Here is the first entry into the question about Spiritual Gifts.

"Not everyone," (in the context of false teachers), “who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.'"

An amazing passage, warning us about false teachers. These particular false teachers appear to say the right thing--they speak about the Lord. "Lord, Lord," they say. They even seem to do the right things--they prophesy or preach in "The name of the Lord." "In the name of the Lord," they cast out demons. "In the name of the Lord," they perform many miracles. But they don't know the Lord, and the Lord does not know them, and we are to be aware of that reality. Spiritual Gifts are a mighty tempting offer of proof that the one who is acting, does so under the full authority of God. But we have a very serious warning above that tells us that is not necessarily so. It is critical for the believer to know the truth about what lies behind a persons motivation when the gifts are in use. The failure to understand will have eternal consequences if you follow the wrong person or believe the wrong result.

I Corinthians 12 gives us the background for which we will study, As I am fond of saying in this world…WORDS have MEANINGS. So it is important to look at the words in their original context as well as what we have determined they mean today. The word Spiritual should be a good place to start.

For “Spiritual�?the Greek simply reads ton pneumatic and “Gifts�?is charis meaning "grace." So now if pneumatikon tells us that spiritual gifts are things characterized by the Holy Spirit, charisma teaches us that they are gifts of God's grace. They are not something we earn or deserve. They are gifts of grace.

Spiritual gifts, are first of all things controlled or characterized by the Spirit. And because it has its root from the Greek word charisma many times we hear about churches who seem to be more “active�?in the use of spiritual gifts being referred to as a “Charismatic�?churches. For some reason, this carries with it a negative connotation and it should not. Paul speaks of gifts in Ephesians 4:7-8, he employs another term, dorea, which stresses virtually the same truth; i.e., that spiritual gifts are just that -- gifts, not rewards.

We naturally tend to think that a very gifted man must be a very godly man. A pastor, for example, who is especially gifted in several areas (such as preaching, teaching, leadership, counseling, etc.) is almost instinctively assumed to be spiritually mature and further advanced in holiness than the "ordinary" believer. "What else could explain his great giftedness?" we think. The simple fact of the matter is that he may or may not be spiritually mature. His giftedness really has nothing to do with the question, for gifts are not given in proportion to holiness or anything else. Gifts are given freely and sovereignly by God to whomsoever He wills. They are gifts of grace, not merit, and so they are not at all indicative of a person's sanctification. They prove nothing but that God gives gifts freely. Spiritual gifts are "charismatic" -- gifts of grace.

In verse 5 Paul calls them "administrations." The term in the Greek is diakonia, "service," the same word from which we get the word "deacon," which means "servant." The next fact about spiritual gifts, then, is that they are services to be performed. Their primary function is for others. Gifts are for serving.

 

Verse 6 calls them "operations." This is the Greek word from which we get our English word "energy" (energema). Spiritual gifts are also energizings. It is likely that this word emphasizes the divine energy enabling us to perform the service. Peter has this very idea in mind when he says to "minister" (serve) with the "ability" (strength) which God gives (I Peter 4:11). God gifts us to perform service in His strength.

Finally, verse 7 refers to them as "manifestations." The Greek word (phanerosis) means "to make visible," or "to display." Spiritual gifts, then, are visible displays of service to others. Spiritual gifts are not abilities given to do something for yourself, alone. That is selfishness. They are visible "services" performed for others. They are to be exercised in love, Paul teaches in chapter 13, and "love seeketh not her own" (13:5).

Putting together all these terms, we find that a spiritual gift is a God-given ability to serve the church effectively. There are longer definitions which can be made, but this seems to say it all. God has graciously, undeservedly equipped each of us with the ability to minister to others within the body of Christ. A spiritual gift, then, more than being a possession, is a channel through which the Holy Spirit ministers to His church. This is the means He has chosen to edify the Church. Anyone actively using their gift helps not only themselves by putting that gift to use, but brings strength to the entire body because they are ministered to.

A spiritual gift is a "manifestation of the Spirit" I Cor. 12:7, This is how the Holy Spirit is seen -- in the exercise of spiritual gifts. One of the greatest displays of the Holy Spirit is a church in which the members are exercising their gifts for one another. A church functioning as a gifted body is a beautiful display of the Spirit. So a spiritual gift is not only an ability to serve; it is the channel through which the Holy Spirit ministers to the body.

So what kinds of gifts have been given?

Romans 12:6-8	I Cor. 12:29-30	I.Corinthians 12:8-10	Ephesians 4:	I.Corinthians 12:28
prophecy	apostles	word of wisdom	apostles	apostles
ministry	prophecy	word of knowledge	prophets	prophets
teaching	teaching	faith	evangelists	teachers
exhortation	miracles	healing	pastor-teacher	miracles
giving	healing	miracles		healings
ruling	tongues	prophecy		helping
showing mercy	interpreting tongues	discerning of spirits		governing
		kinds of tongues		diverse tongues
		interpreting tongues

 

 

It should also be noted that I Corinthians 12:28 is the key list in that it mentions the gifts in order of importance. "And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healing, helps, governments, diversities of tongues." Since it is obvious that some of the gifts toward the bottom of the list (such as healing and miracles) were in operation before the gifts higher in the list (such as apostles), the "first ... secondarily ... thirdly" must indicate order of importance and not the order in which they were given to the church. This was of greatest significance for the church at Corinth, for a large part of their problem was that they afforded tongues such a high place of importance while prophecy and teaching were lost in its shadow -- which problem Paul addresses at length throughout chapter 14. Virtually the same problem exists today, but it is corrected by this verse alone which shows teaching to be superior to tongues.

www.cforc.com/sgifts.html or www.churchgrowth.org/cgi-cg/gifts.cgi

Here are two websites you can use to determine your own spiritual gift. The tests can be taken ON-line or Off depending on your time and preference. I have taken many over time and these are as good as I have seen.

More to come later, or if you have a specific question regarding spiritual gifts, feel free to ask it and I’ll do what I can.

Jeff