Spiritual Gifts, What Is Their Purpose?
Spiritual Gifts, What is their Purpose?
Are all spiritual gifts equal in the eyes of God and what are their purposes to exalt God or witness to unbelievers? In 1 Peter 4:10 it states, "As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God". (1) In 1 Corinthians 12:4 it states, "Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit." (1) These two verses imply the thought that all gifts are the same in the Spirit and they are made to serve others, not exalt God or ourselves. In 1 Corinthians 12:4, there are many gifts and only on Giver, this Giver may bequeath various gifts, which create a variety of effects. (4) This brings up yet another point, someone who doesn 't receive the power of spiritual gifts through out their life time, yet they have witnessed the Holy Spirit and have a close personal relationship with God, are they not as close to God as someone who has experienced spiritual gifts? We are all part of the body of Christ; it states clearly that no part of the body can function without another part or two of the same. (1 Corinthians 12:20-22 "But now are they many members, yet but one body. 21 And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee; nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. 22 Nay, much more those member of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary.") (1) In this thought the people of the body have different gifts that form the whole body, whether they are permanent or temporary gifts. We however are going to focus on the temporary gifts. I believe we all have the power to perform these gifts. However, if we are never in a situation that the temporary gifts are needed or there are already people in the body who have these gifts, then we may not experience them. The whole idea of gifts is to confirm Christ to unbelievers. (Hebrew 2:3-4 "How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by
Are all spiritual gifts equal in the eyes of God and what are their purposes to exalt God or witness to unbelievers? In 1 Peter 4:10 it states, "As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God". (1) In 1 Corinthians 12:4 it states, "Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit." (1) These two verses imply the thought that all gifts are the same in the Spirit and they are made to serve others, not exalt God or ourselves. In 1 Corinthians 12:4, there are many gifts and only on Giver, this Giver may bequeath various gifts, which create a variety of effects. (4) This brings up yet another point, someone who doesn 't receive the power of spiritual gifts through out their life time, yet they have witnessed the Holy Spirit and have a close personal relationship with God, are they not as close to God as someone who has experienced spiritual gifts? We are all part of the body of Christ; it states clearly that no part of the body can function without another part or two of the same. (1 Corinthians 12:20-22 "But now are they many members, yet but one body. 21 And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee; nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. 22 Nay, much more those member of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary.") (1) In this thought the people of the body have different gifts that form the whole body, whether they are permanent or temporary gifts. We however are going to focus on the temporary gifts. I believe we all have the power to perform these gifts. However, if we are never in a situation that the temporary gifts are needed or there are already people in the body who have these gifts, then we may not experience them. The whole idea of gifts is to confirm Christ to unbelievers. (Hebrew 2:3-4 "How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by
Cited: 1. The King James Bible 2. Rugh, Gil, "A Review of the (Nine) Temporary Spiritual Gifts*" Pg:14 see: http://www.rapidnet.com/~jbeard/bdm/Psychology/char/areview.htm 3. Strong, James, LL.D, S.T.D., "The New Strong 's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible" Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, 1995, pg: 1472 and Greek pg: 25 (1411) 4. "Matthew Henry 's Commentary on the Whole Bible" Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 1991, pg: 2266 IV