This week we will complete the general discussion about spiritual gifts from the previous few weeks and examine the gift of Word of wisdom/Word of Knowledge and Distinguishing between spirits in more detail. We will not consider every gift mentioned in the New Testament, but will focus on several gifts that are not well understood or whose use has aroused some controversy today. We will not examine gifts whose meaning and use are self-evident from the term involved (such as serving, encouraging, contributing, showing leadership, or showing mercy), but will rather concentrate on those in the following list, primarily taken from 1 Corinthians 12:28 and 12:8-10:
- Prophecy (Posted August 20, 2017)
- Teaching (Posted August 20, 2017)
- Miracles (Posted August 20, 2017)
- Healing (Posted August 27, 2017)
- Tongues and Interpretation (September 10)
- Word of wisdom/Word of knowledge (This week)
- Distinguishing between spirits (This week)
Word of Wisdom and Word of Knowledge
Paul writes, “For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:8). At the beginning of this discussion it must be understood that these two gifts are mentioned nowhere else in Scripture, and no other early Christian literature outside the Bible has been found to use these phrases of any spiritual gift either. This means that the only information we have about these gifts is contained in this verse: we have the words used to describe these two gifts, and we have the context in which the phrases occur. No interpreter anywhere has any more information than this to work with. This warns us that our conclusions will probably be somewhat tentative in any case.
The major alternatives for understanding these gifts are two: (1) These gifts are commonly thought to be the ability to receive a special revelation from the Holy Spirit and on that basis to speak words that give wisdom in a situation or give specific knowledge of a situation in the life of someone present in a congregation. In this interpretation these gifts would be more “miraculous,” in that they would call forth wonder and amazement from the people present since they would not be based on information ordinarily available to the person using the gift.
The other interpretation of these gifts would see them as more “non-miraculous” or ordinary: the “word of wisdom” simply means the ability to speak a wise word in various situations, and “word of knowledge” is the ability to speak with knowledge about a situation. In both cases the knowledge and wisdom would not be based on a special revelation spontaneously given by the Holy Spirit, but would be based on wisdom acquired in the ordinary course of life, the knowledge and wisdom that would be characteristic of Bible teachers or elders and other mature Christians in a church, for example. These would be empowered by the Holy Spirit and thereby made effective when they were spoken. Examples of “words of wisdom” in this sense would be found in Acts 6:1 – 6 (the appointment of the first “deacons” or assistants to the apostles); Acts 6:10 (Stephen’s wisdom in proclaiming the gospel); Acts 15:19-29 (the decision of the Jerusalem council); and even in King Solomon’s statement, “Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other” (1 Kings 3:25; see also 1 Corinthians 6:5-6).
In favor of the first interpretation, it might be argued that all the other seven gifts listed in 1 Corinthians 12:8 – 10 are in the “miraculous” category, and therefore these two gifts should be understood that way as well.
However, there are some weighty considerations against this view: (1) The words Paul uses for “word” (logos), “wisdom” (sophia), and “knowledge” (gnosis) are not specialized or technical terms, but are extremely common words in the Greek New Testament. They are simply the ordinary words frequently used for “word” and “wisdom” and “knowledge.” They are not ordinarily used to denote miraculous events (as are the words revelation and prophecy, for example), but are simply the words used for human knowledge and wisdom. From the meanings of the words themselves, no indication of a miraculous gift seems to be given.
In the context of 1 Corinthians 12:8, Paul’s purpose in the argument seems to weigh against thinking of them as miraculous. Paul’s larger purpose in verses 8 – 10 is to demonstrate that no matter what kind of gift a person has, he or she can be assured that that gift has been given by the Holy Spirit. He precedes the section by saying, “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good,” and follows this immediate section by saying, “All these are inspired by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills” (verses 7, 11). But if Paul’s purpose in this section is to show that every Christian’s gift is given by the Holy Spirit, then that purpose would not be well served by giving only examples of miraculous gifts. If he did that, those with non-miraculous gifts would feel left out of the argument and would not be persuaded that their gifts are included in Paul’s discussion. Even more importantly, those with miraculous gifts might look at this list and conclude that only those with miraculous gifts really had the Holy Spirit at work within them to empower those gifts. This would lead to a dangerous kind of elitism in the congregation. It seems necessary that Paul would include some non-miraculous gifts in his list in 1 Corinthians 12:8 – 10.
