Most people enjoy receiving gifts. For believers, this is also true of spiritual gifts. Now the term “spiritual gifts” has been somewhat misunderstood over the years to mean spiritual realm only with no earthly effects; when in-reality, spiritual gifts are actually gifts from the Spirit of God, which have very great earthly effects. In-fact, the gifts which the Spirit of God gives can completely transform your life, and the lives of those around you as well.
The trouble comes in when people start chasing after these gifts, as if they do not have them; and some have even been taught that the gifts are no longer active and that they are no longer being given.
What I want to share with you today in this study, is how because of the finished work of Christ, in Him you already have been given every single gift. You do not need to strive for, beg for, or plead for God to give you any gift. You do not need to sacrifice in an attempt to merit the gifts, because the sacrifice has already been given – Jesus Christ Himself.
As we begin today, I am fully aware that some of the statements that I made in the opening, may have challenged some of the things that many have been taught in general Christian denominations. As I mentioned, in many denominations, it is taught that the spiritual gifts are no longer in operation, that the Holy Spirit is dormant, or that believers must struggle, strive and sacrifice for the gifts if they exist at all.
People who have been taught these things tend to push back against the statements that I have made in the opening. If that describes you today, I would encourage you to please not take my word for anything; but to read these scriptures for yourself, apart from the traditions and opinions of men, and to broaden your perspective of the finished work of Christ, because it is His work upon which everything is based.
To substantiate this, let’s take a look at 1st Corinthians 1:1-8:
“Paul called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother,
To the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:
Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ;
That in every thing you are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge;
Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you:
So that you come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ:
Who shall also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
What we can see here right from the introduction of Paul’s letter, is that he is not only addressing the Corinthians, but as we see in verse 2, he is also addressing all that in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours. What Paul is about to say, is not only for those who were at Corinth, but also for you and I as well… it is for anyone who calls on the name of Jesus Christ the Lord.
Now look at what Paul says following that statement… he says that he thanks his God always on their (and our) behalf, for the Grace of God which is given to you by Christ Jesus.
Take notice that first of all Grace is a gift. I’ll say that again: Grace is a gift. The mercy of God is a gift. It’s not something that you get just because God is pleased with your current performance level. It’s also not something that you lose when your performance level drops, or you perceive yourself to have failed. Grace is a gift, and it is given to you by Christ Jesus. It is predicated on His finished work, His sacrifice for you.
We also see that this gift of Grace has an effect; a very substantial effect… that in every thing you are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge; Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you.
So this Grace of Christ is not just a good feeling, not just a spiritual high-minded idea, but it is a potent gift, an empowering, an enriching grant by Jesus Christ, to you, with amazing effects.
The Grace of Christ is what truly accomplishes and manifests the things that many people are looking for, and sadly, many of them are looking for it through dead religion and the Old Covenant Law – when in-fact it is actually the grace of Christ that gives these things.
The Grace of Christ is what enriches your utterance (your speech) and your knowledge. It makes these things lively, effective and full.
The word for “utterance” used in this verse is logos, meaning “words or speech”, and the word for “knowledge” in this verse is gnosis, meaning “understanding”.
It is the Grace of Jesus that gives truly effective and rich words and knowledge and understanding of all things, including scripture by-the-way; because true understanding of scripture will be in the light of the finished work of Jesus. You can always spot a preacher, pastor or leader who is devoid of this enrichment, because their message will be devoid of Grace and it will be a dead lifeless message built on religion and focused on the efforts of man. It may contain lots of scripture and have the words “Grace” and “Jesus” mixed in, but it will be missing the spiritual life of Christ.
The Grace of Christ doesn’t stop there though, Paul continues on to mention that you are enriched by the Grace of Christ even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you…
The testimony of Christ was confirmed in the Corinthians, by great miracles and signs – and those will continue! They will not stop as some think.
The fact that such things will continue, is made clear as Paul continues his thought in verse 7: …so that you come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
From this we can see that not only are the gifts not ceased, and continuing, but by the Grace of Jesus Christ, we are to come behind in no gift, as we continue to watch and wait for His return! Paul is plainly stating that this is one of the very purposes for the enrichment of Christ through the giving of His grace! I would encourage you to pause here and read these verses again, until this truth sinks in deep – because there is a great deal of worldly and even spiritual opposition to this truth. The reason for that opposition is because this right here is the secret to you having power and effectiveness in Christ.
Jesus has given you all of this as a gift, so the only strategy the enemy has left is to lie to you and try to convince you that you don’t actually have the gift which Jesus gave you. And there are entire camps and divisions and denominations out there which have done exactly that, and believed the lie that they have no real gifts, and God has somehow retracted His Grace, or that we somehow have a lesser Spirit than what Christ gave. So I encourage you to as always, not take my word for it, but read the scriptures for yourself, and let the Spirit speak to you. The Spirit will testify whether what I am saying is true or false, and you will know.
And in conclusion to all of the goodness and gracious giving that we have seen so far, it still isn’t over. God also gives us a promise and assurance for the future. He gives us absolute security all the way to eternity with verse 8. The same Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior and the giver of all good gifts; the same One who enriches our lives; He is the One who will also confirm us to the end – blameless in the day of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Not only do we have present joy and happiness and enrichment of our lives in Jesus Christ, but we also have future assurance on top of it all. For us the future is not a thing to be feared, but a confident expectation of eternal rest and peace in Heaven. The world fears tomorrow and often pronounces doom, and they are right.
Yet even so we have confidence Jesus and an eternity of joy with Him, and we are also right. So having divine light not only on our present day and condition in Jesus, and also knowing the goodness of our future, we see that our life in Christ is not only blessed, but richly furnished, lacking nothing in Him. It’s all a gift through Christ, and so it is absolutely sure.
You, my friend, have every gift already in Christ Jesus. He has given to you. I encourage you today, to not leave the gift unopened any longer – receive it all today, because He already paid for you to have it.
Be blessed.