Matthew Poole and continuators on 1 Corinthians 12:4

4 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit .

Gifts signifieth the same thing with Habits, or powers or abilities to actions. Our actions being either Natural, as eating, drinking, sleeping, &c. or Moral, or Spiritual. These powers are either Natural, which are in an ordinary course of Providence bred with us, as the infant hath a power to eat, drink, sleep, cry, &c. or Acquired, and that by imitation, or humane learning, as the child gets an habit of speaking, or a power to write, understand Languages, Arts, and Sciences. Or infused, and those are either meerly infused, as Faith, Love, and all habits truly spiritual are; and therefore called Graces or spiritual Gifts of the highest natures, or else such as are obtained by the use of means on our parts, but yet not without the influence of the holy Spirit of God; such are abilities to pray, preach, &c. There are some common powers, that is, such as those might have, who should never be saved, which might be meerly infused, and were extraordinary in those first Times of the Gospel; such as the Gift of Tongues, Prophecy, Healing, &c. These powers, especially such as are not natural and common to all in an ordinary course of Providence, nor acquired meerly by imitation, or study, or the teaching of others, but infused either in whole, or in part, are those which the Apostle here calleth Gifts: and he [illegible: 1 letter]aith, there is a diversity of them; there was the Gift of Prophecy, of Healing, of Tongues, &c. but he tells them, this diversity of Gifts flowed all from one and the same Spirit, the Spirit was not diverse, though his influences were divers.

Marginal references: Rom. 12.6, [illegible: 1 word] Heb. 2▪4. 1 [illegible: 1 word]. 4.10.; Eph. 4.4.