THE GIFTS OF GRACE

5. The Gifts of Grace End (16/05/24)

Key Scriptures

1 Corinthians 12:1–11

1 Peter 4:10

Romans 12:4–8

Romans 11:29

1 Corinthians 12:27–31

The grace of God

This, in a general sense, is the bestowal by the Father of His mercy and undeserved favour into our lives. Not one of us deserved God’s kindness but He has shown it and given it in Jesus. In this sense we are all recipients of the grace of God and it is in this grace we stand. Grace is also spoken of in relation to individual calls on people’s lives and of the authority given to people by the Lord. This grace is the foundation for our life and service for God (Romans 12:3).

We are to be controlled and directed by the grace God has given us. We have a particular call or gifting which is ours through our heavenly Father’s choice, and this is the grace of God specifically for us. Our calling is something to be prized and valued, and we should be concerned to work it out in the most effective way possible. We need to constantly polish this gift of God and use it to its greatest potential for the good of others (2 Timothy 1:6). This grace (call or gifting) of God should be the motivating power of our whole life and work. We are saved by grace and called into grace (1 Corinthians 15:10). Grace is more than particular gifts of the Spirit, it is more like the hand of God coming upon someone’s life to single them out for a particular work or area of working. The gifting no doubt comes with the grace God has given us, but this grace is a deep and powerful reality in the lives of those who know its calling.

The gifts of grace

The word ‘gift’ in the New Testament is closely related to the word ‘grace’. In fact, they both share the same root. The word for ‘gift’ is ‘charisma’ and the word for ‘grace’ is ‘charis’. In fact, ‘charisma’ has an ending which could properly be translated ‘the thing of’. That is, what we call a spiritual gift is ‘the thing of grace’. In other words, it is the expression or result of God’s grace being let loose through the Spirit in our experience, so we call it a gift of the Spirit (1 Peter 4:10).

Body gifts

The gifts of grace given by the Holy Spirit are to and for the body of Christ (the church) and so can be called body gifts. These are manifested through the lives of specific individuals, that is, they are people related gifts (Hebrews 2:3–4). Each gift is interconnected to gifts operating within other members of the body. They are generally available to the members of the body and contribute to the upbuilding and harmony of the body. It would seem that the body gifts are available to whoever seeks the Lord for the gift and, according to the need of that moment, within the body in general. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. (1 Corinthians 12:7)

The gifts of the Holy Spirit

We have not been promised the gifts of the Holy Spirit for our own indulgence or self-display, but that we might be enabled by God as we reach out into the lives of needy men and women around us. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are God’s power in action, and they will be released into our lives as we find ourselves in situations that call for their actions. When we reach out in ministry we are not doing it in our own strength, but rather, God will become directly involved in the situation through the manifestation of His enabling in the Holy Spirit. This will lift us away beyond the horizontal levels of our own weaknesses and limitations, and release us in our work for God into a new dimension of capability and insight altogether. In fact, this is what will make and determine the shape of our work for God in the end, because it will gradually become apparent how we operate in the gifts of the Spirit, and what gifts find more ready expression through us than through someone else. The style and application of our work for God will be shaped by how the gifts of the Holy Spirit operate through us. Nevertheless, we should remember that it is open to any Christian to ask for the appropriate gift for the situation, even if it is in an area in which we normally do not operate. The Father’s intention is to bring His power for salvation and healing into the lives of men and women, and He will not withhold the capability to do that if we ask Him with a clean heart and with the right motives. It is through the gifts of the Spirit that we are equipped by God to do His will. Without the gifts we are living and working at the level of our own natural capacity and strength.

Trinitarian gifts

End (16/05/24)

Gordon, Bob. The Foundations of Christian Living (The Sovereign World Foundations Series) . Sovereign World Ltd. Kindle Edition.