Spiritual Gifts – Part One – An Introduction

By Michael K. Farrar

God’s Breath Publications

 

It is amazing that God’s grace and His Son’s death grants us salvation when we accept Christ as our personal Savior and Lord. It is also amazing that Our Heavenly Father’s grace bestows upon us spiritual gifts to enable us to minster and edify others. Spiritual gifts are given to each and every person who accepts Christ as their personal Lord and Savior at the time of their conversion. Spiritual gifts are given through the divine will of the Holy Trinity; Father, Son and Spirit.

 

Romans 12:3

“God has allotted to each a measure of faith.”

 

The context of Romans chapter 12 indicates that the words “a measure of faith” refers to the specific measure of faith God gives each individual to fulfill the purpose and function of the spiritual gift or gifts that Holy Spirit bestows upon them. Our Heavenly Father has divinely appointed the exact gift(s) and resources best suited for each of His spiritual children to fulfill their role in edifying others in the local church.

 

Ephesians 4:7-8

“But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it says, “WHEN HE ASCENDED ON HIGH, HE LED CAPTIVE A HOST OF CAPTIVES, AND HE GAVE GIFTS TO MEN.”

 

This passage tells us that each person who accepts Christ as Lord and Savior is given grace and mercy, not only for the forgiveness of sins, but also in the form of spiritual gifts. Christ in His victory on the cross makes it possible for spiritual gifts to be granted to men and women when they become part of the family of God. This is accomplished through the person and work of the Holy Spirit as we shall see in the next scripture.

 

1 Corinthians 12:7, 11

“But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good…But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.”

 

The Holy Spirit is given by Christ to each and every individual who confesses their sin and accepts Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord. To accept Jesus as Savior means, accepting His sacrifice on the cross as payment for all of your sins; past, present and future. To accept Jesus as Lord means committing oneself to obeying His commandments, seeking to live as He did while on earth and desiring to let the Holy Spirit govern your daily walk in life. The gift of the Holy Spirit is given at the moment of salvation and this is often called the “baptism of the Holy Spirit.” Jesus Christ is the agent of the baptism, the one who baptizes. The Holy Spirit indwells the believer at the point in time of their spiritual birth and regeneration. Now that the Holy Spirit indwells the Christian, He begins His ministry to glorify Christ in their heart, mind and soul as the believer submits to His influence. The Holy Spirit will distribute the spiritual gifts for this child of God as they were ordained by their Heavenly Father and given by Jesus Christ His Son.

 

Spiritual gifts are God-given-divine-endowments which have the capacity to minister to others as the child of God obeys God’s Word, submits to the Spirit and seeks to emulate Christ in their life. They are not magical gifts that manifest without our cooperation, obedience and desire to develop them. In order to minister using our Spiritual gifts we must not only be grounded in the Word as we are filled with the Spirit, we must also apply ourselves in developing our gifts so that the Spirit can use us to the fullest capacity that God desires. While we benefit spiritually and emotionally from expressing our gifts, they are not given for our own edification. They are given to enhance the lives of others in Christ’s church and facilitate spiritual growth. Ephesians 4:13 tells us that spiritual gifts are given so that we can, with God’s grace and power, “attain to the unity of the faith.”

 

Spiritual gifts are not our natural skills and talents. While our natural talents can enhance and contribute to the expression of the spiritual gifts that God gives us, their origin, purpose and function are different. Natural talents come from God through our parents. We possess them from the day we are physically born. Their purpose is to benefit all of mankind on a natural level. They can be developed and exercised without spiritual motivation or influence. Spiritual gifts on the other hand come from God and are independent from our parents. They are given by divine appointment from our Heavenly Father, by Christ as a result of His victory on the cross and through the power and agency of the Holy Spirit. They are given specifically to followers of Christ at the time of their conversion so that they can spiritually edify, grow, encourage and minister to others in the body of Christ. They must be identified, developed and exercised by the follower of Christ as they seek to live and walk by the Holy Spirit. Their purpose and function is to focus on how they can benefit others in the church. 1 Corinthians 13:4 states that “love does not seek its own.” In other words, while we may enjoy blessings as we express and use our spiritual gifts, we must seek to minister to and edify others with the spiritual gifts we have been given, rather than seeking to build ourselves up.

