The Birth of Jesus the Messiah

Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be pregnant from the Holy Spirit.

But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

“I baptize you with water for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is more powerful than I, and I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw God’s Spirit descending like a dove and alighting on him.

The Testing of Jesus

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tested by the devil.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

That evening they brought to him many who were possessed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and cured all who were sick.

The Twelve Apostles

Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness.

for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

“Here is my servant, whom I have chosen, my beloved, with whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the gentiles.

But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

Therefore I tell you, people will be forgiven for every sin and blasphemy, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.

Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.

The Return of the Unclean Spirit

“When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it wanders through waterless regions looking for a resting place, but it finds none.

Then it goes and brings along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and live there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So will it be also with this evil generation.”

He said to them, “How is it then that David by the Spirit calls him Lord, saying,

Stay awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove upon him.

The Testing of Jesus

And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.

The Man with an Unclean Spirit

They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught.

Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit,

And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him.

They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, “What is this? A new teaching—with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.”

At once Jesus perceived in his spirit that they were discussing these questions among themselves, and he said to them, “Why do you raise such questions in your hearts?

Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and shouted, “You are the Son of God!”

but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness but is guilty of an eternal sin”—

for they had said, “He has an unclean spirit.”

And when he had stepped out of the boat, immediately a man from the tombs with an unclean spirit met him.

For he had said to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!”

and the unclean spirits begged him, “Send us into the swine; let us enter them.”

So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the swine, and the herd, numbering about two thousand, stampeded down the steep bank into the sea and were drowned in the sea.

He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over the unclean spirits.

but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet.

And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, “Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation.”

The Healing of a Boy with a Spirit

When they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them and some scribes arguing with them.

Someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought you my son; he has a spirit that makes him unable to speak,

And they brought the boy to him. When the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth.

When Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You spirit that keeps this boy from speaking and hearing, I command you, come out of him, and never enter him again!”

David himself, by the Holy Spirit, declared, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet.” ’

When they bring you to trial and hand you over, do not worry beforehand about what you are to say, but say whatever is given you at that time, for it is not you who speak but the Holy Spirit.

Keep awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He must never drink wine or strong drink; even before his birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit.

With the spirit and power of Elijah he will go before him, to turn the hearts of parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God.

When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit

and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

Zechariah’s Prophecy

Then his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:

The child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day he appeared publicly to Israel.

Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him.

It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah.

Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what was customary under the law,

John answered all of them by saying, “I baptize you with water, but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

The Testing of Jesus

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness,

The Beginning of the Galilean Ministry

Then Jesus, in the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding region.

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed,

The Man with an Unclean Spirit

He went down to Capernaum, a city in Galilee, and was teaching them on the Sabbath.

In the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice,

They were all astounded and kept saying to one another, “What kind of word is this, that with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits and they come out?”

They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases, and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured.

Jesus had just then cured many people of diseases, afflictions, and evil spirits and had given sight to many who were blind.

as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out,

for Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many times it had seized him; he was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the wilds.)

Her spirit returned, and she stood up at once, and he directed them to give her something to eat.

Suddenly a spirit seizes him, and all at once he shrieks. It convulses him until he foams at the mouth; it mauls him and will scarcely leave him.

While he was being brought forward, the demon dashed him to the ground in convulsions. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the boy, and gave him back to his father.

Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

Jesus Rejoices

At that very hour Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.

If you, then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

The Return of the Unclean Spirit

“When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it wanders through waterless regions looking for a resting place, but not finding any it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’

Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and live there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first.”

And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.

for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that very hour what you ought to say.”

And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight.

Then Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” Having said this, he breathed his last.

And John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him.

I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’

Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.

What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.

The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure.

But the hour is coming and is now here when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him.

God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.

Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive, for as yet there was no Spirit because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Spiritual Blindness

Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved.

Jesus Foretells His Betrayal

After saying this Jesus was troubled in spirit and declared, “Very truly, I tell you, one of you will betray me.”