But which are the non-miraculous gifts in this list?
Word of wisdom
Word of knowledge
Faith
Gifts of healings
Miracles
Prophecy
Distinguishing between spirits
Tongues
Interpretation of tongues
All the other gifts seem to fall in the more “miraculous” category (with the possible exceptions of speaking in tongues and perhaps faith). But that would make it almost necessary that word of wisdom and word of knowledge be non-miraculous to guarantee that there are some non-miraculous gifts in the list. This would demonstrate Paul’s pastoral wisdom in selecting examples of different kinds of gifts being exercised in the actual congregation. There must be some non-miraculous gifts on the list, and if there are some, then these are very good candidates.
Probably the most decisive consideration is the fact that the New Testament already has a term to describe the action of receiving a special revelation from the Holy Spirit and reporting it in the congregation, this is what Paul calls “prophecy.” Since he discusses prophecy at some length, describing it and regulating it, we can know fairly clearly what prophecy was. But to say that these other gifts functioned in exactly the same way (perhaps differing only in content) does not seem justified by anything in the text other than a preconceived notion of what these gifts should be. It would seem preferable to understand these in a “non-miraculous” way, simply as the ability to speak with wisdom or with knowledge in various situations.
Distinguishing Between Spirits and Spiritual Warfare
The gift of distinguishing between spirits is another gift that is mentioned only once in the New Testament (in the list at 1 Corinthians 12:10), but the nature of this gift connects it with a number of other passages that describe the spiritual warfare that occurs between Christians and demonic spirits. We may define the gift of distinguishing between spirits as follows: Distinguishing between spirits is a special ability, to recognize the influence of the Holy Spirit or of demonic spirits in a person.
In the perspective of the history of redemption, this gift also gives a foretaste of the age to come in that it is a foretaste of the ability to recognize Satan and his influence, which ability will be made perfect for us in heaven, when everything that is covered or hidden will be revealed and brought to the light (Matthew 10:26; see Revelation 20:11-15). This ability is probably also stronger than that possessed by most or all believers in the old covenant, where mentions of demonic activity are infrequent, and where demonic attacks against God’s people most often were embodied in military attacks by unbelieving nations against the people of Israel, or in overt temptations to go and serve pagan deities. Demonic activity was therefore perceived primarily through observation of outward physical events and circumstances in which Satan’s purpose was carried out, and which could be clearly seen.
This New Testament gift of distinguishing between spirits involves the ability to distinguish the presence of evil spirits from the presence of the work of the Holy Spirit in a person’s life. Paul knows that the Corinthians previously were “led astray to dumb idols” (1 Corinthians 12:2), and John similarly realizes that there is a need for Christians to “test the spirits to see whether they are of God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1). It is also possible that the gift would involve distinguishing between various types of evil spirits, such as a spirit of infirmity (Luke 13:11), a spirit of divination (Acts 16:16), a dumb and deaf spirit (Mark 9:25, 29), and a spirit of error (1 John 4:6).
Of course, to some degree the presence of demonic activity is outwardly evident, sometimes from the blurting out of blatantly false doctrinal statements (see 1 Corinthians 12:2-3; 1 John 4:1 – 6), and sometimes from violent and bizarre physical actions, especially in the face of Christian preaching (see Mark 1:24; 9:20; Matt. 8:29). Satan’s influence is characteristically destructive, and the person influenced by a demon will have a destructive influence on the church and others around him or her, and also a self-destructive influence that harms the life of the troubled individual himself or herself.
In addition to these outward indications of demonic influence, there is probably also a more subjective perception that occurs at the spiritual and emotional level, whereby the presence of demonic activity is distinguished. When this is more highly developed, and is able to function for the benefit of the church as a whole, then Paul would no doubt call it a gift of distinguishing between spirits.