The Gifts of the Holy Spirit- 3

1 Corinthians 14:1-19.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, June 14, 2026.

Having explained in chapter thirteen the importance of love as a permanent foundation to everything that we do as followers of Jesus, Paul now turns back to the issue of spiritual gifts and the abuses happening within the Christian gatherings in Corinth.

Chapter twelve introduced Paul’s teaching on spiritual gifts in general.  He ended that chapter with the instruction to zealously desire the greater gifts.  This statement in and of itself is not problematic to the Corinthians.  They would believe that they were seeking “the greater gifts.”  However, Paul is setting up why their fascination with speaking in tongues is a misunderstanding of what actually makes a spiritual gift greater than another.

This is why chapter thirteen may feel like it is disjointed.  Paul lays the groundwork of why love for God and others must direct our choices in the area of spiritual gifts before he comes back to spiritual gifts in chapter fourteen, where he explains why tongues is not the greater gift compared to prophecy.

Let’s look at our passage.

The need for intelligibility in the assembly of believers (v. 1-5)

Chapter fourteen narrows its focus to the spiritual gifts of speaking in tongues and prophesying because this is where the trouble was occurring in the Corinthian church.

His main concern is that speaking gifts that are exercised within the assembly of believers (i.e., during a church service) should be intelligible, understandable, to those gathered so that they can be spiritually edified.

We should not let our modern concept of church gatherings cloud our understanding of this.  A Christian gathering is not about the building.  It can be in a home, in a cave, or out in the jungle.  Regardless, when believers are gathered to worship God and encourage one another in the faith, the emphasis must be on the ability of people to understand the language of what is being said.

We should also note that Paul does not argue that the Corinthian believers do not have the Holy Spirit or that the gifts they are exercising are not legitimate.  Rather, his argument is that they are abusing them or using them in a way that is grievous to the Holy Spirit who is enabling them in their lives.

Paul opens up with tying chapter twelve and thirteen together with twin imperatives.  They are to pursue love while also zealously desiring spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy (rather than speak in tongues).

Please note that he uses the same verb, zealously desire, for spiritual gifts in chapter twelve and fourteen.  However, he chooses a different verb for love; pursue love.  This can be pictured as always chasing after something that is illusively out of grasp, but the better picture is that of a pathway or, even better, the person of Jesus Christ himself.  The love of Christ is always before us as an example and guide.  We must make that our aim and pursuit while exercising (or desiring) spiritual gifts.

Verse 1 also answers the question that Paul has set up at the end of chapter twelve.  What is the greater spiritual gift?  Prophecy is the greater gift within the assembly of believers.  You could also add any other word of wisdom, knowledge, etc. that is given in a language that the people understand.

In verse two Paul begins to describe some differences between speaking in tongues and prophesying.  A person who speaks in tongues speaks to God not man (v. 2).  No one understands him, and he speaks mysteries (i.e., no one understands what he is saying).  A person who speaks in tongues also edifies themselves (v. 4).  All of this can be changed if the message in tongues is interpreted for the people in attendance.  The interpretation would then be addressing the people (not God), and it would be understandable to them.  The message in tongues that is interpreted will also be able to edify the whole church.  At that point, speaking in tongues with interpretation would be functionally equivalent to prophecy.

Comparatively, a person who prophesies speaks to the people and they can understand them.  The prophecy is given to edify the whole body and not just the speaker.  Paul gives three examples of the way that prophecy can help the church: edification (build them up to be like Jesus), exhortation (whether commands or encouragements), and lastly consolation.  Paul sees these three aspects in the purpose of prophecy.

Analogies that argue for intelligibility (v. 6-12)

Verse six restates the problem in a personal way.  Paul again resorts to putting himself in the position that the Corinthian mindset would encourage.  “If I come to you speaking in tongues,” this implies if he only did this, like the Corinthians liked to do.  Paul asks how this would be able to benefit them.  It would only be profitable if he spoke a language that was intelligible, whether a revelation, knowledge, prophecy or teaching.

Thus, Paul is emphasizing that intelligibility allows for people to be built up in the faith and character of Christ.  The profit here is spiritual profit.

Paul then points to areas of life where the principle of intelligibility is necessary.  In verse seven, he speaks of a flute or a harp.  Music requires a distinction of tones in order to produce a pleasing sound as opposed to a raucous noise.

In verse 8, he moves to a bugle.  This was used in the military to quickly direct men.  Particular tunes were used to get men out of bed, or to warn of attack, etc.  If the bugler does not clearly blow the right notes, it would confuse the men and leave them open to danger.

In verses ten and eleven, Paul speaks of foreign languages around the world.  The message encoded in each language is real but is also inaccessible to a person who does not understand it.  I am a foreigner to them, and they are a foreigner to me.  The term “barbarian” was a Greek term that mimicked the sounds of a foreigner “bar bar bar” and became barbaros or barbarian in English.

If you were in a group that knew you did not speak a different language, but they kept speaking it among themselves, the result is that you would feel not only left out but also pushed out.  Paul makes the point that an unknown language makes you a foreigner to the speaker.  We will be isolated from one another and limited in our ability to work together or help one another.