The Promise of the Holy Spirit

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him because he abides with you, and he will be in you.

But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I have said to you.

“When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf.

But I have said these things to you so that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you about them.

The Work of the Spirit

“I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you.

When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.

When Jesus had received the wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.

The Promise of the Holy Spirit

In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and teach

until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.

for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

“Brothers and sisters, the scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit through David foretold concerning Judas, who became a guide for those who arrested Jesus,

The Coming of the Holy Spirit

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.

All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

‘In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.

Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.

Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you see and hear.

Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders,

it is you who said by the Holy Spirit through our ancestor David, your servant: ‘Why did the gentiles rage and the peoples imagine vain things?

When they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness.

“Ananias,” Peter asked, “why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back part of the proceeds of the land?

Then Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test? Look, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.”

A great number of people would also gather from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all cured.

And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.”

Therefore, brothers and sisters, select from among yourselves seven men of good standing, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint to this task,

What they said pleased the whole community, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, together with Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch.

But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke.

“You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you are forever opposing the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors used to do.

But filled with the Holy Spirit, he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.

While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”

for unclean spirits, crying with loud shrieks, came out of many who were possessed, and many others who were paralyzed or lame were cured.

The two went down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit

(for as yet the Spirit had not come upon any of them; they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus).

Then Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money,

saying, “Give me also this power so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over to this chariot and join it.”

When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; the eunuch saw him no more and went on his way rejoicing.

So Ananias went and entered the house. He laid his hands on Saul and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

Meanwhile the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and was built up. Living in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.

While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Look, three men are searching for you.

how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.

Gentiles Receive the Holy Spirit

While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word.

The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the gentiles,

“Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?”

The Spirit told me to go with them and not to make a distinction between them and us. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man’s house.

And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as it had upon us at the beginning.

And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’

for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were brought to the Lord.

One of them named Agabus stood up and predicted by the Spirit that there would be a severe famine over all the world, and this took place during the reign of Claudius.

While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

The Apostles Preach in Cyprus

So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus.

But Saul, also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him

And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

And God, who knows the human heart, testified to them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us,

For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to impose on you no further burden than these essentials:

Paul’s Vision of the Man of Macedonia

They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.

When they had come opposite Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them;

Paul and Silas in Prison

One day as we were going to the place of prayer, we met a female slave who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners a great deal of money by fortune-telling.

She kept doing this for many days. But Paul, very much annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I order you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour.

Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, “Athenians, I see how extremely spiritual you are in every way.

He said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?” They replied, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”

When Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied,

so that when the handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were brought to the sick, their diseases left them, and the evil spirits came out of them.

Then some itinerant Jewish exorcists tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.”

But the evil spirit said to them in reply, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are you?”

Then the man with the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered them all, and so overpowered them that they fled out of the house naked and wounded.

The Riot in Ephesus

Now after these things had been accomplished, Paul resolved in the Spirit to go through Macedonia and Achaia and then to go on to Jerusalem. He said, “After I have gone there, I must also see Rome.”

And now, as a captive to the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there,

except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and persecutions are waiting for me.

Keep watch over yourselves and over all the flock, of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God that he obtained with the blood of his own Son.

We looked up the disciples and stayed there for seven days. Through the Spirit they told Paul not to go on to Jerusalem.

He came to us and took Paul’s belt, bound his own feet and hands with it, and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘This is the way the Jews in Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and will hand him over to the gentiles.’ ”

(The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection or angel or spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge all three.)

Then a great clamor arose, and certain scribes of the Pharisees’ group stood up and contended, “We find nothing wrong with this man. What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?”

So they disagreed with each other, and as they were leaving Paul made one further statement: “The Holy Spirit was right in saying to your ancestors through the prophet Isaiah,

and was declared to be Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,

For God, whom I serve with my spirit by announcing the gospel of his Son, is my witness that without ceasing I remember you always in my prayers,

For I long to see you so that I may share with you some spiritual gift so that you may be strengthened—

Rather, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not the written code. Such a person receives praise not from humans but from God.

and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

But now we are discharged from the law, dead to that which held us captive, so that we are enslaved in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the written code.

