Paul Name
The Bible has much to say about spiritual gifts. Whether it is the beautiful gift of mercy, the transformation of healing, gifts of generosity, tongues, or prophetic words, they evidently had a significant role in the life of the New Testament church.
John Calvin, theologian of the Reformation, saw that spiritual gifts “set the seal on the credibility of the Gospel. Why has God distributed the gifts of His Spirit, if not partly to be aids to proclaiming the Gospel, and partly … to move the minds of men to obey?” Since Jesus explicitly sent his church to proclaim the gospel and make disciples, it is therefore imperative that we develop a biblical understanding and practical knowledge of the Spirit’s gifts. As St Paul wrote, “Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed.” (1 Cor 12:1)
Of the various New Testament lists of spiritual gifts, those in 1 Corinthians 12:7-11 could be described as ‘manifestational’. That is, they make manifest, or obvious, the supernatural activity of the Holy Spirit. When we see them expressed in the church’s life, it becomes abundantly clear that God is present and at work among His people.
Our focus here is on two gifts: the word of knowledge and the word of wisdom, mentioned in verse 8.
A word of knowledge (λογος γνωσεως logos gnoseos) is an awareness of a specific fact about a person, a place, or an event that was not gained through natural means. It comes as a revelation from the Holy Spirit rather than through experience, analysis, or intellect.
In Daniel 2, King Nebuchadnezzar asked his wise men to tell him what he had dreamed, and then interpret the dream, without any information from him. They protested that this was impossible, and the king angrily decreed their deaths. “During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision” (v19), who then declared: “there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries” (v28) and proceeded to describe the untold dream in detail, as well as interpreting it. This was the word of knowledge, a supernatural revelation of information.
In Acts 5, Peter became supernaturally aware of the deception and hypocrisy of Ananias and Sapphira regarding their financial generosity. They were lying to people but, more significantly, were lying to God and testing the Holy Spirit.
When Jesus met a Samaritan woman beside a well, he received a word of knowledge about her marital circumstances (John 4:16-18). This revelation was a key moment in her faith, and “many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, ‘He told me everything I’ve ever done.’” (v39). As Calvin stated, spiritual gifts are indeed “aids to proclaiming the Gospel.”
In October 2021, when only a handful of people knew that I was considering leaving the pastorate to begin a new role with Dunamis, I went to a conference about spiritual gifts. At one point we were put into small groups to experiment with listening to the Holy Spirit for revelation about how to pray for one person in the group. Complete strangers, with little experience of seeking supernatural guidance, waited on God for revelation relating to me and then shared what had come to mind. One described a dual carriageway busy with traffic, and then a solitary car turning off into a narrow road heading in a different direction. Another saw a set of traffic lights changing from red to red and amber, and then green. These words of knowledge about a new direction, and of ‘go’, related exactly to my circumstances and provided them with the focus for praying for me. Of course, I did let them know how very accurate and relevant the words were!
The word of wisdom (λογος σοφιας logos sophias) sits alongside knowledge, and certainly they belong together. Wisdom is the inner light, the good sense of what should be done with the knowledge, and when and how. It guides us to use or apply knowledge in a fitting way. The word of wisdom is also a divine quick-wittedness, the valuable insight that resolves the difficulty and sees the way through.
Some people seem to be wise in their character, as seen in Acts 6. There the church used two criteria to select who would handle the delicate pastoral challenges they faced: those appointed were to be “full of the Spirit and wisdom” (v3).
But in 1 Corinthians 12, Paul speaks of a different kind of wisdom, one that comes as a manifestation of the Spirit. Here, it is not that the person is necessarily wise, but that the Holy Spirit is wise. The wisdom of the Spirit comes as a supernatural gift to the person on a particular occasion when needed. The Spirit distributes gifts to whomever he chooses, and might very well give the gift of wisdom to a person who is neither wise nor experienced in themselves.
Jesus demonstrates the gift of wisdom when he responds to a series of troublesome questions: “By what authority are you doing these things?” (Mt 21:23-27); “Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” (Lk 20:20-26); “In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” (Jn 8:1-11). He sees how to navigate through the entrapment by giving wise responses that disarm his opponents.
In 2 Samuel 11 and 12, the prophet Nathan became aware of King David’s sin of committing adultery with Bathsheba and then arranging for the death of her husband, Uriah. Perhaps this was a word of knowledge, though it could also have been gossip on the palace grapevine! Either way, Nathan then needed the gift of wisdom to know what to do with the information; how should he use it?
He told the story of a rich man who stole a lamb from a poor man and David, in righteous anger, condemned the rich man’s actions. “You are the man!” replied Nathan, and David was cut to the heart, acknowledging the reality of his own sin. Simply confronting the king with the accusation would probably have caused a defensive reaction, but God-given wisdom opened a way for David to hear and accept the truth.
Words of knowledge and of wisdom are, in essence, revelation received from the Holy Spirit. Therefore, one of the first steps in receiving and cooperating with these gifts is learning how to listen to the Holy Spirit. Often words of knowledge will come in the form of a gentle, persistent impression, or as an image, or as words that come to mind. Young Samuel heard an audible voice (1 Sam 3:10). The words simply ‘came’ to Elijah (1 Kings 19:9). Jeremiah saw images (Jer 1:11,13). Paul saw an angel speaking to him (Ac 27:23f).
Learning to distinguish between the voice of the Spirit and, for instance, our own thinking, hopes, or imagination, is another crucial consideration. Often the learning comes through the doing – stepping out in faith, taking the risk of actually speaking the word, and afterwards reflecting on whether or not it connected helpfully with the person or situation.
For the avoidance of misunderstanding, we must note that revelation through gifts of the Holy Spirit does not compare with the status of Scripture, and no word of knowledge or wisdom from the Spirit will ever contradict it. As John Calvin emphatically states, “the Spirit …is the Author of the Scriptures: he cannot vary and differ from himself.”
Whether it is in the context of preaching, healing prayer ministry, church councils, evangelism, or worship, when there is room for the spiritual gifts of wisdom and knowledge then the church is more fully a living expression of the Kingdom of God, and it becomes obvious that God is present and at work among His people.