Christians are to be a new people.  We don’t all necessarily have the same native language, but we speak a common language in order to accomplish the purpose of God with one another.

These examples all highlight the importance of intelligibility when it comes to the verbal spiritual gifts in church gatherings.

Paul ends this section in verse twelve by calling the Corinthians who are zealous of spiritual gifts also “to seek to abound for the edification of the church.”  In other words, they should exercise them for the greater purpose of God, building up believers to be more like Jesus.

They should not be zealous for a spiritual gift as a status symbol.  They should not settle for everyone edifying themselves (everyone for themselves) when they are gathered together.

The Corinthians may have imagined that everyone was being edified in the church when they were all speaking in tongues.  However, Paul will now move to explain the purpose of tongues versus the purpose of prophecy.

Application to the believing community (v. 13-19)

Paul now moves to describe how tongues and prophecy should be exercised within our gatherings.  The first application is that the person who speaks in tongues should pray for its interpretation.  He doesn’t make clear if this is before speaking or after speaking.  The main point is not to settle for continuing in tongues without interpreting the message.  The onus is put upon the person who believes they have a message in tongues to give.  We should leave room for churches to discover in trial and error just who in the may or may not have the spiritual gift of interpretation.  Regardless, it would eventually be clear whether someone is present that is used in that way by the Spirit.

In verse fourteen, Paul describes praying in tongues, which is addressed to God, as praying with your spirit.  This is placed next to the idea of praying with your mind, which is praying in a language you understand.

When you pray with your spirit, i.e., in tongues, your mind is “unfruitful” (there is no intellectual benefit) other than the knowledge that the Spirit of God is enabling your spirit to talk with God in an unknown language.

Verse 15 includes singing in this.  To sing with my spirit is to sing in tongues, and to sing with my mind is to sing in a language I understand.

Praying with your mind is important, and most people can understand this.  However, how does praying with your spirit build you up?  It teaches you how to trust the Holy Spirit and have confidence that God knows what your spirit is saying.  It gives you a comfort in knowing that the Holy Spirit is helping you to pray to the Father.

Some may refuse such things, declaring that they will only be edified through their mind.  This seems to be a short-sighted and selfish attitude.  God knows what we need.  Why would we shut off any help that He wants to provide?

In verse sixteen, Paul questions how someone can say, “Amen,” in the assembly to something that they do not understand.  They are called “the uninformed” (some versions have “ungifted,” but this seems to be more of an interpretation).  This could be a reference to non-believers, or it could be believers who are not taught in regard to spiritual gifts (or simply don’t have the gift of interpretation).  However, it seems most likely that this is a reference to those who are uninformed in the Gospel.  How will they hear the truth and believe (say amen) if it is not in a language they understand?

Paul may even be saying that you are turning your fellow Christians into those who are uninformed by the fact that they don’t know what you are saying.  The point is that they are left out of any meaningful interaction with what is being done.

Of course, Paul is not putting tongues down.  He says in verse eighteen that he speaks in tongues more than all of them.  However, he apparently does the lion’s share of his tongue speaking when he is by himself (in personal times of prayer).  Five intelligible words are worth more than 10,000 words in tongues that are unknown.

There is a modern contention among some that there should be no tongues at all in churches today.  Yet, the Bible tells us to desire spiritual gifts because it is God who desires to work them through us for the good of the body of Christ.  We should follow love and follow the Spirit because they are one and the same.

Second, we should not let fear cause us to shrink back from spiritual gifts.  We should trust God and exercise them properly for the benefit of all who are attending, not just for ourselves.

We will stop here today and pick up later.

Gifts of the Holy Spirit 3 audio

The Gifts of the Holy Spirit- 2

1 Corinthians 13. This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, June 7, 2026.

This chapter is most generally known as the Love Chapter, and it is true that it describes the love of Christ and how the Holy Spirit seeks to express it in our lives.

However, this chapter is specifically about how the love of Christ should impact our exercise of spiritual gifts.  Thus, it is a specific application of how the love of Christ impacts this area of our lives. 

We should even see that it is part of a corrective teaching that shows how the love of Christ can be used to redirect abusive activity in any area of our lives.

Chapter 12 ended with two notions.  First, Paul wanted the Corinthians to recognize that speaking in tongues is not the greater gift, as they thought.  Prophecy is a greater gift than it.  However, in order for them to understand why it is greater, they must understand the “more excellent way” of the love of Christ.

Let’s look at our passage.

The necessity of love with spiritual gifts (v. 1-3)

Paul starts with the spiritual gift that the Corinthians valued most, speaking in tongues.  He could make this same point by using them as the hypothetical person, but instead, Paul uses himself.  “If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels…”  This is to soften the hard statements that he is going to make.

Of course, all of our speech should spring forth from a heart full of God’s love.  It is a necessity for the disciple of Jesus.  However, Paul is correcting them on their use of spiritual gifts, especially speech that finds its origins in the Holy Spirit.

