“A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge.”
1 Corinthians 12:7-8 NLT
“Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit,”
1 Corinthians 12:7-8 NIVUK
Paul starts to list the spiritual gifts that are given to believers through the Holy Spirit. We know that every believer has at least one gift, and the first on Paul’s list is the gift of wisdom, or wise advice. The New Living Translation effectively conveys the idea that the gift of wisdom is not for personal use, but rather to be used to help others. We know, of course, from 1 Corinthians 12:7, that spiritual gifts are given “for the common good” or to “help each other”. In the next verse, two spiritual gifts are mentioned – the gift of wisdom and the gift of knowledge, but what are “wisdom” and “knowledge” in the context of being a Holy Spirit gift?
There was a man in the Old Testament who God blessed with wisdom. He was David’s son, Solomon, and we read in 1 Kings 3:5, 9, “At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, ‘Ask for whatever you want me to give you.’ … So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?” Solomon had the opportunity to ask God for something to help him be king of Israel, and he requested that God give him “a discerning heart”. The rest of 1 Kings 3 gives the account of how Solomon used his gift of discernment or wisdom in the case of a dispute of parenthood by two prostitutes over a baby boy. Solomon gave a wise verdict, and we can read the impact that he had on the nation of Israel in the last verse of this chapter, “When all Israel heard the verdict the king had given, they held the king in awe, because they saw that he had wisdom from God to administer justice”.
Some believers get concerned over these spiritual gifts because they fear that they are being used to provide direction that exceeds the Bible’s or God’s authority. They fear that the revelation being supplied by another person, perhaps during the delivery of a prophetic word, will not be in accordance with God’s will and will contradict what the Bible actually says. But we know, almost intuitively, that the Holy Spirit will never supply such erroneous revelation. The devil might, but not the Holy Spirit. We know that directional messages from one believer to another should always be confirmed in other ways. For instance, a word of wisdom to a believer might be to give up some sinful practice even though there is nothing specific in the Bible that says so. This wisdom will immediately resonate with the believer, and will give direction for the next phase in the person’s life. Regarding a word of knowledge, this was something that Jesus used in His conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well. Jesus said to her, “ … ‘Go, call your husband and come back.’ ‘I have no husband,’ she replied. Jesus said to her, ‘You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.’” (John 4:16-18). Jesus had never met the woman before, and He did not have access to her social security records, so how else would He have known without revelation from the Holy Spirit? In this case, the word of knowledge was part of a process that resulted in salvation for a Samaritan town.
We must note that these two gifts, wisdom and knowledge, are given for the edification, the building up, of the church. They will not bring confusion or conflict. They will not be at variance with the Word of God. Instead, they will reveal God’s truth in a way that another believer can understand and apply in their own lives. But we cannot just leave it there because to do so would limit God’s will and ability to bless His children. It would lock all believers into a strict Biblical worldview, but would fail to provide what God wants for the world of today. The gifts of wisdom and knowledge will take what the Bible says and apply it topically to believers in our society, relating to very different situations. There was nothing in Scripture that would have helped Solomon with his judgment in the case of the two women contesting the ownership of the baby. The Bible does not contain any personal information about the woman who had been married five times. However, through the power of the Holy Spirit, a revelation emerged in each case that unlocked a situation, allowing biblical truths to prevail in people’s lives.
Wisdom and knowledge. Revelatory gifts from God for building us all up. We seek God for these gifts and the opportunity to use them to edify His people.
Father God. Thank You for Your Spirit, so freely given to us. We pray for a fresh infilling today, to resource us for the day ahead. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 