God the Holy Spirit, Mentor's Guide, MG14

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G O D T H E H O L Y S P I R I T

(3) 1 Cor. 12.11

(4) 1 Cor. 7.7

b. Gifts are not about status, 1 Cor. 12.20-22.

3. Possessing a certain spiritual gift does not make a person more (or less) spiritual.

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a. 1 Corinthians 13: love, not gifting, is the measure of true spirituality. The 1 Corinthians 13 passage suggests the true goal of the Spirit’s indwelling is perfection in love. Exercise of the gifts that does not lead to this goal is not “of the Spirit” in Paul’s mind. No act of power can, in and of itself, verify the work of the Spirit the way a single act of love can.

b. The Story of Balaam (Number 22-24)

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The seer Balaam had the living presence of the Spirit of God come upon him in such a way that he prophesied under divine anointing (Num. 24.2-3) and even accurately foresaw the reign of God’s Messiah in the distant future (Num. 24.17) but the Apostle Peter says that in God’s estimation, Balaam was one who “loved the ways of wickedness” (2 Pet. 2.15). Spiritual gifts are rightly used by the mature person to accomplish God’s purposes but they, in themselves, do nothing to make a person spiritually mature.

c. We are all “jars of clay,” 2 Cor. 4.7.

The manifestation of God’s power and presence is not about our spirituality but about his grace. No one deserves God’s gracious gifts.