It is not clear whether Paul actually believes it is possible to speak in the language of angels.  There is some evidence from the period before Jesus that some Jews believed it was possible.  Regardless, the Corinthians certainly thought that they were speaking the language of angels, or of the heavenly beings.

I know that some people point to Acts chapter two.  They say that true speaking in tongues will always be a language from this earth, i.e., a human language.  However, the initial outpouring of the Holy Spirit was a unique event.  The commencement of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit was a fulfillment of the Feast of Weeks.  The feast pointed to the harvest that would come in from the Spirit-empowered activity of the people of God.

We should also note that many things that happened at that first outpouring were not repeated, for example: Fire separating into individual tongues over each of the believers, the sound of a mighty rushing wind, and the reversal of the judgment of confusing the language of the people in Genesis 11.  These things can happen again as God wills, but we do not see them mentioned again.

The Corinthians wanted to be super-spiritual, but their thinking was not biblical.  Paul throughout 1 Corinthians was correcting them on this.  In chapter seven, we find that some married couples were trying to live without having sexual relations with one another.  This may sound strange to us, but it was an attempt to live like the angels here on earth.  In their opinion, being spiritual meant trying to live less like mortals on earth and more like angels in heaven.  Paul challenged them on it.  Their attempt to be spiritual would set them up for temptation.  He told them that refraining from sex for a short period in order to focus on prayer (i.e., like fasting) was okay, but they should not extend the period too long.  If they loved one another, then they would demonstrate their spirituality by physical intimacy. 

In chapter eleven, we see that some of them were trying to live as if there are no longer differences between men and women.  Again, being like the angels (super-spiritual) would mean to throw off all gender roles.  Paul challenges the women to recognize cultural norms in their demeanor, especially within the context of Christian gatherings.

In chapter 12, we saw that they thought speaking in tongues was the greatest gift.  They believed that a spiritual person would be more likely to speak in an unintelligible language.  Yet, Paul is showing them that this is not true spirituality.  True spirituality asks what the Holy Spirit is leading us to do and does it.

Their rejection of a bodily resurrection in chapter fifteen was also sourced in this messed up view of spirituality.  A bodily resurrection seemed to be going in the wrong direction, toward the earth rather than heaven.  Yet, Paul shows them that the bodily resurrection of believers is dependent upon the bodily resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ (who is the most spiritual of all humans). 

This brings us back to chapter 13. The key to Paul’s argument is picturing a spiritual gift being exercised without love for others.  We will deal with the clanging cymbal imagery at the end of this section.  “If I speak in the language of angels (the desire of the Corinthian Christians) but do not have love, then I am a clanging cymbal.”  He then does the same thing with two more spiritual gifts.  “If I have the gift of prophecy and know all mysteries and all knowledge…but have not love, I am nothing.”  “If I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.” 

This last mention of the spiritual gift of faith that could even move mountains is an allusion to the words of Jesus in several different places.  In Matthew 17:20, Jesus spoke of casting out demons with faith the size of a mustard seed (i.e., it is not about a great amount, simply about believing).  In Luke 17:6, he spoke of dealing with unforgiveness in our own heart.  Of course, there it is not a mountain but a mulberry tree.  So, Paul is picturing a person who is the epitome of what Jesus is talking about.  Yet, without love, I am nothing!

As if that wasn’t enough, Paul adds two more things that are good in and of themselves and do not look like the previous spiritual gifts.  “If I give all my possessions to the poor…”  This reminds me of the rich young ruler who was challenged by Jesus to sell all his possessions, give the proceeds to the poor, and then follow him.  Even such a great act without love would be nothing.

Finally, Paul speaks of a person surrendering their body to be burned.  He may have in mind a person who is martyred for the cause of Christ.  Yet, if such was done without love, it would “profit me nothing. “ We can imagine doing something like that and finding out it didn’t benefit us at all.  What a shock.

All of these are intended to shock the Corinthians.  Paul describes things that they would see as spiritual in and of themselves: speaking in tongues, prophecy, the gift of faith, selling all of our possessions to feed the poor, and being martyred for Jesus.  Yet, Paul’s challenge to them is to point out the necessity of love in all our activity for Christ.  Without love, the one who speaks in tongues is a clanging cymbal.  God is not edified, and the people around them are not edified.  Without love, the one who gives prophecies and moves big things by their faith is nothing.  Without love, the one who feeds the poor and is martyred is not profited by it, i.e., they have not put any treasure in heaven (Matthew 6:19-21).

These three phrases: a clanging cymbal, nothing, and profits me nothing, are all saying that there is no spiritual benefit in good acts alone.  To use Paul’s words in Galatians 5:6, what is beneficial is faith in God working through love.  If my activity is not born out of faith in God working through the love of Christ, then it does not benefit me.

The Christian must always emphasize Christ-like character before activity.  Notice that Paul does not argue that they do not have the Holy Spirit.  The presence of the Holy Spirit does not insulate us from error any more than the presence of God in the garden insulated Adam and Eve from temptation.  The Corinthians were grieving the Holy Spirit as they exercised spiritual gifts, all the time thinking they were super spiritual. 

