We are currently discussing the promise of healing in the New Covenant. If, in fact, healing is promised in the covenant we have through Christ and he purchased healing for us as well as the forgiveness of our sins through his suffering, then healing and divine health are available and desirable for every believer. It is part of our inheritance in Christ so that we should believe as easily for healing as we do for forgiveness.

To underline this covenant aspect of healing, we need to look a little further into the past to see if health and healing were typically part of God’s covenants before the cross. When we look at the beginning of all things, health was obviously God’s will in the Garden of Eden. No one would suggest that illness or infirmity existed in the Garden. As long as Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Life, they would live and apparently not be subject to disease or infirmity of any kind. I would say that disease did not exist in the Garden environment any more than it exists in heaven so that, in many ways, it was never to be part of the equation of life.

Many believers today hold the position that God is not willing to heal everyone because sickness or infirmity often draws people closer to God. They hold a theology that asserts that suffering often purifies us and makes us more spiritual. They say that when people suffer and maintain their faith, God is glorified. Since suffering draws us closer to God and often glorifies him, it is, therefore, God’s will for some believers to be sick or blind or paralyzed.   They would suggest that God sends disease and infirmity to make us better Christians. In that case, why did God not create Adam and Eve with some disabilities or cause them to suffer from some exotic disease in the Garden to mature them spiritually?Why do we never see Jesus laying hands on some person in order to impart disease so that the man or woman could draw closer to God or become more spiritually mature?

I am not saying that God can’t use suffering to mature us, but that is a different thing from wanting us to be sick or willing us to be sick. We must also acknowledge that sickness has often been part of some judgment that has come on God’s people when they have forsaken him. However, it was never what God wanted for his people and repentance brought healing or the cessation of some plague. God never sent disease, tragedy, or war on his people when they were serving him in order to upgrade their spirituality. In the Garden, health was his desire for his people.

Now, let’s go to the other end of the timeline. In John’s vision of the end, he sees a river of water flowing out to the nations from the throne of God. He says, “On each side of the river stood the Tree of Life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the trees are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse” (Rev.22:2-3). In the beginning, God provided a Tree of Life to keep his people walking in divine health and at the end of time he does the same. My point is that God’s perfect will for his people is health. How many of us would believe that heaven is full of disease and paralyzed people? The very idea seems like a contradiction. Why? Because we know that disease and infirmity is not a blessing and that God does not want illness, birth defects, or disabilities for his children. Can he use it? Yes. Does he want it? No. Not only that, but we are to pray for his will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. Since there is no illness in heaven, we are to pray against illness here.

When we look at the patriarchs, we see them sick and infirm at the end of their days, when they are greatly advanced in age, but never get a sense of them struggling with illness or infirmity before their appointed days had been fulfilled. Part of God’s blessing was health along with a fullness of days.

The fact that God’s blessings do not include illness or infirmity is very apparent in the covenant he made with Israel. To Moses, the Lord declared, “Worship the Lord your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you, and none will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will give you a full life span” (Ex.23”25-26).

A consistent expression of God’s love for his people has always been health. In another place he says, “If you pay attention to these laws and are careful to follow them, then the Lord your God will keep his covenant of love with you, as he swore to your forefathers. He will love you and bless you and increase your numbers. He will bless the fruit of your womb, the crops of your land—your grain, new wine and oil—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks in the land that he swore to your forefathers to give you. You will be blessed more than any other people; none of your men or women will be childless, nor any of your livestock without young. The Lord will keep you free from every disease” (Dt.7:12-15).      In fact, God reveals that it is his very nature to heal those he loves. He said, “If you listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, who heals you” (Ex.15:26).

God’s blessings always include health. The curse of sin is alienation from God, eternal suffering, and disease and infirmity if anyone is not delivered from the curse by the blood of Jesus. When Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil they became subject to death and those things that produce death. They were removed from the Garden of Eden so that they could no longer eat of the Tree of Life and walk in perpetual health. Sin changed all of that. As sin impacted the soul, illness impacted the body. Disease is a manifestation of sin in the human race.

Sin and a fallen nature became a gateway to disease and infirmity. It became the natural state of man….unless man entered into a covenant with God in which he promised to take away sickness and infirmity as part of his covenant blessings for his people. Under the Old Covenant, the presence of plague or disease that was not was not being healed, were both signs of rebellion and disobedience and a call to repentance. When repentance came from the heart, however, both forgiveness and healing followed. If that was true under the Old Covenant, how much more should it be true under a better covenant? If that was true under a covenant where the blood of bulls and goats opened the door to healing, how much wider should the door be under the blood of the Lamb?

More in my next blog about the healing found in the New Covenant.

One of the spiritual gifts I pray for often, or at least for an increase in the gift, is the gift of healing and the associated gift of miracles. There is much I don’t understand about healing but I am learning more and know that there will always be some mystery attached to the supernatural. If we are going to operate in the supernatural, we will have to be at peace with not knowing or understanding everything. I also know this: to move ahead in spiritual things we need to stand on what we do know rather than teetering on what we don’t know.

There is an older book by F.F. Bosworth entitled Christ the Healer that I would recommend to anyone who wants to increase their faith in God’s healing for today. I like Bosworth’s approach to the subject because he doesn’t appeal to experience for faith in healing but appeals to the Word of God. His position is that healing has always been a benefit of any covenant God has established with his people and once we are convinced of that by scripture, we will have faith for healing since faith comes by hearing the word.

Let me quote a few lines from Bosworth in regard to this position. I think it is compelling and helpful.

Is it still the will of God, as in the past, to heal all who have need of healing and to fulfill their number of days? The greatest barrier to the faith of many seeking bodily healing in our day is the uncertainty in their minds as to it being the will of God to heal all. Nearly everyone knows that God does heal some, but there is much in modern theology that keeps people from knowing what the Bible clearly teaches – that healing is provided for all. It is impossible to boldly claim, by faith, a blessing that we are not sure God offers.

The power of God can be claimed only when the will of God is known….Faith begins where the will of God is known. If it is God’s will to heal only some of those who need healing, then none have any basis for faith unless they have some special revelation that they are among the favored ones. Faith must rest on the will of God alone, not on our desires or wishes. Appropriating faith is not believing that God can, but that God will. Because of not knowing it to be a redemptive privilege for all, most of those in our day, when seeking healing, add to their petition the phrase, “If it be thy will.” (p.49-40).

