Spiritual Gifts, part 1

Posted on July 16, 2025 by Don Merritt

1 Corinthians 12:4-11

There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. (12:4-6)

It may strike us as interesting that Paul gets started discussing misunderstandings about spiritual gifts the way he does in these verses. Keeping in mind the context of the letter as a whole, we will quickly discern that these comments refer back to the fragmentation and disunity that has plagued the congregation in Corinth. We know from what we have read already that they were divided along social and class lines, and that different groups within the church had identified with different leaders; Apollos and Paul were mentioned, for example. We might infer from this passage that people were in danger of fragmenting along the lines of spiritual gifts as well. As we would expect, Paul will have none of that, and tells them three different ways that there is one God, one Lord, and one purpose for spiritual gifts.

This theme continues in the next paragraph, and to see it clearly, let’s look at it in a slightly  different way than we usually do:

Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good… All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines. (12:7, 11)

I’ve broken the first and last sentences out of the paragraph (12:7-11) because they are unity statements. Manifestations of the Spirit are given to individuals not for their own amusement, pleasure, or enrichment, but for the common good of the entire Body of believers. These are manifestations of the Holy Spirit within each person, and while the Spirit may choose to manifest Himself differently in different people, He is still one Spirit within all of them, and he distributes His various manifestations according to His sole discretion and purpose.

At this point, it is essential that we recognize that what we commonly call “spiritual gifts” are actually “manifestations” of the Holy Spirit within us, and through us, to those around us, to enrich and build the Body of Christ. Technically speaking, the actual “gift” is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in each of us.

In verses 8-10 Paul mentions 8 manifestations of the Spirit: Wisdom and knowledge in 12:8, faith and healing in 12:9, and miracles, prophecy, discernment, and tongues (languages) in 12:10. In mentioning these, Paul said that they were by the “same Spirit” three more times making obvious his concern that this subject would be a potentially divisive one.

We should not be surprised that Paul would be concerned about division surrounding the whole subject of spiritual gifts, since it has caused divisions within the Body of Christ for centuries, and still do so today. Yet ironically, the gifts or manifestations themselves are not at all divisive− they should actually unite us all together. Here’s what I mean:

If you take an honest look at the larger Body of Christ, which is to say at groups you don’t worship with, you will see manifestations of the Spirit in the Methodist church, and in the Southern Baptist church, and in the Pentecostal church and in the Church of Christ and in the Missionary Baptist church and in the Lutheran church and in the Catholic church… We may not always agree on teaching or customs or traditions, but where the Spirit is present, so are our brothers and sisters in Christ, for we all have the same indwelling Holy Spirit.

Not surprisingly, Paul will continue this theme in the rest of this section.

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Now, about the gifts of the Spirit

Posted on July 15, 2025 by Don Merritt

Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 12:1-3

As we have seen before, Paul begins a new topic with “now about…”. This is the beginning of a section that he wrote to clear up misunderstandings about spiritual gifts, that begins at 12:1 and runs through chapter 14. In my experience, sad to say, it isn’t easy to find people who come to this section hoping to clear up their misunderstandings about spiritual gifts, because most of us either skip the section entirely, or come to it to find ammunition to use in an argument.

Of course, there is one exception to that observation, and that is reading the first part of chapter 13, the great “love chapter”. The only problem is, that if we concern ourselves with trivial things like context, chapter 13 is about spiritual gifts. If we are really looking for a “love chapter”, we might have a look at 1 John 4 instead.

Full disclosure: Yes, yes, I use 1 Corinthians 13 in weddings like everyone else…

I should point out that since this is a study of 1 Corinthians and not one of spiritual gifts per se, I will be following the text of Paul’s letter, and his reply to the question the Corinthians asked him to answer. Thus, this isn’t a complete spiritual gifts study. If you are interested in such a study, please let me know in the comments and I’ll see what I can do.

As Paul opens his discussion of spiritual gifts, he first sets out the idea that there are spiritual forces at work in our lives that we may not be aware of. Notice that he suggests that in their previous lives pagans have been influenced to worship idols that are actually pieces of stone. We might see a cultural component to that; everyone else worshipped the idol, so why not go along with the flow? Yet, unless we stop thinking at that point, we must realize that a rock isn’t even a living thing, much less a god, so how does it make sense to venerate a hunk of rock?

Paul implies there is something else at work.

The Corinthians were moved to leave the worship of rocks to worship an unseen God. Their friends may have told them that they were crazy for doing so; how did such a thing happen?

Paul suggests that there was another force at work in this: To accept Jesus Christ requires the influence of the Holy Spirit. So, when we reach this point, Paul has really set forth a dilemma: Which spirit will we listen to?

