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New Defender's Study Bible Notes

12:4 diversities of gifts. In this verse, the Greek word for “gifts” is charisma, meaning “grace-gifts,” or “free gifts.” The Spirit, by sovereign grace, gives one or more such “grace-gifts” to “every man” (I Corinthians 12:7), as He wills (I Corinthians 12:11). The same word is used in verses 9, 28, 30, and 31. It is also used in Romans 12:6, which similarly lists a number of gifts of the Spirit. On the other hand, in I Corinthians 12:1, “spiritual gifts” is a translation of the Greek pneumatikos, meaning “Spirit-energized gifts,” implying a distinct supernatural element. This word is used again in I Corinthians 14:1 and 14:12. Whichever word is used, the gift is a “free gift” of the Holy Spirit (like the free gift of eternal life in Romans 6:23, where the same word is used) neither earned nor forced. Furthermore, it is God-given, therefore not man-generated.


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