Once we accept the position that we cannot have faith for what God does not promise all of his people, we are then compelled to dig through the Word to see if those promises are truly there for all of God’s people and, especially, for us. So, I want to begin that search in this blog and then continue it for another blog or two so that you may have a stronger foundation on which to stand if you are trying to believe God for healing.

Let me raise this question: What if healing is as much a promise of the gospel as the forgiveness of sins? When Jesus established “the Lord’s supper,” he offered two parts. One is found in the cup, which represents his blood. The blood of Christ brings forgiveness. The writer of Hebrews makes this point when he says, “In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Heb.9:22). At the first Passover, it was the blood of the lamb that was placed on the doors that released them from the judgment of God. So…the cup in communion represents his shed blood and that is what brings forgiveness of sins. So what is the bread for? What does the body of Christ, broken for us, bring to the table if the forgiveness of sins is already provided by the blood? Peter says, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed” (1 Pet. 2:24 ). Jesus incurred wounds in his body that was broken for us. Why? So that we may be healed as well as forgiven.

Many will argue that the healing Peter speaks of is spiritual healing, not physical healing. Then why did Jesus heal everyone who came to him instead of simply taking away their emotional pain? Undoubtedly, one of his major goals is to take away emotional pain from his people since both Isaiah 61 and Luke 4 tell us that he came to heal the broken-hearted. But, he also came to heal bodies in bondage to disease and infirmity. In Luke 13, a woman came to Jesus who had been crippled with a bad back for nearly twenty years. Jesus healed her on the Sabbath and as the Pharisees objected he said, “Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?” (Lk.13:16). Jesus spoke of physical infirmity as bondage and set her free. In Isaiah 61 and Luke 4, we are told that Messiah Jesus would not only came to heal broken hearts but also to set captives free.

In Psalm 103, David speaks of the benefits God provides for his people. He says, “Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits – who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases. Who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion.” (Ps.103:2-4). Now, as Christians who live under an even better Covenant than David, we easily and quickly claim that God’s forgiveness is for all, along with his love and compassion and his involvement in our lives to pull us out of any pit. So…why do we exclude from that promise that God also heals all our diseases? Didn’t Jesus do both over and over again in his ministry as he preached the Kingdom of God and then demonstrated it?

In scripture, healing is a physical manifestation of forgiveness since sickness is part of the curse of the Law for those who are unforgiven. In Exodus 23, God tells Israel that when they serve him faithfully, “I will take sickness away from your midst and the number of your days will be fulfilled” (Ex. 23:25-26). A few chapters earlier, God had already revealed himself as Jehovah Rapha, the God who heals you. (Ex.15:26). If it is the name of God to heal, then it is the nature of God to heal. Jesus came as the exact representation of the Father and demonstrated his will to both forgive and heal over and over. So…why would God withdraw that covenant benefit from those who love him today and live under a better covenant – a covenant through which he gave gifts of healing to his church?

We will pick up on that thought in Part 2 in my next blog.

The gift, the gifts, and the fruit of the Spirit seem to create confusion from time to time. What do these terms refer to?

The gift of the Spirit is spoken of in several places. One of those texts occurs in Acts 2 on the day of Pentecost. We are told, “Peter replied, ‘Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit’” (Acts 2:38). The gift of the Spirit is the Spirit himself taking up residence within each believer, quickening our spirits, teaching us, leading us, counseling us, enlightening us, and transforming us.

But in other places, the gifts of the Spirit are referred to. “God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will” (Heb.2:4). The gifts of the Spirit are the charismata or spiritual gifts discussed and listed in 1 Corinthians 12-14, Romans 12, and other texts. These are the gifts, abilities, or capacities given by the Spirit to each believer that enables him or her to be effective witnesses for Jesus. These spiritual gifts include prophecy, teaching, healings, miracles, tongues, mercy, encouragement, administration, generosity, hospitality, service, and so forth.

The fruit of the Spirit is listed by Paul in his letter to Galatia. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law” (Gal.5:22-23). These are character traits and qualities of Jesus that also belong to the Spirit. He wants to impart those qualities to God’s people. We see all of these in Jesus. The Spirit himself descended and remained on Jesus at his baptism. Then we see Jesus operating in power through healings, miracles, teaching, discernment, casting out demons, and so forth. But, we also see in him the qualities of love, joy, peace, gentleness, self-control, etc. God’s desire is for each of us to be like Jesus – filled with the Spirit, reflecting the Spirit’s character, and administering God’s grace in the form of spiritual gifts to the people whose lives we touch in his name.

In these last days, God is restoring everything to the church. The offices of apostle, prophet, evangelist, teacher, and pastor are being restored in remarkable ways. The Spirit is distributing all his gifts again in unprecedented measure and in unprecedented numbers. Legitimate, world-wide ministries of healing, prophesy, evangelism, demon-busting, miracles, raising the dead, and so forth are abounding. More than that, the gifts are being given not just to a few “leading lights” in the church or a few spiritual superstars, but are being distributed to the rank and file of God’s people. I love seeing that. It’s exciting. I want to be part of that.

It’s easy to love the gifts. Who doesn’t want a priceless prophetic word? Who doesn’t want to be able to pray over a loved one or a stranger racked with cancer and see him or her walk out of the hospital cancer free? Who doesn’t want to see angels in the sanctuary or raise a dead child at the scene of an accident and hand her back to her distraught mother? Who doesn’t want to feel the Spirit speaking through us in tongues or watch hundreds or thousands come forward in response to a gift of evangelism? Who doesn’t want to minister in music in a way that takes God’s people into the very throne room of the King?

We love the gifts, and yet the character of the Spirit is of even greater value. In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul dedicates an entire chapter to love. The chapter rests in between two chapters entirely about spiritual gifts in an effort to curtail their abuse. Paul tells us early in his letter to the church at Corinth that they lacked no spiritual gift (1 Cor.1:7). Authentic spiritual gifts were rampant there, but so was the misuse of these gifts for personal glory and status in the church. The gifts, in large part, were being exercised for personal exaltation and feelings of “super-spirituality.” A kind of spiritual pecking order was being established there. Paul corrected the situation, not by telling them to curtail the gifts, but by telling them to be motivated by love to use the gifts for the benefit of others rather than themselves. In order to emphasize the importance of the fruit of the Spirit over the gifts of the Spirit, Paul told them that the time would come when gifts would cease to operate but that faith, hope, and love – the fruit of the Spirit – would always remain.

