The other line of thought, however, says that diversities of operations is not referring to gifts at
all. These people maintain that just as there are different gifts of the Spirit, there are also
different administrations of the Spirit, as well as different operations.
In other words, they say that Paul was talking about three different things in First Corinthians
12:4-6, not just gifts. He was talking about gifts, administrations, and operations.
1 CORINTHIANS 12:7
7 But the MANIFESTATION of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.
Notice Paul was calling the gifts of the Spirit
manifestations. And he said, ". . . the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit
withal" (1 Cor. 12:7). Paul was making the distinction here that "gifts" of the Spirit aren't gifts in
the sense that the believer owns and operates the gift whenever he wants to. They are gifts of
the Holy Ghost, manifested through individual believers as the Spirit of God wills. The gifts of
the Spirit aren't just given for the individual, but they are given in order to profit the whole local
assembly or local body of believers.
The Nine Gifts Categorized
1 CORINTHIANS 12:8
8 For to one is g i v en by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another THE WORD OF
KNOWLEDGE by the same Spirit;
Paul goes on to list nine manifestations or gifts of the Spirit. The nine manifestations or gifts of
the Holy Spirit are generally divided as follows:
Three revelation gifts
Spiritual gifts that reveal something:
The word of wisdom
The word of knowledge
The discerning of spirits
Three power gifts Spiritual gifts that do something:
The gift of faith
The working of miracles
The gifts of healings
The Gift of the Word of Knowledge
Three utterance or inspirational gifts Spiritual gifts that say something:
Prophecy
Divers kinds of tongues
Interpretation of tongues