1 Corinthians 12:31 “But earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way.”
In the above quoted passage of scripture the apostle Paul counsels the saints to earnestly desire the best gifts. The context of this passage is that Paul is teaching the church about spiritual gifts, which means that Paul is referring to spiritual gifts in this passage. And so we see that unlike ministry and function gifts, which are given to the individual before they are born, spiritual gifts are available to all saints who desire to operate in them. Therefore spiritual gifts are given to the saints in addition to whichever ministry or function gifts that they already have. This truth is more clearly understood if we look at the ministry gifts as an example, for ministry gifts require certain spiritual gifts in order to be able to fully function in their calling. For example, the ministry gift of the apostle requires all nine of the spiritual gifts in order for them to fully function as an apostle, and the ministry gift of the prophet requires at least two of the following spiritual gifts, i.e. word of wisdom, word of knowledge and discerning of spirits, plus the gift of prophecy in order for them to fully function as a prophet. And so in the same manner even though each saint has already received their function gift, they can nevertheless also receive a spiritual gift if they desire it. As an aside, unlike the ministry gifts which require multiple spiritual gifts to compliment their ministries, there is no scriptural evidence that multiple spiritual gifts are given to normal saints. And so the saints that desire them should only expect to receive one spiritual gift to operate in.
1 Corinthians 14:1 “Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.”
In the above quoted passage of scripture the apostle Paul confirms to us that he is referring to spiritual gifts in the previous passage quoted, because in this passage he specifically refers to desiring spiritual gifts, and he even elaborates on that, by telling the saints to especially desire to prophesy. So why does the apostle Paul encourage the saints to desire the gift of prophecy more than the other spiritual gifts available? The reason is because prophecy is the gift that blesses the whole church, for if you analyse it you will find that the rest of the gifts, other than the combination of “different kinds of tongues” and “interpretation of tongues”, minister only to individuals, whereas prophecy is used by the Lord to bless everyone in the church. And so in fact in most churches that operate in the gifts of the Spirit, you will find that the gift of prophecy is the most common gift that is manifested. So why is that? The reason is because the Holy Spirit gives spiritual gifts as He wills, and He knows what gifts are needed in the local church (1 Corinthians 12:11).
1 Corinthians 14:12 “Even so you, since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, let it be for the edification of the church that you seek to excel.”
In the above quoted passage of scripture the apostle Paul also teaches the saints to test their motivation for wanting spiritual gifts. In other words if believers want spiritual gifts so that they can be noticed in the church, then they are walking in selfish ambition and should not expect the Holy Spirit to impart any gift to them. Our motivation for operating in spiritual gifts should always be to edify the church and not for selfish ambition. And so for the saints that meet the requirements we have discussed in this section, i.e. if they are filled with the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in other tongues, and if they earnestly desire spiritual gifts, and if their desire is to edify the church through the use of the gifts, then they can fully expect the Holy Spirit to impart spiritual gifts to them.
Michael E.B. Maher
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