Monday: God, the Sovereign Giver of Spiritual Gifts
It is not we who decide what gifts to have. The Greek word for the gifts of the Spirit is charismata-they are gifts of grace, distributed and given by God Himself. We do not earn them by our status, our position, our honor, our education, or our spiritual performance.
Copyright by Phil McKay Goodsalt.com
They are gifts, freely given out of love so that we can fulfill the task God has assigned us to do.
Read Ephesians 4:7. We often think that the Holy Spirit is the One who bestows spiritual gifts. The apostle Paul also connects Jesus Christ with the giving of the gifts. How is Jesus involved in the giving of the gifts?
Paul says that the grace of Christ secured the right to give us gifts. But it is the Holy Spirit who distributes them to the members of the church. Those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and believe in Him will be equipped by the Holy Spirit with spiritual gifts “as He wills” (1 Cor. 12:11, NASB). The bestowal of the gifts is God’s sovereign decision.
Innate ability as such is not a spiritual gift. Spiritual gifts are not the same as natural talents that a person might have developed through intense education. Many non-Christians are blessed with such providential talents. While every good thing and perfect gift is ultimately from God (James 1:17), God has decided to equip His believers with special gifts in order to bless the lives of other Christians and to build up His church. God can also use a natural talent for that purpose when the person acknowledges that even such a talent ultimately comes from God and then prayerfully and submissively dedicates that talent to the Lord’s work.
What does Paul tell his readers in 1 Corinthians 12:14-31 about the distribution of the gifts? Why is this perspective so important for understanding how spiritual gifts function in the church?
The Holy Spirit is the one who distributes the gifts according to His wisdom and will. Since He loves us and knows best how we can serve Him most efficiently, we do not need to be envious of others and their gifts. To envy other gifts is a sign of ingratitude toward God and of doubting His wisdom in distributing His gifts.
| What gifts has God granted to members of your church? What message can you take away from the fact that different people have different gifts? |
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Is it automatic that a Christian who possesses the fruit of the Spirit must be bestowed with at least one of the Spiritual gifts mentioned?
Perhaps, we have put the cart before the horse here. Here is a different way to ask the question that may be useful:
When we exercise one of the spiritual gifts that we have been given, does it bear fruit? Or are we exercising the gift for selfish ends?
I believe that the gifts mentioned are representative, not exhaustive. Thus we can't say that any Christian with the fruit of the Spirit "automatically" has one of the gifts mentioned. However, the Holy Spirit empowers believers (gives gifts) as they are needed to do the work He assigns. In other words, if the Spirit asks a believer to do something, He will also provide the needed gift. (Also see Ulrike's comment.)
People are given different gifts, but sometimes this can bring division in church because we know people don't think same. My question is: how can we overcome this and use the same gift to unite the church?
Just to understand something, spiritual gifts originate from Jesus, but the holy spirit is the one who distributes them according to his wisdom.
James I understand, but sometimes we see divitions among Christians, can we say that they don't have spiritual gifts???
"The Holy Spirit is the one who distributes the gifts according to His wisdom and will. Since He loves us and knows best how we can serve Him most efficiently, we do not need to be envious of others and their gifts".
Is it Ok then seeing that the Holy Spirit Loves me and know whats best for me, Is it ok for me to pray to Him? Plz reply
Of course it is ok. The Holy Spirit is God. It is always good to reach out to God.
The bible teaches that we should pray to the father. The holy spirit is he who translates our prayers to God with moanings and groanings. Even if they are all three in one they have separate roles. Jesus taught us to pray to the father.
I don't think that there is any real need to formally separate the Godhead in the addressing of our prayers. Addressing it to the "wrong" member of the Godhead is not going to invalidate your prayers. I have seen people agonize over who to address their prayers to, or even worse, criticize others about the addressing of their prayers to the extent that prayers have been left unsaid. That should never happen.
Jesus said that He and the Father are One and that the Holy Spirit is His Representative. They are one in character, will and purpose, and they always work together. That is why the three divine Persons make up *one* God. So it seems that it would follow that it is as fine to pray to Christ and to the Holy Spirit as it is to pray to the Father. (Not every Christian activity has an exact parallel in the Bible.)
As a matter of fact, probably most people reading this have already prayed to the Holy Spirit through some of the hymns in our hymn book which are prayers to the Holy Spirit.
