1 Corinthians 12:1-3

INTRODUCTION

Jesus has made it clear that we who know God are salt and light in the world (Mt. 5:13-14). The Scripture also calls us ambassadors to the world (2 Cor. 5:20) and pilgrims in the world (1 Pet. 2:11). Paul told the Philippians that our citizenship is not here but in heaven (Phil. 3:20). And, we are sojourners in the world (1 Pet. 1:17). So, there is a purpose for our individual existence as believers in the society in which we live -- to turn men to God through Christ. We are a witnessing community -- a group of people placed in the world to draw the attention of the world to God.

A. The Consideration of Christlikeness

1. The Purpose

Perhaps the most thrilling concept of all regarding our identity is found in Ephesians 4:13: "Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." The design of the church is to be brought into Christlikeness -- till we all come to the full stature of Christ. God has given apostles, prophets, evangelists, and teaching pastors for the perfecting and the maturing of the saints for the work of the ministry that the body might be built up. The ultimate goal of the building up is that we might come to a fullness of Christlikeness.

Not only are we to be salt and light, ambassadors, and pilgrims in the world, but we are to be Christ in the world. This is a vital concept. The church is to be Christ in the world. I have chosen to call the church "Body II," and the incarnation "Body I" -- Christ in a human body. We are "Body II" -- Christ alive in the world in the church. This is a vital reality that we have to understand. The Lord Jesus wanted to remain in the world after the ascension by reproducing in us His very essence, life, personality, and character so that we might manifest Christ to the world.

2. The Plan

How has God designed us to be Christ in the world? How can we literally represent Him and manifest His character to this world?

a. Indwelling the Individual

The Bible says that He has planted within us the Spirit of Christ. Romans 8:9b says, "...Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His." But we have received the Spirit of Christ; therefore, Paul says, "The life I live is not my own, but it is Christ living in me" (Gal. 2:20). So Christ reproduces Himself in the world by living in the individual believer.

b. Indwelling the Church

Now, Christ not only indwells every individual believer, but He indwells the corporate church. Ephesians 2:22 says that the entire church is built together as a habitation for the Spirit of Christ. Christ exists, not only in the individual life of a Christian, but in the corporate life of the community of believers known as the body of Christ. He produces His character in us first by dwelling in us.

3. The Process

Ephesians 4:7-8, 11-13 contains the simplest explanation of how Christ reproduces Himself in the church. His presence is there, but His character becomes manifested in this way:

a. The Spiritual Endowment

"But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ" (Eph. 4:7). By grace Christ has given the believer certain gifts -- certain divine enablements. Not one Christian is excluded. We don't deserve it, we can't earn it, but these gifts of Christ are measured out individually and uniquely for every Christian. You say, "Why is `gift' singular if some of us have more than one?" I think the plurality of our gifts can be expressed as our single gift. My gift from God may be the gifts of preaching, teaching, and administration all combined into one gift. Sometimes you have opened one package and received three things in one box. But the design of the gift is to manifest His character. He gives us an aspect of His character.

b. The Spoils of the Cross

Verse 8 says, "Wherefore, He saith, When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men." When Christ died on the cross He gathered some spoils -- the spoils of the souls of the men and women that He won at the cross. He then gave them back to the church as gifts.

c. The Special Men

1) The Positive Result

According to verse 11 He gave the gifts of apostles, prophets, evangelists, and teaching pastors. They are the gifted men given to the church. Verse 7 says that He has already given individual gifts to the believer and it is the role of the gifted man to equip the gifted believers to use their gift. Verse 12 says that the gifted men are given for the maturing of the saints for the work of the ministry.

The Lord Jesus Christ has given every believer a gift for the purpose of manifesting Christ in the church and ultimately in the world. In order to allow us the fullest use of those gifts and to bring them to maturity, God has also given to the church the gifted men. The result is in verses 12b-13 -- the edifying of the body of Christ until the church together manifests the stature of the fullness of Christ. That is a great concept and very basic in identifying the church.

2) The Negative Response

Now, if the gifted men do not perfect the saints or the saints do not minister their gifts, the body will not be built up or manifest Christ. One of the difficulties in the church today is the fact that it is so fractured -- Christians are disobedient in the area of gifts and leaders are failing in perfecting the saints. The entire body of Christ is crippled, distorted, and confused. The world cannot see the true manifestation of Jesus Christ. The gifts are given to the church to the ultimate end that the church is built up into the fullness of the stature of Jesus Christ. Individually and corporately we should represent Christ.

