Spiritual Gifts

These spiritual gifts are enhancements or capacities provided to every believer at the instant of salvation that are developed through spiritual growth. They are not a means to spiritual growth, their manifestation will occur as the believer grows spiritually. The gifts are their responsibilities are truly mandated toward every believer. It is interesting to note that whenever Paul addresses the subject of spiritual gifts, whether it is in 1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12, or even briefly in Ephesians 4, he always brings out the same theme: the unity of the body, the oneness of the body, and love for one another. Those things are present in the context of each of these chapters.

Romans 12:3 ^NASB “For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think…” That addresses the issue of arrogance. It is not just arrogance separated out in some sort of isolated manner but because of where he goes in the next few verses we know that he is talking in the realm of whatever spiritual gifts you might have and not to blow that out of proportion and think you are somebody because you have a particular spiritual gift. That was the problem in the Corinthian church and is the problem today in some churches, especially in Pentecostal-charismatic theology where they have taken certain gifts such as the gifts of tongues and miracles and prophecy, which were temporary gifts and no longer are in effect today, and have taught that they are in effect and have blown them out of proportion. So Paul’s first point is to think objectively, accurate thinking based on doctrine: “… but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. [4] For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, [5] so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.” The key phrase there is “members of one another.” Whenever we talk about spiritual gifts and individual capacities and enhancements the key concept is expressed by this phrase, and this is the Greek word allelon [a)llhlwn]. It has the idea of being part of one another’s life. here is an interrelationship of believers because of the common reality of being baptized by means of the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ.

There are several passages that use a)llhlwn and emphasize the mutual ministry that is to characterize the body of Christ. This mutual ministry is often related to the functions of spiritual gifts whether the spiritual gift is present or not. What is meant by that is, again, emphasizing that every believer has responsibilities in each of the areas where there are spiritual gifts, even if that is not your spiritual gift.

Romans 12:10 ^NASB “{Be} devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor.” Twice in that verse we have the idea of one another but the emphasis is no the priority of impersonal love for all mankind and it emphasizes the idea of compassion and gentleness an care for one another, even if you don’t know the other person.

Romans 15:14 ^NASB “And concerning you, my brethren, I myself also am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able also to admonish one another.” Here we have a phrase addressed to the whole congregation, not to specifically gifted people in the congregation or to leaders. He says we are to admonish one another, and this is the Greek verb noutheteo [nouqetew] from the root nous [nouj] which is normally translated “mind” or “thought.” It has to do with challenging the thinking of someone, not in a hostile manner but in a sense that if you have a relationship with someone and you see them getting into some sort of trap then you use the doctrine in your soul in the context of that care for one another to challenge-encourage them with the truth. This does not mean butting into everyone else’s business. We have to understand that in life we have different levels of intimacy with people—immediate family, close friends, then further out acquaintances, and so on. So in this concept of one another we have to use some common sense in terms of what kind of relationship we have with somebody. Just because you know somebody it doesn’t necessarily give you the right to go over and try to straighten them out. There is a mutual ministry here that is part of the spiritual life. So Paul tells the congregation in Rome that they are able to admonish one another, and that is because they have a framework of doctrine that gives them objectivity. This would only apply to somebody who has spent some time in spiritual growth and has reached spiritual maturity because that is the only time one is going to have the real objectivity and sensitivity to know when and what to say to somebody.

Colossians 3:16 ^NASB “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms {and} hymns {and} spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” First, know doctrine—“Let the word of Christ richly dwell in you with all wisdom.” Then one result of that is “teaching and admonishing one another,” but that is not related to simply those who have the gift of teaching. So we are to teach and admonish one another and this is done in the privacy of a relationship.

1 Thessalonians 4:18 ^NASB “Therefore comfort one another with these words.” The word “comfort” is parakaleo [parakalew] which is related to the noun parakletos [paraklhtoj] from where we get the transliteration paraclete, for the Holy Spirit, the one who is called alongside. Sometimes this is translated “Comforter,” sometimes “Encourager,” but this is a title for what the Holy Spirit does. But here we see that this is commanded of every believer, to comfort one another, and the context there indicates that parakaleo should be translated “comfort” because it has to do with a time of grief when people have lost a loved one in death. So there is comfort based on doctrine. This is usually translated “exhort” but it has different nuances, and this in context has more to do with the idea of comfort and encouragement at a time of crisis than exhortation. We get context to what it means to encourage one another. It is going to doctrine and helping somebody who is going through difficulty see how to apply that doctrine in their life, and that is done in terms of an already existing personal relationship when you are talking with friends or family members.