Many probably recognize the relatively new song, "Come, Holy Spirit, I need Thee" by the Gaithers. (YouTube Link)
List of hymns directly addressing the Holy Spirit in prayer:
Baptize Us Anew 258, new hymnal (The Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal, 1985) 525 old hymnal (The Church Hymnal, 1941)
Breathe on me, Breath of God 265 new 679 old
Come, Gracious Spirit 204 old
Come Down, O Love Divine 257 new (has line, O Comforter draw near)
Come Holy Spirit, come 205 old
Come, Holy Spirit 209 new 205 old
Fire of God, Thou sacred flame 263 new
Gracious Spirit, Love Divine 215 old
Holy Spirit, faithful Guide 211 old
Holy Spirit, lamp of light 216 old
Holy Spirit, light divine 268 new 206 old
Hover o'er me Holy Spirit 260 new 212 old
O holy Dove of God descending 270 new
Open my eyes that I may see 326 new
Spirit divine 210 old 267 new
Spirit of God 266 new
Sweet, sweet Spirit 262
Some of these immediately generate a tune in my mind. Others I don't remember ever singing. Some were composed in the 1700's or earlier, others in the 1900's, during which time the Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal was published.
Which of these hymns have you (whoever is reading) sung before?'s
We were looking for hymns to sing on the Holy Spirit in the Hymnal and none of the tunes but Sweet, Holy Spirit are familiar ones. I've heard somewhere that they are considering updating the hymnal again. I think it would be a great idea and eliminate those with difficult tunes to sing, lower the key in many of them, and put in some newer hymns and more variety. I remember the old hymnal and I also remember when they made the "new" hymnal. My mother (who at the time was retirement age) and I were both disappointed with the "new" hymnal because it still retained unknown hymns and ones difficult to sing. I realize that a hymn committee will never please everyone but I think that some Holy Spirit hymns is an area that needs improvement.
These are the songs that I know - all from The Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal, 1985.
"Come, Holy Spirit, I need Thee" by the Gaithers. (YouTube Link) Evocative tune, singable, with good words.
Baptize Us Anew #258 - A great prayer song and quite singable. (Not too slow.) We all need to sing and pray this one!
Breathe on me, Breath of God #265 - Another great prayer song that needs to be sung more slowly and reverently.
Come, Holy Spirit, heavenly dove #269 - by Isaac Watts, same tune as "Jesus, the very thought of Thee" and most people know that - I think. Very singable, a classic hymn.
Holy Spirit, light divine #268 - quite singable, great hymn, but written in 5 flats which some musicians despise. 😉
Hover o'er me Holy Spirit #260 - classic hymn, great words, quite singable
Open my eyes that I may see #326 - great hymn, quite singable, if sung with enthusiasm, not at a funereal pace. 😉
Sweet, sweet Spirit #262 - relatively modern song, evocative tune. I'm ambivalent on the words.
Please share your favorites. 🙂
Inge, Jesus taught us to pray to the Father. Do you think there is some reason for this? Should we follow Jesus example? Jesus said that He does nothing of His own self but the Father teaches Him. Is this true? Why? How? Why should we pray to the Father but have never been encouraged to pray to the Holy Spirit or to Jesus?
Is the Father the judge and the One Jesus follows? Has the Father given judgment to Jesus? Why does this inheritance come from the Father and not Jesus, Himself?
The disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray. Jesus prayed to the Father in heaven. Jesus asked to be led not into temptation and to be delivered from evil. This is part of the work of the Holy Spirit. As we pray to the Father for a clean heart and right spirit we ask the Godhead power for that strength imparted by the Holy Spirit. It seems to me our focus should be on praying to the Father and the fruits and gifts of the Spirit will flow naturally as a result.
Gifts are grace! Our job is to try develop them towards the good of others. We all are given some sort of gift. We just need to work in whatever it is to help others! Even in the church! And this must come out of love!
dear brethrens,God equips his believers with special gifts in order to bless the lives of other Christian and to build up the church.....division only comes in when we don't understand the difference between natural talent and the spiritual gift..remember,natural talents are possessed by both believers and non believers while spiritual gifts are only possessed by believers.Another important point to note is that natural talent can be used to serve God and in most situations self while spiritual gifts are used to serve God as we serve others to build Gods family.....Therefore once we are saved the spiritual gifts will blossom in our lives as we mature in our faith in Jesus name.
dear Ronald... once you posses the holy spirit through repentance, faith and obeying God commandments,the holy spirit will lead you in prayer and praise for you won't be living alone but with Christ through the holy spirit....therefore just abide in Christ and he shall take control of your life...in short pray and read your bible without seizing...if you want to grow.
Please help me understand the difference between talents and gifts of the Holy Spirit
What is the difference between a talent and a gift in the context of this study?
Talents and gifts are both God-given. Talents are usually a result of surroundings, training, or genetics. An example is if you have seen a family and all are musically inclined etc. Other talents can be gained through training lessons such as piano playing. The Lord allows the rain to fall on the just and on the unjust. One practical example is that many artists (singers) had their origins in the church and then they decided to use their talents in the secular world for their glory not for the glory of God At that time our merciful Father does not take away that talent.
Christians and non-Christians have talents. Spiritual gifts are given to serve others and each Christian has a spiritual gift. spiritual gifts are given by the Holy Spirit to build up God’s church.
