Gifts from Holy Spirit - Pastor Mark
Gifts from Holy Spirit
July 19, 2026 | Pastor Mark Krieg | 1 Corinthians 12–14
There's a phrase Paul uses at the very opening of 1 Corinthians 12 that sets the tone for everything that follows: "I do not want you to be unaware." Depending on your translation, it might read uninformed, ignorant, or misunderstanding this. But the intent is the same — Paul wanted the church to understand the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Not fear them, not ignore them, not misuse them. Understand them.
That's still the invitation for us today.
A Little Context First
Before we dive into the gifts themselves, it helps to understand who Paul was writing to and why.
1 Corinthians is a letter — a practical, pastoral letter written around 53–55 A.D. from the city of Ephesus to the church in Corinth, Greece. Corinth was a major Roman trade hub — ethnically diverse, internationally connected, and famous throughout the empire for its wealth, sexual promiscuity, and pagan temples. Think of it as the Las Vegas of the ancient world.
The church Paul planted there around 50 A.D. was vibrant, diverse, and chaotic. It was struggling with internal division, social elitism, sexual immorality, and an overenthusiastic — sometimes disorderly — approach to spiritual gifts. Paul called it out plainly. He was writing to address real problems in a specific community. He did not know this letter would be canonized as Scripture centuries later.
That context matters. It doesn't diminish the authority of what Paul wrote — but it helps us read it more accurately.
Gifts That Flow Through You
1 Corinthians 12:7 says: "To each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good."
The word manifestation in Greek is phanerōsis, and it comes from two Latin roots that mean "the festive hand" or "the dancing hand." Every time the gifts of the Holy Spirit are expressed through a believer, it is quite literally the dancing hand of God touching another person's life.
That framing matters: these gifts are not for us. They flow through us — from the Holy Spirit who lives inside us — to touch the lives of others.
The Nine Gifts
Paul lists nine gifts in 1 Corinthians 12, which can be grouped into three categories:
Power Gifts — Faith, Healing, Miracles
Revelatory Gifts — Word of Wisdom, Word of Knowledge, Distinguishing of Spirits
Vocal Gifts — Prophecy, Tongues, Interpretation of Tongues
These gifts are not talents. They are not personality traits. They are supernatural enablements — distributed by the Holy Spirit, individually and intentionally, as He wills. And Paul makes clear: every believer has access to them.
Love in the Middle
Here is something easy to miss: Paul's famous teaching on love in 1 Corinthians 13 sits right in the middle of his extended teaching on spiritual gifts. That placement is deliberate.
He could have put the love chapter anywhere. He didn't put it before the gifts or after them. He put it between chapters 12 and 14 — right in the center — because love is meant to be the center of everything we do with the gifts.
God is love (1 John 4:8). And the gifts of His Spirit, exercised without love, become noise.
Three Kinds of Tongues
1 Corinthians 14 gives us some of Paul's most practical instruction, and tongues is one of the most discussed topics in it. He distinguishes between three distinct expressions:
A personal prayer language — spoken between the individual and God, for personal edification. Paul says in verse 18 that he speaks in tongues more than anyone — but in a church gathering he prefers five words that instruct others over ten thousand words no one understands.
A sign to unbelievers — a supernatural occurrence like the one at Pentecost in Acts 2, where people heard the gospel in their own languages. This was a sign and a wonder to those who didn't yet believe.
Tongues with interpretation — when tongues are spoken publicly and interpreted, Paul says it is the equivalent of prophecy. It edifies the whole church.
Earnestly Desire
Verse 1 of chapter 14 says: "Pursue love, yet earnestly desire spiritual gifts."
The phrase earnestly desire is worth sitting with. In the Greek, it can be translated as: to covet, to long for, to burn with intense craving, to set your heart upon, to boil. Paul is not telling the Corinthians to dial it back. He's telling them to burn for the gifts — with love at the center. Don't be passive about this. Go after it.
Order in the House
At the same time, Paul gives practical guidance about how the gifts function in a gathered community. He uses the Greek word sigáō — "to be silent" — three times in chapter 14, instructing tongue-speakers, prophets, and women in specific disruptive situations to yield so that others can contribute. This isn't a ban on any of these groups. It's a call to orderly worship where every person can receive something.
His summary statement in verse 40 says it simply: "All things must be done properly and in an orderly way." Not because God is rigid, but because He is a God of peace — and His gifts should bring peace to the room, not confusion.
A Word on Women and the Gifts
One of the most debated passages in this section is verses 34–36, which on a surface reading seems to prohibit women from speaking in church at all. But just three chapters earlier, in 1 Corinthians 11:5, Paul explicitly acknowledges women praying and prophesying aloud in the gathered church without correction.
Most biblical scholars and theologians understand Paul to be addressing a specific disruptive situation in Corinth — not issuing a universal prohibition for all women for all time. He was writing a pastoral letter to a specific church with specific problems. The broader witness of Scripture, including women like Deborah, Miriam, Anna, Priscilla, and the daughters of Philip who prophesied, confirms that God has always spoken through women.
A Closing Thought
Paul closes this section with a simple but powerful charge: "Earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues."
Not a memo of caution. Not a warning to tone things down. An invitation to go after everything the Holy Spirit has to offer — with love as the hallmark, order as the container, and the common good as the goal.
The gifts of the Holy Spirit are not a sign of spiritual immaturity. They are evidence of a living, active God who is still moving in and through His people.
Desire them. Cultivate them. Use them in love.
📖 1 Corinthians 12–14 | Romans 12:6 | Matthew 7:16–20 | 1 John 4:8 | Acts 2
