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Spiritual Gifts - Part 1
Spiritual Gifts - Part 1
By Derek Long
God is responsible for every ability and talent all individuals possess. He is the provider of every good and perfect gift (James 1:17). He is the one who gives us power to do the things we are able to do (Deuteronomy 8:18). The ability we have to make a living, serve others, teach, exhort, be generous, lead, etc. are all gifts we have received from God (Romans 12:6-8). Ephesians 4:11 speaks about individuals such as evangelists, pastors, and teachers as gifts God has given to the church to help it carry out its work. It does not take any miraculous ability to do things like teach others, serve others, be generous, lead, etc. God expects us to use our abilities which are natural abilities we have been given by God (Romans 12:6-8) and should use them in a manner in harmony with His will (1 Peter 4:10-11).
The Bible also discusses a class of gifts though which are miraculous. 1 Corinthians 12-14 deals with gifts given to specific individuals in the first century by the Holy Spirit which were miraculous in their nature. 1 Corinthians 12:8-10 gives us a list of the different gifts being discussed in these chapters. It says, “For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.” Let’s examine some things we can learn about these spiritual gifts as Paul refers to them in 1 Corinthians 12:1.
It is clear these gifts refer to miraculous abilities given by the Holy Spirit. The gifts of healings would refer to being able to miraculously heal someone of a physical ailment (Acts 3:1-10; 9:32-35; 14:8-10; 19:11-12; 28:8-9). The working of miracles obviously is a miraculous gift. The gift of prophecy would refer to receiving revelation by direct inspiration from God. 2 Peter 1:21 says, “For prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” Prophecy is not simply teaching but is teaching which comes directly by inspiration of God. The different kinds of tongues and interpretation of tongues refer to the miraculous ability given to an individual who has never studied a language to be able to speak or interpret the language without studying. Acts 2 demonstrates for us what is involved in speaking in tongues. Acts 2:4 says, “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” The apostles received the Holy Spirit and began speaking in tongues. Acts 2:6-11 shows the tongues were languages known by other individuals. The gift of speaking in tongues does not refer to speaking in some sort of unknown, heavenly language.
Acts 8 shows how gifts of the Holy Spirit were imparted to individuals. Acts 8:14-19 says, “Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of
God, they sent Peter and John to them, who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, saying, ‘Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit.’” People received the Holy Spirit through the laying on of the apostles’ hands (Acts 19:6; 2 Timothy 1:6). The Spirit would give people who received the laying on of the apostles’ hands gifts “as He wills” (1 Corinthians 12:11).
Most of 1 Corinthians 12 deals with the fact spiritual gifts should not have been causing the church at Corinth to be divided. Paul makes mention of the fact all the spiritual gifts come from the same Spirit so it is inconsistent to allow them to cause division within the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:4-7). Paul uses the illustration of the body to show how every member of our physical body is important to make the point every member of the church is important with a special role to fill (1 Corinthians 12:12-27). One spiritual gift did not make someone more important than another. The fact a person did not have a certain spiritual gift did not mean they were unimportant. While Paul is speaking about miraculous spiritual gifts, the same principle would apply to various non-miraculous gifts and abilities individuals possess. Just because one member is more talented in one area than another does not mean they are more important than the other members.
