The Gifts of the Spirit, part 2

Dr. John Rea defines a Spiritual Gifts as a “supernatural capacity, or power, bestowed on a Christian by the Holy Spirit, to enable that person to exercise their function in the church.” The Gifts of the Spirit are distinct from the character qualities that the Holy Spirit creates in us, known as the Fruit of the Spirit. 

The Fruit of the Spirit, as we talked about last week, are to be universally evident in every believer’s life, in increasing measure, as they live out and deepen their relationship with Jesus. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control: they are the proof of the Spirit’s life in us! Unlike the gifts, which are unique and specialized for God’s purpose in us, our community, and our time; The Fruit of the Spirit is for all people, all churches, and all eras, until the perfection of the Kingdom comes.
 

In my lifetime I have been exposed to two erroneous ideas about spiritual gifts.
 

First, I was told that there were but nine gifts; those listed in 1 Corinthians 12:8-11, “…to one is given a message of wisdom through the Spirit, to another, a message of knowledge by the same Spirit, 9 to another, faith by the same Spirit, to another, gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another, the performing of miracle, to another, prophecy, to another, distinguishing between spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, and to another, interpretation of tongues. 11 One and the same Spirit is active in all these, distributing to each person as He wills” CSB. 

Later, I was told that I could discover my Spiritual Gifts, with a simple evaluation tool. Dr. Gordon Fee observes, “There was hardly a church that did not have a conference or seminar that would lead to finding your spiritual gift or gifts.” And the reality is, there is still much of that today. While there is much good to be gained by understanding our personality types and our ways of relating to one another, it is a serious mistake to think that the supernatural empowering ability of the Spirit can be reduced to a mechanical process!
 

Toward the end of this study, I will talk about the way we can begin to live in a spiritually gifted way.
 

Let’s see what several passages of the Word say about Spiritual Gifts. Some representative lists of spiritual gifts are found in several passages of Scripture; in addition to 1 Corinthians 12: 8-10 which we just read.
 

Romans 12: 6-8 “According to the grace given to us, we have different gifts: If prophecy, use it according to the proportion of one’s faith; 7 if service, use it in service; if teaching, in teaching; 8 if exhorting, in exhortation; giving, with generosity; leading, with diligence; showing mercy, with cheerfulness” CSB. 
 

Ephesians 4:11 “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers…” CSB. This passage refers to the offices of church leadership and implies that gifts accompany calling to those offices.
 

1 Peter 4:8-11 "Above all, maintain constant love for one another, since love covers a multitude of sins. 9 Be hospitable to one another without complaining. 10 Just as each one has received a gift, use it to serve others, as good stewards of the varied grace of God. 11 If anyone speaks, let it be as one who speaks God’s words; if anyone serves, let it be from the strength God provides, so that God may be glorified through Jesus Christ in everything…” CSB.
 

There is one basic principle that emerges from each of those passages: There are No Lone Rangers! One fact, that is either explicit or implicit, in each of these passages is that – Spiritual Gifts are functional in the context of the congregation, the gathered group of Christians.

Continued tomorrow