Sometimes men and women are given impressive spiritual gifts. At the same time, they are expected to grow in the fruit of the Spirit because only when the gifts are directed by the character of Jesus in our hearts, will they bear the true and lasting fruit that Jesus desires. Not all of them live up to that expectation. History records a number of men who moved in the power of the Spirit in remarkable ways but whose ministries and lives came to miserable ends because they allowed their gifts to run ahead of their character. They became proud and arrogant and even immoral, believing that their gifts demonstrated God’s approval of their actions. Speaking to the church at Corinth that was abounding with impressive spiritual gifts, Paul said, “But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?” (1 Cor.3:1-3).

Operating in spiritual power without spiritual maturity is like a sixteen year old being given a shiny new Lamborghini with a top speed of 201 miles per hour. The combination of the two represents lots of possibilities – most of them disastrous. As we love the gifts that are being liberally distributed by the Spirit, we should remember to love the giver more than the gifts and to seek character ahead of power and influence. Even with amazing gifts of preaching, healing, prophecy and so on, the rule still applies that God exalts the humble and humbles those who exalt themselves.

In the Kingdom, greater gifts are always given to the man who has been a good steward of the gifts already entrusted to him.   According to Paul, good stewardship of anything is not so much about ability as it is diligence, faith, faithfulness, and love. As you pray for the gifts (and you should), be sure to pray first for the fruit of the Spirit that will make you an effective steward of what God entrusts to you. Simon the Sorcerer saw the gifts of the apostles and became enamored with them (Acts 8).   He was so affected by the miracles he saw that he wanted to buy them. Peter rebuked him strongly and told him that his heart was captive to sin. In these days of increasing miracles, we would be wise to guard our own hearts in this matter. Paul instructs us to earnestly desire spiritual gifts. We should do so, but always with a heart for blessing others and glorifying God rather than feeling the rush of the gift or glorifying ourselves. May we have wisdom to always place his presence and his character before his gifts. Blessings in Him.

When I came to you brothers…My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power. 1 Corinthians 2:1, 4-5

I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. For in him you have been enriched in every way—in all your speaking and in all your knowledge— because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you. Therefore, you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 1 Corinthians 1:4-7

When Paul arrived at Corinth, he arrived feeling defeated. He had just come from Athens where he had gathered with the cream of the Greek philosophers and had offered his best arguments on behalf of Christ. Paul was a brilliant man who had studied at the feet of Rabbi Gamaliel and had undoubtedly memorized most of the Old Testament and studied its theology thoroughly along with a critique of Greek intellectualism. Now he was presenting sound, intellectual arguments for Christ. For the most part, the philosophers of Athens thought the beliefs he presented were strange and foolish. To his dismay, only a few responded. By the time Paul arrived at Corinth – a center of commerce and pagan religion – he had reconsidered his strategy.

You will notice that he no longer wanted the faith of believers to rest on the wisdom of men, but rather on the power of the Holy Spirit. There is an old saying that goes, “A man with an experience is never at the mercy of a man with an argument.” If my faith is based on information only, then more information or contrary information can turn my thinking, introduce doubt, and undermine my faith. That is what happens to many Christian college students who have grown up being taught the basic truths of the faith without any significant experience with Jesus. When they arrive in a university classroom with a professor who throws out well-articulated arguments for atheism and quotes numerous “unverified facts” in contradiction to the Bible, these students become victims of men’s wisdom – their own and the professor’s.

In any number of American churches, the underlying theology of their leadership is that spiritual experiences cannot be trusted. Spiritual experiences, they say, open the door to demonic deception. Therefore, an intellectual approach to faith is best. However, the New Testament record seems to speak against that approach.

Imagine, any first century Christian trying to convert Saul of Tarsus with “better arguments” from the Torah. If that had been the best approach to Saul’s conversion, God would have sent a man like Apollos, a brilliant believer from Alexandria who was a powerful teacher of biblical truth. God, however, had something else in mind. He arranged an experience with Jesus on the road to Damascus, three days of blindness, and a moment of healing at the hands of a believer whom Paul would have arrested 72 hours earlier. An experience, rather than arguments brought Saul of Tarsus into the fold.

Then there was Peter. If you read all the gospel accounts of Jesus calling the twelve, you will sense that Peter had heard Jesus preach on several occasions. In fact, in Luke 5, Jesus had just preached a sermon from Peter’s boat when he coaxed Peter to put out into deeper water and let down his nets after a long night of fruitless fishing. When the nets were filled to the breaking point with fish, Peter fell on his knees and proclaimed, “Go away from me Lord, I am a sinful man.” After that, Jesus told Peter he would teach him to catch men and Peter left all that he had to follow Jesus. An experience with Jesus was needed, even after the sermon, to get Peter to fully surrender his life to Jesus. Later, it took a rooftop vision and witnessing the Holy Spirit falling on the household of Cornelius (Acts 10) for Peter to be convinced that Gentiles had been accepted into the kingdom.

Mary Magdalene was one of the faithful followers of Jesus in his early ministry. We are told that Jesus cast seven demons out of her. I am persuaded that the experience of deliverance and the ensuing freedom she felt was what compelled her to follow Jesus. We could go on and on. I’m not saying that preaching and teaching are not important. They are essential. Both provide the framework for understanding God and understanding our experiences with God. Experiences, however, also help us to understand the scriptures in a deeper way Experience is what solidifies what has been learned, so that man’s arguments cannot shake the faith of those who follow Jesus. There are two primary words for knowledge or for knowing in Greek. One means to have information about or to know about something or someone. The other means to have experiential knowledge of something or someone. The one used most often regarding our knowledge of the Father denotes experiential knowledge.

Notice what Paul wrote to the church at Corinth. He said that his preaching or testimony about Christ had been confirmed in them so that they lacked no spiritual gifts. The implication is that the spiritual gifts experienced by the church at Corinth had confirmed who Jesus was for them and had confirmed the presence of God’s Spirit in them.