B. The Characteristics of Christ

Now, all of the spiritual gifts in their fullest sense are complete in Christ. For example:

1. His Example

There is the gift of prophecy, or preaching. Did Christ preach? Yes, He was the best. There is the gift of teaching. Did Christ teach? Yes, He was the best teacher. There is the gift of showing mercy. Did Christ show mercy? Yes, magnanimously, like no other person that ever lived. There are the gifts of ruling, helps, giving, and faith, each of which has its perfect example in Jesus Christ. He gave like nobody ever gave, ruled like nobody ever ruled, and had faith in the Father like nobody has ever displayed. In other words, the spiritual gifts are characteristics of Christ that will be manifest through the body corporate as they were manifest through the body incarnate. That is the purpose of spiritual gifts.

You say, "What about the miraculous gifts?" Christ had miraculous ability as confirmation of His identity. These gifts were also given in the early years of the church to confirm the message of God. So, all of the gifts find their perfection in Christ.

2. His Enablement

Now, when we preach, teach, show mercy, help, lead, give, or have faith, we find that our gift is a supernatural activity endowed and enabled by the Spirit of God. It manifests an attribute of Christ to the building of the body. Thus Christ becomes real in the world. The gifts are not random, but they specifically find their source in God, their channel in the Spirit, and their pattern, their example, and their completeness in the person of Jesus Christ. They are essential because they manifest Christ and build up the church.

REVIEW

The amazing thing about the Corinthian church is that they had all the gifts. First Corinthians 1:7a says, "...ye come behind in no gift...." They had been endowed with all spiritual gifts, they were fully equipped for maturing, they were fully equipped for ministering, and they were fully equipped to be Christlike. Instead, there was absolute chaos. There was a failure on the part of the gifted men to mature the saints. There was a failure on the part of the saints to minister the gifts they had been given. Instead, they were being counterfeited, exploited, neglected, abused, and confused, resulting in the terrible chaos that occurred relative to spiritual gifts. Paul writes chapters 12-14 to deal with the urgent need for proper understanding and ministry of the gifts as spiritual endowments from God Himself.

Now, the Corinthian church was basically carnal and chaotic. There was little order. Every conceivable trial, turmoil, and sin was manifesting itself. They had managed to pervert the life of the church in every possible way, including spiritual gifts. Their society was drowning in the sea of mystery religions characterized by ecstasy and enthusiasm. This was a nonrational, ecstatic, orgiastic, trancelike activity that was supposedly the highest level of religious experience. As a result of this hysterical extremism, delusions regarding the true gifts had infiltrated the church at Corinth and they were now confused. Their public worship had turned into a disastrous exercise of selfishness, gluttony, drunkenness, and ecstatic, orgiastic frenzies as Satan busily counterfeited the gifts. These carnal people were left in confusion as to what was real. They had exalted the ecstatic and perverted the gift of languages. This became their major abuse.

As a result of all of this, some had written to Paul and asked him to help them to straighten out this mess. He wrote chapters 12-14 in response to the fearful marriage of the frenzy of the mystery religions with the truth of the grace gifts from the Spirit of God given to the Corinthian assembly. In chapter 12 he lays out basic theology; in chapter 13 he talks about love, the context in which all gifts operate; and in chapter 14 he directly deals with abuses. Three features are identified in Paul's basic presentation of the gifts: 1. The Importance of Spiritual Gifts, 2. The Source of Spiritual Gifts, 3. The Kinds of Spiritual Gifts. First...

I. THE IMPORTANCE OF SPIRITUAL GIFTS

A. The Concern of Paul (v. 1)

"Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant."

B. The Counterfeit of Paganism (vv. 2-3)

"Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led. Wherefore, I give you to understand that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed; and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Spirit."

These verses are tremendously critical in our understanding of the problems that were occurring in the Corinthian church and how we must deal with similar problems.

1. The Tradition (v. 2)

a. The Classification (v. 2a)

"Ye know that ye were Gentiles [heathen]..."

The word Gentile, in its technical sense, means "non-Jews." In its nontechnical sense it means "non- Christians." It can be translated "Gentile" or "heathen." A heathen is anyone who does not know God. For a comparison, 1 Thessalonians 4:5 uses the word in the same way.

b. The Characterization (v. 2b)

"...carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led."

There is a picture of a victim of a system of religion who has little or no choice regarding his involvement. He is being led and carried away to dumb idols. He is strictly a victim.

1) "...carried away..."