How long can you do that and spiritually survive?  Paul doesn’t say.  Nevertheless, we must (it is a necessity!) have love in all that we do but especially in exercising spiritual gifts.

The character of love (v. 4-7)

Paul then moves to describe the true nature of Christ’s love.  The structure of this section has 2 positive descriptions followed by 7 negative descriptions.  There is then 1 transitional negative and positive description that is followed by four rapid positive descriptions.  This section is crafted into a poetic piece.

Let’s look at the first two positive descriptions.  Love is patient.  The word “patient” here has the idea of having a long fuse, a slow temper.  Love is also kind.  If patience is restraining myself from unleashing unloving things upon a person, then kindness is pouring out good things upon a person, whether they deserve it or not.  Kindness is an overlooked virtue. 

Next, we have the seven negative descriptions of what love is not.  Most of these are self-explanatory. 

Love is not jealous (or envious).  Love does not brag and is not arrogant (puffed up with pride, an inflated sense of self).  Love does not “act unbecomingly” (NASB).  This has the idea of something that is shameful or disgraceful.  Love is not self-seeking.  It is not provoked (i.e., provoked to the point of anger and wicked actions).  Love does not consider wrongs against it.  This is more than not writing down a list or keeping one in your head.  It has a deeper sense of not taking note of wrongs done against you.  I simply don’t think about it or dwell on it.

This can be seen as an eighth negative description, but it is balanced by the positive that it should be.  Love does not rejoice in unrighteousness but rejoices with the truth (the truth of God’s love in Christ to save all people through our sacrifice to share it with them).  I would say that some in the Church are rejoicing in wicked things like abortion and trans-gendering our kids.  However, this is not love.  This is a self-seeking attempt to garner the acceptance of others at the expense of the truth of God.

Lastly, we have the four staccato statements that all include the phrase “in all things.”  The meaning works with some of the words, but others require a deeper understanding of what is meant by “in all things.

Love bears all things is the idea that it carries or puts up with all things.  Love does not quit carrying our brother though his sin is heavy.

Love believes all things.  This does not mean it believes anything that a person says to it.  The word believe is the same as having faith.  Love has faith in all things.  It never quits but always believes. 

Love hopes all things.  Again, “all things” is not about the object for which we hope.  Love never loses hope in any situation.  It is easy to give up on others especially when they sin against us.  Yet, love continues to hope for their salvation and sanctification.

Lastly, love endures all things.  This is another term for being patient.  It pictures a person remaining under a heavy load.  We may want to toss it off, but love compels us to stick in there, perseverance.

All of these things describe Jesus who is the very Image of the Father, and the pattern for our character and life.

The permanence of love beyond spiritual gifts (v. 8-13)

“Love never fails” looks at first like it is part of the previous description.  Thus, love is never defeated or fallen to the ground.  It is always victorious.

Yet, the following words add another meaning to the phrase.  Paul is telling us that love will never end nor will it fall away from our experience in the future.  This last description serves to transition to Paul’s last point about love versus spiritual gifts.

Love will never end, but spiritual gifts will come to an end (vs. 8).  A time will come when speaking in tongues will cease to be a thing that the Holy Spirit is working in God’s people.  A time will come when words of knowledge (Paul is talking about spiritual gifts here) will be done away.  The bigger truth in the area of spiritual gifts is that they are only for this present age, whereas love is for all ages.  A Christian must have love down first before going after spiritual gifts.

In verse nine, Paul brings up the idea that we presently know “in part” and prophesy “in part.”  This is connected to the idea that the Kingdom of God is now here, but not yet fully.  Thus, prophecy does not help us to know everything.  Rather, it gives us a part of the picture.  These gifts are necessary because we do not have full knowledge of everything that God is doing.  Yet, He gives us enough through the written Word, through mature believers, and through the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

In verse ten, Paul sees that there is a day “when the perfect comes” in which these partial things will be done away, i.e., the spiritual gifts.  There are some Christians who try to make the case that the perfect is the New Testament written down for us.  They try to say that once the apostles wrote these books, then the spiritual gifts went away.  Anyone who tries to do them today is not actually operating by the help of the Holy Spirit.

I do not believe this is the proper interpretation of that phrase.  All gifts of the Holy Spirit and the fruit of the Holy Spirit are pointed towards Christ, the perfect image of the Father.  Jesus is The Perfect who is coming back to this earth at some point in the future.  It is at the return of Jesus that spiritual gifts will be done away.  This is clear from the beginning of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians.  In chapter one verse seven he says, “you are not lacking in any gift, awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  He is not talking about the New Testament.  He is talking about the Second Coming of Jesus!

Thus, spiritual gifts are still operational today.  The Spirit is still wanting to work through believers in these various ways.  When Jesus comes, he will bring this “now but not yet fully” period of time to a close.  Then spiritual gifts will drop away like training wheels on the bike of a kid who has learned to ride.