It’s one thing to be told that the Spirit of Christ now lives in you because you have believed in Jesus. It’s another thing to begin to operate in healing, deliverance, prophecy, words of knowledge, teaching, encouragement, speaking in tongues, etc.  The experience of doing something that you know you could not do without the Spirit of God working in you, confirms your faith like nothing else. It also confirms the faith of those to whom you minister. Paul was very clear that spiritual gifts are given to build up the body of Christ and he urged those at Corinth to eagerly desire those gifts.

Churches that distrust the exercise of spiritual gifts deny their people many experiences that would build faith and intimacy with Jesus. When believers are not hungry for spiritual gifts they deny the body of Christ the strength and life that their gifts would lend to the church. A great number of churches today would not miss a beat in their ministries and worship if the Holy Spirit withdrew tomorrow because they operate in their own gifts, strength, and talents rather than in the gifts of the Spirit.

Of course, many churches will affirm that they believe in spiritual gifts, but they actually believe in only a partial inventory of the gifts. Mercy, encouragement, hospitality, administration, creative gifts and so forth all seem safe enough and carry little risk in their exercise. Those gifts are welcome and have little spiritual aura around them. Healing, prophecy, deliverance, words of knowledge, miracles, and tongues are not so safe and are usually rejected as gifts that “no longer operate” and, yet, those are the very gifts that demonstrate the presence of the Spirit in the most indisputable ways.

I served in churches for many years that limited the current ministry of the Holy Spirit and I have served the last 13 years in churches that pursue and value every gift. Where the gifts operate life happens more abundantly, extreme life change is the norm rather than the exception, and faith grows with every miracle. Paul understood the principle and he would want us to understand that principle as well. “Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts…” (1 Cor.14:1).

Last night, in a study I was leading about demonic spirits and deliverance, a standard question came up. I think it’s a good question and one that comes up frequently. I didn’t have time last night to answer it adequately, so I thought I would try to do a better job in a this and one more blog. The question was, “Why do most churches avoid teaching about demons and deliverance today when demons and deliverance are so prevalent in the pages of the New Testament?”

The answer to this question goes beyond discussions of demons and deliverance to the very heart of any supernatural or miraculous events in the Bible…including the resurrection. The 18^th century ushered in what has been labeled, The Age of Reason. Much had happened in previous decades to upset the established order of Western Europe. Abuses in the Catholic Church had prompted Martin Luther to protest and the ensuing Protestant Reformation undermined the dogma and political hold of the Catholic Church. As the Catholic Church came under fire, so did the biblical theology on which Rome stood. What was dangerous to question before, was suddenly fair game for European intellectuals. Not only was the Catholic interpretation of scripture challenged, but scripture itself became a target.

At the same time, science and medicine were making great strides.
Reason and logical deduction became the new bywords of “modern society.” In the cultural atmosphere of Western Europe and the United States, science and reason became the new gods. In the context of “the Age of Reason,” science and medicine became the proclaimed hope of mankind.

This 18^th century perspective invaded universities and the schools of theology within those universities. Suddenly, the scientific method was deemed the only valid way to discover truth. Reality only consisted of those things that could be observed, measured, and reproduced in a laboratory. Undoubtedly, there had been some dark days of superstition and inquisition in the centuries before the Age of Reason, but, instead of the pendulum swinging to a balanced middle position, it swung to the far side and a movement began to deny not only Biblical revelation as a source of truth, but also to deny the existence of God altogether.

The big fizz about Darwin’s theory of evolution was that if offered a natural mechanism that seemed to make God unnecessary.  Of course, the fossil record and numerous other scientific discoveries have left the theory untenable, but even the brightest minds of today doggedly hold on to it as a way to deny God and any personal accountability to a God. The intellectuals of the 18^th century, including theologians in major universities, began to “reason away” the supernatural aspects of our faith as events recorded through the lens of superstitious and backward people. Many began a movement to “demythologize” the scriptures and give naturalistic explanations to the miracles recorded in God’s word. Miracles simply weren’t scientific.

That thinking affected even Bible believing Christians and preachers who were not willing to throw out the miracles of the Bible but found an intellectually respectable middle ground. Their position was that the miraculous accounts of scripture were indeed true, but were limited to “Bible times.” Their view was that although God intervened in the lives of his people in miraculous ways throughout the Bible, he curtailed those supernatural activities somewhere around the end of the first century and has not been in the miracle business since. In today’s world, God still acts on behalf of his people, but only through natural means. This position is called cessationism and is the most prevalent view in American churches today.

This view is based on the assumption that the only reason Jesus and the apostles performed miracles was to validate who they were: Jesus as the Son of God and the apostles as his inspired representatives. Once the New Testament church was established and the Bible was completed and confirmed through first-century miracles, there was no longer any need for such supernatural events and, therefore, God has only worked through natural means for the past 2000 years. Any claim to the contrary, they say, is misguided at best and heretical or deceptive in worst cases.

As a result, when churches pray for the sick today, they rarely pray for supernatural healing but rather for God to guide the doctor’s hands. When a person is tormented by mental or emotional anguish, the church does not consider demonic affliction but simply turns God’s people over to the medical community (many of whom are unbelievers) and over to medications. When cancer is diagnosed, our first call will likely be to M.D. Anderson rather than to the elders of the church to come and pray for healing (see James 5:14-16). You can see that in the American church, we trust God to forgive our sins but we trust science, medicine, and government for the rest.

More on this in my next blog.  

If you read this blog on a regular basis, you are probably interested in increase – more of the Spirit, greater expressions of your spiritual gifts, and more kingdom power operating in your life. All those are legitimate desires if we want them in order to be more effective in representing Jesus on the earth. If you desire an increase, then you are probably praying for the increase and pursuing it through books, conferences, and hanging around men and women who operate in the gifts you want to develop. You are probably going after impartations of the gift as well. Praying for increase tracks with Paul’s injunction to “eagerly desire spiritual gifts” (1 Cor.14:1). In order for us to receive the increase we desire, we need to make sure that we have dealt with any hindrances in our lives that may be inhibiting that increase.Let’s consider a few so that each of us can perform a spiritual CT scan to see if something needs to be dealt with.

First of all, in his extensive writings on spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians, Paul discussed the need to be motivated by love and a desire to build up the body of Christ. As you read Paul’s entire letter, it’s easy to see that the church at Corinth was extremely spiritually immature. They were exercising all the spiritual gifts in impressive ways but, apparently, the motive of many was self-serving: celebrity status, power, a sense of spiritual superiority, and so forth. Paul was quick to condemn any sense of spiritual elitism in the church or self-promotion, along with divisions and confusion in the church prompted by wrong motives in the exercise of spiritual gifts.