Another example of that same verb is found in Hebrews 3:13 ^NASB “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.” Here the context is a warning to believers who are on the verge of rejecting the Christian life and going back into Judaism. In other words, encourage one another. Whether it is a person crisis or whether there has been a challenge in a crisis of understanding of the truth of Scripture one solution is that we receive encouragement based on doctrine from other believers. That means in order to fulfil this you have to have some doctrine in your soul where you can use that to encourage someone who is in a position of crisis. Hebrews 10:25 ^NASB “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.”

1 Peter 4:10 ^NASB “As each one has received a {special} gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” In other words, the purpose for that spiritual gift is for the benefit of the body of Christ. Every spiritual gift is given primarily top serve the body of Christ, not outside the body of Christ. What about witnessing and evangelism? The men with the gift of evangelism are given that gift to train or equip the saints for the work of ministry—Ephesians 4. The primary function of the gift of evangelist is not just to witness but to train other believers to witness. Other believers may not have the gift of evangelism and they need to be trained so that they can be more effective in their evangelism and witnessing. The function of witnessing itself is a secondary but important feature of that gift.

1 Corinthians 12:25 ^NASB “so that there may be no division in the body, but {that} the members may have the same care for one another.” Once again, there is this mutual ministry within the body of Christ. Christians are not just individuals floating out there in isolation from other believers. We are all part of the body of Christ and we are to encourage and care for one another. [26] “And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if {one} member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.” We may not realize it but if there is a missionary over in India or Africa and they are going through some sort of crisis that affects the whole body of Christ. Remember, we are working together in the unity of the body of Christ in relationship to the angelic conflict. That is why we are to pray for one another. And “if {one} member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.” This is because there is that objective care and love for one another, impersonal love for one another based on our unity in Christ.

Then Paul reminds them again: [27] “Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it.” So now we look at the operation of the individual members. He constantly goes back and forth between the unity of the body and the function of the individual within that body. Then we see that there is a listing of spiritual gifts, and the first three are ranked in terms of priority. [28] “And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, {various} kinds of tongues. [29] All are not apostles, are they? All are not prophets, are they? All are not teachers, are they? All are not {workers of} miracles, are they?” The way the questions are framed in the Greek is to indicate a negative answer. [30] “All do not have gifts of healings, do they? All do not speak with tongues, do they? All do not interpret, do they?” The point is that everyone is not going to have these gifts, and this flies directly in the face of Pentecostal theology which expects every believer to speak in tongues and every believer to be able to perform miracles. That is just a direct contradiction to the Word of God.

The first gift listed in terms of priority because it is the most important gift. The first two gifts, in fact, are foundational gifts, according to Ephesians 2:20—apostles and prophets. As has been pointed out, for the church to be healthy all the gifts have to be present. But all these gifts only have to be present in the first century. The foundation was the apostles and prophets. If all the gifts are given in the first century then even if that gift is not given in the 20th century, because the body of Christ includes every believer from every generation, alive or dead, then 20^th century believers benefit from gifts given only in the first century. In order for that to be true we would have to say that every gift was given in the first because if some gifts weren’t given until the second or third century then first century believers would have missed out. So all the gifts were given in the early church but it is not necessary for any gifts to be given after the first century for the body of Christ to benefit; however, they are. There are permanent gifts that continue throughout the church age for the benefit of the body of Christ in each generation, but some gifts were given in the first generation because they had a limited purpose, part of which was to establish the foundation of Bible doctrine which is the basis for the Christian life, specifically the mystery doctrine related to the spiritual life of the church age and that was given by the apostles and prophets. Once their ministry ended at the closing of the canon of Scripture in approximately 95 AD those gifts were no longer needed and they disappeared from church history.

The first gift was that of an apostle. This was a leadership gift and it included many other gifts as well. The term apostolos [a)postoloj] refers to someone who was commissioned with a particular task. That is the root idea. This implies that you have to know who does the commissioning and then what the task is. That is important because the word apostolos and the noun apostello are both used in every-day language. If you talked of sending someone to the store or sending some to another city you used apostello. The spiritual gift of apostolos was a gift that was given by the Lord Jesus Christ, so when we are talking about the Lord Jesus Christ commissioning the eleven original disciples plus one more (Paul), those are the apostles. Their task was given in Matthew 28:19, 20, and that is to make learners of students of all nations; to take the gospel out to all nations and to train others to be pastors, evangelists, and to begin to establish various churches. So that gift was restricted to only twelve. So you say there are some passages in the Scriptures that seem to indicate that others were called apostles, for example, Barnabas in Acts 14:4; Silas and Timothy in 1 Thessalonians 2:6; Andronicus and Junias in Romans 16:7; Epaphroditus in Philippians 2 (Greek). We have to look at those situations and there what we have a local church, or perhaps Paul or another individual commissioned them to a task, and it was some kind of limited ministry. For example, Barnabas. He is commissioned by the church in Antioch of Syria in Acts 14:4 to take the gospel, along with the apostle Paul. Silas and Timothy have also been commissioned by local churches to travel with Paul and take the gospel. These were not the apostles in the sense of those who were the foundation of the church but were simply those who had been sent out as missionaries and evangelists by local churches. Note: A missionary is not a spiritual gift; a missionary can involve any spiritual gift. A missionary is simply an individual who has been selected and set aside by a local church to take the gospel into a cross-cultural ministry or to teach in a cross-cultural situation. Apostles and prophets were also authenticated by signs and wonders and miracles, according to 2 Corinthians 12:12. An apostle also had to be a witness of the resurrection.

