Word of Wisdom
1. 1 Cor. 12:8: logos + genitive singular of sophia
a word of wisdom
2. This is a revelation type gift that provides Divine
ability in the area of giving wisdom to others. Remember the gifts are
not for the individual but for others. (1 Pet. 4:10)
3. He received specific Divine viewpoint information from
God to deal with specific problems in the church.
4. The correspondent permanent gift would probably be
the counselor.
5. Sophia emphasizes knowledge from the standpoint of
application. That is why this would be a counseling type gift.
6. This gift does not give ability to apply doctrine but
gives specific information to meet specific needs. Application is a function
that is dependent on volitional faithfulness and is the same for all believers.
7. Once God's revelation is complete in written form,
this gift is no longer needed.
A. Each individual believer has access to the Word.
B. The counselor gift has access to the Word.
C. And it is the Word which supplies all the details of
spiritual and moral wisdom that we need.
8. So, this gift is temporary because -
A. Its place in the temporary list of 1 Cor. 12:8-10
B. The source of wisdom today is not "from God"
but from His written word.
9. As a counselor gift, it was provided to both men and
women.