Spiritual gifts are to be an expression of God’s love directed toward those to whom the gift is touching. “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms” (1 Pet. 4:10). Any other motive will hinder the exercise of the gift and God will certainly hesitate to give an increase. We should check our motives from time to time. I’m not saying that we should not experience some kind of personal fulfillment through the exercise of gifts. We should and will. But if your thoughts are constantly about others admiring your for your gifts, advancing in personal influence in your church, or experiencing financial gain though your gifts, then check your heart.

A second hindrance is found in giving into the desires of the flesh and giving those desires a higher priority than the priorities of the Spirit. Paul says, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please” (Gal. 5:16-17). Since our gifts operate as an extension of the Holy Spirit, anything in us that is in opposition to the Spirit will hinder the flow of the Spirit in our lives.

Very few of us have all of our actions, thoughts, or emotions fully submitted to Jesus. We tend to be spiritually mature in some areas of our lives while still giving in to the flesh in other areas.

Some of us operate well in mercy gifts but have no boldness to confront sin or share out faith. Some of us are great intercessors but have little compassion for the poor. Some of us have great leadership qualities while harboring a secret addiction. Others of us prophesy while our eating and health habits are out of control. Others lead amazing ministries in their church while their marriage is rotting at home. You get the picture.

Without condemning ourselves, we need to acknowledge areas of our lives in which we are not walking by the Spirit. Paul clearly says that if we walk by the Spirit we will not carry out the desire of the flesh. He doesn’t say that our fleshly desires will disappear, we just won’t give into them and their attraction will diminish overtime if our desires for the things of heaven are greater than the promptings of our flesh.

In order to surrender an unsubmitted part of our life to the Spirit, we need to acknowledge it first. The truth is that some of us are unaware of our unsubmitted parts or rationalize them as being spiritual in some way. A rude and critical person may frame those qualities as being honest and transparent. A stingy person may call his lack of generosity good stewardship of his God-given finances. A judgmental person may define that judgment as a “gift of discernment.” We can all have blind spots. David knew that so he prayed, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Ps.139:23-24) Ask God to show you any unsubmitted areas and ask your friends or spouse to tell you kindly, but honestly, what they see.

Once we have discovered an area of our life that is out of step with the Spirit, then we should search to see what the Word says about our thoughts or behaviors and then repent. Having done that we need to make transformation in that part of our life a point of prayer until we know we have matured in that area. Asking a few close friends to hold us accountable for change is typically needed as well.

A third step is to check to see if some demonic influence is keeping us out of step with the Spirit and, in doing so, limiting the increase we desire. Satan certainly doesn’t want you to have more of the Spirit, be more effective with your gifts, or walk in greater spiritual power. Many of us believe that if we are in church, serving in ministries, and even serving as leaders in the kingdom, we could not possibly be under the influence of a demon.

My experience is that leaders and spiritually gifted people are often under the influence of a spirit that has subtly gained entrance through the years and that is manifesting in subtle ways. A spirit of heaviness may simply be written off as stress and fatigue – for the last eighteen months. Many leaders struggle with discouragement, frustration, anger, nagging jealousies, lust, love for money, loneliness, condemnation, and so forth. A demonic spirit may well be the source. A wise believer and a mature believer, from time to time, should have someone who is experienced in deliverance check out the possibility that a spirit is hindering his/her walk.

As we seek more, we should be wise enough to stop occasionally to determine whether there may be something in our lives that is inhibiting the increase. A hunger for more is a positive spiritual quality but it is not the only condition for receiving more. Perfection is certainly not required but ignoring glaring issues in our lives is not the way to increase. There may be something we need to submit to Jesus before we can be good stewards of more gifts or greater anointing. Blessings in Him.

They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. Isaiah 61:3

In Isaiah’s prophecy regarding the Messiah, he refers to the people Jesus would someday heal and set free as mean and women who become “oaks of righteousness.” The figure brings to mind tall, powerful, and stately oaks that stand the test of time and withstand the strongest storms.   We all want to be that kind of believer.

This morning, in a men’s group I am part of, we began to discuss the concept of spiritual fruit in the kingdom and how certain trees and vines grow to produce more fruit. One of our men, who owns and operates his own landscape business, told us that certain trees, after germination, grow root systems for up to two years before the trunk begins to appear above the ground. Nutrients and stability come from the root system and without strength there, the tree will eventually fail. As a result, the tree gives all of its energy to growing down before it gives energy to growing up.

As a church that believes in the operation of all the spiritual gifts, it is not unusual to see new believers or believers who have just begun to experience the power of God get very excited and very focused on operating in those gifts. After all, there is nothing like being part of a miracle that God has just released into another person’s life. I think it is appropriate that new believers are hungry for the manifestations of God and want to experience more and more of his Spirit and his supernatural ways.

However, there is one caution that needs to be extended regarding the pursuit of such gifts or even the pursuit of bearing a great deal of fruit in the kingdom of God. The caution is that before we start operating abundantly in the gifts and before we start wanting to bear abundant fruit, we need to make sure that our roots go deep into the soil. Otherwise, the fruit that is produced quickly will wither just as quickly or the weight of the gifts will pull us over and uproot us in the midst of a strong storm.

In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, he was quick to point out that they operated, as a church, in all the gifts of the Spirit. In Chapters 12-14, he began to mention those gifts specifically: prophecy, healings, miracles, tongues, interpretation of tongues, words of knowledge, supernatural wisdom, and so forth. That’s pretty heady stuff for a young church.

The real problem for Corinth is stated in Chapter 3. “Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men (1 Cor.3:1-3)?

Although the church at Corinth was producing impressive fruit above ground, the root systems were still extremely shallow. The weight of their fruit or gifts was more than their foundation could support. As a result, there were jealousies, divisions, cliques, arrogance, self-promotion, and confusion in the ranks. The tree was unhealthy and beginning to topple. Ultimately, Paul pointed out in Chapter 13 that the evidence of true spirituality was not to be found first in the exercise of spiritual gifts, but in the exercise of love.

