Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.

1 Corinthians 12:4-6

To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

1 Corinthians 12:7

 But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.

Ephesians 4:7

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God [the Father] has assigned.

Romans 12:3

Our God is a God of variety. When he distributes his gifts, those gifts don’t limit us to some confining box and restrict us from being who we are. In fact, when we understand our gifts from God and give ourselves to those gifts, we are “who we are” more than at any other time. We are living according to God’s unique intended purpose for our individual lives.

Varieties

Varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. The Holy Spirit gives a variety of gifts (Greek Charisma). The passage in 1 Corinthians 12 lists nine different specific gifts. The point is that there are several different ways the Spirit manifests himself, not just one or two. We will look at a couple of other passages that increase the number of gifts that God gives to his people, in addition to these nine that are often the subject of heated discussion.

Varieties of service (Greek Diakonos), but the same Lord. The word service is also translated as ministries, administrations, and deacon. Note that while there are varieties of service, it is the same Lord (Jesus) who gives the variety of forms of service. Paul refers to his Apostleship as service or ministry; caring for the poor is identified as a service or ministry. The preparing of food is also referred to as service, along with other varieties of service.

Varieties of activities (Greek energema), but the same God who empowers them all in everyone. This word energema is also translated as effects, operation, or working. The implication is that various people may have been given the same gift(s), but how they appear or operate may be very different because there are varieties of operations, workings, or activities. The same gift will look differently depending on who operates the gift because of God’s variety within his people.

Gifts are from the Triune God

Among most believers in the West, when God’s gifts are discussed, what is in their minds is the category of the gifts of the Spirit listed in 1 Corinthians 12. But, the Holy Spirit is not the only person of the Godhead to grant gifts. The Father gives gifts, and so does the Son.

The gifts of the Son

But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it says,

“When he ascended on high he led a host of captives,
    and he gave gifts to men.”
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,

Ephesians 4:7-8,11

Note first of all that “grace was given to each one of us.” As some say, this means we all get to play. Every believer is included in the phrase “each one of us.” Secondly, that grace is given according to “Christ’s gift.” Some theologians refer to these gifts as Ascension Gifts because they were given by Jesus after his ascension when he led a host of captives and gave these gifts. So, Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity, gives gifts in addition to the gifts that the Spirit gives.

The Father gets in the act in Romans 12.

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.

Romans 12:3

I understand this to refer to God the Father. The measure of faith that the Father gives empowers a believer to function in the gift(s) that follow in Romans 12. This faith is not referring to “saving faith,” but empowering faith to function as God has designed in a particular gift. Marvin Vincent comments on this passage in his work, Word Studies in the New Testament Volume III.

It is faith as the condition of the powers and offices of believers, faith regarded as spiritual insight, which according to its degrees, qualifies a man to be a prophet, a teacher, a minister, etc.; faith in its relation to character, as the only principle which develops a man’s true character, and which, therefore, is the determining principle of the renewed man’s tendencies, whether they lead him to meditation and research, or to practical activity. As faith is the sphere and subjective condition of the powers and functions of believers, so it furnishes a test or regulative standard of their respective endowments and functions. Thus, the measure applied is distinctively a measure of faith.

Marvin Vincent Word Studies in the New Testament

The critical phrase in Vincent’s quote is, “which, therefore, is the determining principle of the renewed man’s tendencies…” This measure of faith determines my motivations in life and my tendencies, listed as the gifts in Romans 12. Since this faith determines my motivations in life, I (along with many others) refer to these as motivational gifts.

To distinguish these sets of gifts, I give them the descriptive terms foundational, fullness, and fleeting. The gifts of the Father in Romans 12 are referred to as foundational because they, in Vincent’s words, are the determining principle of the renewed man’s tendencies. They are the underlying motivation for how one expresses the life of God. The gifts of the Son are referred to with the term fullness because the ultimate purpose of these gifts in Ephesians 4:13 is the fullness of Christ. “Until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ…” And finally, the gifts of the Holy Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12, I refer to as fleeting. These are called “manifestations of the Spirit.” They are distributed by the Spirit “individually as he wills.” Some have, in my opinion, misunderstood the gifts of the Spirit in thinking that they are a gift that the Spirit gives to someone, and then they own it and control it and can perform it at their will. This idea is incorrect, with one possible exception I won’t go into now. These manifestations of the Spirit are fleeting, here now when needed, and gone once the need has been met. These gifts don’t belong to us; they belong to the Spirit who decides when to manifest them.

Human beings are created in the image and likeness of God. When Adam sinned and humanity fell, the image of God was deeply damaged. We humans lost more than we realize. In Christ, God is in the process of restoring humanity to the glory we once had and beyond in the image of Christ, the glorified Son of God. The New Covenant brings these gifts to the new humanity in Christ to display the life and love of God among humanity. The Father gives the foundational motivational gifts. The Son gives himself in the form of the ascension gifts so that his ministry continues after his death, resurrection, and ascension through his body. The Spirit manifests himself like the wind on a leaf in the fleeting gifts of the Spirit. The triune God shows up in the New Creation through these various gifts. If we ignore them or deny them, we dull the glory of God’s work in the body of Christ.

 But earnestly desire the greater gifts.

1 Corinthians 12:31 NASB