The Inner Conflict

For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold into slavery under sin.

Life in the Spirit

Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.

so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.

To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.

But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.

But if Christ is in you, then the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.

for if you live according to the flesh, you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.

For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba! Father!”

it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God,

and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with groanings too deep for words.

And God, who searches hearts, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

God’s Election of Israel

I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience confirms it by the Holy Spirit—

as it is written, “God gave them a sluggish spirit, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, down to this very day.”

Do not lag in zeal; be ardent in spirit; serve the Lord.

For the kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit, so that from Jerusalem and as far around as Illyricum I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ.

They were pleased to do this, and indeed they owe it to them, for if the gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material things.

I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in earnest prayer to God on my behalf,

My speech and my proclamation were made not with persuasive words of wisdom but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power,

God has revealed to us through the Spirit, for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.

For what human knows what is truly human except the human spirit that is within? So also no one comprehends what is truly God’s except the Spirit of God.

Now we have received not the spirit of the world but the Spirit that is from God, so that we may understand the gifts bestowed on us by God.

And we speak of these things in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual things to those who are spiritual.

Those who are unspiritual do not receive the gifts of God’s Spirit, for they are foolishness to them, and they are unable to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

Those who are spiritual discern all things, and they are themselves subject to no one else’s scrutiny.

On Divisions in the Corinthian Church

And so, brothers and sisters, I could not speak to you as spiritual people but rather as fleshly, as infants in Christ.

Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?

What would you prefer? Am I to come to you with a stick or with love in a spirit of gentleness?

For I, though absent in body, am present in spirit, and as if present I have already pronounced judgment

in the name of the Lord Jesus on the man who has done such a thing. When you are assembled and my spirit is present with the power of our Lord Jesus,

you are to hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.

And this is what some of you used to be. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

Glorify God in Body and Spirit

“All things are permitted for me,” but not all things are beneficial. “All things are permitted for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything.

But anyone united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own?

and his interests are divided. And the unmarried woman and the virgin are anxious about the affairs of the Lord, so that they may be holy in body and spirit, but the married woman is anxious about the affairs of the world, how to please her husband.

But in my opinion she is more blessed if she remains as she is. And I think that I, too, have the Spirit of God.

If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we harvest material things?

and all ate the same spiritual food,

and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ.

Spiritual Gifts

Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be ignorant.

Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says “Let Jesus be cursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit.

Now there are varieties of gifts but the same Spirit,

To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit,

to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit,

to another the working of powerful deeds, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.

All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.

For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

Gifts of Prophecy and Tongues

Pursue love and strive for the spiritual gifts and especially that you may prophesy.

For those who speak in a tongue do not speak to other people but to God, for no one understands them, since they are speaking mysteries in the Spirit.

So with yourselves: since you are striving after spiritual gifts, seek to excel in them for building up the church.

For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unproductive.

What should I do then? I will pray with the spirit, but I will pray with the mind also; I will sing praise with the spirit, but I will sing praise with the mind also.

Otherwise, if you say a blessing with the spirit, how can anyone in the position of an outsider say the “Amen” to your thanksgiving, since the outsider does not know what you are saying?

(and the spirits of prophets are subject to the prophets,

Anyone who claims to be a prophet or spiritual must acknowledge that what I am writing to you is a command of the Lord.

It is sown a physical body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body.

Thus it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

But it is not the spiritual that is first but the physical and then the spiritual.

for they refreshed my spirit as well as yours. So give recognition to such persons.

who has put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a down payment.

and you show that you are a letter of Christ, prepared by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets that are human hearts.

who has made us qualified to be ministers of a new covenant, not of letter but of spirit, for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

how much more will the ministry of the Spirit come in glory?

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another, for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.

But just as we have the same spirit of faith that is in accordance with scripture—“I believed, and so I spoke”—we also believe, and therefore we also speak,

The one who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a down payment.