What Are Spiritual Gifts?

There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and He distributes them to each one, just as He determines. (1 Corinthians 12:4-11 NIV)

God does not save us to sit. He saves us to serve. He makes us part of the now-incarnate Body of Christ - His Church - so that our lives will be spent making Jesus known to others who do not yet know Him. And God equips us by His indwelling Holy Spirit with both spiritual fruit in our character and spiritual gifts for the ministry He calls us to do.

Spiritual gifts are just that - they are gifts given from the Holy Spirit to followers of Jesus as He fills our lives with Himself. They are more than the natural gifts and the acquired gifts we think of most readily when we take inventory of our lives.

Natural gifts are the talents and abilities we have been given at birth. Some have the natural eye-hand coordination to perform delicate surgery or craft a precision watch or hit a golf ball straight. Some have the natural balance and rhythm to sing and dance. Some have a mind that is wired to understand logic and math, others to write poetry or novels.

Acquired gifts are those that most all of us can learn with time and practice. We can train ourselves to master the skills needed to be a master electrician or to draw blood for lab tests. With practice and training and encouragement, we can learn to drive a car for everyday life or to drive a commercial vehicle to make a living.

Spiritual gifts are supernatural gifts - they are beyond our natural abilities. When we entrust our lives to Jesus by faith, His Spirit comes to live in our hearts and direct our lives. And Holy Spirit is the One who distributes the spiritual gifts and directs their operation in the Body of Christ and in the individual life of a believer. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and He distributes them to each one, just as He determines.

Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. (1 Corinthians 4:7) Because Holy Spirit has all the gifts available to distribute as He chooses, I believe any of the spiritual gifts could manifest in the life of any follower of Jesus if He chooses. But the Apostle Paul makes it clear in these verses that it is not the usual operation of Holy Spirit to give all the gifts to every believer. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit... The entire Body of Christ has all the gifts of the Holy Spirit, just as Jesus had all of them available in His life while here on earth physically.

It is also important to note that the gifts of the Spirit are given for the common good. They are not given to elevate the person who operates the gift as someone special or important. They are given to bless others and to minister to them. Again, just as Jesus' life was all about ministry to others, so the ministry of His Church must be about ministry to others. “The Church is the only society that exists for the benefit of those who are not its members.” (William Temple)

There are 21 spiritual gifts listed in the New Testament between these verses in 1 Corinthians and the gifts mentioned in Ephesians, chapter 4, and Romans, chapter 12. In his book, Convergence, Jon Thompson helps us understand the gifts by grouping them as the love gifts, the word gifts and the power gifts. I will share more about the gifts in these three broad categories over the next three weeks in my Sunday messages and in this blog. (You can access each Sunday's worship service via Grace Church's YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@gracechurchconcord)

Paul says that Holy Spirit "...distributes them to each one, just as He determines." Each one has one (or more). Every follower of Jesus has at least one spiritual gift that Jesus wants to stir up and use through our everyday lives to bless others. It becomes highly desirable for each of us to discover the spiritual gift that Holy Spirit has distributed to us and to ask Him to use that spiritual gift in ministry to others.

One final thought about spiritual gifts. In my experience, spiritual gifts inventories have a limited effectiveness in actually helping us discover our spiritual gifts. Closeness to the Holy Spirit, listening for His direction, and serving in ministries to others seems more helpful in this discovery. Asking Him to reveal to me the gift He wants to use through me for others and listening for His response, watching at the same time for what He does through my life is vital in both the discovery of and working of the spiritual gifts in my life.

Be encouraged! God equips those He calls. Holy Spirit distributes the gifts so we can be vehicles of their usage in the ministry of Jesus Christ to real people in real life. Listen for His promptings and follow Him in faith, and you just might be amazed at what He does through your common, ordinary, everyday life.