In our last post, we discussed the temporary sign gifts. Next, we will explore the permanent service gifts. The Holy Spirit has given to you, child of God, one or more of these spiritual gifts to serve Him.
The permanent service gifts
Every believer has a spiritual gift or gift/mix.
Peter in 1 Peter 4:10 confirmed this truth: “As every man has received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” God in grace not only gave us the gift of eternal life but a spiritual gift to serve Him.
A spiritual gift is the ability God gives to a believer to minister in or through his/her local church. Peter makes this clear in 1 Peter 4:11: “Whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God my be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”
This statement that spiritual gifts are abilities given by God is debated
Kenneth Berding in “Confusing Word and Concept in ‘Spiritual Gifts’” in Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 43/1 (March 2000) 37-51, argued that spiritual gifts are not abilities but rather ministries that the Holy Spirit gives.
“Though no one will deny a special empowerment to do the activities described in 1 Cor 12:7–11, this idea should not be imposed upon other passages which are primarily functional in nature .... Paul’s list-passages discuss ministries rather than abilities (though God gives general spiritual enablement to every spiritual task” 49-51).
Berding does not exegetically deal with 1 Peter 4:11 where the word for “strength” means capacity or ability: “Whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength (ἰσχύς ischys means capability or ability) that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” A number of lexicons define the word ἰσχύς with the meaning of ability or capability including Louw-Nida. Charles Ryrie defines a spiritual gift as a God-given ability: “In this proposed definition the synonym for gift is ability. A spiritual gift is an ability” (Charles Caldwell Ryrie, Basic Theology: A Popular Systematic Guide to Understanding Biblical Truth (p. 423). Moody Publishers. Kindle Edition).
Thomas Constable defines spiritual gifts as an ability based on 1 Peter 4:10-11:
God has given every Christian at least one gift (ability) that he or she can and should share with other believers and in so doing serve them. The gift in view is evidently one of the so-called spiritual gifts (cf. 1 Cor. 12—14; Rom. 12; Eph. 4). “Manifold” means many faceted or variegated. God bestows His grace on different people in different ways. The gifts (Gr. charisma) are aspects of God’s grace (Gr. charis). No Christian can claim that he or she has nothing to offer the church.
Constable is aware of Berding’s article and notes: For defense of the view that spiritual gifts are ministries rather than abilities, see Kenneth Berding, “Confusing Word and Concept in ‘Spiritual Gifts’: Have We Forgotten James Barr’s Exhortations?” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 43:1 (March 2000):37-51.
Despite Constable’s awareness of Berding’s arguments that spiritual gifts are ministries and not abilities, Constable still defines spiritual gifts as abilities.
Spiritual gifts are given by God for the benefit of others: “Even so minister the same one to another” (1 Pet 4:10).
Every believer has one or more of the operative gifts listed in Romans 12:3-8
1) Preaching
Constable designates this gift as preaching: Probably Paul meant prophecy in the sense of communicating revealed truth to exhort, encourage, and comfort (cf. 1 Cor. 14:3, 31) and, perhaps, praising God (1 Chron. 25:1) rather than as predicting or proclaiming new revelation. All the other gifts listed here serve the whole church throughout its history, so probably Paul viewed prophecy this way too. If so, none of the seven gifts listed here are “sign gifts.”
2) Ministry
Christ is our example. He came not to be ministered to but to minister and give his life a ransom for many (Mk 10:45). Bezaleel built furniture for the Lord’s house. Bezaleel did not possess a spiritual gift since these are dispensed by Christ (Eph 4:7-11) but he illustrates a Spirit-filled believer using his God-given abilities. Dorcus (Acts 9:36-43) sowed dresses for the poor.
3) Teaching
The pastor is a pastor/teacher in Ephesians 4:11. He is “able to teach” in 1 Timothy 3:3. The Sunday school teacher should also have this ability to explain God’s Word so that it is understandable.
4) Exhortation
The exhorter encourages people to do what the teacher has taught. Barnabas was a “son of encouragement” in Acts 4:36. This was his nickname. His real name was Joseph. This believer counsels troubled believers with solutions with God’s Word.
5) Giving
The “grace of giving” is sacrificing giving to God’s work because of his grace has given us eternal life (2 Cor 8-9). The gift of giving is the ability some have to give to the needs of others. We all are responsible to give, but this believer is fulfilled and lives to give to help others.
6) Leadership
In 1 Corinthians 12:28, this gift is called “administration” (κυβέρνησις kybernesis). Some distinguish this gift from “leadership” (προΐστημι proistemi) in Romans 12:8. The administrator would be more like a manger and the leader more like the visionary. Luke used “administration” to describe the pilot on the ship to Rome in Acts 27:11. The owner or leader had charted the course. He saw the end from the beginning. The pilot (κυβέρνησις kybernesis) manager was making sure the ship and his crew got to the owner’s destination.
7) Showing Mercy
This gifted believer helps others who are suffering, sharing a cup of cold water, a covered dish meal with a shut-in, or someone who just lost a loved one. This believer empathizes. Sympathy feels for others. Empathy feels with others.
Spiritual gifts color how we see and respond to needs in the lives of others
For example, imagine that seven of you after the Sunday morning service go to LongHorn Steak House for lunch. Each of you has one of the seven spiritual gifts operative today as listed in Romans 12:3-8. The waitress gets your order and returns with a huge tray of food. But she trips over a chair leg and dumps all the food and drinks. Food splatters and glasses shatter. Each Christian responds according to his/her spiritual gift.
The believer with the gift of mercy or comfort runs to the waitress, takes her by the hand, and whispers, “Are you okay, that must be very painful.”
The Christian with the gift of service or helps doesn’t say a word, she starts cleaning up the mess.
The believer with the gift of leadership commands, “You other waitresses bring some brooms and mops, and let’s get this mess cleaned up.”
Next, the teacher instructs the waitress, “Next time you come out of the kitchen, if you come from this other direction, you won’t have this problem.”
The believer with the gift of exhortation talks to the waitress, “Everybody fails. Just learn from your failure.”
The preacher, one of the sterner gifts, says to the waitress, “Young lady, you need to be more careful. You are fortunate that nobody is hurt.”
Finally, the believer with the gift of giving slips some money to the waitress and says, “Here take this, I am sure management is going to take this out of your pay.”
How can I know what my spiritual gift is?
Answering these questions can help you discover what your spiritual gift is.
1) What am I gifted to do? I am not gifted a fixing a broken down car. I am thankful for those who can.
2) What do I enjoy doing in serving the Lord? I enjoy teaching and preaching which would scare others to death.
3) What do I get asked to do in serving the Lord? I don’t get calls when a friend’s car is broken down. They know better. Before I started going to Bible college I started getting opportunities to teach ( a Junior boys S.S. class) and preach. God was helping me discover the gifts He had given me.
Whatever our spiritual gift is does not mean we can not and should not serve in the other areas of giftedness. We may not have the gift of teaching but we are still to be involved in fulfilling the Great Commission which involves “teaching all nations.” We parents are to teach and bring up our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. We may not have the gift of mercy or showing compassion for the suffering but all of us Christians can visit shut-ins and friends, family, and church members in the hospital.