Discovering
the Key to Spiritual Growth
1
Corinthians 1:7
Jim Davis
Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “Therefore
you do not lack any spiritual gift as you
eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be
revealed” (1 Corinthians 1:7). God gave
the Corinthians every spiritual gift needed
to build a solid fellowship, but they were
failing dramatically. The Corinthians
found themselves powerless as they used
their God given gifts in a worldly fashion.
They lacked nothing they needed, but were
failing in spiritual growth.
1
Corinthians 3:1-4
3:1
Brothers, I could not address you as
spiritual but as worldly — mere infants in
Christ. 2 I gave you milk, not solid food,
for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed,
you are still not ready. 3 You are still
worldly. For since there is jealousy and
quarreling among you, are you not worldly?
Are you not acting like mere men? 4 For when
one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I
follow Apollos," are you not mere men? NIV
It all began as the new believers in
Corinth lined up behind their favorite
teachers. “Each group in the church was
tearing down their least favorite preachers
in order to build up the man they liked.
Their motive was not at all spiritual. They
were promoting division in the church by
being partisan to one man as opposed to the
others. They needed to examine their own
hearts and get rid of the pride - that was
destroying the church.” (The Bible
Exposition Commentary. Copyright (c) 1989 by
SP Publications, Inc.)
The division penetrated the fellowship
further as members sized each other up
according to their spiritual gifts. They
measured themselves and others by their
gifts—from the least to the greatest. Those
considered to have the greatest gifts were
considered more powerful and more important.
It was wreaking havoc. Paul warned them
about comparing themselves with themselves.
2
Corinthians 10:12-13
12 We do not
dare to classify or compare ourselves with
some who commend themselves. When they
measure themselves by themselves and compare
themselves with themselves, they are not
wise. NIV
Adapting worldly solutions to spiritual
problems is something with which we can
identify. We often measure one another
much like the Corinthians. The last couple
of decades have been spent quarreling over
how to do church as we strive to revive
churches spiritually. We compare this church
to that church as we endeavor to figure out
what makes for success. We compare the old
style of leadership to the new style of
leadership as we seek to duplicate the
success of others. In captivating fashion we
have upgraded the music and the presentation
of the message electronically through
PowerPoint’s and movie screens. We look to a
person’s giftedness as we seek to fit them
into our fellowships.
It is common practice to administer
written test to assess strengths and
weaknesses to fit a person into the
fellowship accordingly. I can only
wonder--how often does looking at the
results of a written spiritual test prevent
us from seeing God’s potential in a person?
It may be a great place to begin fitting a
person in, but I can only wonder how often
do our test limit what God can do through a
person.
What happens when we look at a person’s
natural gifts as spiritual gifts and size
them up accordingly? I have discovered a
mechanic who becomes a believer usually
doesn’t desire to be the church’s mechanic.
I have discovered the same to be true with
teachers, doctors, nurses, accountants,
cooks, baby sitters, janitors etc. We fail
to understand God can use all these people
in ways we can’t even imagine.
We Must Look
to God’s Greatness
The world looks to great people for great
things seeking to emulate their success.
The kingdom of God is much different. Jesus
taught that those who believed in him would
do greater things than he had done. Jesus
measured greatness by one’s willingness to
become least in the kingdom of heaven. He
taught the least in the kingdom of heaven
would be the greatest. It was his measure of
greatness. Throughout the Bible God always
seemed to use those least likely to succeed.
When he did choose the most likely to
succeed they were usually found in
impossible circumstances.
God doesn’t call us because we are
great—he calls us because he is GREAT.
God exerted his power in Corinth through
base people who brought little to the
fellowship. He gave the spiritual gifts
needed to make it work.
1
Corinthians 1:26-31
26 Brothers,
think of what you were when you were called.
Not many of you were wise by human
standards; not many were influential; not
many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose
the foolish things of the world to shame the
wise; God chose the weak things of the world
to shame the strong. 28 He chose the lowly
things of this world and the despised things
— and the things that are not — to nullify
the things that are, 29 so that no one may
boast before him. 30 It is because of him
that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become
for us wisdom from God — that is, our
righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31
Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who
boasts boast in the Lord." NIV
In a very non-diplomatic way Paul
reminded the Corinthians they brought
nothing to God. In fact, they were only
where they were in Christ because of God.