Verse 11 picks up this imagery.  When Paul talks about putting away childish things when he became a man, he does not mean that as a pejorative.  The things of childhood are necessary.  They are childish only in that they are connected to that state of development.  Similarly, our mortal lives as followers of Jesus are our spiritual childhood.  Yes, we want to become as spiritually mature in our life as we can.  However, the bodily resurrection that Christ will bring about will be our entrance into adulthood.  We will truly be the adult sons of God at that point.  The things of our childhood (now) will be put aside (then).

In verse twelve, Paul not only changes the metaphor to looking into a mirror, but he also speaks of what we know.  Now I am looking into a mirror that is dim, but then I will look into the face of God.  We presently do not see God fully, but we will in the future.  We presently know God’s plan fully, but we will in the future.  We will know just as sure as we are fully known by God right now.

This brings us to the last verse.  In the present, spiritual gifts are given by God, but they must be exercised in love.  Paul pairs love with faith and hope.  He sees these three virtues as abiding in our lives throughout this mortal stage.  The believer needs faith in what God has done through Jesus, hope in what God has promised for those who believe in Jesus, and love for God and others.  We cannot walk this Christian walk without the three virtues of faith, hope, and love.

Yet, the greatest of these is love.  This can simply be a poetic flourish.  However, if we think about the future state of having glorified, heavenly bodies, and dwelling directly in the presence of God, we might ask ourselves what faith and hope will look like then.  Faith is a thing because we do not fully see God.  We must trust Him.  Hope is a thing because we do not have all that God has promised.  We must wait upon Him.  However, when we see Him and receive all that He has promised, faith and hope will dissolve back into the underlying queen of virtues, love.  We will love and be loved for all eternity!

Gifts of the Holy Spirit 2 audio

The Gifts of the Holy Spirit- 1

1 Corinthians 12:1-31.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, May 31, 2026.

We are going to look at how the Holy Spirit helps us through spiritual gifts within the Church.  Our passage today is not given to explain each spiritual gift and its function, like a how-to guide.  Rather, Paul is writing to correct errors and abuse within this area of spiritual gifts.  This chapter combats pagan thinking by giving us God’s thinking about spiritual gifts.  Proper understanding will go a long way to helping us correct abuse in this area.

It is common today to respond in two different ways.  One response is born out of fear.  It shuts down all spiritual gifts, whether declaring them invalid today or simply declaring that no one is doing it correctly.  Another response is to embrace them.  However, that embrace runs the risk of raising our subjective experience and desires above what the Holy Spirit is actually wanting to do through spiritual gifts.

Passages like this one are written to help us navigate this area in step with the Holy Spirit.

Let’s look at our passage.

The contrast between Christians and the world (v. 1-3)

Paul begins by noting that they weren’t always Christians.  Most of them had a prior life of worshipping the Greek gods (this is Corinth, Greece). They had been led astray to these mute idols.  Because their religious understanding had been informed by paganism, they were not recognizing the difference of worshipping and serving the One True God.  They lacked understanding of the reason for spiritual gifts and how they should be exercised.  Their whole prior experience came from a world that was in rebellion to God and His ways.

This sets up a baseline contrast between the false religions and truth.  They had been led to these idols in a number of ways.  Some were simply born into it.  Others may have encountered human and (or) spiritual deception involving manifestations and signs.  The ancient world was filled with prophecy from these so-called gods.

In our culture today, most are born into materialism that does not worship literal idols.  However, materialism simply replaces the Creator God with something within creation, i.e., money, sex, power, humanity, or even self.

Those who are not following God are not led towards Jesus.  The spirit of this world, whether in materialism or false religion, points us away from Jesus.  However, the Holy Spirit always leads us towards Jesus, and him as the blessed Lord over all things.

Paul establishes this up front.  The spirits of this world lead us to a position that sees Jesus as cursed, something to avoid.  Those who exercise spiritual gifts in the Church must be led by the Holy Spirit and not the spirit of this age.  One is poison and the other is eternal life.

The reason for diversity of gifts within a unity (v. 4-11)

The Corinthian problem was a particular fascination with one of the spiritual gifts, speaking in tongues, i.e., an unknown language.  It was pushing out all of the other spiritual gifts and creating division among the believers.

Paul emphasizes that the diversity of gifts comes from the same Holy Spirit.  Yet, he also emphasizes that God Himself is a unity of plurality (e.g., the mention of “Spirit (v. 4) Lord (v. 5) and God [the Father] (v. 6).  We may not completely understand the nature of God, but we do know that there is a unity within plurality.  It is the unity within God that sends the Holy Spirit.  He manifests that unity of purpose in a variety of spiritual gifts, spiritual ministries, and spiritual workings.  These always manifest within or through an individual, but it is for the benefit of all (for the common good).  Paul then states that this is as He (the Holy Spirit) wills.  The emphasis is not on the individual being gifted or having a gift.  It is upon the Spirit manifesting through them as the Spirit of God wills.  Of course, individuals will have to cooperate with the Holy Spirit.  That cooperation needs to be not only in the exercise of the gift but also in the way it is exercised.

