Spiritual Gifts, 44of44

 ~ Spiritual Gifts Summary ~

 

Opening Comment  ~  “Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.  Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.  Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures” (James 1:16-18). 

 

Definition  ~  All spiritual gifts are actually grace gifts.  They were not earned but given to us by the grace of God.  Natural abilities are another example of grace gifts.  Your Natural Abilities relate to your natural capacity for development.  Your Spiritual Gifts relate to your capacity for spiritual exercise, development, and ministry. 

 

Categories  ~  In this series we have examined four broad categories of Spiritual Gifts and given a name for each of these broad categories which relate to society: 

 

SOURCE GRACE GIFTS: The Construction Sector

~~ Love (which develops Prayer, Intimacy, Thanksgiving, and Discernment/Maturity.

~~ Faith

~~ Hope

~~ Witness (ambassador)

 

SERVING GRACE GIFTS: The Service Sector

~~ Giving (Time, Talent, Treasure)  

~~ Going (Mercy)

~~ Helps

~~ Hospitality  

~~ Ruling (Leadership)

~~ Administration

~~ Discernment (including Discerning Spirits)  

 

SPEAKING GRACE GIFTS: The Medical Community

~~ Teaching

~~~~ Word of Wisdom

~~~~ Word of Knowledge

~~ Exhortation

~~ Evangelism

~~ Pastor

 

SIGN GRACE GIFTS: The Media Group

~~ Apostleship

~~ Prophecy

~~~~ Knowledge

~~ Tongues

~~~~ Speaking in Tongues

~~~~ Interpretation of Tongues

~~ Miraculous Powers

~~~~ Healing

 

Scripture  ~  “But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.  Therefore He says: ‘When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men.’  (Now this, ‘He ascended’ — what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth?  He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)

 

And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head — Christ — from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love” (Ephesians 4:7-16).

 

Conclusion  ~  Any grace gift which a Christian possesses has been given for ministry within the Church and also for reaching out to those outside the Church.

 

Closing Comments  ~  “Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity.  Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.  Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership.  Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all.  Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine.  Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you” (1 Timothy 4:12-16).

 

“Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.  For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:6-7).

 

“As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God” (1 Peter 4:10).

 

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW blog.

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Spiritual Gifts, 43

 ~ Spiritual Gifts – Key Principles~

 

Opening Comment  ~  “Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.  Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.  Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures” (James 1:16-18). 

 

Key Principles  ~  Here are some of the primary principles regarding Grace Gifts that should always be kept in mind:

 

1.      Spiritual gifts relate to what a believer does in the way of ministry.  Natural abilities and skills are for both inside and outside of direct ministry.

 

2.      Every believer has gifts.  “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it” (Ephesians 4:7).  “Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good” (1 Corinthians 12:7).  Also see, 1 Corinthians 12:11 and 1 Peter 4:10.  

 

3.      All believers have multiple gifts (1 Corinthians 1:7; 2 Corinthians 9:8).  

 

4.      No one believer has all the gifts.  There is no need for self-sufficient “super-saints” (1 Corinthians 12:29-30, 8-10). 

 

5.      There is no one gift which all believers excel in (1 Corinthians 12:8-10).  But all are to strive to improve source gifts such as love, compassion, mercy, etc. 

 

6.      Each member has a separate combination of gifts.

 

7.      Each member must function in his own way.  God does not want all believers to have the same ministry or exact methodology.

 

8.      All members are to function in harmony together for the good of the overall God focused effort.

 

9.      Specific spiritual gifts and spirituality are NOT directly related.  For example, a person can be ministering from a dry well.  This is why some prominent spiritual leaders sometimes succumb to temptation. 

 

10.  Spirituality has to do with Godly character and being conformed to the image of Christ (1 Corinthians 3:1-3, 13:1-3) as opposed to the grace gifts they have been given by their Creator.  This has frightening implications!  (And explains many events - such as Jonestown.)

 

Closing Comments  ~  “Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity.  Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.  Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership.  Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all.  Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine.  Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you” (1 Timothy 4:12-16).

 

“Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.  For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:6-7).

 

“As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God” (1 Peter 4:10).

 

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW blog.

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