Paul writes, “Not many of you were wise
by human standards; not many were
influential; not many were of noble birth.
But God chose the foolish things of the
world to shame the wise; God chose the weak
things of the world to shame the strong . .
. It is because of him [i.e., God] that you
are in Christ Jesus.” It is not very
flattering, but it gives God the glory.
You would think entrusting the message of
the gospel to that fellowship would bring
defeat. To our modern day fellowships
it’s comparable to casting pearls before
pigs—or in the present day
vernacular—putting lipstick on pigs. Of
course, God does things like this to nullify
the wisdom of the world.
We should constantly remind ourselves of
the make up of the Corinthian fellowship.
After coming to Christ, God gave the
Corinthians the spiritual gifts they needed
to build the fellowship. God didn’t give the
gifts to make them important or powerful.
The gifts were not a measure of their
potential. The gifts were to make them
useful as they looked to the ONE who made it
possible.
The Corinthians were encouraged to take
note of what Christ had done for them as
they looked back at their past.
1
Corinthians 6:9-11
9 Do you not
know that the wicked will not inherit the
kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither
the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor
adulterers nor male prostitutes nor
homosexual offenders 10 nor thieves nor the
greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor
swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
11 And that is what some of you were. But
you were washed, you were sanctified, you
were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ and by the Spirit of our God. NIV
Salvation is a gift from God--it goes
beyond becoming religious. Spiritually
the Corinthians had nothing of which they
could boast—except Jesus Christ. They were
given the free gift of salvation along with
every spiritual blessing needed.
Ephesians
2:6-10
And God
raised us up with Christ and seated us with
him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,
7 in order that in the coming ages he might
show the incomparable riches of his grace,
expressed in his kindness to us in Christ
Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been
saved, through faith — and this not from
yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by
works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we
are God's workmanship, created in Christ
Jesus to do good works, which God prepared
in advance for us to do. NIV
It is becoming increasingly obvious that
we must move beyond human potential.
Somehow in our religious approach to
Christianity we’ve missed the point. We go
through life believing we are saved by grace
as we use our human potential religiously
expecting God to bless us. How often does
looking at our giftedness and studying the
mechanics of church growth through the eyes
of human potential blind us to the real
power of God?
We must trust God’s grace to confirm
God’s work in us. Paul reminded the
Corinthians that the spiritual gift given to
them was to confirm God’s work in them.
They began measuring themselves by what
God was doing through them and lost sight of
what God was doing.
1
Corinthians 1:4-7
4 I always
thank God for you because of his grace given
you in Christ Jesus. 5 For in him you have
been enriched in every way — in all your
speaking and in all your knowledge— 6
because our testimony about Christ was
confirmed in you. 7 Therefore you do not
lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait
for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.
NIV
We must trust God’s grace to work in us
individually despite all our efforts.
1
Corinthians 15:9-11
9 For I am
the least of the apostles and do not even
deserve to be called an apostle, because I
persecuted the church of God. 10 But by
the grace of God I am what I am, and his
grace to me was not without effect. No, I
worked harder than all of them — yet not I,
but the grace of God that was with me.
11 Whether, then, it was I or they, this is
what we preach, and this is what you
believed. NIV
Paul writes, “ . . . by grace you have
been saved, through faith — and this not
from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not
by works, so that no one can boast”
(Ephesians 2:8-9). Paul worked harder than
all of his peers, yet it wasn’t Paul
working, it was the grace of God that was
making it all happen.
To truly understand a person’s potential
you would have to understand God’s
potential. It cannot be measured by what
we hold in our hands. A cursory
understanding of the Scriptures should teach
us we couldn’t even begin to imagine how God
can use the weakest of the weak.
1
Corinthians 1:18-25
18 For the
message of the cross is foolishness to those
who are perishing, but to us who are being
saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is
written:
"I will
destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the
intelligence of the intelligent I will
frustrate."
