Gifts of the Spirit 4

Other gifts from Misc passages:

CELIBACY: 1 Cor. 7:7,8

1Cor. 7:1 ¶ Now concerning the things about which you wrote, it is good for a man not to touch a woman.

1Cor. 7:2 But because of sexual immoralities, each man is to have his own wife, and each woman is to have her own husband.

1Cor. 7:3 The husband must fulfill his duty to his wife, and likewise the wife also to her husband.

1Cor. 7:4 The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; and likewise the husband also does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.

1Cor. 7:5 Stop depriving one another, except by agreement for a time so that you may devote yourselves to prayer, and come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

1Cor. 7:6 But this I say by way of concession, not of command.

1Cor. 7:7 Yet I wish that all men were even as I myself am. However, each has his own gift from God, one in this way, and another in that.

1Cor. 7:8 ¶ But I say to the unmarried and to widows that it is good for them if they remain even as I.

1Cor. 7:9 But if they do not have self-control, let them marry; for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

Paul indicates here that he is currently unmarried 

(three options: 

1. never married
2. divorced
3. widower

scripture is silent regarding how he came into his current unmarried status but Paul indicates he is content as unmarried

it is doubtful that he was never married since Jewish tradition had men married by their 20’s

(and religious leaders were eager to obey all traditions)

1 Cor 7:2-5 and Eph 5:21-33E) strongly suggests that the Lord is enabling him to

understand the nature of a relationship with which he himself is familiar

from experience. Now it would be POSSIBLE for the Lord to use, as the

vehicle for the Bible’s teaching about the nature of the marriage

relationship, a person who had never been married. But the Lord’s usual way

is to work through someone whom he has prepared for a particular role, and

the normal preparation for a person to write about the nature of marriage

would be to be married.

Paul furthermore writes about divorce right after these verses but only mentions unmarried and widows in verse 8 where he says “even as I”

(since we already eliminated unmarried as the cause for his status, the logical probable answer is “widow”

there is no actual word for celibacy here in these verses (celibacy as a gift is a doctrinal construct)

verse nine is most helpful in this construction:

1Cor. 7:9 But if they do not have self-control, let them marry; for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

self-control 

The Greek words for “self-control” are enkrateia (Ac 24:25; Gal 5:23; 2 Pe 1:6) and enkrates (Tit 1:8). They mean “to have power over oneself” and thus to be able to hold oneself in.

Those without self-control are akrasia (Mt 23:25; 1 Co 7:5) or akrates (2 Ti 3:3). They are powerless, overwhelmed by the passions that tug at and control them. (See SERVE/SERVANT/SLAVE)

burn (   πυρόω, pyroō, v.  [4786]. to burn; to burn inwardly

The NT also has a number of words to express the idea of burning. Katakaio, used twelve times in the NT, means “to burn up.” It is used to refer to chaff that is burned at harvest time (Mt 3:12; 13:30,40; Lk 3:17), the useless works of believers (1 Co 3:15), the earth and lost humanity at Christ’s coming (Rev 8:7,9-10; 17:16; 18:8-9,18; 2 Pe 3:10), and the OT sin offering (Heb 13:11).

Burning is also used to express intense emotion, as one may be said to be set on fire (pyroomai) by legitimate sexual desire (1 Co 7:9) and as one may be said to be inflamed (ekkaiomai) by illegitimate passions (Ro 1:27).

this gift of celibacy (contentment in not having a sexual partner in marriage) means

• self-control balances against desire for sex
• desire (here called burning) would consume one from the inside
• the burning must either be controlled or cease to exist
• self-control does not refer only to outward constraint from acting out the desire since Jesus instructs us that burning (lust) in and of itself is a sin (even if not acted out physically) Matt 5:28

gift of celibacy means you either are able (in the Spirit) to control and subdue sexual desire itself or cause it to cease to exist altogether

HOSPITALITY: 1 Pet. 4:9,10

1Pet. 4:9 Be hospitable to one another without complaint.

1Pet. 4:10 As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the multifaceted grace of God.

hospitable φιλόξενος, philoxenos, a.  [5813 + 3828]. hospitable

philo = brotherly love   xenos= strange or stranger  (showing brotherly love to the stranger)

layman terms = helping strangers feel like family in your own home

MARTYRDOM: 1 Cor. 13:3

1Cor. 13:3 And if I give away all my possessions to charity, and if I surrender my body so that I may glory, but do not have love, it does me no good.

surrender (παραδίδωμι, paradidōmi, v.  [4123 + 1443]. to hand over, betray, deliver to prison; to entrust, commit

same word spoken by Jesus in Luke 23:46

Luke 23:46 And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, INTO YOUR HANDS I ENTRUST MY SPIRIT.” And having said this, He died.

we must understand the motivation behind the surrender of the body, the commitment’s intent.

Paul speaks of surrendering his body so that he may glory , but it is the context of agape love.

Jesus says he entrusts His body to His Father, then dies

(in John 19:30 is says “it is paid in full” then dies

the purpose of the surrender of the body, the entrusting all to the Father is for His glory, not ours
(Rom 12:1 tells us we are to willingly present our bodies as living and holy sacrifices)

μάρτυς, mártys, which means “witness” or “testimony”. At first, the term applied to Apostles.

the word witness appears 14 times in NT (the word martyr appears 0) 3 connect witness with death, 11 do not

John 1:7 He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him.

Acts 1:22 beginning with the baptism of John until the day that He was taken up from us—one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.”

Acts 14:17 yet He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.”

Acts 22:15 ‘For you will be a witness for Him to all people of what you have seen and heard.

Acts 22:20 ‘And when the blood of Your witness Stephen was being shed, I also was standing nearby and approving, and watching over the cloaks of those who were killing him.’

Acts 26:16 ‘But get up and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you as a servant and a witness not only to the things in which you have seen Me, but also to the things in which I will appear to you,

Rom. 1:9 For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you,

2Cor. 1:23 ¶ But I call God as witness to my soul, that it was to spare you that I did not come again to Corinth.

Phil. 1:8 For God is my witness, how I long for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.

1Th. 2:5 For we never came with flattering speech, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is our witness—

1Pet. 5:1 ¶ Therefore, I urge elders among you, as your fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and one who is also a fellow partaker of the glory that is to be revealed:

Rev. 1:5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood—

Rev. 2:13 ¶ ‘I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is; and you hold firmly to My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days of Antipas, My witness, My faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.

Rev. 3:14 ¶ “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ¶ The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Origin of the creation of God, says this:

the word martyr originally meant “witness”

christian culture has refined it to mean “surrendering our physical life for the sake of sharing our faith, as an ultimate testimony

(but this seems to detach the word from it’s original use in scripture since only 3/14 occurrences connect it with death)

the original connection, however, serves to remind us that we are all called in a general sense to be witnesses, martyrs for the faith.

the specific spiritual gift of martyrdom can be seen two ways then:

1. 1. 1. a one time recognition of the fact that a witness held to their faith even upon pain of death (meaning it is recognized once the act is completed)
      2. a gift of the spirit empowering one with the ability to surrender anything and everything upon occasion as the Father requires