The phrase, "carried away" is a verb used frequently in the Bible to speak of leading a prisoner or a condemned person away to prison. In Mark 14:44 and 15:16 it is used with this meaning. In this context, the verb pictures someone caught, shackled, and dragged away to a dumb idol with no choice. The heathen are pictured not as being intelligent -- choosing freely what their mind has concluded, but they are helpless victims who know no better than to be led away by constraint to a dumb deity.

I don't think that all people realize this. One particular individual has always said to me, "I would become a Christian, but I do not want to give up my freedom. I do not want to be restricted to having to do certain things. Right now I can choose whatever I want." I am reminded of many scriptures, but of this one particularly. He is nothing but a pagan being carried away to a dumb deity. He is not free -- he is a prisoner. According to Paul in Romans 6:17 he is a slave to sin.

2) "...unto these dumb idols..."

The ungodly man is led away to worship a nongod -- a nondeity. Everyone worships somewhere. In the case of the Corinthian people, they had been led away to idolatry -- gods who were dumb idols. Paul calls them "dumb" -- dumb in the sense that they could not speak, answer, respond, give any direction or any revelation, and say anything authoritative. But that is the plight of the religious man without Christ -- he is led away to a dumb deity and never knows the true freedom and the true dignity of a son of God.

Now, this is a biblical theme that occurs over and over again. Unregenerate people are hopelessly being led away to some stupid deity.

a) 1 Corinthians 10:19-20a -- "What say I, then? That the idol is anything, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is anything? But I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons...."

b) Galatians 4:8 -- "Nevertheless then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods."

c) Ephesians 4:17-18 -- "This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart." Darkness, blindness, alienation, and dumbness characterize the worship of an unregenerate individual.

d) Titus 3:3 -- "For we ourselves also were once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another."

e) 1 Peter 4:3 -- "For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revelings, carousings, and abominable idolatries."

There is a tragic portrayal in the Scripture of an unregenerate man as being led as a victim into evil. His dumb deities can't respond, no matter how religious he might be. This is applicable to pagans around the world who do not worship the true God.

3) "...even as ye were led."

Then you say, "What is the connection with this and spiritual gifts? First he was talking about spirituals, and now he is discussing the heathen." The connection comes in the last phrase in verse 2: "...even as ye were led." The Greek verb ago implies being led away as a passive victim.

a) An Irresistible Leading

In this passage the verb has reference to an irresistible leading. The same verb appears in 2 Timothy 3:6: "For of this sort are they who creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with various lusts." It implies a leading away into sinfulness. I think this is the application of verse 2: "You were victims, you were led away by demons to worship false gods. As a result you got yourself into a pagan and ecstatic religion that is particular to your society." Paul says, "You used to worship the way the pagans do -- led away by demons to ecstasies and enthusiasm characteristic of the mystery religion. You have brought those old patterns into the church and are letting the demons invade your worship. You gave up your will to them."

b) An Indistinguishable Force

They were unable to distinguish between the usual and the unusual, between the demonic and the divine. They could not distinguish what was from God and what was from Satan. There was intrusion, there was corruption, and there was chaos. They literally confused the work of Satan for the work of the Spirit.

So Paul is saying, "The truly spiritual people are not marked by being carried away -- that is precisely the characteristic of your former kind of religion. You used to have a religion where the demons carried you away as a victim into ecstatic, orgiastic kinds of activity. That was a former religion, but you have dragged your fanatical type of religion into the church and created chaos." The truly spiritual are not marked by being swept away into trances and ecstasies and emotional frenzies.

Out of Control!

Being out of control is never the Christian's use of his gift. When someone says, "My brother, I was slain in the Spirit," I say, "You have been slain, but it's not in the Spirit." You say, "Why are they slain?" I suppose that in many cases it is the thing to do, so they do it. In other cases it maybe a hypnotic thing or a demonic thing.

The Spirit of God does not operate the gifts of the Spirit when people are out of control. That is Paul's point in 1 Corinthians 14:

Verse 15 -- "What is it, then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also; I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also." I heard an album with some singing in the Spirit, but it was just gibberish. It is fine to sing under the power of the Spirit as long as you sing with the understanding also.

Verse 33a -- "For God is not the author of confusion...."

Verse 40 -- "Let all things be done decently and in order."

The Spirit of God does not operate the gifts of God when you are out of control or under some sort of supernatural seizure. When someone goes out of control -- into a trance, faints, speaks ecstatic languages, or goes into frenzied behavior, that is never of God. They are reflecting a pagan style of religion that corrupted the Corinthian assembly, and which continues to do the same today. All spiritual gifts function in the full control and consciousness of the user.

