Gifts--Welcome to the Gifts Part I

God has given each believer a combination of opportunities and gifts that is perfectly suited to his or her situation in life. Every Christian is really a minister with a unique contribution to make to the body of Christ.

The central thrust of your ministry depends on the spiritual gifts you have received. In this study, we will look at the definition, design, desirability, and description of the gifts of the Spirit.

We will also see how to discover and develop spiritual gifts and consider the danger of their abuse and directions for their use.

II.Diversity and Unity in the Body of Christ

When the Holy Spirit descended on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2, a new organism was created called the church. The Greek word for church is ecclesia, meaning “called out ones.”

This organism, the church, consists of all those who have received the gift of eternal life in Christ Jesus. In Romans 8:14-17, Galatians 4:4-7, and Ephesians 2:19, it is described as a spiritual household or family.

By virtue of both adoption and new birth, we have become sons and daughters of God. The church is also called a holy temple in Ephesians 2:20-22 and 1 Peter 2:4-5, and believers are its living stones. But the most frequently used metaphor for this new creation is the body of Christ (see Rom. 12:4-5; 1 Cor. 12:12-27; Eph. 1:22-23; 3:6; 4:4-16; 5:5:23-30; Col. 1:18; 2:19).

As we will see, the three major New Testament lists of the “gifts” of the Spirit are all introduced by a description of the unity and diversity in the body of Christ.

Paul's metaphor for the church as the body of Christ could not be more appropriate, because both the universal church (all believers) and the local church (geographically localized groups of believers) are unities which are built out of diverse elements.

More on the Body of Christ

All believers have been baptized by the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:12-13).

“For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.”

Christ is the head, the ruler of the body (Eph. 1:22; 4:15; Col. 1:18), and believers are the individual members or components.

“For in fact the body is not one member but many” (1 Cor. 12:14).

In this analogy, each Christian has been given a special function to perform and the ability to fulfill it in a way that will benefit the other members. There is quantitative and qualitative growth when believers discover and actively use their spiritual gifts.

Each part of the body depends on the rest for its well-being, and there are no useless organs. This is why edification through teaching and fellowship is so necessary in the local church.

The biblical concept of koinonia or “fellowship” communicates the fact that isolation leads to atrophy. Just as no organ can function independently of the others, so no Christian can enjoy spiritual vitality in a relational vacuum.

The Spirit has sovereignly distributed spiritual gifts to every member of the body, and no single member possesses all the gifts. Thus, growth does not take place apart from mutual ministry and dependence.

The body of Christ is an organism, not a dictatorship or a democracy. As such, the local church is best structured around the distribution and function of the spiritual gifts found in each of its members.

“God has given each of you a gift. Use it to help each other. This will show God’s loving-favor” (1 Pet.4:10).

Interestingly, if you just take Peter’s exhortations to Christians, one exhortation builds on the other ultimately arriving at the place where each member is using their gift in some kind of ministry!

Watch this!

In 1 Pet 2:2 He addresses newborn babes in Christ and tells them how to grow: “Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment, 3 now that you have had a taste of the Lord’s kindness.”

In 2:5;9-10 he tells them who they are in Christ: “And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests. For you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. Once you had no identity as a people; now you are God’s people.”

After telling them how to grow, and who they are, in chapter 3 it’s all about relationships. He instructs husbands and wives how to get along, and members of the church how to love and forgive each other.

Peter next instructs them how to crucify their flesh:

“So then, since Christ suffered physical pain, you must arm yourselves with the same attitude he had, and be ready to suffer, too. For if you have suffered physically for Christ, you have finished with sin. You won’t spend the rest of your lives chasing your own desires, but you will be anxious to do the will of God” (1 Pet 4:1-2).

After telling them how to grow, who they are, how to get along with each other, and how to crucify their flesh, we find the believer at a place of usefulness:

“God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another” (1 Pet. 4:10).

So spiritual maturity always results in ministry to others through the gateway of our spiritual gifting!

III. Definition and Design of Spiritual Gifts

A. Definition

The Greek word most frequently used for spiritual gifts is charismata, a word that relates to the grace (charis) of God. Concerning these gifts, Paul writes, “But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of the gift of Christ” (Eph. 4:7 NET Bible).

