Spiritual Gifts: Frequently Asked Questions
WHAT ARE SPIRITUAL GIFTS? AND WHO GETS THEM?
A spiritual gift is a supernaturally designed ability given to every believer by which the Holy Spirits to the body of Christ. A spiritual gift cannot be earned. It is merely “received through the grace of God. (1 Peter 4:10-11) Gifts are manifestations of the Holy Spirit and Christ-followers receive at least one.
“A Spiritual Gift is usually just a special empowerment–an unusual effectiveness–in an assignment given to all believers”
Pastor JD Greer
WHERE DID THEY COME FROM?
Cliff Notes: The Holy Spirit
Diving Deeper: God performed miracles, showed wonders and presented special signs all throughout the Bible through prophets and leaders in the Old Testament. We see him anoint men like Moses, Joshua, David and Solomon. But this was also pre-new covenant. A lot of these leaders were acting as mediators between God and men. What we see in the New Testament is God fulfilling a promise (Ezekiel 39:29), that the Holy Spirit, the same Spirit present when the foundations of the earth were laid, would make His dwelling place with the sons of men. Pentecost was a yearly festival for the children of Israel after leaving Egypt; the events of Pentecost were prophesied by Jesus Himself in Acts 1:4 “You heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” Jesus instructs the disciples to stay in Jerusalem and wait for God to fulfill his promise to them. Jesus explained to the believers that the Holy Spirit would come upon them and then they would become witnesses for Him to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem. The promise of the Father was that they would receive special power from the Holy Spirit and thus become witnesses of Him to the ends of the earth. And that’s exactly what happened.
In Acts 2, after Jesus ascends to Heaven, it says “When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting…and they were filled with the Holy Spirit“. Peter then addresses the mockers in the crowd, even correcting them and repeats the prophet Joels words in Verse 17 “In the last days it shall be, that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh…and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams; And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below…”
Right there in Acts, the church was born. The humble disciples would become the very means by which the truth of Jesus Christ would be taken to the rest of the world. And He left us pieces of Himself, so that we too, could be a part of that same mission.
WHY DO WE HAVE THEM?
If you were reading through the New Testament, the first place you’d run into this term “Spiritual Gift” is found in Romans 1:11-12. Writing to the church at Rome, Paul says “I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you, that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.” The term Paul says “I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift” is misleading because it sounds like he wants to help them have a gift, but the text actually means he wants to give them the benefit of his gifts. The first thing we learn about these gifts are that they are any ability the Spirit gives you, to express your faith, in order to strengthen and encourage others. (see also 1 Corinthians 14:12)
Acts 1:8 says “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and even to the remotest parts of the earth.” Here he is sharing the primary purpose of the gifts of the Spirit: to give the church power in order to build His church. In Matthew 9:35-38 it says “The Harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few…therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers.” If I had a dollar for every church struggling to stay afloat, I’d be a rich woman. They lack workers, maybe finances, vision, leaders. The camaraderie of other local churches. Just think about the churches across the oceans, where they have little to no resources at all. And yet God tells us to pray to the Lord of the harvest…for workers. He knew they would be few. But how much further would we run, how much more Kingdom light could we spread, if we ran together?
Finally, we have gifts and exist to glorify God. We were created by, through and for Jesus Christ. To testify of His love, grace, kindness and power. John 15:8 “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to my disciples.”
When we exercise the gifts which Christ has given us, we are really saying to our fellow Christians and others: See how much the Lord Jesus Christ loves and cares for you? He has sent me to serve you in this way; He is using my hands and my feet, my lips and ears, to show His love.
Sinclair Ferguson
It is a tragic mistake if we think that the message is ever: See what a superb Christian I am? See the wonderful gifts I have? Gifts are for giving away. For pursing love through serving one another-not for self-advancement.
DOES GOD REALLY NEED ME?
Cliff Notes: No
Diving Deeper: To answer this, I’ll leave you with a quick story. In our household, I’m a huge fan of delegating. (Come on mamas, who’s with me?) We have 5 children ages 2-17 so we were outnumbered rather quickly. And from an early age, I started working with them. They would start off by watching me do something. Next, they would do it alongside of me with some coaching and eventually they were doing it all on their own. Now was it because I needed their help? Nah. In some instances, I could probably be more efficient without it. But I love them. And we actually get so much more done when we work together. I believe God is a lot like that. I’d go on the record saying God by no means needs any of us. But in His loving kindness, He choose to save us a seat at His table for such a time as this.
Come back next week as we dive even deeper about the gifts and descriptions specifically. We’ll also talk through the differences between natural ability and gifts. Spiritual Gifts Vs. Commands. etc. Cannot wait!
DISCOVER MORE ABOUT SPIRITUAL GIFTS IN OUR RESOURCES POST!