Paul refers to the heathen ecstasies just to show how bizarre it had become and how bold the demons had become when they knew they could get away with it in the church.

2. The Tests (v. 3)

"Wherefore, I give you to understand that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed; and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Spirit."

Here Paul gives us the first principle by which we can determine the genuine spiritual gift. In light of the confusion and in light of the failure to distinguish the Holy Spirit's activity from heathen, demonic leading, Paul gives a basic test. It is both positive and negative. Let's look first at...

a. The Negative (v. 3a)

"...no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed..."

1) The Denouncement

Some people were actually standing up in the midst of the Corinthian assembly, supposedly manifesting the gifts of the Spirit, and cursing Jesus. You say, "How do you know that?" This is the very thing Paul is dealing with. It literally says: "No one speaking by the Spirit of God says, `Jesus is anathema.'"

This is beyond belief to me. If someone stood up in Grace Church and said, "I have the gift of prophecy and I would like to speak. Jesus is accursed," would you think that was of the Holy Spirit? I wouldn't have to think about it -- I know it isn't of the Holy Spirit. But the Corinthians didn't know because they had made the judgment of the value of the gift on the basis of the experience rather than the content. If it was far out, ecstatic, and supernatural, they figured it had to be the Holy Spirit. After all, it was happening in the church. Someone had actually gone so far as to literally curse Jesus and the people could not determine that it was not of the Holy Spirit. This is doubly unbelievable after their training under the Apostle Paul.

This is perhaps how the scene would look: Everyone would be doing something at the same time -- someone singing, someone speaking ecstatic speech, someone giving a prophecy, someone shouting out a word of wisdom, and someone in the middle of it all shouting, "Jesus is anathema." They had no ability to distinguish the true from the false. You say, "How could they ever believe that was of the Holy Spirit?" Let me give you a little background.

2) The Details

a) A Professing Christian

First of all, it must have been a professing Christian who said this or they never would have believed it was of the Holy Spirit. They knew that the Holy Spirit only dwelt in Christians. So, if they assumed that it was the Holy Spirit, they must have assumed this person to be a Christian. You and I would assume differently: "Here is a non-Christian." But they did not have enough sense to understand the difference or be open to it, so they figured that if he had the experience, he must be a Christian. Secondly, it definitely was...

b) A Carry-over from the Frenzy

When a person was beside himself with ecstasy, they said, "It is the Holy Spirit." Paul says, "It is not the Holy Spirit! Just because this happens in the church doesn't make it of the Spirit." But those demons had a free reign. They were actually saying in public, "Jesus is anathema," and getting away with it. That's how bad off this assembly was. Don't ever believe that because something happens in the church means it is of the Spirit. Satan spends much of his time in the church. In addition, just because someone in the church is under the control of outside forces, don't necessarily assume it is God. It could be demons. So, the state of emotion and ecstasy lies behind the cursing of Jesus. Thirdly, he could have been...

c) A Jewish Professing Christian

The word anathema is a common Greek word used in the vocabulary of a Jew to mean "devoted to destruction." In fact, it is the strongest Jewish word for "condemnation." It would be similar to one of us saying, "Jesus, be damned." You say, "Why would they say that about Jesus?" It no doubt was something that the Jew said frequently because Deuteronomy 21:23 says that whoever is hanged on a tree is accursed. Much of the Jewish criticism of Christianity might have been, "How could you claim that He was the Messiah when He was hanged on a tree. Cursed is such a one." So, it may have been a rather common statement by a Jew, "We don't accept a crucified Messiah -- He is accursed." Perhaps it was not uncommon for them to pronounce curses on Jesus. It certainly was not uncommon for the Apostle Paul, who tried to chase Christians down and make them curse Jesus (Ac. 26:11). So this may have been a Jewish person professing to be a Christian, cursing Jesus in the church, and having it accepted as from the Holy Spirit.

3) The Deception

You say, "But who would reason this way?" Let me give you the best explanation that I know. Already existing in the Corinthian assembly was a creeping heresy that became very prevalent in the New Testament era. It is the heresy that denies the deity of Jesus Christ and denies His sufficiency to save. It became known by the time of the second century as Gnosticism. This was the basic formation of it, apparently growing in the Corinthian assembly -- a nonloyalty to Jesus Christ.

