1 Corinthians 12:27-31
27 “Now you are Christ’s body, and individually parts of it. 28 And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, and various kinds of tongues. 29 All are not apostles, are they? All are not prophets, are they? All are not teachers, are they? All are not workers of miracles, are they? 30 All do not have gifts of healings, do they? All do not speak with tongues, do they? All do not interpret, do they? 31 But earnestly desire the greater gifts. And yet, I am going to show you a far better way.”
Apostles……tongues: God gives gifts to each of his children. This creates a significant amount of diversity in the church. Each person has a significant role to play. But, as Paul will make clear, these gifts are not the greatest action a Christian can take. The ability to love is the greatest gift and it is given to all believers (see 1 Corinthians 13:1-8).
All do not…are they?: Paul is explicitly making it clear that not everyone is the same. The moment a specific spiritual gift is said to be required for salvation the Gospel is compromised.