An unbeliever with the talent of singing becomes converted and is now a believer the talent that he possess is now a gift of the holy spirit to be used for the edification of God
On the other hand of someone couldn't sing but is now able to do so that's a gift of the Holy Spirit
Ronald, You asked: "Is it Ok then seeing that the Holy Spirit Loves me and know whats best for me, Is it ok for me to pray to Him?"
I don't have an answer to your question, but I find not a single biblical instance of someone praying to the Holy Spirit. Neither do I find anyone worshiping the Holy Spirit in the Bible. What does this mean? I don't know!
I too always thought that spiritual gifts were the same as natural talent, but after reading 1Cor 12:7-11 and then reading some more from J.warner Wallace I realized that they were indeed different although coming from the same God, our Lord, Jesus Christ.
Spiritual gifts are only given to Christ followers to involve in church administration. Talent is inherited or developed from genetics or training and sometimes are used selfishly by non-christians & christians, but spiritual gifts are to be used by Christians to further the work of God. Both should be used to give honor to God but, there is a difference. If you have leadership skills( talent) and become a leader in the church for unselfish reasons great things will happen but, if you have talent in cooking but cook all kinds of garbage,that's not using your talent for good or God... That's my way of explaining the differences between the two. Spiritual gifts or talent let's use it as a common ground and a common goal, to bring light to the world, to bring others to Jesus.
If the gifts are given by the Holy Spirit as He sees fit according to His wisdom; then why does it say in 1 Corinthians 12:31 that we must desire earnestly the best gifts? What will that do for us?
The second half of 1 Cor 12:31 points to your answer. Unfortunately someone put in a chapter separator at that point when chapters 12 and 13 really need to be read together. No gift of the Spirit functions properly without practising unselfish love. All too often our desire for gifts of the spirit are often motivated by selfish goals such as career advancement of social capital. "Desiring the best gifts" in the interests of unselfish service is something that we all find hard.
How to find the gift that God has prepared just for you? This is the question. It is quite easy to find. Every morning ask God; "If you were me today, down here on earth, what would you be doing today with the limitations I now possess?" "What would you do or say, or not to say to those I will be in contact with today?" "Give me that discernment as you gave it to Jesus."
When I did that, and really meant it, God revealed to me what he wanted me to do. He gave me the task of being a Literature Evangelist for 35 years. A gift I never would of known I could ever do. When I first became an Adventist, I could not even read.
Amen and Amen, brother Robert.
I'm glad to see the lesson affirms that natural talent and spiritual gifts are not the same.
In years past we've had all kinds of "tests" during "spiritual gifts" seminars to see what our spiritual gifts supposedly were -- which really were simply identifying our talents and preferences. In a sense it was saying -- don't strive for better gifts, just do what you are already good as well as comfortable at doing and develop that.
However, one of the great blessings of the Holy Spirit is His ability to call us and empower us to do a work that He wants us to do, and which we may not feel at all able to do. Yet feeling His call we move forward in His strength, not our own.
Of course talent is a wonderful thing to have in the work, but the Holy Spirit has empowered a lot of people who were considered as not all that talented, to do a great work for the Lord.
The issue is more following the leading of the Holy Spirit (sometimes people are pushed into things that the Holy Spirit is not leading them to do). Yet we tend to chose people based on talent, and we need to be careful not to work against the Holy Spirit's leading.
It's scripturally true God gives and the Holy spirit distributes the gifts according to His will and wisdom. Based on the Ulrike's very last comment, how do we elect church leaders? Is it based on the talents or gifts an individual possesses? When the church elections are nearing, there's an 'unusual movement' to mobilize and lobby a clique of people to influence the process of election, what are all these? Help please!!!
All churches have their election processes and sometimes leading to undesirable consequences. Throughout the ages, even God's temples were often polluted by corrupted Priests. Jesus during His time on earth has often rebuked religious leaders of the highest order.
While we cannot prevent such occurrences, anything that is not sanctioned by God, will not prevail in their ministry. Don't judge, only God can read the heart.
If you feel very strongly about the matter and feels that it is totally against the scriptures and the interest of the church, I will speak out if I were you in your position. The Bible says if you have issues with your "brother", first settle with Him personally with love in your heart and prayer.
I've enjoyed this discussion of talents vs. gifts. Once I was at a school work bee and I was doing a simple job of painting some outside steps. I recall one church member passing me by and saying they could never do that job because it wasn't their gift. They went on to say that they had taken a gift assessment test and their gift was teaching so they were going to go inside and see if the teachers could find a job for them to do for that gift. Can we get so "locked in" to what we think is our gift that we don't open ourselves up to the vulnerable leadings of the Holy Spirit?
may God bless you all
Because of the grace of Jesus, we now have the right to be given gifts, but, it is the Holy Spirit who distributes the gifts to us as He wills.
Therefore: Jesus grace secured the right to give us gifts.
I've enjoyed this discussion of talent vs spiritual gift, may God bless you all amen.