Our flesh can get in the way of the Holy Spirit in this area of spiritual gifts.  It can get in the way by blocking it, first in your own life, and then in the life of others.  However, our flesh can also get in the way by using spiritual gifts for our own desires and purpose.  The Corinthians appear to be guilty of both.  They are blocking the purpose of the Spirit and a multitude of spiritual gifts, while overly pursuing one gift for their own aggrandizement.

Paul gives a list of spiritual gifts: word of wisdom, word of knowledge, faith, gifts of healing, working of miracles, prophecy, distinguishing of spirits, tongues, and interpretation of tongues.  This is clearly not exhaustive since we have other gifts listed elsewhere.  It is not even entirely clear that Paul is trying to say that a word of wisdom is a separate spiritual gift from a word of knowledge.  This list is couched in the language of an individual being given something from the Spirit of God, which is then shared with the Church.

Essentially, this diversity of expressions are coming from the same Holy Spirit who gives these individually as He wills.

The illustration of the human body (v. 12-26)

Paul uses a popular illustration of the human body to demonstrate how spiritual gifts are meant to operate in the Church.  The Church is pictured as a body of Christ.  This means that Christ is the One who operates the body.  Yet, each Christian is a part of this body.

A human body has many parts to it, but it incorporates one body and acts as a whole to accomplish what the mind of the body desires (hint: this is Jesus!).

It would be ludicrous to imagine body parts dividing over one another in envy or rejection, but this is precisely what makes Paul’s illustration so powerful.  In verse 15, he imagines a foot saying it is not a part of the body because it is not a hand.  Similarly, he imagines an ear saying it is not a part of the body because it is not an eye.  Whether this is out of a sense of inferiority or not, Paul emphasizes that, even if a foot and an ear were to say that they weren’t a part of a body, it would not thereby make it so.  In fact, a body implies a multitude of different body parts doing different things.  You can’t have a body that is only one big eye, one big hand, etc.  It is a body precisely because it has all of these different capabilities working together to accomplish the one thing purposed by the mind.

In the area of spiritual gifts, this is important.  If we were all the same or trying to be the same, we would be missing valuable and necessary spiritual gifts that the Holy Spirit is trying to supply through us.

Paul gives a variation on this argument in verse 21.  He imagines an eye saying to the hand, “I have no need of you.”  Similarly, he imagines the head saying to the feet, “I have no need of you.”  In verses 22 and 23, he adds the ideas of weaker body parts and less honorable body parts.  Notice the idea of division here is driven by looking down on certain spiritual gifts and pushing them out.  Of course, there are individuals behind these spiritual gifts.  The pressure within the group was to conform to some irrational vision of what was intended by spiritual gifts.

God is the one who has placed you within the body of Christ just as He has willed.  He is also the one working by the Holy Spirit to express a variety of spiritual gifts.  In fact, it is ludicrous to imagine only one spiritual gift.  The same God of Creation who expressed His creative ability in a vast panoply of a variety of creatures, is the one who is behind the spiritual gifts.  It stands to reason that it must have variety if He is the one behind it.

Paul undercuts this tendency to uniformity by the Corinthians by pointing them back to the Spirit.  It is the Spirit who manifests these various spiritual gifts.  If we think some gift, or person, is more honorable, valuable, than another, it doesn’t matter.  Our estimations can be quite horrible at times, especially when we are not thinking biblically. 

Instead of dividing over the different spiritual gifts, we should work together for the common good that the Spirit intends.  Honor is not determined by the body part, but by God who has made it and given it a particular function.

Paul then adds to the argument.  If one body part suffers, all the body parts suffer with it.  If one body part is honored, the whole body rejoices with it.  In fact, the Spirit of God honored the apostles (Peter, John, Paul, etc.) with the power and position to establish the church in doctrine and in practice.  It would be foolish for modern day “apostles” to envy that position and try to improve on it or replace it with something better.  Instead of kicking against God’s function through these men, we must learn to let the Spirit work through us in a way that works together with the Spirit’s work in them.  When we honor them, we honor ourselves because we are all together the body of Christ on this earth!

Concluding statements (v. 27-31)

Though Paul has already given some connections from the illustration of a body to the reality of the body of Christ, the Church, he then brings home the illustration in some concluding statements.

We are all together the body of Christ and members of it.  Regardless, what you may think or feel, God has made a place and function for you.  By faith, we must embrace that place and seek that function (or those functions) that the Spirit wants to manifest through us while harmonizing with what the Spirit is manifesting through others.

Of course, all of this assumes that we are not letting the spirit of this world manifest in and through us. 

God has appointed various ministries (apostles, prophets, teachers) and various works of power (miracles, gifts of healings) and various other gifts (helps, administrations).  He ends the list with the spiritual gift that fixated the Corinthians, “various kinds of tongues.”

We do not all have the same ministry, and no one person has all of these ministries happening through them.  However, we all do have the ministry and gifts, that the Holy Spirit so desires.