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Prayer and Grace

Posted on July 14, 2025 by Don Merritt

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

Colossians 4:2-6

This is a really neat little passage; there’s so much to see.  As Paul closes out his letter, he reminds the people to be devoted to prayer, and while this may seem routine, after all, Apostles talk about prayer a lot, Paul here seems to bring it to life.  I’m always struck by the idea of prayer being “watchful and thankful.”  Maybe thankful, as in giving thanks isn’t so surprising, but watchful?  How often do you hear someone say that we should be watchful in our prayers?

Watchful for what?  Things you want God to give you, like little favors?  “Oh yes, and Father please send me that new Lexus…” something like that?  Somehow, I doubt it. Maybe watchful for someone who needs intercession, maybe an opening for the Gospel, maybe something that is within God’s priority system− yes that seems more like the kind of “watchful” that Paul has in mind.  He continues by asking for the people to pray for him, but again, not in the way we might expect.  Notice, that even though he is in prison, he didn’t ask them to pray for his release, he asked them to pray that he might preach the Gospel effectively.

I don’t know about you, but that gets my attention every time!  When Jesus taught us to pray in Matthew 6:5 ff. He taught us to pray for God’s priorities. “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven…”  Do we remember to do that? Are we watchful for specifics that fit into this category?  Well, I can only speak for myself, but truth be told, I forget or overlook this more often than I’d care to admit. Paul seems to continue in this line of thinking when he advises us to be wise when speaking to “outsiders,” non-Christians.  We are to be ready to make the most of every opportunity, to show them the love of Jesus Christ: Maybe we should pray for those opportunities.  We are to speak to them “with grace, seasoned with salt…” Grace is often defined as “unmerited favor” meaning that we are to deal with them in love; more love than they might deserve.

I have a little secret for you to consider:  Speaking to someone with grace is not telling them that they are wrong, even if they are.  It doesn’t mean calling them names, or being critical of the way they live.  Yes, there is a fair chance that they live as unbelievers, but guess what? They are unbelievers, and that may be just how they are supposed to live.  Our job isn’t to correct the world, it is to save the world for Christ.  This requires grace, not criticism.  Salt is an interesting metaphor; I’ve heard many different explanations for this, so I’ll throw out my thoughts.  When we season food with salt, we add it to bring out the full flavor of the ingredients, and when we speak with grace, seasoned with salt, we are sharing the full love of God who so loved the world that He sent His Son to die to save it.  We need our speech to be so full of His grace, that nobody hears the slightest little bit of condemnation come from our lips!

So, when you put this all together, maybe I should remember to pray that God will bring me opportunities, and give me the words to share, so that some may be saved.  What do you think; do you need to join me in praying this way? If not, I’d love to hear why that is.

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Sunday Sermon Notes: July 13, 2025

Posted on July 13, 2025 by Don Merritt

Please remember that the six lessons we are going over all come as explanations of what it means to present ourselves as living sacrifices to the Lord from Romans 12:1-2…

Lesson 5: Love

Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

Romans 13:8-10

In this short passage, Paul is nothing short of profound; deep in fact. Yet it is so simple that we might just fly past it and not notice how profound it is; a second grade child can easily understand it, and it requires a mature adult to miss it− that is how simple it is.

Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

If we think of love as a mere emotion or feeling, maybe we can miss this, but godly love is not an emotion, it is a commitment to put the interests of other people ahead of our own, and love in action puts the interests of everyone ahead of our own. If we actually do this, then we will not do anything to offend or hurt them, and if we love God we will not do anything to hurt or offend God. We will not do this because somebody told us that we must, we will do this because we want to.

In short, this is the transformation that Paul spoke of in 12:1-2; this is love in action from 12:9-16.

There are times when I grow weary of people telling me that the Bible never tells us how we should accomplish the Christian life; yes, dear reader, I grow weary of such remarks:

Put your love into action!

“But how do I do that?”

Love your neighbor as yourself.

“But that is too hard.”

No, it isn’t too hard! Love God with your whole heart, soul, mind and strength.

“But how do I do that?”

Make a decision that you love God, and then commit to stick with it and trust the Holy Spirit to give you the strength you need.

“But that’s too hard.”

