God’s Word for You
1 Corinthians 1:6-7 You don’t lack any gift
by Pastor Timothy Smith on Friday, October 21, 2022
6 because the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you. 7 Therefore you do not lack any gift, as you eagerly wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ.
“Because” in verse 6 take us back to what Paul said in verse 5, that the Corinthians were made rich in all their speaking and knowledge. The testimony of Christ is both the testimony about him, which Paul made in his preaching, and the testimony Christ himself made before Pontius Pilate (1 Timothy 6:13) and many others (John 4:26, 13:19). This testimony was planted in them, confirmed in them, which was shown by their faith. Notice how Paul begins broadly and then narrows down the planting of the gospel in their hearts. First it was given (1:4). Secondly, they are also enriched, made rich, by this gospel message (1:5). Thirdly, it is confirmed in them, which means that it is firmly planted in their hearts (1:6).
Paul brings up the subject of spiritual gifts already here in the seventh verse. Obviously the Corinthians were eager to learn more about these gifts, and they wondered whether they were somehow inferior to other churches, or if there was some reason that others seemed to be advancing ahead of them. But they were not lacking in anything. More than that, God does not give his gifts to advance this or that Christian, or this or that congregation, but to advance his gospel (Philippians 1:12) in the same way that an army does not advance primarily for the benefit of one man, but for the advantage of the nation or kingdom (Jeremiah 46:22). And this is true of the advances the gospel makes; they are for the good of the kingdom of God. “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing” (Matthew 11:12). Paul will talk more about spiritual gifts in chapters 12, 13, and 14, but he needs to say some other things first. Such gifts are not the main part of our faith, especially the splashy, more obvious public gifts like speaking in tongues. Those things are something the Lord uses for the sake of unbelievers, as with the physical miracles of Christ and the apostles.
“The revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ” is of course the Lord’s coming on the last day. He will be revealed at that time in all his glory. While we wait for that time, we endure our present sufferings (Romans 8:18; 1 Peter 4:13) because of the glory that will be revealed then.
This is for all of us to remember. When Christ comes again, all of our sufferings and troubles will immediately come to an end. It’s natural to think of whatever trouble is most on our minds right now: a hostile, toxic relationship, trouble with a loved one, fear about money, or pain, or disease. But every trouble will end. All of those things that fall under the curse laid on Adam and Eve in the garden will be over forever. The problem of sin itself will be at an end. The devil will no longer be an enemy of mankind; your relationship (with the devil) will not be as a victim anymore, because he will be delivered over into his prisonhouse for all eternity, and you will never hear his voice ever again, not as a whisper, or as a hint, nor even as a shriek. He will be gone. The world will be unmade, and those with faith in Christ—which is precisely the number of everyone who will be in heaven with us—will no longer be worldly in any way, and so all of the temptations that come to us now through the world around us will also be over, finished, at an end, forever. And finally, sin within us will be removed and extracted by the merits of Christ and through the physical act of our dying. Our flesh will die, “sown in dishonor” (on account of its being dead), but “raised in glory” (1 Corinthians 15:43). We will live in the state of perfect blessedness and righteousness, and we will live forever, for our God “is not the God of the dead, but of the living” (Mark 12:27).
If you wonder about any gift from God in you, remember that the key gift is the gift of faith. Faith doesn’t come from within us, but it is given by God, and through this faith we are saved (Ephesians 2:8). What better, more important, more vital gift could there be? And you have it already.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. To receive God’s Word for You via e-mail, please visit the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church website.