To Believe or Not to Believe, is that the question?

DEVOTION

1 CORINTHIANS

TO BELIEVE OR NOT TO BELIEVE

IS THAT THE QUESTION?

1 Cor 12:7-11

7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.   11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.

NIV

Here we are at one of the most commonly disputed sections of scripture. So many have accepted this for the generations of believers including today while so many insist it was merely for the use during the time of the apostles, or at least the early church. Some believe in some and some believe in none and some believe in all so what comes as no surprise, some do not know the truth. The fact remains if the Word of God is eternal and that all of these words are God-breathed, and all of them profitable for teaching, correcting and rebuking then what do we do with these that are referred to as the gifts of the Spirit. We also must deal with the simple truth that each one of us has been given something from the Spirit for the common good. That would mean none of us are exempt from manifesting one of these attributes or gifts. It also means that we do not get the choice of which of these gifts we are to manifest as the Spirit gives to each one, just as he determines. We cannot say I will not manifest this certain one because I do not believe they are for today. We cannot say I will not manifest this one but would manifest that one, because I only believe in some of them. We cannot say that I will not manifest any of them because I do want the common good, in fact, that would really be very selfish. So what do we do with these words? How do we come to terms with them? How do we justify what we believe or not believe? If we were to take these words as the truth and see them for what they are in the purest and simplest form, we would have to accept them as being for the body of Christ for all generations from the time the Spirit came to the time the Spirit leaves. But some do not believe that, and some do, so what do we do? We each must ask the Spirit to lead us into the truth. Should we believe or not believe, is that that question?