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14: In consequence, he is not referring to every day speech (although what he said
would cover this) but speech in the assembly, which would be either under the guidance
of God, or under the Satanic influence. Anyone of course at any time could pronounce
the words "Lord Jesus", whether saved or unsaved, but no one in the assembly's worship
could use this phrase in teaching or witness and be under the control of the evil one.
Having made this clear, Paul now goes on to discuss the spiritual gifts themselves:
"There are distributions of gifts, but the same Spirit; there are distributions of
services, and the same Lord; and these are distributions of operations, but the same God
who operates all things in all men. To each one is given his own manifestation of the
Spirit, with a view to mutual profit. For to one there is given, through the Spirit, a word
of wisdom; to another, in accordance with the same Spirit, a word of Knowledge; to
another faith, in the same Spirit; to another gifts of healing, in the one Spirit; to another
the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the power to distinguish
between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of
tongues. All these things the same one Spirit puts into operation, distributing
individually to each one as He wills" (I Cor. 12: 4-11, C. K. Barrett).
There is no difficulty with the main theme of this section. Note that Spirit, Lord and
God are used interchangeably. However varied the gifts may be, they have one source,
the Holy Spirit of God. They were not distributed to give any feeling of superiority, but
for the mutual profit of the whole church (7). Just as there was no uniformity of
experience, neither was there of gifts. Nor were these gifts the privilege of the few who
had had some special spiritual experience. To each one of the assembly is given his own
manifestation of the Spirit (7) and the Spirit divided these gifts exactly "as He willed".
No believer was responsible for the kind of gift he received, but he was certainly
responsible for the way he used it, which primarily was meant for the Lord's glory and
the common good. In view of the attempts to revive tongues speaking today apart from
the gifts as a whole, it is significant that Paul puts speaking in tongues at the bottom of
the list. It was probably coveted by some because of its outward showiness, but the
Apostle commences with one that is infinitely more important, but without any external
attraction, that of wisdom. Why? Because wisdom is fundamental in the practical
outworking of any gift or service for the Lord. Who is going to give away anything of
real value to foolish people who will only misuse it?
It is noteworthy that, in his prayer for the Ephesian believers, Paul again puts wisdom
first (Eph. 1: 17). "If any man lack wisdom (and we all do to some extent) let him ask of
God, that giveth to all men liberally . . . . ." (James 1: 5), so there is no excuse for any
believer to remain foolish, or to think or act foolishly. This only hinders the Truth, and
lets the Lord down before an unbelieving world.