If the analogy is true, then the question becomes, how do I develop a deep root system that provides both nourishment and stability. In practical terms, digging into the Word of God each day and hearing from him is crucial. Jesus said that man does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. We need to personally dig into the Word itself, not just books by our favorite author about the Word.

Secondly, we need to be familiar with the whole counsel of God, not just one thin slice of that pie. It’s easy to get excited about prophecy, end-times, healing, leadership, worship, or any other facet of God’s word and pursue only that, listen to sermons about only that, and hang out with others who talk about only that. The problem is that we can develop tunnel vision and stay ignorant about God’s will in all the other areas of life. We can be filled with knowledge about one narrow slice of our faith and have no wisdom, perspective, or character for the remainder of our Christian living. It’s like taking tons of vitamin C but never getting adequate amounts of all the other vitamins and minerals that you need for life. Get in the Word daily, chew on it, talk about it, and ask God about it as you read through entire books discovering God’s directives for a multitude of things.

In addition, putting down roots depends on staying in one place for a while – plugging into a church, serving there, getting to know people, and letting them speak into your life. Too many believers these days shop around…for years. They are spiritual drifters who never stay anywhere long enough to develop meaningful relationships with others. John goes so far as to tell us that if we don’t love the brothers, we can’t love God. If we don’t stay put, we can’t love the brothers – at least not in any substantial ways.

Ultimately, our roots have to go down in a relationship with Jesus. Prayer and obedience facilitate that relationship. Regular times in prayer, praise, and doing what he directs us to do – being doers of the word and not hearers only – deepens that relationship so that when the wind blows, we stand on solid ground rather than shifting sands.

My point in all this is to encourage you to seek the gifts but even more than that and before that, seek to be rooted deeply in the whole counsel of God and in a relationship to Jesus. I am convinced that God is even more concerned about the character and heart of Christ being formed in us than he is in us doing miracles in his name. There is no doubt that God desires fruit, but years of fruit bearing is only possible if your roots grow deep. Be blessed today and put energy into going deeper even before growing taller.

I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. For in him you have been enriched in every way—in all your speaking and in all your knowledge—because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you. Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. (1 Cor.1:4-7)

In his first letter to the church at Corinth, the apostle Paul finds himself writing to a rapidly growing church, but one that is lacking in spiritual maturity. In the beginning paragraphs of his letter, he reminds them of his time with them and how they came to know Jesus. As he does so, he also affirms the work and presence of God in the church at Corinth. In the text quoted above, Paul declared that his testimony about Christ had been confirmed in the believers there. Our testimony about Christ includes who he is, what he did, and what he will do in us and through us. Remember the words of Jesus himself that those who believe on him will do even greater things than he did.

The most vulnerable Christian is the one who has an intellectual knowledge of the truths about Jesus but no personal experience with him. Paul’s testimony about Jesus was undoubtedly confirmed by the presence of faith in the church and, most likely, through life change that these believers had seen in one another. However, the confirmation that Paul points to in this context is the experience of spiritual gifts. The reality of Jesus and his Spirit living in us is often confirmed by the power of his Spirit working though us.

In several accounts of men and women coming to faith in the New Testament, the Holy Spirit “fell on” or “filled” new believers. The normative experience of many of them was the spontaneous experience of speaking in tongues or prophesying. For others it was an uncharacteristic boldness in proclaiming the gospel, the spontaneous healing of someone they just prayed for, or the experience of driving a demon out of someone who has been afflicted. All of these are manifestations of spiritual gifts. The response of the seventy-two that Jesus sent out to preach was similar. “The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (Lk.10:17-20).

Jesus had preached many sermons about the kingdom of heaven and the power of that kingdom. He had demonstrated that power through miracles on numerous occasions. He had appointed twelve to be apostles but then chose seventy-two “ordinary” followers and sent them out to do what he had been doing. Imagine being one of those seventy-two who suddenly was given a directive by the Lord to go preach and to do what he had been doing – all by yourself. It would be one thing to believe that Jesus was uniquely anointed by the Father for such things; it would be quite another thing to believe that you, an ordinary follower full of questions and imperfections, could ever do the same. And yet, Jesus’ own testimony about himself was that the Father had given him authority to both exercise personally and delegate to others. I have no doubt that when those seventy-two walked away from Jesus, many carried doubt that what he had commanded them to do could be done.

And yet, they still went out with imperfect faith and risked doing what they had seen him do. I’m sure they tried to recall his words as some formula for healing or casting out a demon. I’m sure that was their initial approach because we all do the same thing as we make our first attempts at healing, deliverance, prophecy, or even evangelism. And let’s face it, we say the words more with a sense of hope than any firm expectation. And yet, Jesus came through for them. They came back rejoicing and full of faith.

In the same way, when the person standing before us is healed or set free from some spirit, something very significant happens within. Suddenly, we believe more that ever that Jesus is who he says he is, that he actually does have power and authority over the enemy, and that he is truly willing to do his supernatural work through us. At that moment, a bit of hope begins to turn into a firm expectation because the testimony we had heard many times about Jesus is suddenly confirmed through a personal experience not just an intellectual position.

In Acts 17, Paul tried the intellectual approach in Athens. He stood on Mars Hill and offered his best intellectual explanations of the gospel and the resurrection of Jesus. At the end of the day, we are told that a few men believed. His next evangelistic effort was at Corinth. Between Athens and Corinth he decided on a very different approach to evangelism. He decided that he would dispense with great intellectual arguments and oratory. He would simply preach the gospel and then demonstrate it.

After preaching, he apparently did what Jesus had always done. He talked about God’s love in Christ and the power of the cross and then confirmed his sermon by healing the sick, cleansing the lepers, raising the dead, and casting out unclean spirits. He wasn’t just showing off or validating his apostleship, he was touching hurting people with God’s love and power. Many who had been touched by a spiritual gift received their own and through their gifts they confirmed who Jesus was for others and continued to confirm who he was for themselves. Experience is a powerful teacher.

I used to get in a hurry when I was attempting some do-it-yourself projects around the house. One night, I hurriedly and carelessly pulled a power miter saw down on my thumb. Now, if I ever get in a hurry or begin to act carelessly around a power tool that experience comes to mind and I quickly repent. I knew all the intellectual arguments for taking my time and making safety a priority. I had read the manuals and watched the DIY programs on television religiously. However, I still ignored those commandments. On the other hand, one brief, personal experience made me a lifetime believer who now rarely wanders from the truth about power miter saws. Experiences with Jesus, through the exercise of spiritual gifts, can have the same powerful effect on our belief.

