Spiritual Gifts

Back To The Basics

Ephesians 4:11-12; Romans 12:4-9; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11

Introduction

What is a spiritual gift(s)?

“A special capacity or ability given by God, specifically the Holy Spirit, to individual Christians for service within the church” (HNTC Romans, 477)

“Spiritual gifts are distinct from natural talents or acquired abilities, as they are specifically apportioned by God for the purpose of edifying the church”

They are given to everyone in the body

“It's important to note that these gifts are meant to be used as part of one's stewardship, recognizing them as God-given abilities to be used in His service” (Steven Mueller)

Cessationism vs. Continuationism

Cessationism - miraculous spiritual gifts, such as speaking in tongues, prophecy, and healing, ceased after the apostolic age

Cessationists argue that these "sign gifts" served to authenticate the Gospel message and its messengers in the early Church, but are no longer necessary now that the New Testament canon is complete

Continuationism - which holds that these gifts may still be bestowed by the Holy Spirit today

Continuationists argue that it lacks explicit scriptural support and fails to adequately explain the disappearance of certain gifts throughout church history

Why Do We Have Spiritual Gifts? (Eph. 4:11-12)

“These gifts are supernatural in nature and are intended to equip believers for specific roles or functions in building up the body of Christ and reaching the lost” (Grant Richison)

Apostles - messenger, one who is sent out; an apostle is a Christian leader chosen and sent by God with specific authority and responsibilities… apostles were originally Jesus' twelve main disciples, but later others like Paul, James, Barnabas, and Silas were also called apostles; key stipulation to why there are no new apostles - they have to have seen Jesus; They are part of the foundation of the church (Ephesians 2:20 “having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone,”)

Apostles and prophets were “foundational gifts” to help build the church at its start (BKC, 634)

Prophets - “New Testament prophets were gifts to the church to provide edification, exhortation, and comfort (1 Cor. 14:3). They probably revealed God’s will to the church when the biblical canon was incomplete. Since the apostles and prophets were foundational, they did not exist after the first generation of believers.” (BKC, 635)

Evangelists - “Evangelists were those engaged in spreading the gospel, similar to present-day missionaries” (BKC, 635)

Pastors - shepherd

Teachers - master

What Are The Gifts We Can Have? (Rom. 12:4-9; 1 Cor. 12:4-11)

The members of the body have different functions

Rom. 12:4-9

Prophesy - “inspired utterance, ability to prophecy”

Service - ministry; The word indicates a personal ministry done in service to another. It probably refers to the administration of giving and attending to the needs of the body

Teach - to instruct

Exhort - encourage; invite; call together; ask for earnestly; comfort

Giving - share; to share with someone; may or may not be monetary

Liberality - generosity; openhanded and openhearted giving out of compassion and purpose, not for ambition

Lead - guide; be active in helping

Diligence - do quickly; do one’s best; zeal

Mercy - to show mercy; probably related to the one whose special function is to tend to the sick, elderly, and disabled

Cheerfulness - happiness; what is pleasing (if you don’t find helping people in these categories then this is probably not your spiritual gift…)

1 Cor. 12:4-11

All of our gifts come from the same Spirit (some of these at the beginning may describe accompaniments

Wisdom - insight (maybe in situations, with decisions)

Knowledge - understanding; biblical understanding

Faith - special confidence/assurance in God; easier for them to have faith in harder situations, may not have had to be as learned; related to having faith that the following gifts are able to be performed

Healing - remedy; cure; power to heal

Cultural relevance (demonic influence/possession seen in different contexts in the world) - can refer to those gifted with medicine and have the desire to heal with modern medicine

Effecting of Miracles - action in power

Prophecy (again) - same as in Romans

Distinguishing of spirits - discernment; an ability to judge between things

Tongues - language

Not “heavenly language,” real languages that are spoken by man (Acts 2)

Interpretation of tongues - interpreting the language spoken

Can we have multiple gifts?

Yes. The gifts are referred to in a plural form and can be distributed to whomever throughout the body

Conclusion

So what does this mean for us?

1 Peter 4:10 “As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”

We have a responsibility to pracitce our spiritual gifts so that the body can function at its best. We all put our gifts to work and in doing so we serve God and each other faithfully. We use it to show the difference between us and the lost.

(Spiritual Gifts Test)

Prayer Changes:

No formality (prayer is not just something we do, it’s a part of who we are)

Would love for you to join us