 

In the life and ministry of Christian churches there are three major problems related to spiritual gifts. The first is that there are often very few Christians who are involved in any kind of ministry because they are confused or uninformed about their spiritual gifts. Even those who do serve and are involved in some kind of ministry often have no idea what their spiritual gifts are. Many times those who are not involved in any kind of ministry are content to sit, soak and sour while they attend church rather than serve in some ministry capacity.

 

The second problem is with those who are involved in the ministry of the local church, but who are not functioning in a ministry that corresponds to their spiritual gift(s). This often leads to frustration as tasks are not accomplished in God’s manner of ministry because the wrong people are attempting to minister out of their spiritually gifted skill-set. Such people are participating in ministry for wrong motives rather than spiritually-motivated reasons based on the spiritual gifts that the Holy Spirit has given them.

 

The third problem is that sometimes certain spiritual gifts are given more prominence than they were ever meant to be given. Situations arise where one gift is emphasized as necessary for every follower of Christ which can lead to pressure on believers to seek gifts that the Holy Spirit never intended to give them. Other situations arise in this category where the more “showy” gifts are desired by those who were never intended to receive them.

 

In this series I cannot hope to cover all the issues, nor offer all the answers necessary to address these problems, but I do hope to lay out some ground work that will clarify what the gifts are and how God uses them to edify and build Christ’s church. I also hope to establish that the Holy Spirit is the one who distributes them according to the will of God the Father. As I have already stated it is critically important that while we can enjoy and benefit from knowing our spiritual gift and using it to minister to others, the main purpose of spiritual gifts is for the edification of the church, not ourselves. Numerous scriptures in the New Testament verify that the Holy Spirit distributes spiritual gifts in order that we can minister to each other. Such ministry allows us to serve and meet the needs of others, encourage spiritual growth in the church of Christ, evangelize the unsaved as they see the love and ministry within the church and bring glory to God in the process.

 

1 Corinthians 12:7

“But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”

 

Romans 15:2-3

“Each of us is to please his neighbor for his good, to his edification.”

 

1 Corinthians 14:5

“…greater is one who prophesies than one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets, so that the church may receive edifying.”

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1 Corinthians 14:12

“So also you, since you are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek to abound for the edification of the church.”

 

1 Peter 4:8-11

“Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without complaint. As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

 

The Holy Spirit inspired Paul to use a very practical example to demonstrate how the people of God function with their spiritual gifts to edify other followers of Christ in the local church Body. In 1 Corinthians chapter 12 Paul uses the illustration of the human body. Paul here describes how various body organs and appendages work together to bring about an interrelated and properly functioning healthy human being. It is the same way in the local fellowship of believers. As followers of Christ grow spiritually and express the spiritual gifts given them by the Holy Spirit, they minister to other Christians and edify each other in the local body. Just as each part of the human body is necessary to the health and function of the body as a whole, so too is each follower of Christ necessary to assure a healthy and spiritually strong local congregation.

 

We might also use an illustration of an orchestra playing a complex symphony. Each unique instrument has a specific sound and part it plays requiring special skills. In such an orchestra there can be anywhere from 40 to 100 musicians playing their respective instrument. Not only do the musicians in each specific group (strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion) need to be synchronized with their specific parts, they also need to be coordinated with the orchestra as a whole to produce the marvelous music we hear. So it is the same with followers of Christ in a local body of believers. No matter what size, a local church benefits from each member knowing and expressing their spiritual gift to edify others. As I mentioned earlier, while the true main purpose of spiritual gifts is to edify others, there is always some self-edification and blessing that comes when a follower of Christ sees the Holy Spirit working through them to bless and minister to others through the agency of their spiritual gift or gifts. But we must not view our spiritual gift as a means to edify and bless ourselves. We must remember spiritual gifts are given for the purpose of edifying and building up others in the local church fellowship as many scriptures attest.

 

1 Thessalonians 5:11

“Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.”

 

Hebrews 3:13-14

“But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”

 

Hebrews 10:23-25

“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.”

 

In the next part of this series I’ll cover the scripture passages that list the spiritual gifts that God has made available for His family members and some general concepts of their distribution to followers of Christ by the Holy Spirit. I’ll also share how these gifts can be categorized in relationship to their ministry purpose and function. I hope you will begin to evaluate what your own spiritual gifts are and how you can pursue using them to minister to others as God intended.