Notice that it doesn't say "Christ is accursed," but "Jesus is accursed." Perhaps they were buying this heresy that separated the true Christ from the human Jesus. This was the Gnostic's view: the Christ's Spirit dwelt up in space and ruled the world. When the man Jesus (who was not the Christ) was baptized, the Christ's Spirit descended upon Him. In addition, just prior to His death, the Christ's Spirit left so that Jesus died as a cursed criminal. So, according to their view, the dying Jesus was just a man. That is why the Corinthians didn't understand that Jesus rose from the dead. Paul wrote the fifteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians to explain the resurrection. He said, "And if Christ be not risen, then...your faith is also vain" (v. 14). It is very likely that they were beginning to accept the belief that the Christ's Spirit and the human Jesus were separate. So they were cursing the human Jesus while supposedly acknowledging the glorified and divine Christ.

4) The Defense

a) The Support of Christ's Deity

First Corinthians 16:22 supports this: "If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha." You might curse Jesus, but Paul says, "If you don't acknowledge Him, curse you!" Paul is saying, "Look, you will be cursed unless you accept the Lord Jesus Christ." That is the fullness of His Deity. If you say, "Well, I accept the Christ but deny the Jesus," curse you! If you say, "I accept Jesus but deny Christ," curse you! If you say, "I accept Jesus but deny His lordship," curse you! If you say, "I accept the lordship but deny the man Jesus," curse you! The Lord Jesus Christ is the incarnate God.

b) The Significance of the Death and Resurrection

This heresy (distinguishing the historical Jesus from the Spirit of Christ) had creeped in to deny the incarnation. If the Christ left Jesus before the cross, then what is the significance of His death? There is no significance. What is the significance of His resurrection? Same thing -- no significance. That is why Paul wrote 1 Corinthians 15. You can't just have a Jesus, there has to be Christ. They were hung up on the resurrection because they believed this lie. If you have a human Jesus, then you are going to have trouble getting Him out of the grave; and if He doesn't rise, then we are all hopeless. By believing this heresy, you destroy the significance of the cross and the resurrection, as well as the deity of Christ.

c) The Simplicity of the True Christ

A few months later, Paul wrote this in 2 Corinthians 11:3: "But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his craftiness, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ." He says, "I'm afraid for you because there is a corrupting process going on in relation to your understanding of Christ." He continues, "For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him" (v. 4). He is simply saying, "Avoid falling into a trap of believing in another Jesus. Don't let anyone corrupt your mind from the simplicity that is in the true Christ." What is this simplicity? It is the single identity of the true Christ. A simple thing is something that cannot be divided. The simple thing about Christ is that He is indivisible.

So, Paul is acknowledging in 1 Corinthians that they were separating the historical Jesus from the Spirit of Christ. He says, "This heresy has been tolerated so that someone saying `Jesus is accursed,' can be accepted in your community as having a gift from the Holy Spirit."

So, the doctrinal test is the first test of a gift. If anyone ministers a gift, what do they say about Jesus? What do they say about Christ? Anyone who says that Jesus is accursed is not speaking of the Holy Spirit. The first test of the operation of any gift is its connection with the authoritative, revealed Word of God. The reason they were out of line was what they said did not agree with Scripture. When someone says, "I have a word from the Holy Spirit," if it agrees with Scripture, it isn't necessary, and if it doesn't agree, then it isn't right.

b. The Positive (v. 3b)

"...and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Spirit."

When someone comes into your midst and with all of his faculties, all of his mind, all of his heart, and all of his being, says, "Jesus is Lord," you know that is of the Holy Spirit.

1) The Commitment

Now, it isn't simply the words, it is the commitment. The word "say" does not mean "to parrot." A skeptic can say, "Jesus is Lord." You can pay a guy ten dollars to say, "Jesus is Lord." That isn't the point. No man can truly say, no man can truly confess, no man can truly acknowledge Jesus as the Lord except by the Holy Spirit. When that deep conviction of genuine understanding about who He is comes forth, it is of the Spirit. When someone curses Jesus, that is sufficient evidence that they are not of the Spirit. When somebody confesses Jesus, that is sufficient evidence that they are.

2) The Confession

It is very important that Paul says, "...that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord...." "Lord" is kurios in the Greek. It is the regular means in the New Testament for translating the tetragrammaton -- the Old Testament name for God -- Yahweh. The confession is that Jesus is God. When someone confesses that Jesus the man is in fact God, there is no separation, no Gnostic division -- that is of the Holy Spirit. That leads me to believe they were separating the human Jesus from the divine Christ. So, the Spirit- prompted confession is distinguished from the counterfeit by the acknowledgment that Jesus the man is, in fact, God.

