~ 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.
* * *
* *