20 Where is
the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is
the philosopher of this age? Has not God
made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For
since in the wisdom of God the world through
its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased
through the foolishness of what was preached
to save those who believe. 22 Jews demand
miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom,
23 but we preach Christ crucified: a
stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to
Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has
called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the
power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For
the foolishness of God is wiser than man's
wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger
than man's strength. NIV
God can do more through the weakest
person than we could ever imagine.
Ephesians
3:20-21
20 Now to
him who is able to do immeasurably more than
all we ask or imagine, according to his
power that is at work within us, 21 to him
be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus
throughout all generations, for ever and
ever! Amen. NIV
Paul’s advice to the Corinthian problem
was very personal. He instructed them to
stop looking to their spiritual gifts as the
source of their strength. Instead, he
pointed them solely to the all-surpassing
power of God.
2
Corinthians 4:7-12
7 But we
have this treasure in jars of clay to show
that this all-surpassing power is from God
and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on
every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but
not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not
abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.
10 We always carry around in our body the
death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus
may also be revealed in our body. 11 For we
who are alive are always being given over to
death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may
be revealed in our mortal body. 12 So then,
death is at work in us, but life is at work
in you. NIV
The gifts were given to the Corinthians
to reveal God’s power. Paul asks,
“For who makes you different from anyone
else?
What do you have that you did not receive?
And if you did receive it, why do you boast
as though you did not?”
(1 Corinthians 4:7.) They had lost
sight of God’s power as they relied on their
gifts for strength to accomplish.
Sadly, the Corinthian’s approach to
Christianity was destroying the very thing
they were endeavoring to build—the temple of
God.
1
Corinthians 3:16-23
16 Don't you
know that you yourselves are God's temple
and that God's Spirit lives in you? 17 If
anyone destroys God's temple, God will
destroy him; for God's temple is sacred, and
you are that temple.
18 Do not
deceive yourselves. If any one of you thinks
he is wise by the standards of this age, he
should become a "fool" so that he may become
wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is
foolishness in God's sight. As it is
written: "He catches the wise in their
craftiness"; 20 and again, "The Lord knows
that the thoughts of the wise are futile."
21 So then, no more boasting about men! All
things are yours, 22 whether Paul or Apollos
or Cephas or the world or life or death or
the present or the future — all are yours,
23 and you are of Christ, and Christ is of
God. NIV
The Spirit that raised Jesus from the
dead desires to bring Christ to life in each
of us. Before this can happen we
must come to grips with our spiritual death.
Coming to grips with our spiritual death
forces us to look beyond ourselves. We are
forced to look beyond whatever gift or
blessing God has given us to the ONE who
gave us the gift. Becoming a Christian is
about allowing God’s Spirit to work in me—to
lead me—it is about allowing God to
accomplish his will through me. I
can’t force it to happen through religious
activity. I can’t make it happen by out
doing others or comparing what I have to
what others have.
1
Corinthians 3:5-7
5 What,
after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul?
Only servants, through whom you came to
believe — as the Lord has assigned to each
his task. 6 I planted the seed, Apollos
watered it, but God made it grow. 7 So
neither he who plants nor he who waters is
anything, but only God, who makes things
grow. NIV
God’s power to the weakest of things is
demonstrated every day in the natural world.
It is amazing how an acorn planted under a
sidewalk comes bursting through it over
time. It is almost unbelievable, but it is
God’s power at work.
God’s Spirit was alive in the
Corinthians. He was there to bring their
lives to fruition just as he brings the
acorn to life as it breaks through the
concrete sidewalk. Paul speaks of it as the
sanctifying work of the Spirit. His work
begins the moment we decide to believe in
Jesus Christ.
2
Thessalonians 2:13-15
13 But we
ought always to thank God for you, brothers
loved by the Lord, because from the
beginning God chose you to be saved through
the sanctifying work of the Spirit and
through belief in the truth. 14 He called
you to this through our gospel, that you
might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus
Christ. 15 So then, brothers, stand firm and
hold to the teachings we passed on to you,
whether by word of mouth or by letter. NIV
Too often we are led to believe becoming
religious sanctifies. Paul speaks of the
sanctifying work of God’s Spirit as we
choose to believe. The Spirit of God works
in our lives to bring us to obedience, he
gives us the strength to believe and obey as
he sets us apart as God’s own possession.
