The Holy Spirit and his gifts for the Church today
2. The fullness of the Spirit, wisdom and knowledge

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A.  Introduction

  1. This study will have 2 foci.
  2. The first is to establish the conditions under which spiritual gifts are exercised.  This will be seen to be the “fullness of the Spirit.”
  3. The second is to begin to examine the gift list in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10, beginning with “wisdom” and “knowledge.”

B.  The Fullness of the Spirit and Spiritual Gifts

  1. The prophets are people filled with the power of the Spirit (Num 24:2- 4;1 Sam 10:6-10; 2 Sam 23:1ff; Mic 3:8).
  2. This will be true of Messiah (Isa 11:2; 42:1; 61:1).
  3. Those who herald the coming of Jesus do so because they are filled with the Spirit (Luke 1:15,17,41,42,67).
  4. Jesus only proclaimed the gospel and exercised miraculous powers after his encounter with the Spirit at the Jordan e.g. Luke 4:1,14,18.
  5. The outflow of spiritual gifts, gospel proclamation and deeds of power in Acts is tied to the Spirit filling men and women (Acts 2:4.11; 4:8,29 – 31;6:3,5; 7:55; 9:17; 13:9).
  6. Paul commands believers to be filled with the Spirit so that they may sing inspired “psalms, hymns and spiritual songs” with continual thankfulness (Eph 5:18 – 19).
  7. This evidence leads to the conclusion that a believer cannot exercise the gifts of the Spirit etc. without being filled with the Spirit.
  8. Only the Spirit can convey the ability and power of the presence of the kingdom of God enabling Christians to exercise the charismata.

C.  Being Filled with the Spirit

  1. This is not a one-off experience but something that needs to happen repeatedly (Acts 2:4; 4:8,31 – Peter; Acts 9:17; 13:9 – Paul; Eph 5:18 – present continuous tense for all Christians).
  2. Since it is commanded (Ephesians 5:18) it must be obeyed.
  3. Since it is passive (Ephesians 5:18) it is something that God does in believers, it is not their efforts.
  4. To be filled with the Spirit must be to be filled with the presence of Christ (Eph 1:10, 22, 23; 3:19; 4:10; Col 1:29; 2:9 – 10).
  5. This could be summed up as letting Jesus be Lord (1 Cor 12:3)
  6. Steps to living in this fullness include:
    1. desiring God and his kingdom (Ps 42:1ff; 63:1ff; Matt 5:6)
    2. earnestness and sincerity (Num 14:24; Josh 14:14; Jer 29:13; Heb 11:6)
    3. repentance of known sin (Acts 2:28f; 5:32; Rom 8:5f; Ps 66:18)
    4. faith in God’s promises (Luke 11:11 -13; Gal 3:13f)
    5. acting upon faith (Matt 14:13ff; Heb 13:15; Ps 89:1)
      1. trusting God’s word (Luke 5:5; Matt 4:4)

D.  The “Word of Wisdom” (1 Corinthians 12:8)

  1. This is variously translated: “word of/utterance of/message of wisdom”.
  2. The emphasis falls on the inspiration, rather than what is said.
  3. Conservative Christians see this in terms of a gift of divine wisdom for a difficult situation e.g. Acts 15:13 -21.
  4. This approximates the wisdom familiar to the Old Testament (cf. 1 Cor 6:5-6).
  5. Pentecostals and Charismatics see it as immediately given insight for a needful situation (1 Kings 3:25; Acts 5:1- 10).
  6. The New Testament however does not call either of these interpretations “words of wisdom.”
  7. The dynamic context in 1 Corinthians suggests a different interpretation.
  8. Paul places wisdom and knowledge first in his list because they are foundational to all the gifts.  Deficiency in these gifts will mean that the use of all the others will be disordered.
  9. “Wisdom” and “knowledge” are key terms for the Corinthians and were seen by them, in a mistaken way, as badges of spirituality.  (See 1:5,17 – 30; 2:1 – 13; 3:18  20;4:10; 6:5; 8:1- 11; 13:2 – 12; 15:34).
  10. The ultimate utterance of wisdom, according to Paul, is “the word of the cross”  (1:18, 26- 29).
  11. This contradicts all worldly wisdom (1:18 – 2:5).
  12. This wisdom is conveyed in the power of the Spirit (2:4- 5).
  13. The content of the wisdom of God is his plan in Christ revealed by the Spirit
  14. (2:6 -16).
  15. The  “utterance of wisdom” is a Spirit – given ability to speak forth an application of the way and work of the cross in a particular situation.
  16. This fits the wider context of Paul’s theology elsewhere (Eph 1:17ff; Col 2:3).

E.  The “Word of Knowledge” (1 Corinthians 12:8)

  1. This is variously translated: “word of/utterance of/message of knowledge”.
  2. The emphasis falls on the inspiration, rather than what is said.
  3. In Paul’s thinking knowledge follows wisdom  (Rom 11:33; Col 2:3; cf. Gen 3:5- 6).
  4. Pentecostals and Charismatics see it as immediately given supernatural knowledge e.g.1 Sam 9:3 -10:2; John 4:16 – 18.
  5. The context of 1 Corinthians discussed above is again determinative.
  6. The goal of the gift of the Spirit is that we might “know” the fullness of the blessings given us by God (2:12 -13).
  7. The utterance of knowledge would appear to be the putting forth of truths about these blessings in Christ in a manner that can be understood i.e. Spirit inspired teaching (Rom 15:14; 1 Cor 1:5; Col 3:16 cf. 1 John 2:27).

Questions For Application

  1. Do you consciously desire to be filled with the Spirit?
  2. Is this simply a personal or individual matter?  (Think about the contexts in Acts and Ephesians where being filled with the Spirit is mentioned.)
  3. Why has the above interpretation of wisdom and knowledge NOT been the dominant one in the history of the church?
  4. What implications has this interpretation of wisdom and knowledge for your own life and ministry e.g. how you pray?

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