The Gifts That God Gave

Spiritual Gifts II

King James Version Chapter 12

Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.

5 And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.

6 And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.

7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.

8 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;

9 To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;

10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:

11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.

12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.

The Gift of healing

The word healing in vs 9 in the greek is iama - which is a noun is in  the past tense of a healing or “the result of the act”. This word is derived from the verb iaomai - “to heal”. 

We must also recognize that this gift is in the plural form. So many healings, or healing of many diseases. 

The gift of healing is seen many times throughout the New Testament church. It would be safe to say the Paul had the gift of healing, Peter had the gift of healing, we see evidence through the writings of James the gift of healing was given to him as well. 

This gift of healing has both spiritual and physical connotation. Both man’s humankind’s spirit and physical body need healing at different times and it requires the gift of healing to be in operation to accomplish this.

Our concept of this gift of the Spirit often revolves around the physical aspect and ignores the spiritual.

Physical healing is great, it brings a new level of immediate faith for the moment, it brings excitement, it brings a wow factor to a service, it also only heals the temporal part of our existence. 

If we study the works that Jesus did, we find that he healed the physical bodies of those who were sick.. If we dig deeper we see that He came for the purpose of healing the spirits of the entire world. The physical healing was not His purpose, His purpose was to bring healing through His Spirit to everyone that will receive it.

There is a need for the physical aspect of the gift to be used in our local assemblies. However, we cannot overlook the greatest need of spiritual healing. 

Healing is always dealing with an individual’s physical ailment or spiritual ailment. 

vs 10 - The working of miracles.

King James Version Chapter 12

10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:

Miracles here is the greek word dunamis -  power, mighty works, wonderful works. 

One thing to recognize here is how the gift is the WORKING of miracles. It is the action for mighty works. 

This is the same word that is used in Acts 1:8. This gift is more than what we think of as a miraculous event of physical healing. These events are included in this gift, however, this gift is not solely that action.

There is an effect that takes place when the working of miracles takes place, the effect is faith increases among the crowd. Faith also, increases among those that hear the testimony. These miracles are performed for the purpose increasing the faith of the unbeliever. Miracles show the power of God to those who do not believe, and bring about trust in those who do believe. 

These acts are a supernatural occurrence. These are things that only God can perform. 

When the world stopped turning in Joshua 10.

When the dead man was thrown onto Elisha’s bones in II Kings 13.

When Peter walked on water with Jesus in Matthew 14.

When Jesus calmed the Storm in Mark 4.

When Paul and Silas were in prison and the earthquake broke them out in Acts 16.

The supernatural acts of God are showing the mighty power of God, without question. These miracles cannot be questioned as to how it happened or what happened. They are the evidence of a supernatural act.

This is one gift that the church has noticed in the way God designed it be used. I believe we have changed the meaning of the words to fit our lack of faith. 

The modern day definition of miracles would fit the gift of healing. 

We often will use terms like healing takes time and miracles are instant. However, We do not see were Jesus or the disciples performed any healings according to that definition.