The second gift is prophecy, from prophetes [profhthj]. This had to do with foretelling, the communication of a message from God. In the Old Testament there was the office of prophet and this had to do with the nation Israel as a theocratic nation possessing a covenant fro9m God establishing them as a unique nation in all of history. There is no other nation like Israel, they are the only nation that possesses a covenant with God. If Israel was out of line and disobedient then the role of the prophet was to God’s spokesperson, like a lawyer, and would bring a lawsuit against the nation in light of the Mosaic law and their disobedience to that law. His authority in Israel was based on his office as a prophet. But secondarily, there were others who had the gift of prophecy (not a spiritual gift) and this would be someone such as Daniel, but Daniel did not have the office of prophet. This, too, involved being a spokesperson for God and communicating divine revelation. He didn’t comment on the revelation. Sometimes a prophet with the office of prophet did and that was a secondary function, but Daniel simply communicated. The spokesperson is not interpreting the message. In the New Testament the office of prophet has disappeared but there are people who are given the gift of prophecy. That related to basically three functions: divine guidance in a specific situation, a warning of judgment, or warning of impending judgment or calamity. In some cases it had a broader sense such as the prophecy of Revelation. There are examples of prophecy: Acts 11:27, 28 and 21:10, 11; 13:1.

The next gift was teacher, the Greek word didaskolos [didaskoloj]. There is the gift of teacher and the gift of pastor-teacher. The reason we talk about pastor-teacher and we hyphenate that term is because of the construction in the Greek, as we see in Ephesians 4. There is a list of gifts there and the Greek has the article and then the noun, article then noun, article then noun. That has to do with the apostle then the prophet then the evangelist. Then there is article, noun, conjunction kai [kai], then noun. There is a break there, a difference; there is no article in front of the last noun. The last two nouns are pastor and teacher. This is a construction where these two nouns are joined together and the second noun is seen as modifying or giving greater specificity to the first noun. So they should be linked together as pastor-teacher. There is no such thing as a pastor who is not a teacher. The gift of pastor-teacher is a permanent gift.

The fourth gift mentioned is the gift of miracles, a temporary gift for authentication, a sort of calling card of the apostles and some of the other leaders in the church. It got people’s attention so that they could then give them the gospel and explain the Scriptures to them. 2 Corinthians 12:12.

The fifth-mentioned gift is the gift of healing. An example of that is given in Acts 19:11, 12. The gift of healing functioned in a powerful way in the New Testament. Not everyone was healed. In Luke 4 Jesus emphasized that not everyone was healed because they didn’t have faith. So Jesus didn’t come to heal everybody, the apostles didn’t come to heal everybody; they healed some people. It was restricted because it had a purpose and that was to authenticate their overall message and ministry. Jesus’ healings were designed to demonstrate His qualification as the Messiah. Towards the end of the apostolic age there were cases where there those who were ill and could not be healed by Paul, e.g. Epaphroditus in Philippians 2:27; Trophimus in 2 Timothy 4:20. Timothy wasn’t healed. He had stomach trouble and was told by Paul to take a little wine for his stomach’s sake. The gift of healing was temporary, it operated only in the first century.

The sixth gift is the gift of helps, the Greek verb antilempsis [antilhmpsij], from antilambano [antilabanw] which means to grasp, to assist. This is the gift or capacity for giving aid or assistance in the performance of various tasks or responsibilities. This gift is rather broad and depends on the situation. Some can help in one way; some can help in another way. Paul used the word in his address to the Ephesian pastors in Acts 20:35 in terms of helping the weak. So it is applied to helping the sick in certain areas, those who are not able to get out. That would be one application of the gift.

The seventh-mentioned gift is the gift of administration. The Greek word is kubernesis [kubernhsij] and it has to do with someone who guides or leads or directs something. In Acts 27:1 it is used to refer to the pilot of a ship. It is the idea of leadership.

The eighth gift listed is the gift of varieties of tongues and it has to do with different kinds of languages.

The last verse of 1 Corinthians 12 is actually the first verse of the next subject. 1 Corinthians 12:31 ^NASB “But earnestly desire the greater gifts. And I show you a still more excellent way.” What Paul is going to show is where the real emphasis should be. It is not on the gifts, it is on spiritual maturity as exemplified by demonstrating impersonal love for all mankind.