In churches, where spiritual gifts are denied or minimized, faith tends to be an intellectual exercise. The testimony about Jesus will stand until a more persuasive argument against Jesus is offered or until something happens that doesn’t fit into the “crafted” understanding a person has of Jesus. I think that crisis of faith occurs for many young believers who lose their faith in college. What they were taught at home seems to be trumped by more persuasive arguments offered by impressive, unbelieving professors at the university. One intellectual argument falls to another.

However, if that same student was ever miraculously healed by Jesus, saw his mother’s cancer disappear at a prayer meeting, or his father’s drunken rage turn to love and gentleness, an intellectual argument may challenge him but will not destroy his faith because he has experienced the reality of Jesus, not just heard about it. I’m certain that no intellectual argument about the scriptures would have ever swayed Saul of Tarsus, but a supernatural experience with Jesus changed everything in a matter of minutes.

In spite of the biblical model, many churches still push back against teachings that the Holy Spirit still gives supernatural gifts that often are expressions of power – healing, deliverance, prophetic words, words of knowledge, wisdom, tongues, and so forth. When questioned, they will quickly point to the abuse of such gifts or the potential of deception in the exercise of those gifts. In his letter to the church at Corinth, Paul acknowledged that some abuse and deception was being practiced in the church there. However, rather than shutting down the exercise of such gifts or denying their validity, he taught them the mature exercise of such gifts and instructed them to pray for even more.

The very nature of Christ is expressed through spiritual gifts so that who he is and what he promises is confirmed through those gifts. To deny them or minimize them robs the church of that confirmation through personal, life-changing experiences with Jesus. It prevents unbelievers from having those personal encounters as well. In I Corinthians 12-14, Paul tells the church three times to eagerly or earnestly desire spiritual gifts. It seems that we should also eagerly desire the gifts since they build up the church and strengthen our faith and relationship with Jesus as well. If you hunger for a spiritual gift – go for it. Ask the Father for it. He loves to give good gifts to his children!

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.          For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. (1 Cor.13:8-13)

The text above is the second half of the discussion on love that Paul sandwiched between his two chapters on spiritual gifts. In my last blog we discussed the need for all gifts to be governed and motivated by love. What is interesting is that this section is also a key passage that “cessationist theologians” use to demonstrate that miraculous gifts no longer operate. I thought it might bed helpful to discuss these verses in light of the question, “Do the supernatural gifts of the Spirit still operate?”

Many churches in the western world teach or operate on the assumption that God no longer intervenes in the world in miraculous ways as he once did. Their argument is that Jesus performed miracles in order to validate his claims to be the Messiah, the Son of God. The apostles exercised miraculous gifts in order to validate their leadership, their authority, and their writings as being inspired and established by God.

The argument continues that once Jesus had performed enough miraculous signs to validate his position as Son of God and once the apostles had demonstrated their God-ordained apostleship which was validated by their miracles, there was no further need for miracles. In this view the sole function of miracles was to validate Jesus and the apostles or to provide direction (prophecy, words of knowledge, etc.,) until the New Testament was penned. Once validated and the New Testament was delivered, there was no further need for the miracles and so they ceased when all the apostles had died.

Jesus did say that his works validated his claims but in many settings, scripture says that he was moved by compassion to heal and deliver rather than a need to be validated. He often told many he healed to tell no one what he had done. If God no longer acts through miracles on behalf of his people, does that mean he is no longer is moved with compassion? Additionally, several books in the New Testament were written by men who were not apostles (Luke, Acts, James, Hebrews, for instance) and, as far as we know, performed no miracles. Does that mean their writings are subject to question? Many individuals in the New Testament who were also non-apostles and who wrote none of the New Testament performed miracles. If miracles were only for validation of Christ and the apostles why did these others operate in miraculous gifts?

As textual proof, those who hold that view offer the verse above that states, “But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.” The Greek word that is translated as “perfection” or “that which is perfect” is teleion. The word can mean “complete” so the idea is that when the inspired writings of the New Testament were completed and verified by the past miracles of those who wrote the New Testament, the miraculous gifts of the Spirit would cease.

They go on to argue that the so-called miraculous gifts of the Spirit today, do not meet the Biblical standards of miracles, so they are invalid. The biblical standards they offer are prophecies in which every word is proven true and healing gifts through which every person is healed. Since not all prophetic words today come to pass as spoken and since not all are healed, they declare that current “miracles” are psychosomatic emotionalism, at best, and satanic deception in other cases.

Let me respond to those claims. First of all, the word “teleion” typically means complete in the sense of mature, especially spiritually mature. Strong defines it as, “ a state of ideal wholeness or completion, in which any disabilities, shortcomings or defects that may have existed before have been eliminated or left behind. In secular Greek teleios means also: (i) adult, full-grown, as opposed to immature and infantile.” Paul often speaks of believers growing up into the fullness of Jesus – full in the sense of his spiritual maturity and holiness. 1 Corinthians 13, is an entire chapter that sets the standard for full maturity as love and a life that is expressed through love for God and others.

When “perfection comes” is most likely alluding to the coming of Jesus, who is spiritual maturity incarnate, or is talking about the time when our love will be perfected – when Jesus comes. Paul’s argument, in the context of 1 Corinthians, is that the believer’s goal should not be to surpass others in miraculous works and power but to surpass them in love.

He rests his argument on the idea that the spiritual gifts of the church are good, needful, and desirable, but not eternal. When Jesus establishes the fullness of his kingdom, miraculous gifts will not be needed. Gifts of healing will not be needed where no sickness exists. Deliverance will not be needed where no demons are present. Prophecies will not be needed, as God himself will be present to declare his word, and so forth. In eternity, love, not spiritual gifts, will define the kingdom.

Up to this point, the completion of the New Testament has obviously not yet provided everything the church needs to be spiritually mature or victorious. The power of the Holy Spirit along with divine weapons are still needed in a hostile world. The supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit are part of that heavenly arsenal.

