1 Corinthians 12:11

Selfsame Spirit. All the various endowments of power supplied to the church are imparted by the Holy Spirit, who works in and through the believers. Since God controls the working of the gifts of the Spirit, it is safe to conclude that they must all be in perfect harmony with His overall plan for the finishing of His work on earth. The knowledge that all the gifts come from God should be enough to forbid any display of pride in their possession.

Every man. See on v. 7. Similarly today, all who surrender to Christ and become members of His church on earth, no matter what their nationality or social or economic status or intellectual attainments, have the assurance that the Holy Spirit will equip them with ability to perform their Christian duties with a high degree of effectiveness (see DA 823).

As he will. The Holy Spirit distributes His gifts to believers in accordance with His knowledge of their capacities and the needs existing in the experience of each individual. It is not an arbitrary division, but one based on supreme knowledge and understanding. The great objective of preparing the church to meet God without spot or fault at the coming of Christ is the controlling factor in the distribution of the gifts (see Eph. 4:12, 13; 5:27; Rev. 14:5). This statement that the gifts are imparted to each one as the Holy Spirit sees most needful is a source of encouragement to believers. It assures them that they will receive exactly the ability and strength that they need in order to live godly lives and in order to witness powerfully under whatever circumstances they may be placed.

The personality of the Holy Spirit is revealed in this verse, for the acts of distributing gifts to men as He sees best for their own and the church’s interests, relate definitely to a person. The Spirit’s sovereignty is also proved here, because He distributes the gifts entirely as He pleases.