The test of anyone's gift or the use of that gift is an accurate doctrine of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit always leads men to ascribe deity, lordship, and all- sufficiency to Christ.

Spiritual gifts are very important. They are important because verse 1 says not to be ignorant. If God feels that way -- they are important! But, they are also important because Satan is busy counterfeiting them. If they are that much of a problem to him, then they must be important. My dad always used to say, "People don't counterfeit what isn't valuable." You don't ever hear about counterfeit brown paper. Nobody counterfeits sticks. People counterfeit money, diamonds, and whatever is valuable because that is the only reason for it. If spiritual gifts are important for the life of the church in order that we might be built up to be like Jesus Christ, then we better find out how we can use ours.

Focusing on the Facts

1. What is the purpose for each believer's individual existence in the world? What are some of the ways in which believers are characterized in the world? 

2. What is the design for the church? Explain the concept of "Body I" and "Body II." 

3. In what two ways can believers manifest Christ to the world? How does Jesus Christ produce His character in us? 

4. How does Jesus Christ manifest His character in believers? 

5. Explain why Paul uses the singular form of the word "gift" in Ephesians 4:7. 

6. Why did God give gifted men to the church? What is the ultimate result of their ministry according to Ephesians 4:12-13? What happens if they fail in their ministry? 

7. In what way do all of the spiritual gifts have their fullest completion in Christ? Give some examples. 

8. How are Christians given the ability to manifest Christ in their lives? 

9. For what purpose did Paul write 1 Corinthians 12-14? 

10. What does Gentile mean in its nontechnical sense? 

11. What does the phrase "carried away" refer to? How does Paul apply this to the heathen? (1 Cor. 12:2)

12. Why does Paul refer to the deities of the heathen as "dumb"? 

13. How does Scripture portray the unregenerate man? Give some examples. 

14. What was characteristic of the heathen in their worship of false gods? 

15. How does the Spirit of God operate the gifts of the Spirit in believers? Give some Scripture for support. 

16. What totally unbelievable thing was actually occurring in the Corinthian church? Why were the Corinthians allowing this to happen? 

17. Why did the Corinthians believe that what was happening in the church was from the Holy Spirit? Give the three reasons and explain each one. 

18. What does anathema mean? Why did Jews use this word in reference to Jesus? 

19. Explain the significance of the heresy that was beginning to creep into the Corinthian assembly. Give a summary of the basic doctrine that this heresy promoted. 

20. Why didn't the Corinthians understand the resurrection of Jesus from the dead? 

21. What is the fullness of Christ's deity? Why is the understanding of this significant for all believers? 

22. What is "the simplicity that is in Christ?" (2 Cor. 11:3)

23. What is the first test of a spiritual gift? Explain. 

24. What is necessary to know when someone is speaking by the Holy Spirit? What is the confession that needs to be made? 

25. How do we know spiritual gifts are important? 

Pondering the Principles

1. Look up the following verses: Matthew 11:29; 20:28; John 13:34; Romans 8:29; 15:2-3; 2 Corinthians 8:9; Galatians 6:2; Ephesians 5:2; Philippians 2:5-8; Colossians 3:13; Hebrews 12:2-4; 1 Peter 1:15; 2:21-24; 3:17-18; 1 John 3:1-3, 16. According to these verses, how are you to be Christlike? On a scale of 1-10, rate yourself in each of these areas. What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses? Which area do you want to improve in most? Ask God to give you the wisdom you need in applying His principles to this area of your life. Make it a goal this week to pursue changes in your life-style that might keep you from being Christlike. Remember, the Holy Spirit indwells you to give you the resources to accomplish this goal.

2. Meditate on the following verses: Ephesians 4:17-18; Titus 3:3; 1 Peter 4:3. Take this moment to thank God for saving you from such a life-style and bringing you into His glorious Kingdom.

3. Look up the following verses: John 16:7-14; Romans 8:1-17; 1 Corinthians 2:10-14; 1 John 4:2-3, 15. What is one name for the Holy Spirit according to John 16:13? Why is this significant in terms of distinguishing what is of the Spirit and what is not? According to these verses, how does the Holy Spirit manifest truth through the believer? How can you tell when someone is truly manifesting the Spirit of Christ? In order to solidify the importance of the Holy Spirit's ministry in your own life, memorize Romans 8:14: "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God."