ACC ~ 1 Corinthians 12 v4 - 11

OVERVIEW:

The giver of varied gifts is God the Holy Spirit (HILARY OF POITIERS, CHRYSOSTOM). Gifts, service and working are different forms of the same ministry (CYRIL OF JERUSALEM, CHRYSOSTOM) of the triune God (AMBROSIASTER) whose gifts cannot be artificially separated as to persons of the Godhead. There is only one God, whose grace is distributed by the Spirit to individuals as he wishes, according to his incomparable justice and power (AMBROSE), not according to the merits or will (JEROME) of any particular person (AMBROSIASTER). They are for the upbuilding of his church (BASIL, AMBROSIASTER, CHRYSOSTOM). Even today (THEODORET OF CYR) each baptized person receives the Spirit’s gift so that he or she may be useful both to self and others (AMBROSIASTER). The utterance of wisdom refers to the knowledge of divine things (AUGUSTINE) through the Scriptures (SEVERIAN OF GABALA). The utterance of knowledge refers to human science (AUGUSTINE) or the revelation of things forgotten (SEVERIAN). It is the Spirit who enlightens (AMBROSIASTER). The faith mentioned here is the faith that moves mountains (THEODORET OF CYR), not just a formal doctrine (CYRIL OF JERUSALEM). Even the shy can lay claim to such bold faith. The gift of tongues and the interpretation of tongues (AMBROSIASTER), as well as the gift of prophecy, is the gift of the triune God, given through the Holy Spirit (AMBROSE) to whomever God sees fit, both to women and men (THEODORET OF CYR). Hence it is not for boasting (CHRYSOSTOM).

12:4 | Different Gifts

VARIETIES OF GIFTS. CHRYSOSTOM: Even if the gift bestowed on you is less than the gift bestowed on someone else, the Giver is the same, and therefore you have equal honor with him. It is the same Fountain from which you draw refreshment. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 29.4.

THE SPIRIT NOT DIVIDED IN DIVERSE GIFTS. AMBROSE: This does not pertain to the fullness nor to a portion of the Spirit, because neither does the human mind grasp God’s fullness, nor is God divided into any portions of himself. But he pours out the gift of the grace of the Spirit in which God is adored, as he is also adored in truth, for no one adores him except he who draws in the truth of his godhead with pious affection. THE HOLY SPIRIT 11.71.

12:5 | Different Kinds of Service

ADAPTING TO EACH. CYRIL OF JERUSALEM: The Holy Spirit adapts himself to each person. He sees the dispositions of each. He sees into our reasoning and our conscience, what we say, what we think, what we believe. CATECHETICAL LECTURES 14.22.

ONE BODY, MANY MEMBERS. AMBROSE: We are all the one body of Christ, whose head is God, whose members we are. Some perhaps are the eyes, like the prophets. Others are more like teeth, as the apostles who passed the food of the gospel teaching into our hearts. … Some are hands who are seen carrying out good works. Those who bestow the strength of nourishment upon the poor are his belly. Some are his feet, and would that I were worthy to be his heel! He pours water on the feet of Christ who forgives the lowly their sins, and, in setting free the common man, he bathes the feet of Christ. LETTER 62.

VARIETIES OF SERVICE. CHRYSOSTOM: One who hears about gifts might be upset if someone else has a greater one. But when it comes to service, things are the other way round. In this case, labor and sweat are implied. Why do you complain if they have been given more to do so as to spare you? HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 29.4.

THE FACULTIES OF BODY AND SOUL COMPARED. HILARY OF POITIERS: Just as a faculty of the human body will be idle when the causes that stir it into activity are not present, so with the soul. The eyes will not perform their functions except through the light or the brightness of day. The ears will not comprehend their task when no voice or sound is heard. The nostrils will not be aware of their office if no odor is detected. It is not that the faculty is lost because the cause is absent. Rather the employment of the faculty comes from the cause. It is the same with the soul of man. If the soul has not breathed in the gift of the Spirit through faith, even though it will continue to possess the faculty for understanding, it will not have the light of knowledge. The one gift, which is in Christ, is available to everyone in its entirety, and what is present in every place is given insofar as we desire to receive it and will remain with us insofar as we desire to become worthy of it. This gift is with us even to the consummation of the world. This is the consolation of our expectation. This, through the efficacy of the gifts, is the pledge of our future hope. This is the light of the mind, the splendor of the soul. For this reason we must pray for this Holy Spirit. ON THE TRINITY 2.35.