Another word, pneumatikos, means spiritualities, or spiritual things. William McRae defines a spiritual gift as “the divine endowment of a special ability for service upon a member of the body of Christ.”

Paul wrote in Ephesians that when Jesus ascended into heaven “he led a crowd of captives and gave gifts to his people” (Eph.4:8).

•God has gifted each one of His children with a spiritual gift for the edification of others resulting in the glorification of God.

B. Design

Here are twelve principles that relate to God's design for spiritual gifts:

1. Every Christian has one or more spiritual gifts.

“To each person the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the benefit of all” (1 Cor. 12:7).

“It is one and the same Spirit, distributing as he decides to each person, who produces all these things” (1 Cor. 12:11).

“But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of the gift of Christ” (Eph. 4:7).

“Just as each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of the varied grace of God” (1 Pet. 4:10).

Spiritual gifts are not limited to a sub-group of believers; they are distributed by the Spirit to all Christian men, women, and children.

2. Many believers have evidently received more than one spiritual gift. Because there is such a variety of gifts, the number of possible combinations is great. Each multi-gifted Christian has received a combination of spiritual abilities that is perfectly suited to his or her God-given ministry.

3. Spiritual gifts may be given at the moment of regeneration, but they may lie undiscovered and dormant for a long period of time. Multi-gifted Christians often discover their combination of gifts through a gradual process.

4. Spiritual gifts can be abused and neglected, but if they are received at regeneration, it would appear that they cannot be lost. The Corinthian church illustrates the fact that believers can be highly gifted but spiritually immature.

5. Spiritual gifts are not the same as the gift of the Holy Spirit. The gift of the Spirit has been bestowed on all believers (John 14:16; Acts 2:38). The gifts of the Spirit, on the other hand, are distributed as he decides to each person (1 Cor. 12:11).

6. Spiritual gifts are not the same as the fruit of the Spirit. Spiritual fruit is produced from within; spiritual gifts are imparted from without. Fruit relates to Christ-like character; gifts relate to Christian service. The fruit of the Spirit, especially love, should be the context for the operation of the gifts of the Spirit. Paul made it clear in 1 Corinthians 13 that spiritual gifts without spiritual fruit are worthless. Fruit is eternal, but gifts are temporal (1 Cor. 13:8); fruit is a true measure of spirituality, but gifts are not.

7. Spiritual gifts are not the same as natural talents. Unlike the natural abilities which everyone has from birth, spiritual gifts belong exclusively to believers in Christ. In some cases, the gifts of the Spirit coincide with natural endowments, but they transcend these natural abilities by adding a supernatural quality. Both are given by God (Jas. 1:17), and should be developed and used according to their purpose for the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31).

8. All Christians are called to a ministry, but not all are called to an office. Ministry is determined by divinely given gifts and opportunities (Eph. 3:7). Offices (e.g., elder, deacon, evangelist, and teacher) are humanly recognized and appointed spheres of ministry within the body.

9. Some spiritual gifts are more desirable in the church than others because they result in greater edification of the body. Paul exhorted the Corinthian church to be eager for the greater gifts, primarily prophecy, which is more “forth-telling” than “foretelling.” (1 Cor. 12:31; see 12:28-30; 14:5).

10. Charismata literally means grace-gifts--they are sovereignly and undeservedly given by the Holy Spirit. There is no basis for boasting or envy. Every member of the body has a special place and purpose. Whether more or less prominent in the eyes of men, the same standard applies to all: it is required of stewards that one be found faithful (1 Cor. 4:2). Work with what God has given to you (2 Tim. 1:6), and seek to please Him rather than men (Gal. 1:10; 1 Thess. 2:4).

11. Gifts are God's spiritual equipment for effective service and edification of the body. They are not bestowed for the self-aggrandizement of the recipient, but for the profit and edification of the Body of Christ. The possessor is only the instrument and not the receiver of the glory (J. Oswald Sanders).

Gifts were given so that in everything God will be glorified through Jesus Christ (1 Pet. 4:11).

12. High mobilization of spiritual gifts was the key to the rapid multiplication of the church in the New Testament (cf. Rom. 1:11, Eph. 4:12, 2 Tim. 2:2).