1 Peter 1:2
To God's
elect, strangers in the world, scattered
throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia
and Bithynia, 2 who have been chosen
according to the foreknowledge of God the
Father, through the sanctifying work of the
Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and
sprinkling by his blood: NIV
God chose to save the world through Jesus
Christ. It is Gods spirit at work in us,
through us and around us that is busy
sanctifying—setting us apart to be obedient
to Christ. The Corinthians were looking to
their spiritual gifts as a means to growth.
They lost sight of the work of God’s Spirit.
Initially
Paul Was Spiritually Blind
There was a time when Paul prided himself
in his religious faith.
Philippians
3:4-6
If anyone
else thinks he has reasons to put confidence
in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on
the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of
the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews;
in regard to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as for
zeal, persecuting the church; as for
legalistic righteousness, faultless. NIV
Paul came to the point where he believed
in Judaism but lost sight of God. Paul’s
faith was in the law he received rather than
the ONE who gave it. Paul’s confidence came
from faith in his ability to excel in
Judaism. It was paramount to having faith in
himself.
Galatians
1:13-14
13 For you
have heard of my previous way of life in
Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the
church of God and tried to destroy it. 14 I
was advancing in Judaism beyond many Jews of
my own age and was extremely zealous for the
traditions of my fathers. NIV
Paul was a master at keeping the
religious laws. He excelled religiously.
He excelled beyond his peers, but it wasn’t
enough. In Romans Paul is transparent about
his futile struggle to be religious. It was
the battle between being religious and
becoming Christian through the grace of God.
Romans
7:10-25
10 I found
that the very commandment that was intended
to bring life actually brought death. 11 For
sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the
commandment, deceived me, and through the
commandment put me to death. 12 So then, the
law is holy, and the commandment is holy,
righteous and good.
13 Did that
which is good, then, become death to me? By
no means! But in order that sin might be
recognized as sin, it produced death in me
through what was good, so that through the
commandment sin might become utterly sinful.
14 We know
that the law is spiritual; but I am
unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15 I do
not understand what I do. For what I want to
do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And
if I do what I do not want to do, I agree
that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no
longer I myself who do it, but it is sin
living in me. 18 I know that nothing good
lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.
For I have the desire to do what is good,
but I cannot carry it out. 19 For what I do
is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I
do not want to do — this I keep on doing. 20
Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is
no longer I who do it, but it is sin living
in me that does it.
21 So I find
this law at work: When I want to do good,
evil is right there with me. 22 For in my
inner being I delight in God's law; 23 but I
see another law at work in the members of my
body, waging war against the law of my mind
and making me a prisoner of the law of sin
at work within my members. 24 What a
wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from
this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God —
through Jesus Christ our Lord! NIV
In these verses Paul relates his
experience of living under the law of God
without Christ—prior to becoming a
Christian. The religious activities Paul
relied upon to bring life brought death.
Paul’s religion led him to cry out,
“What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue
me from this body of death?” His
religion prevented him from discovering the
sanctification only God provides. When Paul
came to know Christ he cried out, “Thanks
be to God — through Jesus Christ our Lord!”
Surprisingly, many Christians don’t live
much different than Paul prior to his
believing in Christ. We measure
ourselves by our spiritual gifts—by what we
are able to accomplish. It misdirects
our focus. Christianity is about the
kindness of God working in and through me to
recreate me in the image of Christ so that I
can use what he has given me to his glory.
Philippians
2:12-13
12
Therefore, my dear friends, as you have
always obeyed — not only in my presence, but
now much more in my absence — continue to
work out your salvation with fear and
trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you
to will and to act according to his good
purpose. NIV
Salvation is about God’s working in me to
bring about his desire in me to live
according to his purpose. God is at work
in me to lead me to act according to his
purpose for me. It is a gift of God--I
cannot earn it or make it happen through
religious activity.
Conclusion:
We take our religious test to determine
our “spiritual gifts.” We use our test
results as a compass to point us in the
right direction. We use them religiously to
accomplish our desired goals. Why not take a
new approach to life. Simply ask God to
begin his work in us so that we may act
according to his desires—his purposes. It is
how God reveals the riches of his grace to a
lost world.
