Spiritual Gifts pt. 3

Gifts of Enabling

Wisdom ( 1 Cor. 12:8)

Knowledge (1 Cor. 12:8)

Faith (1 Cor. 12:9)

Discernment (1 Cor. 12:10)

Wisdom and Knowledge

These two gifts can cause confusion to some christians, because the false teachers use these gifts the wrong way...

You might hear someone say something like, “I have a Word from the Lord for you.”

By doing this, they are claiming to speak on behalf of God, so you better do what I say...

Like false teachers would say, “God told me that the church needs to buy me a new plane… and the people fall for it.

Some people have the idea that wisdom and knowledge means that God continues to reveal His will through special revelations...

There is no special revelations… God has revealed all things in His word…

His word is sufficient.

God doesn’t give people new verses, new books, new writings… God’s word is complete and sufficient.

2 Timothy 3:16-17

So, what are these gifts really?

The Word of Wisdom

The fact that this gift is described as the “word” of wisdom.. This indicates that it is one of the speaking gifts. This gift describes someone who can understand and speak forth biblical truth in such a way as to skillfully apply it to life situations with all discernment.

Insight into doctrinal truth

Paul used is in 1 Cor 2:6

The Word of Knowledge

This gift is also a speaking gift… It involves understanding truth with an insight that only comes by revelation from God.

People that have this gift understand the deep things of God and the mysteries of His word.

Not only knowing and understand God’s word, but they also apply these doctrinal truths to their lives.

Honestly, I believe that every Christian should have these gifts… Or, can grow in these gifts as they study and take time in the Word.

Faith

The gift of faith may be defined as the special gift whereby the Spirit provides Christians with extraordinary confidence in God’s promises, power, and presence so they can take heroic stands for the future of God’s work in the church. The spiritual gift of faith is exhibited by one with a strong and unshakeable confidence in God, His Word, and His promises.

Examples:

Hebrews 11

This chapter, often called “the hall of faith,” describes those whose faith was extraordinary, enabling them to do extraordinary, superhuman things. Here we see Noah spending 120 years building a huge boat when, up to that time, rain was non-existent and Abraham believing he would father a child when his wife’s natural ability to do so had ended. Without the special gift of faith from God, such things would have been impossible.

This gift is given to believers to edify the Body...

These people can be inspirations to others, because of their faith and confidence they have in God.

They show a humble reliance on God, and are fearless and zealous.

They are convinced that all obstacles to the gospel and to God’s purposes will be overcome...

Sum: To sum it up, God gives all Christians saving faith. The spiritual gift of faith is given to some, who exhibit extraordinary amounts of faith in their Christian walk and who, by their faith, are a joy and an encouragement to others.

Discernment of Spirits

Every believer has a certain amount of discernment, which increases as you mature in Christ.

Hebrews 5:13–14 CSB

Now everyone who lives on milk is inexperienced with the message about righteousness, because he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature—for those whose senses have been trained to distinguish between good and evil.

As you mature, you are able to tell the difference between good and evil, and it goes further than that.

They can also distinguish between what is good and what is better.

If you choose to focus on God’s word, you will be able to grow in discernment.

There are certain believers, however, who have the spiritual gift of discerning spirits—that is, the God-given ability to distinguish between the truth of the Word and the deceptive doctrines propagated by demons.

We are all exhorted to be spiritually discerning (Acts 17:11; 1 John 4:1), but some in the body of Christ have been given the unique ability to spot the doctrinal “forgeries” that have plagued the church since the first century.

This discernment does not involve mystical, extra-biblical revelations or a voice from God. Rather, the spiritually discerning are so familiar with the Word of God that they instantly recognize what is contrary to it.

They do not receive special messages from God; they use the Word of God to “test the spirits” to see which line up with God and which are in opposition to Him. The spiritually discerning are diligent to “rightly divide” (2 Timothy 2:15) the Word of God.

Next time, we will go over the “Miraculous Gifts,” which there is a lot of division about it in the Body of Christ.