“Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.” (1 Corinthians 12:7 NIV)

Have you ever thought about the idea that the manifest presence of God is working through us as we display the miraculous gifts of the Spirit? God, the Creator, is present and demonstrating His power and authority, as we speak in tongues, perform miraculous gifts of healing, bring a prophetic word or word of knowledge, discern between spirits, and more. If you have experienced that power and presence of God, you have no doubt that He is real. Even if the rest of the world doesn’t believe you, you have no other explanation for that power except that God is absolutely present. You can feel Him take over when you yield yourself to Him.

Let’s look at the Scripture passage about the manifestation of the Spirit in the miraculous gifts (which differs from the service gifts).

“Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, ‘Jesus be cursed,’ and no one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit. There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. 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, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.” (1 Corinthians 12:1-11 NIV)

That passage has much to unpack. “The same Spirit distributes them”; “the same Lord”; “The same God”; “by means of the same Spirit”; and “All these are the work of one and the same Spirit … just as he determines”. Is there ANY mention of more than one Spirit?

Do you believe, with the evidence and proof texts that I provided this week, that God is Spirit and that there is only one Spirit of God? What questions do you have about this topic? Are you willing to study this to please God?

God is Spirit: Study: John 4:23-24; Genesis 1:2; Isaiah 11:2; Isaiah 61:1; 1 Colossians 1:15; Acts 7:48-49; Acts 17:24-28; 1 Corinthians 2:10-11, 6:11; 1 Timothy 1:17.