WHAT ARE SPIRITUAL GIFTS?
Spiritual gifts are those special faculties we receive through Jesus Christ because He conquered death and is now ruling in the spiritual world on the highest level (Eph 4:8). He practiced them Himself during His earthly ministration, also applying them in performing miracles and healings. Being omnipotent, He applies these gifts to make supernatural observations about people’s needs, knowing even their deepest secrets.
These gifts originate from the supernatural power of God and are bestowed on us by the Holy Spirit as we are told in Hebrews 2:4:
“God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.”
In truth, therefore, these gifts are the working of God the Holy Spirit. So – the nearer we live to the Spirit the more we ourselves operate within these gifts!
WHERE IN THE BIBLE DO WE FIND THE GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT?
The most important references are found in these scriptures.
“Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by[c] one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.”
“There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called.”
“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.”
WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF SPIRITUAL GIFTS?
A study of the texts given above will show you that the application of the gifts has as its purpose strengthening and edification of fellow believers. By now you know that the family is the building-stone of the community. It is the task of the father, being the priest and prophet in his home, to acquaint the family with these important spiritual gifts and to teach and instruct them further in their application. This will prompt them to increase their knowledge of Scripture and to deepen their relationship with God, to receive these gifts from Him. Receiving and applying the spiritual gifts will lead to intensifying our belief in God.
SPIRITUAL GIFTS OVERCOME SATAN
Once we Christians are skilled in the application of the gifts of the Spirit, we will be able to strengthen and guide one another so that we will realize the glory of Christ in our community through our daily lives. This should attract outsiders also to become part of our way of life; thereby expanding God’s Kingdom and reign! Those Christians who have discovered their spiritual gifts, and are practicing them, are a serious threat to Satan’s demonic plans. Spiritual gifts are therefore also powerful weapons in the Christian’s arsenal, and so Jesus applied them most effectively in overcoming the powers of Satan – the Gospels are full of illustrations of this.
WHO MAY RECEIVE SPIRITUAL GIFTS?
The dogma held in some denominations is vague about this most important aspect of the Christian life. In some cases, these supernatural faculties are decried as merely human qualities. In others, only certain ones are acknowledged, whereas another group is of the opinion that the supernatural working of the Spirit was meant only for the initial stage in the existence of Christianity. Taking a close look at Scripture again, we see that God wants to endow everyone with one of these gifts, or more. 1 Corinthians 12: 7 to 11 says
“To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another, the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gift of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.”
Paul admonishes us to exert ourselves to receive the gifts of the Spirit, and to prophesy, in particular in 1 Corinthians 14:11
“If then I do not grasp the meaning of what someone is saying, I am a foreigner to the speaker, and the speaker is a foreigner to me.”
He exhorts us all, in fact, to strive for the gift of prophecy – see verses 5 and 24 in this respect.
DR KRIGE AND HOUSE REGENERATION
This adapted content was extracted from Make your Stand, authored by Dr Ado Krige, the Founding Director of House Regeneration, a South African drug rehabilitation centre offering a comprehensive discipleship training program. By applying principles of Biblical Therapy, using the Scriptures to teach, rebuke, correct, and train in righteousness, House Regeneration counsellors show anyone who has suffered from addiction how to fully understand why they do what they do and how to bring their belief systems in line with the Word of God.