12:6 | The Work of the Same God

THE ONE WORK OF THE TRIUNE GOD. AMBROSIASTER: Paul is emphatic in asserting that the distribution of gifts is not to be attributed to human causes as if they were achievable by men. The varied gifts of the Holy Spirit and the grace of the Lord Jesus are the work of one and the same God. The grace and the gift cannot be divided according to the persons of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit but must be understood as constituting the one work of the undivided unity and nature of the Three. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

THE FOURFOLD SEQUENCE. HILARY OF POITIERS: There is a fourfold meaning in the words that lie before us: There is the same Spirit in the varieties of the gifts. There is the same Lord in the varieties of ministries. There is the same God in these varieties. And there is a manifestation of the Spirit in the bestowal of what is profitable. ON THE TRINITY 8.29.

THE SAME GOD WHO INSPIRES. CHRYSOSTOM: Gifts, service and working all amount to the same thing in the end, for they are different forms of the same ministry. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 29.4.

12:7 | Gifts Given for the Common Good

MANIFESTATION OF THE SPIRIT. AMBROSIASTER: Each person receives a gift so that, governing his life by divine constraints, he may be useful both to himself and to others while presenting an example of good behavior. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

FOR YOUR BENEFIT. CHRYSOSTOM: Whatever measure of the Spirit has been given to you, it is for your benefit, so there is no reason to complain of what seems like a small gift. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 29.5.

FOR THE COMMON GOOD. BASIL: Since no one has the capacity to receive all spiritual gifts, but the grace of the Spirit is given proportionately to the faith of each, when one is living in community with others, the grace privately bestowed on each individual becomes the common possession of the others. … One who receives any of these gifts does not possess it for his own sake but rather for the sake of others. THE LONG RULES 7.

IN OUR TIME GRACE GIVEN. THEODORET OF CYR: Even in our time grace is given to those who are deemed worthy of holy baptism, but it may not take the same form as it did in those days. COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 243.

12:8 | Utterance of Wisdom and Knowledge

WISDOM AND KNOWLEDGE. AMBROSIASTER: In other words, he is given knowledge not by book learning but by the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

DIVINE THINGS AND HUMAN SCIENCE. AUGUSTINE: Wisdom refers to the knowledge of divine things, and knowledge to human science. ON THE TRINITY 14.

REVELATION OF THINGS FORGOTTEN. SEVERIAN OF GABALA: The utterance of wisdom means understanding what God has said through the prophets and evangelists and communicating this to those who are listening. The utterance of knowledge is the revelation of things which have been forgotten, which someone learns for the first time and then shares with others. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

12:9 | Gifts of Faith and of Healing

SURPASSING HUMAN NATURE. CYRIL OF JERUSALEM: This faith which is given by the Spirit as a grace is not just doctrinal faith but a faith which empowers activities surpassing human nature, a faith which moves mountains. … For just as a grain of mustard seed is of little bulk but of explosive energy, taking a trifling space for its planting and then sending out great branches all around, so that when it is grown it can give shelter to the birds, so in like manner the faith present in one’s soul achieves the greatest things by the most summary decision. For such a one places the thought of God before his mind and as enlightenment of faith permits it, beholds God. His mind also ranges through the world from end to end, and with the end of this age not yet come, beholds the judgment already, and the bestowal of the promised rewards. CATECHETICAL LECTURE ON FAITH 5.11.

LAY CLAIM TO FAITH. AMBROSIASTER: Paul says this to encourage the person concerned to suppress his shyness and receive the ability to profess and lay claim to faith. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

NOT MANY SPIRITS. AUGUSTINE: Without the spirit of faith no one will rightly believe. Without the spirit of prayer no one will profitably pray. It is not that there are so many spirits, “but in all things one and the same Spirit works, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.” LETTER 191, TO SIXTUS.

FAITH THAT MOVES MOUNTAINS. THEODORET OF CYR: The faith mentioned here is not the kind given to every believer but the kind which can move mountains. COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 244.

12:10a | Prophecy

THE GRACE IS ONE. AMBROSE: According to Paul, prophecy is not only through the Father and the Son but also through the Holy Spirit. On this account the office is one, the grace is one. THE HOLY SPIRIT 2.13.143.

DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN SPIRITS. ORIGEN: In the distribution of spiritual gifts, it is also added that “discernment of spirits” is given to some. It is a spiritual gift, therefore, by which the spirit is discerned, as the apostle says: “Test the spirits, if they are from God.” HOMILIES ON EXODUS 3.

12:10b | Tongues and Interpretation

INTERPRETATION OF TONGUES. AMBROSIASTER: To interpret is to interpret faithfully by God’s gift the sayings of those who speak in tongues or in writing. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

NOT TO BOAST. CHRYSOSTOM: The Corinthians boasted of their speaking in tongues, which is why Paul put it last in his list. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 29.5.

GIVEN TO WOMEN ALSO. THEODORET OF CYR: These gifts were given to women as well as men, as the Acts of the Apostles makes plain. COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 245.

12:11a | Inspired by the Same Spirit

THE WRITTEN WORD INSPIRED BY THE SPIRIT. CYRIL OF JERUSALEM: Let us assert of the Holy Spirit only what is written. Let us not busy ourselves about what is not written. The Holy Spirit has authored the Scriptures. He has spoken of himself all that he wished, or all that we could grasp. Let us confine ourselves to what he has said, for it is reckless to do otherwise. CATECHETICAL LECTURES 16.2.

THE SAME SPIRIT. CHRYSOSTOM: The universal medicine of his consolation stems from the same root, from the same treasure, the same stream. Therefore Paul occasionally dwells on this expression so as to level out apparent inequalities and console them. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 29.5.

THE SPIRIT NOT DIVIDED. AMBROSE: The Spirit spoke also in the patriarchs and the prophets, and finally the apostles then began to be more perfect after they had received the Holy Spirit. Thus there is no separation of the divine power and grace, for although “there are varieties of gifts, yet there is the same Spirit.” THE HOLY SPIRIT 2.12.138.

THE COMFORT OF SUPPOSED LESSER GIFTS. THEODORET OF CYR: Here Paul is comforting those who received the lesser gifts, pointing out that they too come from the Holy Spirit. COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 246.

12:11b | Gifts Apportioned Individually

ACCORDING TO GOD’S JUSTICE AND POWER. AMBROSE: It belongs to God’s justice that he divides and to his power that he divides according to his will or because he wishes to give to each one what he knows will be of profit. LETTER 20.

THE THREE DO WHAT THE ONE DOES. AMBROSIASTER: Paul is here attributing to the Holy Spirit what he earlier attributed to all three persons. Because they are of one nature and power, the Three do what the One does. There is only one God, whose grace is distributed to individuals as he wishes, not according to the merits of any particular person but for the upbuilding of his church. All those things which the world wants to imitate but cannot, because it is carnal, may be seen in the church, which is the house of God, where they are granted by the gift and instruction of the Holy Spirit. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

THE WILL OF THE SPIRIT. JEROME: Notice that Paul does not say “according to the will of each and every member” but “according to the will of the Spirit.” AGAINST THE PELAGIANS 16.

THE ONE SPIRIT ADAPTS TO PERSONAL DIVERSITY. CYRIL OF JERUSALEM: One and the same rain comes down on all the world, yet it becomes white in the lily, red in the rose, purple in the violets and hyacinths, different and many-colored in manifold species. Thus it is one in the palm tree and another in the vine, and all in all things, though it is uniform and does not vary in itself. For the rain does not change, coming down now as one thing and now as another, but it adapts itself to the thing receiving it and becomes what is suitable to each. Similarly the Holy Spirit, being One and of one nature and indivisible, imparts to each one his grace “according as he will.” The dry tree when watered brings forth shoots. So too does the soul in sin, once made worthy through repentance of the grace of the Holy Spirit, flower into justice. Though the Spirit is one in nature, yet by the will of God and in the name of the Son, he brings about many virtuous effects. For he employs the tongue of one for wisdom, illumines the soul of another by prophecy, to another he grants the power of driving out devils, to another the gift of interpreting the sacred Scriptures. He strengthens the self-control of one while teaching another the nature of almsgiving, and still another to fast and humble himself, and another to despise the things of the body. He prepares another for martyrdom. He acts differently in different persons, though he himself is not diverse. CATECHETICAL LECTURES 14.12.

THE GIFT HIMSELF. AUGUSTINE: For not everyone has all of them, but some have these and others those, although each has the Gift himself by whom the things proper to each one are divided, namely, the Holy Spirit. ON THE TRINITY 15.