Two words ‘varieties’ and ‘same’
appear three times each in verses 4-6. This is to indicate that in the
fellowship there will be varieties but they all come from one divine source. This
suggests that for unity to be experienced there is no necessity for conformity.
Paul mentions each member of the Trinity: Spirit, Lord (Jesus) and God specifically
to show that there is perfect unity in the Trinity although each member has a
different function.
What did Paul mean by the
words: spiritual, ministries and effects? The word ‘spiritual’ in verse 4 means God’s grace, so it is taken to mean
gifts of grace. The word ‘ministries’
in verse 5 refers to needs that people do have that require assistance. And the
Lord Jesus is the supplier of the capability to enable us to meet the different
needs. And the word ‘effect’ in verse
6 comes from a word that means energies. God would supply this energy for us to
be effective.
To sum up what Paul had
said: conformity in the body is not required in order for believers to have meaningful
relationship with one another. In fact it is better to have varieties, as it
would supplement and complement what others in the body may lack.
The purpose of having varieties
of gifts is explained in verse 7. Paul said it is for the common good of the
fellowship. Each member of the body may have some manifestation of the Spirit that
may be different from the others but there is only one objective. It is to benefit
and profit the whole body. A gift given by God is not to highlight the
capability of a person, but to be used for the advancement of someone else.
In verses 8-11 Paul gives us
a list of gifts. In verses 28-30, Romans 12:3-8, and Ephesians 4:7-11 Paul had
other lists as well. By these we are reminded that the list of gifts here is
not exhaustive. Here Paul did not tell us whether the gifts were permanent or
temporary or whether which gift was more superior and which one inferior. He
merely shows us nine gifts. They are: (1) word of wisdom; (2) word of knowledge;
(3) faith; (4) gifts of healing; (5) effecting of miracles; (6) prophecy; (7) distinguishing
of spirits; (8) various kinds of tongues; (9) Interpretation of tongues. Paul
made it explicitly clear that though these gifts may be different, they are the
result of the Spirit working and distributing to each person according to His
will. Gifts are given not self-generated.
All of us within the believers’ community have gifts
that the Spirit has given to each of us. Individually our gifts may be different
from another person. We need to be reminded that no one has all the gifts. No
one can claim that he or she has no gift. The passage is clear, we each have a
cluster, especially when we are gathered to honor Jesus our Lord. More
importantly however, let us be clear that gifts are given to help others not to
highlight the person.
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