1Cor 12:8-10 | TNotes | STEP | Summary for 1Cor 12:8-10: 12:8-10 This list of nine spiritual gifts is a representative rather than complete list (cp. 12:28-30 ; Rom 12:6-8 ; Eph 4:11 ). 12:8 God’s Spirit gives supernatural wisdom or knowledge to some believers. • gives a message of special knowledge: cp. 1:5 ; 8:1 ; 13:2 , 8 .

Summary for 1Cor 12:8-10: 12:8-10 ^a This list of nine spiritual gifts is a representative rather than complete list (cp. 12:28-30 ^b; Rom 12:6-8 ^c; Eph 4:11 ^d). 12:8 ^e God’s Spirit gives supernatural wisdom or knowledge to some believers.

• gives a message of special knowledge: cp. 1:5 ^f; 8:1 ^g; 13:2 ^h, 8 ⁱ.
12:9 ^j The spiritual gift of great faith is not the faith required for salvation but an unusual ability to trust God for special needs (see 13:2 ^k; Matt 17:19-20 ^l; cp. Acts 6:5 ^m; 11:24 ⁿ).
12:10 ^o The ability to prophesy does not refer primarily to predicting the future, but to speaking a special message directly from God (see 11:4-5 ^p; 13:2 ^q, 8 ^r; 14:1-25 ^s, 29-33 ^t; 1 Thes 5:20 ^u; cp. Acts 13:1-2 ^v; 21:4 ^w, 10-11 ^x).

• The ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit is a necessary gift for any Christian community that is open to hearing a word directly from God (see 1 Cor 14:29 ^y; 1 Thes 5:19-21 ^z; cp. Acts 16:16-18 ^aa; 1 Jn 4:1-3 ^ab).

• For Paul, the ability to speak in unknown languages here refers to spiritual language that requires the spiritual gift of interpretation in order to be understood. By placing this gift near the bottom of the list (both here and in 1 Cor 12:28 ^ac), Paul shows the lesser priority to be attached to the gift of tongues, with which the Corinthian church had become over-enamored (cp. 13:1 ^ad, 8 ^ae; 14:1-25 ^af, 27 ^ag).

• The ability to interpret does not refer to natural intellectual ability to translate, but to a spiritual ability to understand the meaning of the Spirit’s message communicated through the gift of tongues (see 14:5 ^ah, 13 ^ai, 26-28 ^aj).