1Cor 12:4, 12 | Barnes | STEP | Verse 4. Now there are diversities of gifts . There are different endowments conferred on Christians. For the meaning of the word gifts, . Comp. ; . But the same Spirit . Produced by the same Spirit--the Holy Ghost. What those diversities of gifts are, the apostle enumerates in . The design for which he refers to these various endowments is evidently to show those whom he addressed, that since they are all produced by the same Holy Spirit, have all the same Divine origin, and are all intended to answer some important purpose and end in the Christian church, that therefore none are to be despised; nor is one man to regard himself as authorized to treat another with contempt. The Spirit has divided and conferred those gifts according to his sovereign will; and his arrangements should be regarded with submission, and the favours which he confers should be received with thankfulness. That the Holy Spirit--the Third Person of the adorable Trinity--is here intended, by the word "Spirit," seems to be manifest on the face of the passage, and has been the received interpretation of the church until it was called in question by some recent German commentators, at the head of whom was Eichhorn. It is not the design of these Notes to go into an examination of questions of criticism, such as an inquiry like this would involve. Nor is it necessary. Some of the arguments by which the common interpretation is defended are the following: (1.) It is the obvious interpretation. It is that which occurs to the great mass of readers, as the true and correct exposition. (2.) It accords with the usual meaning of the word Spirit. No other intelligible sense can be given to the word here. To say, with Eichhorn, that it means "nature," that there are the same natural endowments, though cultivated in various measures by art and education, makes manifest nonsense, and is contrary to the whole structure and scope of the passage. (3.) It accords with all the other statements in the New Testament, where the endowments here referred to--"wisdom," "knowledge," "faith," "working of miracles," etc.-- are traced to the Holy Spirit, and are regarded as his gift. (4.) The harmony, the concinnity of the passage is destroyed by supposing that it refers to anything else than the Holy Spirit. In this verse the agency of the Spirit is recognised, and his operations on the mind referred to; in the next verse the agency of the Son of God ( on the verse) is referred to; and in the following verse the agency of God--evidently the Father--is brought into view; and thus the entire passage ( ) presents a connected view of the operations performed by the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, in the work of redemption. To deny that this verse refers to the Holy Spirit is to break up the harmony of the whole passage, and to render it in no small degree unmeaning. But if this refers to the Holy Spirit, then it is an unanswerable argument for his personality, and for his being on an equality with the Father and the Son. (c) "of gifts"

1 Corinthians 12:4

Verse 4. Now there are diversities of gifts. There are different endowments conferred on Christians. For the meaning of the word gifts, Rom 1:11. Comp. Rom 5:15,16, 6:23, 11:29, 12:6; 1Cor 1:7, 7:7.

But the same Spirit. Produced by the same Spirit--the Holy Ghost. What those diversities of gifts are, the apostle enumerates in 1Cor 12:8-11. The design for which he refers to these various endowments is evidently to show those whom he addressed, that since they are all produced by the same Holy Spirit, have all the same Divine origin, and are all intended to answer some important purpose and end in the Christian church, that therefore none are to be despised; nor is one man to regard himself as authorized to treat another with contempt. The Spirit has divided and conferred those gifts according to his sovereign will; and his arrangements should be regarded with submission, and the favours which he confers should be received with thankfulness. That the Holy Spirit--the Third Person of the adorable Trinity--is here intended, by the word "Spirit," seems to be manifest on the face of the passage, and has been the received interpretation of the church until it was called in question by some recent German commentators, at the head of whom was Eichhorn. It is not the design of these Notes to go into an examination of questions of criticism, such as an inquiry like this would involve. Nor is it necessary. Some of the arguments by which the common interpretation is defended are the following:

(1.) It is the obvious interpretation. It is that which occurs to the great mass of readers, as the true and correct exposition.

(2.) It accords with the usual meaning of the word Spirit. No other intelligible sense can be given to the word here. To say, with Eichhorn, that it means "nature," that there are the same natural endowments, though cultivated in various measures by art and education, makes manifest nonsense, and is contrary to the whole structure and scope of the passage.

(3.) It accords with all the other statements in the New Testament, where the endowments here referred to--"wisdom," "knowledge," "faith," "working of miracles," etc.-- are traced to the Holy Spirit, and are regarded as his gift.

(4.) The harmony, the concinnity of the passage is destroyed by supposing that it refers to anything else than the Holy Spirit. In this verse the agency of the Spirit is recognised, and his operations on the mind referred to; in the next verse the agency of the Son of God (1Cor 12:4 on the verse) is referred to; and in the following verse the agency of God--evidently the Father--is brought into view; and thus the entire passage (1Cor 12:4-6) presents a connected view of the operations performed by the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, in the work of redemption. To deny that this verse refers to the Holy Spirit is to break up the harmony of the whole passage, and to render it in no small degree unmeaning. But if this refers to the Holy Spirit, then it is an unanswerable argument for his personality, and for his being on an equality with the Father and the Son.

1 Corinthians 12:12

Verse 12. For as the body is one. The general sentiment which the apostle had been illustrating and enforcing was, that all the endowments which were possessed in the church were the work of the same Holy Spirit, and that they ought to be appropriately cherished and prized, as being all useful and valuable in their places. This sentiment he now illustrates (1Cor 12:12-27) by a beautiful similitude taken from the mutual dependence of the various parts of the human body. The human body is one, and yet is composed of various members and parts that all unite harmoniously in one whole.

Being many. Or, although they are many; or while they are in some respects separate, and perform distinct and different functions, yet they all unite in one harmonious whole.

So also is Christ. The church is represented as the body of Christ, (1Cor 12:27,) meaning that it is one, and that he sustains to it the relation of Head. Comp. Eph 1:22,23. As the head is the most important part of the body, it may be put for the whole body; and the name Christ here, the head of the church, is put for the whole body of which he is the head; and means here the Christian society, or the church. This figure, of a part for the whole, is one that is common in all languages. Rom 12:4,5.

(d) "so also is Christ" 1Cor 12:27