know what was prayed, but you take it by faith that the prayer was exactly what the Holy Spirit wanted to be prayed. It is the Holy Spirit helping you to pray. Romans 8:26 explains this.
"Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered." That is why no man understands, "howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries."
Don’t ever compromise on the bible. Yes, it talks about some things that our natural minds want to reject because they are hard to understand, but trust God to show you what they mean and simply believe what the bible says. Even Peter described some of the things the apostle Paul wrote as being hard to understand. In referring to the letters of Paul, he says,
"As also in all [his] epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as [they do] also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction."(2 Peter 3:16) If you find something in the bible you are honest enough about to admit you don’t understand it, instead of throwing the scripture out and saying it isn’t for us today, do what James says to do. James 1:5 says,
" If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all [men] liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." but make sure you ask in the way James says to ask. James 1:6-7 declares,
" But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord." Just pray and ask the way Jesus outlined for us in Mark 11:23-24.
"For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive [them], and ye shall have [them]."
When (not if) God has given you wisdom concerning the desire for gifts of the Holy Spirit, ask for them the same way, believing you receive them, and you shall have them. Don’t ever let anyone tell you that the bible isn’t for today, or is conditional on the age that you live in. This book was written for the Church of Jesus the Christ, which we are as much as anyone ever was. Pray about these things and be willing to let God show you the truth, even if they go against your church’s doctrines or the theology men have taught. Nothing can take away from the eternal truths of the bible. Men died to get this book into our hands, so the least we could do is believe it. God Bless.