The argument that the present day offering of miracles and healings does not meet biblical standards is also addressed in Paul’s three chapters on spiritual gifts in this letter. Gifts of prophecy are not the same as the office of prophet (Eph.4:11ff). Spiritual gifts under the new covenant are capacities that often begin as seeds and then grow to maturity. In the process, not every person with a gift of prophecy will hear God accurately or fully in the beginning. That is why Paul instructs the church to “weigh carefully” what has just been prophesied (1 Cor.14:29). He is not calling them to constantly be on the hunt for false prophets but to evaluate prophecies because there is room for error. Those who mature in prophecy and that may have an extraordinary anointing in the gift may then fill the office of a prophet and the standards for his accuracy will be higher.

The same is true in healings and deliverance. Not everyone is healed or delivered. Some of Jesus’ own disciples were not able to cast out a demon in Mark’s gospel (Mk.9:18). Paul spoke of some who were close to him who were dealing with sicknesses that apparently he had not been able to heal. Since spiritual gifts are for both the mature and immature and because they must be developed, a standard of perfection is unbiblical and does not invalidate the gifts.

Not only that, but cessationist churches take the text from I Corinthians that says tongues, prophecies, and knowledge will cease and extrapolate that to all miraculous gifts. Even if “that which is perfect” were the completed New Testament (which I do not believe it is), the apostle did not list healings, words of knowledge, miracles, and so forth as gifts that would cease. To take a few gifts as representative of all the gifts also would also eliminate gifts such as teaching, encouragement, mercy, hospitality, generosity, and so forth. The New Testament does not differentiate between those spiritual gifts and tongues, prophecy, etc. Each are supernatural gifts given by the Spirit to build up the body of Christ. To cherry-pick the gifts we are comfortable with and deny those that make us uncomfortable seems to lack integrity.

We still live under the New Covenant and part of that covenant is the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives and the release of spiritual gifts to the body. That covenant has not changed and has not been diminished. Every spiritual gift listed in the New Testament is still available to be distributed by the Holy Spirit as he determines. Even gifts not listed (worship, creativity, writing, etc.) are evidently given and anointed by the Spirit. The key is to desire the gifts out of a hunger to exercise them as an expression of God’s love and compassion to others. When we operate out of love, God will gladly give us his gifts and give us even more as we continue to love. When all is said and done, faith, hope, and love will remain but the greatest of those is love. Blessings in Him.

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.  For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

In the middle of the apostle Paul’s extensive discussion of spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12-14, he inserts a chapter on love. As you read the entire letter to the church at Corinth, the need for such a chapter becomes painfully obvious. The church was not a very loving church. In fact, early in the letter he scolded the believers there for being carnal or fleshly instead of spiritual. As you read through the entire letter you discover divisions in the church, jealousies, pride, quarrels, taking one another to court, open immorality, and the use of spiritual gifts for personal gratification to establish a “spiritual pecking order” within the church. The good news is that they were still loved by God and were still the church of God at Corinth. They did, however, need to grow significantly in their spiritual lives.

In this letter, we discover some very interesting realities about imperfect believers and spiritual gifts that are worth considering. First of all, spiritual giftedness is not always a sign of maturity. In the opening to his letter, Paul asserts, “You do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed” (1 Cor.1:7). In chapters 12-14 he lists a plethora of spiritual gifts including healings, miracles, tongues, prophecy, interpretation, discerning of spirits, words of knowledge, and so forth. That is an impressive list of gifts that we may assume were being exercised in the church there. And yet, Paul admonished them by saying, “Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly-mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly” (1 Cor.3:1-3). In Corinth, their “giftedness” ran far ahead of their spiritual maturity.

It makes you wonder why God would entrust such impressive spiritual gifts to the spiritually immature. I have two thoughts on that. One is that our gifts have the capacity to help us mature as we experience the Lord himself through the exercise of gifts. For instance, praying in tongues has the side effect of building us up spiritually as the Holy Spirit prays through us ( Jude 20). Prophecy is intended to build up the body of Christ and is expressed primarily to strengthen, encourage, and comfort people (1 Cor.14:3). Speaking the love and destiny of God over other people should also establish those things in our own hearts which produces spiritual growth.

Spiritual gifts are also God’s tools for building up the body of Christ, in general, so that a brand new church, planted in one of the most pagan cities in the world, would still need those gifts to grow even though there would be very few mature believers in that church. Perhaps, the immature expression of gifts is still less damaging than the absence of gifts altogether.

I also have another thought about Corinth. If you read the book of Acts, you discover that Paul experience a great disappointment in Athens just before he arrived at Corinth. He had gone to Mars Hill, the place where all the Greek and Roman philosophers gathered to discuss ideas. Paul presented his best, most rational, and most compelling arguments for the truth of the gospel. To his dismay, only a few responded. He left there feeling as if he had failed and he recalibrated his approach to evangelism.

We Paul arrived at  Corinth, he preached only Jesus Christ and him crucified and then demonstrated the kingdom through displays of the power of the Spirit. It is possible, that Paul imparted many of the gifts to a young church as a tool for evangelism only to learn another lesson about when to impart those gifts. Later, he would tell Timothy to refrain from laying hands on any man quickly (1 Tim.5:22). The idea was not to appoint a man to leadership or to impart a spiritual gift until he had a read on the man’s maturity and character.

The issue of free will always comes into play in God’s dealing with man. God gives good gifts with the opportunity to use them well, but man always has the option to use them for selfish purposes. At any rate, there were many believers at Corinth who exercised impressive gifts that were not always Spirit-led. That is why Paul told them to test all prophecies to see if they were from God (consistent with his will and confirmed by the Spirit in the hearts of other believers).

An important take away from this letter is that because some believers abuse spiritual gifts, it does not mean that the gifts are invalid or that they do not bring tremendous value to the church.

Ultimately, the safe guard against abuse is not forbidding the exercise of gifts but using them in the context of love. Spiritual gifts are an expression of God’s love for his body delivered through his people. When someone is healed by a gift of healing, it is simply God’s love being delivered through the hands or commands of one of his children. When a gift of encouragement is exercised, it is the encouragement of God flowing through a believer. When hospitality is exercised, it is God making strangers feel warm and welcome.

Every gift reflects a facet of the nature and character of God and should be governed by love. Even with the extreme abuse of spiritual gifts in Corinth, Paul did not shut down their exercise but taught them how to use the gifts as they were intended. The church should respond to any abuses or misrepresentations of spiritual gifts in the same way today. (More from I Corinthians 13 in my next blog).