It is clear from the Scriptures that when Jesus Christ ascended back to heaven and
the Church was formed on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2) that He gave gifts tomen. These gifts were for believers and were intended for the common good of the Church and to strengthen her mission to evangelize the world. “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up
of the body of Christ.” Ephesians 4:11-12
The early church was built on the foundation of the apostle’s and prophet’s teaching. The apostle’s teaching (primarily the New Testament Scriptures) was for the whole church as the apostles were directed by the Holy Spirit. The prophets taught and received revelations from the Lord in the local church before the text of the New Testament was available. “Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others pass judgment. But
if a revelation is made to another who is seated, the first one must keep silent. For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all may be exhorted; and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets”. 1
Corinthians 14:29-32
Both the apostle’s and prophet’s teaching formed the foundation of the Church. Paul wrote to the Ephesians:” you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household (the church), having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone”. Ephesians 4:19-20 There are no apostles today and in a technical sense no prophets. However, there are still evangelists,
pastors, and teachers in addition to many other gifts.
Romans 12:6-8 gives a list of gifts that God gives believers. Included in the list are serving gifts, teaching gifts, exhortation gifts, giving gifts, leadership gifts, and mercy gifts. These gifts were given to individuals by
God’s grace. They are often a combination of natural abilities and more importantly spiritual gifts that are given to believers by the Holy Spirit after they are saved. They are not intended to lie dormant but are to be recognized, developed, and used to benefit the members of the body of Christ.
All believers have a gift or gifts, so it is important to recognize what that gift is. Paul told Timothy to “stir up the gift that is in you”.1 Timothy 1:6 Timothy was a timid person and was afraid to use his gift. Paul encouraged
him to step out and use his God given abilities because “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” Later on, Paul would tell Timothy to “do the work of an evangelist”.
In 1 Corinthians 12 the apostle Paul expands on the list of gifts. He says that there are a variety of gifts given by the Spirit of God. These are sometimes “short term” or “in the moment” gifts that may be given for a particular need at a particular time such as a word of wisdom or a word of knowledge. They are intended to be for the “common good” to be used to benefit others.
Paul then expands on the list of gifts given by the Holy Spirit. It includes faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discernment, tongues (speaking in foreign languages), and interpretation of tongues (foreign languages}.
All Christians have faith but Paul is writing about a special faith the Holy Spirit gives, for example, to begin a ministry or to go to the mission field, depending on the Lord to supply the resources needed for this. The gift of discernment includes knowledge and wisdom to be able to distinguish truth from error.
In the list of gifts also are healing, miracles, tongues, and interpretation of tongues. These are what are called “sign gifts”. In the book of Acts, we see these gifts being used when the Gospel was first proclaimed.
They were intended to impress unbelievers with the supernatural source and power of Christianity. For example, the ability to speak in a foreign language was first used on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came down to indwell individual believers and the Church at large. The writer of Acts (Luke) described the event this way, “the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, “Look, are not all these who
speak Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born?”
Later on, there were individuals who had this gift of tongues and misused it in the church to impress other believers and increase their own self-importance. Paul is very critical of this in 1 Corinthians 14 because the listeners did not understand what the “tongue speakers” were saying. There was nobody to interpret what was being said. Paul had the gift of tongues but he did not use it to impress others. He said, “I thank God, I speak in tongues more than you all; however, in the church I desire to speak five words with my mind so that I may instruct others also, rather than ten thousand words in a tongue.” Paul had a purpose in using his gift.
He wanted it to benefit others. He also said, “So then tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers”. They were not to be used in the church to demonstrate a superior supernatural ability.
Gifts of healing, miracles, and tongues were an early part of Christianity. The gospel “was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will”. Hebrews 2:3,4 The
gift of healing and the working of miracles, were sign-gifts for the inauguration of the Christian dispensation. There is no intimation that these miraculous gifts were to continue in the church throughout this age. When Paul wrote the later letters of the New Testament, he did not speak of these gifts existing or being used in the
Church. In fact, he said that he had left Trophimus at Miletum sick and advised Timothy to use a little wine as medication for his stomach problems. He did not offer to cure their sicknesses.
Paul wrote at the end of 1 Corinthians 12, “And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, various kinds
of tongues. All are not apostles, are they? All are not prophets, are they? All are not teachers, are they? All are not workers of miracles, are they? All do not have gifts of healings,
All do not have gifts of healings, do they? All do not speak with tongues, do they? All do not interpret, do they? But earnestly desire the best gifts And I show you a still more excellent way”
Paul advised the Corinthians to seek “the best gifts” because some are more significant in the functioning of the church than others. What Paul is about to describe is a proper way to use a gift. The way to use a gift is to seek the good of others before oneself. This is the way to edify the church and seek the common good. Paul
says that in this way we will “pursue love, yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts” 1 Corinthians 14:1 It is not love
versus gifts that Paul has in mind, but love is to be the primary motivation for using spiritual gifts; for without love, gifts have no usefulness at all. It is love that makes gifts spiritual (from the Holy Spirit).
We should give attention to cultivating love and cultivating abilities that will be beneficial in Christ’s body, the Church. As important as sharpening our abilities are, it is even more important that we excel in loving.
The Spirit doesn’t give us gifts in order that each of us gets our self-important moment in the spotlight. He gives us gifts so that for the greater glory of Christ we are able to pursue love through serving one another. Then the more honorable members will have no place to boast and the less honorable members will have no thought to think they are insignificant.
“Pursue love, yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts”, 1 Corinthians 14:1 This way no one will to think that he is
not needed or that he doesn’t need anyone else.
Author: John Spence