Gifts of the Holy Spirit
The least thought about, talked about or preached about member of the
Trinity is the Holy Spirit. Somehow this member of the Trinity has been
relegated to obscurity by the Church. Like God and Christ the Holy Spirit has
its rightful place in the Godhead and has its own mission; Advocate, Counselor,
and Instructor. (John
14:26)It was the Holy Spirit that enabled errant men to write the inerrant Word of God. It is the Holy Spirit sent to us by Christ when we are born again that guides us in our walk. To facilitate that mission the Spirit endows born again Christians with special gifts (as opposed to physical talents) to be used to empower the body of Christ.
Christ breathed the Spirit into His disciples (John 20:22): Thus they received the Spirit but it was not yet manifest. The manifestation came on the day of Pentecost when 500 received the Spirit (Act 2:1-4) and spoke in tongues.
Thus it is with us, Christ sends the Holy Spirit when we are born again but we must pray diligently to discover what gifts the Spirit imparts to each of us and how they will best become manifest.
The Gifts, What are they and why to we have them?
Most would agree that there are at least seven spiritual gifts. The number then increases to nine, eleven and upward to 27 or more. The controversy comes as some of the Biblical references overlap. The table below shows the primary Gifts of the Spirit and references.
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THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT |
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Here is a list of definitions… not THE LIST of definitions, but ones on which most folks can agree.
• The gift of wisdom is the ability to make decisions and give guidance that is according to God's will.
• The gift of knowledge is the ability to have an in-depth understanding of a spiritual issue or situation.
• The gift of faith is being able to trust God and encourage others to trust God, no matter the circumstances.
• The gift of healing is the miraculous ability to use God's healing power to restore a person who is sick, injured, or suffering.
• The gift of miracles is being able to perform signs and wonders that give authenticity to God's Word and the Gospel message.
• The gift of prophecy is being able to proclaim a message from God.
• The gift of discerning spirits is the ability to determine whether or not a message, person, or event is truly from God.
• The gift of tongues is the ability to speak in a foreign language that you do not have knowledge of, in order to communicate with someone who speaks that language.
• The gift of interpreting tongues is the ability to translate the tongues speaking and communicate it back to others in your own language.
• The gift of administration is being able to keep things organized and in accordance with God's principles.
• The gift of helps is always having the desire and ability to help others, to do whatever it takes to get a task accomplished.
Not everyone is given all of the gifts. However, the Bible teaches that every
Christian is given at least one Spiritual Gift
(1
Corinthians 12:5-11). This is obvious because every Christian has Faith.
That you might posses one or more of the others is something you must
prayerfully consider. God wants you to have these gifts of the Spirit; that is
why the Bible encourages us to "covet earnestly the best gifts..."
(I
Corinthians 12:31).
Next we consider why we are given these gifts. The Bible teaches that these
Gifts are given for 3 Purposes:
• Equipping believers to share the good news. (Matthew 10:19-20; Luke 4:18; 1 Corinthians 2:13)
• Authenticating (proving) the gospel message. (Hebrews 2:3-4)
• Equipping believers to serve other believers.
(1 Corinthians 12:7; 14:26)
Jesus "gave gifts unto men ... For the
perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the
body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith..." (Ephesians
4:8, 12-14).
Again, do not confuse Spiritual Gifts with natural talents.
• Spiritual Gifts benefit man's spiritual nature.
It is true that talents such as musical ability, artistic skill or athletic coordination are also gifts from God. However, they are gifts on a physical or social level only and are given to benefit mankind in his "natural" life. Spiritual gifts, on the other hand, are given to benefit the realm of the spirit of man, the realm of an individual's relationship to God.
• Only Christians have Spiritual Gifts.
Talents, obviously, are distributed to men and women quite apart from any reference to their spiritual condition. However, only Christians have spiritual gifts, because they are given only to those in whom the Spirit of Christ has come to live (1 Corinthians 12:7).
• It is possible for a Christian to have a talent, but not to have the corresponding Spiritual Gift.
Suppose you had a talent for teaching, but lacked the spiritual gift of teaching. If this is the case and you were asked to teach a Sunday school class, you would be quite capable of imparting considerable information and knowledge of facts, but your teaching would lack the power to advance your students spiritually. For another example, we have all been treated to the painful experience of listening to a Christian sing without exercising any spiritual gift. We find our hearts left cold and unmoved by a technically excellent performance, but without spiritual power.
• Conversely, it is possible For a Christian to be given a Spiritual Gift that has absolutely nothing to do with any natural inclinations or talents him or her Possesses.
For example, it was not necessary for the
disciples at Pentecost to have a natural talent for languages before they spoke
in tongues.
Gifts of the spirit are clearly distinguished from the fruit of the spirit (Galatians
5:22). Jesus predicted the occurrence of false gifts, particularly in the
end time (Matthew
24:24, 7:22-23). Thus while spiritual gifts are very important for a
Christian, the fruit of the spirit is a better test of the genuineness of a
person.
1John 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
1John 4:2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
1John 4:3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