Paul concludes with two statements that seem contradictory.  “Earnestly desire the greater gifts.”  This thought will be picked up again in chapter 14.  By desiring tongues alone, the Corinthians were displaying their ignorance about what makes a spiritual gift greater or not greater than another. 

Yet, the second statement declares that there is a more excellent way.  This segues to chapter 13 and a treatise on why love is the foundation to any exercise of spiritual gifts.  It is interesting that he does not call love a spiritual gift.  It is a way, the way of Jesus, that we are called to travel with the Holy Spirit and our fellow believers.

Why do we let spiritual gifts divide us?  It all comes down to ignorance of God’s purpose and refusal to be led by the Holy Spirit.  May God help us to work together with the Holy Spirit for the common good of the Body of Christ!

Gifts of the Spirit 1 audio

Walking in the Holy Spirit

Galatians 5:16-26. This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, May 24, 2026.

We focused last week on how the Holy Spirit helps us, empowers us, to share the Good News of the salvation made available to us in Jesus.  We share that through the words we speak and through the actions of the life we live.  These work together by the help of the Holy Spirit to draw people to Jesus.

Today, we focus on the transformed life that we can live because of the power of the Holy Spirit within us. We should take a moment to recognize that this contrasts with the powerlessness of the Law to transform us.

Both Paul (Romans 3:20) and James (James 1:23) point out that the purpose of the Law is to show us our sin.  It is a great mirror to us of our own life and how short it falls.  However, that is the most it can do.  It cannot give us internal strength to battle against that sin.  Of course, it is helpful to at least see the problem.  Yet, it gives us no power or strength to overcome sin in our life.  What the Law and its penalties were powerless to do, the Holy Spirit is able to do within us.  He leads us in the battle of becoming like our lord Jesus.

He is the one who convinces us (convicts) that our righteousness is woefully lacking, but that Jesus is completely righteous.  He convinces us that Jesus is God’s means of salvation for us.

This internal work of the Holy Spirit to help us be transformed is the amazing grace of God for us.

Let’s look at our passage.

The Spirit of God versus the flesh (v. 16-18)

Notice that Paul uses the contrasting phrases of “The Spirit of God” and “the flesh.”  The flesh is not the same word as “body,” but it is connected to the body.  The flesh is that internal response that is rooted in the desires of our mortal body.  Because it is internal, it takes on spiritual overtones and can even seem like something other than us.

We have a multitude of strong desires that are rooted in our physical bodies.  Paul describes the difficulty of obeying God’s law in Romans 7.  Our flesh often wants what our mind knows to be bad.  It is also true that our flesh may not want what our minds and hearts know to be good for us.  Thus, both Romans 8 and Galatians 5 depict the flesh as being bent away from God and in towards pleasing self.  These appetites may have come about through experimentation or seeing peers and society “enjoying” them.

I bring this up because it is not God’s desire to keep heaping more and more laws on top of us.  He knows that our sinful flesh will continue to hijack our ability to obey them.  Yet, it is important for us to understand this because we are a people of way more laws than Israel ever was.  These united States of America have more and more laws every year.  However, they are not making us more and more righteous.  It was precisely because Israel had 1400 years of following the law that they could understand the amazing grace of God that was made available in Jesus the Messiah.

God’s solution was not more laws.  Rather, it was to first make Jesus available as the perfect man who could live in perfect obedience to God the Father and then make a way for those who would believe to follow him.

This all starts with the help of the Holy Spirit for us now in our mortal flesh, but it leads to the day when we will receive immortal, glorified bodies.  We will no longer have a flesh that is bent away from God and towards the lesser desires of our mortal bodies.

This flesh is not just contrasted with the Holy Spirit.  Paul states that the flesh and the Spirit are “contrary” to one another, or “opposed” to one another.  In Romans 8:7, Paul uses a stronger word.  They are “hostile” to one another.

This hostile opposition between our flesh and the Spirit of God leads us to a situation where we find ourselves wanting something but not doing it.  This can be a desire born of the Spirit that our flesh tries to keep from happening, and it can be a desire born of the flesh that the Spirit challenges us to put to death.

At Pentecost, something completely new was happening.  God was taking up residence within all those who put their faith in Jesus.  This internal presence of God works to give us power to reject the wrong desires of our flesh and follow the Spirit.

What exactly are the desires of the Spirit? John 15:26 tells us that the Holy Spirit comes to testify about Jesus.  Thus, He desires that we come to Jesus and follow him.  John 16:8-11 further details this that He desires to convict the world of its sin, need for the righteousness of Jesus and the judgment that looms over us.

In this passage, we will see that the Holy Spirit desires to express the character of Jesus in our lives.  Jesus is our master teacher; we are his students.  We need to learn his way of life and follow him in it.  We could never do this in our flesh because our flesh is hostile to the idea of actually following the words and life of Jesus.

All of this comes under the idea of walking “in” or “by” the Spirit.  Prepositions in one language do not perfectly map over to prepositions of another language.  Both of these prepositions work.  In some ways, the Holy Spirit is like an external guide with whom we walk.  In another way, He is the river in which we are born along in the right direction.  We could even say that He becomes the power and means by which we are able to walk with Christ, i.e., we walk with Christ by the help of the Spirit.  Yet, the Holy Spirit does all of this from within us.  He helps us to be aware of our actions, attitudes, direction, purpose and goals, and then, to tune them to those of Jesus.

