Discipleship: Spiritual Gifts Wk. I

Naming the Spiritual Gifts

In , Paul tells us that when Jesus ascended he gave gifts to his people. This is precisely what Jesus told his apostles he would do in John. When Jesus ascended, he did not leave his followers helpless or alone. In fact, Jesus told us that it is actually better for us that he has ascended because, through the power of the Holy Spirit, Christ followers will accomplish even greater things than him!

There are several different lists of Spiritual gifts in the New Testament. Not every list is the same, but there are some recurring gifts that Paul mentions each time. Paul is not the only one who mentions gifts of the spirit either!

Look at each of the passages below. List the spiritual gifts Paul mentions:

Ephesians 4:11 NRSV

The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers,

What are Spiritual Gifts?

The bible tells us that the Holy Spirit himself is a gift to believers (Acts2:38). As we well know, gifts are not something we earn or even deserve. They are given out of the grace and love of the giver. We should already be eternally grateful for the gift of the Holy Spirit, but even more grateful that the Holy Spirit continues to pour out gifts abundantly on the Church!

The Holy Spirit is God himself come to dwell among his people. The Spirit guides us in all things and allows us to carry on in the continuation of Jesus’s ministry here on earth. In order to work in such a ministry, we will need the same Spirit that was in Christ, and that is precisely who the Holy Spirit is.

In Jesus’s ministry, we see Christ casting out demons, healing the sick, speaking in wise parables, discerning spirits, teaching, sending out apostles, performing all manner of miracles, and proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of God.

The spiritual gifts that we receive, then, are the same gifts that Christ exhibited in his own ministry. In other words, the Holy Spirit gives to us the same gifts as Christ in order that we might share in the same ministry as Christ.

This is important for two reasons: First, because it means that we must understand spiritual gifts as something that connects us to the ministry of Jesus Christ. Secondly, because it means we must understand the spiritual gifts as gifts.

As we well know, gifts are not something we earn or even deserve. They are given out of the grace and love of the giver, and this is especially true of the spiritual gifts!

This, however, raises an important question for us:

As you

Just what was the ministry of Jesus? What did he come here to do, and why did he need these gifts to do it?

The Purpose of the Gifts

We’ve already discussed how the spiritual gifts connect us to the ministry of Jesus, and that is important in understanding their purpose. However, it is important to note that, just like any other gift, spiritual gifts can be abused and misused. Even those “filled with the Spirit” don’t always listen to the Spirit in using their gifts.

Consider the story of Samson and the lion in . The Bible tells us that, as a lion approached him, the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon Samson. God gifted Samson with incredible strength, strength enough to tear apart lions! Yet, Samson misused that gift. Once he’d torn the lion apart, he defiled himself and broke his Nazarite vow by eating honey that bees had made in the lion’s corpse. He even offered the defiled honey to his parents without telling them where it had come from!

The New Revised Standard Version The Birth of Samson

The woman bore a son, and named him Samson. The boy grew, and the LORD blessed him. 25 The spirit of the LORD began to stir him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

The Holy Spirit pours out gifts abundantly, but it is still up to us to make sure we use them for good purposes. Jesus himself warns us:

The New Revised Standard Version Concerning Self-Deception

On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?’ 23 Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.’

So how do we know we’re using our gifts rightly?

Consider the following passages. What do they tell us about how to use our spiritual gifts?

1 Corinthians 12:27–13:3 NRSV

Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then deeds of power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of leadership, various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? But strive for the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way. If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

:27-13:

Ephesians 4:11–16 NRSV

The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.

Ephesians 4: