The Truth About Spiritual Gifts
What are spiritual gifts? Spiritual gifts are Spirit-empowered abilities given to believers to build up the church.
There are four important things to remember about spiritual gifts.
1) Spiritual gifts are given by God.
Romans 12:6 says they are given to us by God's grace. You don't deserve your spiritual gift, nor can you earn it. It is given to you the moment of salvation. Therefore you can't take pride in your spiritual gift. Just as you can't take credit for your natural gifts and talents, you can't take credit for your spiritual gifts. Also, you shouldn't envy other people's gifts, or be frustrated with the gifts that God did nor did not give you. 1 Cor 12:18 says, "But as it is, God has arranged each one of the parts in the body just as he wanted."
2) Every Christian has a spiritual gift.
1 Pt 4:10 says that "each one has received a gift." If you are a Christian, then you have a spiritual gift. There are not two classes of Christians -- the gifted and the regular. All God's children are gifted.
3) There are different gifts.
Rm 12:6 says that "we have different gifts." While every Christian has a gift, no Christian has every gift, and no gift is possessed by every Christian. We have different gifts.
There's a reason for this. In 1 Cor 12:17-19, Paul uses the analogy of a body. If every body part was the same, such as an eye, how would it hear? If every part was an ear, how would it smell. In the same way, the church is the body of Christ. Therefore, God has given each of us a different gift so that together we can be a healthy, functioning body.
What are the different spiritual gifts? The Bible has five lists of spiritual gifts (Rm 12:6-8; 1 Cor 12:8-10; 1 Cor 12:28; Eph 4:11; 1 Pt 4:10-11). These include prophecy, service, teaching, exhorting, giving, leading, mercy, wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, distinguishing between spirits, tongues, interpretation of tongues, apostles, helping, evangelism, and pastor/teachers.
Because all of the lists of spiritual gifts differ, most agree that they are representative rather than comprehensive. There are likely many more spiritual gifts than are mentioned in Scripture.
One thing to keep in mind about the number of gifts is that there is a major debate among evangelical Christians about which gifts are still in operation today. Some argue that the gifts of apostleship and prophecy were only in operation in the first century to lay the foundation of the church (Eph 2:20), and now that the foundation has been laid, those gifts are no longer in operation. I agree with this view. There are no longer apostles or prophets in the church, unless by "apostle" you simply mean a missionary, and unless by "prophet" you simply mean a proclaimer of the Bible.
Cessationists argue that the so-called sign-gifts -- miracles, healing, and tongues -- ceased near the end of the first century and are no longer in operation today. The KJV Study Bible says, "The miraculous sign gifts of the Holy Spirit were present in the first century to confirm apostolic revelation (2 Cor 12:12; Heb 2:2-4) and are not expected today. Just as it is necessary to erect a scaffolding to aid construction when a building is being erected, so sign gifts were the spiritual scaffolding used by God to give credibility to His revelation which became the foundation of the church. When the written word of God was complete, God removed the scaffolding.” There are two things that give credence to this view: (1) Historically, the sign gifts did cease at the end of the first century and remained inoperative until the mid-nineteenth century, when some Christians in America claimed to speak in tongues. If these gifts are available to the church, where were they for those seventeen centuries? (2) When you examine the so-called reemergence of the sign gifts today, they don't seem to look anything like those in the Bible. Arguing for the other side are continuationists who believe that all of the spiritual gifts in the first century are still in operation and are available to the church today.
Paul makes this clear in his discussion of spiritual gifts when he says, "We have different gifts: If prophecy, use it according to the proportion of one’s faith; if service, use it in service (Rm 12:6-8)...." Peter makes the same point when he says, "Just as each one has received a gift, use it (1 Pt 4:10)...."
How should you use your spiritual gift? 1 Pt 4:10 says "use it to serve others." In other words, your spiritual gift was not given for your enjoyment, but for your employment (Adrian Rogers). David Jeremiah said, "Gifts are not toys to play with, they are tools to build with." Theologian John Stott put it this way: “Some speak of them [spiritual gifts] as ‘love gifts,’ as if their main purpose is to enrich the recipient and we are to use them for own benefit. Others think of them as ‘worship gifts,’ as if their main purpose is the worship of God and their main sphere of operation is the conduct of public worship. But Scripture asserts that they are ‘service gifts,’ whose primary purpose is to edify or to build up the church… Thus spiritual gifts are given not to help, comfort and strengthen ourselves (the recipients) but others (John Stott, Baptism and Fullness).”
Stott is right. 1 Corinthians 12:7 says that spiritual gifts are given to each person for the common good. "Common good" refers to the church. Not only are your spiritual gifts to be used in serving others, but they are specifically given to build up the church. God did not give you a spiritual gift to benefit your job, your school, or even your family; He gave you a spiritual gift to serve and build up His church. This is how the church grows and functions effectively -- as every Christian uses his spiritual gift to build up the body.
How can you discover your spiritual gift?
First, the Bible does not say. There's no step-by-step guide in Scripture about how to figure out your spiritual gifts. That means that when you read a Christian book about how to discover your spiritual gifts, they are guessing at best. We just don't know.
Second, the Bible does not even specifically define the spiritual gifts. This is why Christian books on the spiritual gifts differ widely in their definitions of the gifts. For the most part, they're just guessing -- even if sometimes it is an educated guess.
Therefore, there's no way to know for sure what your spiritual gifts are. Anyone who tells you with confidence that they know what their spiritual gifts are is making an assumption. Nobody really knows.
Since there's no way to know for sure what your spiritual gift is, I think the best approach is to spiritual gifts is to do three things:
- Realize that God has gifted you to serve in some capacity in the church.
- Look for a way to serve in which you are both effective and fulfilled (this is probably your gift).
- To discover this role, serve in as many capacities as possible until you find the right fit.
Finally, be careful that the idea of spiritual gifts does not become an excuse to not serve. In other words, if the church needs help with a job or task for which you are not gifted, don't let that stop you from serving. While it may not be in your area of giftedness, the job still needs to get done, and you may the best person for the job at the time. Remember that regardless of your spiritual gift, all Christians are called to be foot-washers (Jn 13). You may not have the gift of helps, but every Christian is called to help others (1 Thess 5:14). You may not have the gift of service, but every Christian is called to serve others (Gal 5:13). You may not have the gift of giving, but every Christian is called to share and be generous (1 Tim 6:18). You may not have the gift of mercy, but every Christian is called to be merciful (Mt 5:7). You may not have the gift of evangelism, but every Christian is called to be a witness (Acts 1:8). You may not be the best teacher or musician, but every Christian is called to teach others and sing to the Lord (Col 3:16).
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