(v. 19-21)

Paul tells us in verse 19 that the deeds of the flesh are obvious.  His point is not that our flesh wants all of these things at all times, but that these are the kinds of things that our flesh desires and leads us to do. 

No intellectually honest person will say that the Holy spirit wants us to do these things.  It is sad that some Christian groups have developed a theology that emphasizes grace to the point that you can do any sin you want, while thanking Jesus for his forgiveness.  This is a travesty and a heresy.  The Holy Spirit wants to help us live a transformed life that becoming more and more like Jesus.

Paul ends this by reminding them that people who live a life of doing the deeds of the flesh will not inherit the Kingdom of God.  Inheriting the Kingdom of God here is not talking about joining a church or being a professing Christian.  He is challenging people who are Christians not to follow after their flesh.  On one hand Christians are a part of the Kingdom of God in Jesus.  He is our King and we live out His commands by the help of the Holy Spirit.  However, the Kingdom of God is not yet fully here.  The verb “inherit” in verse 21 is future tense.  He is looking forward to the Second Coming of Christ when Jesus sets up a kingdom over this earth.  The saints, Christians who have been faithful to him, will be resurrected to serve as his administrators in this coming kingdom.  This is an inheritance that God has promised for those who come into a spiritual relationship with the Messiah, Jesus.

We have many opportunities to walk with our flesh every day.  This does not change when the Spirit indwells us following faith in Jesus.  Of course, Paul is not talking about a one-time thing.  “If you ever do one of these things, you will not inherit!”  No, he says, “those who practice” such things.  This is an ongoing choice to keep walking with your flesh in opposition to the leading of the Holy Spirit. 

We all have moments in which we fail, but it isn’t over.  Think about what the Spirit does when you fail.  He convicts your heart about what you have done and calls you to repentance, i.e., change your mind and turn back to the righteousness of Christ.  None of us will inherit without continuing to repent and keep our eyes on Jesus.

(v. 22-26)

On the other hand, if I let the Holy Spirit produce the fruit of Christ in me, then I will inherit the Kingdom of God.

Paul could have continued by speaking of the “deeds” of the Spirit, but he switches to the picture of fruit.  Fruit is an organic process rather than a work project.  It is borne from within because of our new nature and grows a little bit day by day.

The Spirit of God within you empowers a whole new dynamic in which the character is slowly formed in you and expressed in your life.  This will go from an empty branch to buds to blossoms to fruit to ripening of that fruit.  In a sense, we have two natures: the old nature and new nature.  Which of these natures are you expressing?

The list of love, joy, peace, etc… are essentially different facets of our love for one another fueled by the presence of God Himself within us.  On one hand, I am letting the Holy Spirit do something within me (yielding to Him).  On the other hand, I am doing the things that the Spirit is showing me to do.

No fruit tree can be fruitful without pruning.  Bad branches that are broken or diseased must be cut off.  These would be the things on the list of the deeds of the flesh.  However, some branches need to be cut off in order to make room for other branches to be more fruitful.  In other words, sometimes the Spirit teaches us to remove things from our life, not because they are immoral or wicked, but because they are keeping me from being fruitful.  They are taking up too much space in my life.

Furthermore, sometimes God prunes things from my life.  I have nothing to say about it.  It just happens.  Yet, other times, the Spirit of the Lord points out something that we need completely prune out of our lives.  He works within us to convince us and empower us to do it.

This is the powerful evidence (fruit) of the Holy Spirit within us.  We will see all of these things start to show up in our life.  Yet, the Spirit will not be content with just a little love in our life.

None of us will be (are) perfect at this on this side of death.  However, we are not under the law of sin and death.  Verse 18 states that those who are led by the Holy Spirit are not under the Law (judged by it).  Rather, we are under the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:2).  Entering the presence of Christ upon death is not based on our perfection in these areas.  Rather, it is based upon His perfect work being applied to our lives by faith.  Those who trust Jesus and His Spirit to the end of their lives will enter into His presence.  In fact, some of our greatest righteousness will include repentance and forgiveness.

Paul ends with a description of what it means to follow Jesus.  To belong to Jesus is to crucify your flesh with its passions and desires.  It should be obvious that a crucified groom (Jesus) would only want to be with a crucified bride (all those who believed him enough to follow the Spirit).

“If we live in the Spirit” is a statement about the spiritual life we have in Christ.  If I truly have put my faith in Jesus and his eternal life has taken up residence within me by the Spirit, then I need to walk by, with, and in the Holy Spirit.  It is not enough to be made alive.  We need to cooperate with the Spirit so that the righteousness of Jesus might be growing in our lives.

Praise God that we have a savior who covers our sin and yet does not leave us stuck in them.  Let’s put our faith in Him and put to death those desires that hold us back from becoming more like him.

Walking in the Holy Spirit audio