Note 6 at 1Co 1:8: The word "confirm" was translated from the Greek word "BEBAIOO," meaning "to stabilitate" (Strong's Concordance). It was translated "established" in Heb 13:9: "Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein."

Paul was speaking about the gifts of the Holy Spirit. These spiritual gifts (1Co 12) were given by God to stabilize and establish the body of Christ. Many people today teach just the opposite. They say that only immature believers use the gifts of the Holy Spirit and that the gifts are divisive.

It is true that these believers at Corinth were immature and divided (1Co 3:1-3), but it wasn't because of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. It was in spite of them. The gifts do not guarantee instant maturity. Therefore, many people who operate in the gifts of the Spirit are immature, and they often offend others, turning them away from the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the accompanying gifts.

However, the gifts of the Holy Spirit are powerful gifts that, when administered correctly, confirm the believers. We need all the stability that God has to give us. Therefore, we need the gifts of the Spirit.

Note 7 at 1Co 1:8: There is a difference between being blameless and being sinless (see note 2 at Lu 1:6). None of us Christians will ever reach a place where we don't sin (1Jo 1:8 and 10), but we can reach a place where we are blameless. That happens when we are walking in all the light that we have (1Jo 1:7) and confessing any sin that we are aware of (1Jo 1:9).