The work of God is to call believers out of the world and into salvation. God has honored Christ with the task of accomplishing this important mission. Christ has already come and offered Himself as the sacrifice for mankind and is continuing to serve believers as High Priest. He is our advocate and mediator in heaven, seated at the right hand of God (Hebrews 10:1-18). Christ has dispatched the Holy Spirit to work through believers in the accomplishment of God’s plan (John 16:12-15). As the Holy Spirit manifests Himself in individual believers, various tasks are performed which work together to accomplish God’s overall plan. These manifestations of the Holy Spirit are spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12:12-31). They may include wisdom, knowledge, faith, generosity or any service that is needed to assist in accomplishing God’s plan. Prayer is a common privilege of all believers and is in addition to any spiritual gift. Love is the core of any gift. The believer serves others and expects nothing in return (1 Corinthians 13:1-13).
Each person has physical attributes and intellectual abilities that make them unique. These may be incorporated into the use of a spiritual gift, however they should not be confused as being the spiritual gift. Spiritual gifts are reserved for believers. They didn’t exist prior to the individual’s belief of the gospel, and are only possible because of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. A spiritual gift is a manifestation of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer (Acts 2:18).
All believers are indwelled by the Holy Spirit but not all are filled with the Spirit (Romans 8:9; 1 Thessalonians 5:19; Ephesians 4:30). Sin and willful disobedience will halt a manifestation of the Spirit. However, the Holy Spirit will use a believer who is actively involved in the confession of sin and willful obedience to God’s plan.
God has revealed portions of His plan to the world. He has increased understanding of His plan to believers. However, no one should be deceived into thinking that they understand the details of God’s plan. It rises so far above human comprehension that we must simply rely on the Holy Spirit to lead us into individual tasks, and believe that they fit into the overall plan. The complexity of God’s plan may be compared to a heavenly kaleidoscope. There are so many variables, so many complicated factors involved, that we could never participate on our own. We simply trust the Holy Spirit to manifest Himself through us in whatever way, time, or place that He wills. As God’s plan unfolds and we witness the beauty of it, we rejoice in His wisdom and love (Ephesians 4:1-21).
Believers will be judged according to use of their spiritual gifts. Any service that is performed using mere natural abilities, cultivated skills, or self promotion will be judged and eliminated (2 Corinthians 5:10). The only lasting credit will come from the use of a spiritual gift allocated by Christ, and powered by the Holy Spirit. We would do well to judge our motivation and execution of service based on these prerequisites. The Apostle Paul compares God’s plan to the construction of a building with Christ as the foundation. He compares the authentic manifestation of the Spirit to lasting materials, and mere human effort with combustible materials. He refers to the judgment seat of Christ as fire that will purify each man’s work. Fire is often used in the Bible to represent judgment. Christ has been described as having eyes of fire (Revelation 2:18). The idea is that as he looks at our work, only the work accomplished by the power of the Holy Spirit will remain (1 Corinthians 3:13). Everything accomplished by other means will be consumed. Believers must constantly evaluate the motive and means of service to others.
By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.
1 Corinthians 3:10-15
Next Section: The Future Glory
Table of Contents: The Last Adam
Text for this post has been borrowed from my Kindle eBook The Last Adam (Book 1 of the Grace and Knowledge Series), by Brother Woody Brohm. Copyright 2012.
I’ve included the full text of the book on this blog and you are free to read the book in this format if you please. Just follow the Next Section Link or view the Table of Contents to skip to wherever you prefer.
All Scripture quoted from:
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.