Dear Lord, open our ears that we might hear, open our eyes that we might see, open our hearts that we might believe so that we might become like little children and enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

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Attitude is a Powerful Thing

Posted on July 12, 2025 by Don Merritt

Years ago, I had a management job in a company that had some issues.  There were things about the company that I didn’t much like, and things that were a lot of fun, so I suppose that like most jobs there were ups and downs.  One of the things that I didn’t much care for was that the highest level of management had a way of keeping people on edge, which quite frankly made my job a lot more difficult than it needed to be.  The man who started the company years before was a mixed bag, one might say, in that he was a really great guy when you got to know him, but a jerk until you did.  He seemed to love stirring the pot!

He did this by scaring people; that seemed to be almost a pastime for him.  He liked to yell and scream and intimidate, when all that was really necessary was for someone to explain something, and the result was that he was generally feared and his presence in the office was dreaded by most people who worked there; turnover was high as you might expect.

A person would get the idea that the “Big Guy” had noticed a mistake on their part, and paranoia would set in.  They would expect trouble, and sooner or later they would find it.  So many times, people would come to me and say that they were sure they were going to be fired for something because Mr. Big was ‘after’ them.  I knew when Mr. Big was unhappy with someone, and most of the time the people who came to me weren’t even on his radar, yet they were certain that they were going to be fired, and they began to act badly at work.

This kind of thing was so frustrating for me because no matter what I said or did, the people believed they were going to be fired and their attitudes would be in the dumpster, which altered their behavior and their work and eventually they would be fired: Their belief became a self-fulfilling prophecy, and was entirely unnecessary.

Now there are certainly lessons for managers here; don’t act like a jerk just because you can.  There is a larger lesson for the rest of us: Watch out what you let yourself believe, for your beliefs will shape your attitude, your attitude will shape your behavior, and your behavior will cause a lie to become true.

I wonder how many believers in Christ allow a lie to creep into their minds and spiral down this cliff.  Let’s say they allow themselves to think that nobody likes them, and then the spiral begins and before long they are just too difficult to be around.  How many allow a lie to creep into to their thinking like, say… “I don’t think I’m really saved”?

I’ve seen people turn their backs on Jesus because of this one; maybe you have too.

This principle applies to so many thoughts and attitudes that originated with a little lie…  Faith destroyed, marriages destroyed, relationships broken; how often did it all start with a lie?

The New Testament teaches us to hold fast to the truth; to hold fast to our faith in Jesus Christ no matter what, in fact the whole book of Hebrews is written on this theme.

Yet we don’t always listen, for the little lie in the back of our minds seems more attractive, or more real than the reality right in front of our faces.

How tragic is that?  What needless misery…

It might interest you to know that Mr. Big was aware that people feared him, and he didn’t like it.  One day when we were alone and I was arguing with him about something or other, he asked me why I could talk to him “like a man” and everyone else was afraid of him.  I told him the truth, that I did not depend upon him for my job.  He seemed irritated by that, and in a rough tone of voice asked me how that could be.  My reply was that I didn’t depend on him because I believed that Jesus Christ was the source of my living and that if one job didn’t work out, there would be another one for me. Can you guess what Mr. Big (tough guy) said to that?

He said that he wished everyone else saw it that way because all he ever wanted was for them to just talk to him like I did…

Go figure?

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Christian Relationships

Posted on July 11, 2025 by Don Merritt

Colossians 3:18-4:1

In this section, Paul gives insight to how Christians should behave in the major personal relationships of daily life.  In 3:18-19, he speaks of husbands and wives, in 3:20-21 he speaks of parents and children, and from 3:22-4:1, masters and slaves, or today we would say employers and employees.  If you think about it, we spend most of our waking lives in one of these relationships, at least most of us do.

We can easily sum up all of these relationships by saying that in each, we are to put others ahead of ourselves. This is certainly true in Paul’s instructions to husbands and wives, even though he uses language in verse 18 that isn’t modern.  That wives should put their husbands first may not sound contemporary, but husbands are also to put their wives first.  This might be a little clearer in the parallel passage in Ephesians 5:22-33.

The same thing is true of the relationship between parents and children.  Both are to put the other first, giving honor where honor is due and giving love and nurture where they are due.  In the case of master and slave, or employer and employees, we have again the idea that both are to consider the other, with workers doing their very best always “as working for the Lord” and the boss is told to always do what is fair and right “because you know that you have a Master in heaven.”

I think that what is really important in this passage is the principle of putting others first.  This principle is at the very heart of “love your neighbor as yourself.”  All too often, people approach the concept of love looking at what they will get out of it, but this is surely not what Jesus had in mind when He taught us that the first will be  last and the last will be first.  We love and serve others because we love Jesus Christ, not because we want something. In short, we serve others because we have been called to serve, and in doing so we are serving our God, because we love Him.

Yes, there are always some who will want to take advantage, but we know that we are serving the Lord, and that “Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism.” (v. 25)

One final thought, for some this is a hard concept to embrace, but it lies at the heart of Christian discipleship.  It is all so normal to expect that we receive something from our efforts, be it money or appreciation or loyalty, and people often disappoint us.  The key is that we are not merely serving the other person, we are serving our Lord, and He never disappoints.  Seek His presence, seek His love, focus your thought process on your relationship with Him… and follow where He leads.  He will lead you to serve where you should serve, and to avoid what should be avoided.

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“You must follow me”

Posted on July 10, 2025 by Don Merritt

The other day I was reading John 21 which is really a simple story of the resurrected Christ appearing to seven disciples at the Sea of Galilee; it’s a story that is very familiar to everyone, and contains a passage that the preachers preach often (John 21:15-19).  In this passage, Jesus asks Peter three times if he loves him, and each time Peter says that he does, followed by Jesus saying either ‘feed my sheep’ or ‘feed my lambs’.  The third time Jesus asks, Peter’s feelings are hurt because Jesus keeps on asking…At the end of the passage Jesus tells Peter to “follow me.”

What really struck me was the part that came right after this usual passage.

Peter looks back and sees John trailing behind them and says to Jesus, “What about him?”  I wonder how many of us have done this sort of thing:  We know that we have been called to follow Jesus, and instead of quickly answering that call, we look at someone else and ask, “What about him?”  Now in Peter’s defense, Jesus has just indicated the manner of his death (v. 18) and maybe Peter understood this, the text doesn’t quite make that clear.  Maybe Peter was very sensitive at that moment because he felt guilty when it hit him that Jesus has just asked him if he loves Jesus the same number of times that Peter denied Jesus… The fact remains that Peter looked away from his call and tried to put the spotlight on someone else.

Answering a calling isn’t always convenient; it isn’t always what we want to do.  It may involve giving up a great deal to follow Jesus, a career, a great income, possessions, position and so on, and yet it is our call.  What must we do?

Jesus’ answer is classic: He tells Peter essentially that John’s relationship with Him is none of Peter’s business: “You must follow me.” (emphasis added)

Peter did.

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A Quick Update

Posted on July 9, 2025 by Don Merritt

If you are a regular here you may have noticed that I’ve only posted a single daily post here the last day or two. That’s no mistake because I’m off line for a week or 10 days. At the latest, I should be back to regular operations by the 21st of this month.

In the meantime, be well and may God bless you and yours,

Don

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Living Christ

Posted on July 9, 2025 by Don Merritt

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Colossians 3:15-17

God has called us to peace, in community as the community of believers, and in that community is where peace and love and healing should be found in Christ. So, as we enter His presence today, let His peace rule in your heart… and give thanks.  Next, let’s let His word dwell within us, as we teach, admonish and sing spiritual songs to our Lord.  Note the teaching and admonishing are for us to do with one another… as His Body so that all will benefit by it. This isn’t really for the lost; they need the Gospel of the love of God through Jesus Christ.

Finally, whatever we do this day, let’s do it in the name of Jesus our Lord, filled to the brim with thanksgiving and gratitude to God for all that He has done for us, and in our lives.  What a great recipe for living, what wisdom and simplicity for a life that is not only godly, but that is a testimony to the world of what it is to dwell in his love.

You know what?  Whatever this day may bring, I think it’s going to be a good one!

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Truth

Posted on July 8, 2025 by Don Merritt

Does the truth really count for anything anymore? Does anybody really care, or is the truth just whatever it seems like to me?

Does government tell us the truth about anything, say the economy for instance? Do politicians or salesmen tell the truth? How about the news media, are they telling the truth about the stories they report?

Well, I can’t say, for there is clearly enough falsehood flying around out there that when people do tell the truth you really have to wonder…

So, what is truth?

We aren’t the first people to ask this question; in fact, it’s as old as the Scriptures.  It’s a question that Pilate asked Jesus two thousand years ago. (John 18:38) Jesus told Pilate that He “came into the world to testify to the truth.” He also taught us that He is “The way, the truth and the life” (John 14:6).

As Christians, there is one thing that we can be certain of: Jesus is Truth; His words are true.  We need to keep this in mind as we see and hear the world around us proclaim “alternate” truths.  If these “truths” are in conflict with the teachings and person of Christ, they are falsehoods. As we listen to newscasts talk about things that are in conflict with what Jesus taught… we know what to conclude.

The truth is that very little in this world is what it appears to be! This is the lesson of Scripture and it is the lesson of history, and it is the first rule of understanding our world.

We can place our faith and our trust in Jesus− all else is questionable.

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