“Now there are diversities of gifts but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.”—1 Corinthians 12:4-6
The Greek word translated as “gift” in our opening text above is “charisma” meaning: divine endowment; or qualification to stand in a spiritual office or service. It also means divinely endowed miraculous faculty or ability. Yes, all good abilities or gifts come from God. But in the context of this post, we will be dealing specifically with the gifts of the Holy Spirit as clearly stated in the scripture.
In John 7:37-38; the bible says; “In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying , If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified)”
The rivers of living water, which is the Holy Spirit, as clearly stated in the scripture above, was poured out on every believer on earth, on the day of Pentecost. And since then anyone that repents and receives Jesus as his Lord and personal Savior, receives the Holy Spirit.
As the believer receives the Holy Spirit at salvation, the rivers of living water comes into his belly and begins to flow in him to quench his thirst. Then when the believer receives the baptism of the Holy Spirit, with the evidence of speaking in tongues, the rivers of living water, saturates him and begins to flow with greater force in and out of the believer.
And the major way this rivers of living water flows in and out of the believer to bless him and others is through the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The bible says; “But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal”—1 Corinthians 12:7.
The gifts of the Holy Spirit can be divided into ministerial or official spiritual gifts; and general believers’ spiritual gifts. The ministerial or official gifts include: Apostles, Prophets, Teachers, Pastors and Evangelists (see Ephesians 4:8-11). While what I refer to as the general believers’ spiritual gifts are the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit; which are: The word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, the gift of faith, gifts of healing, the working of miracles, prophecy, discerning of spirits, divers kinds of tongues and interpretation of tongues.
The ministerial or official gifts are for few numbers of believers, for standing in a particular ministerial or leadership office. While the general believers spiritual gifts are available to every believers in Christ Jesus; for carrying out the great commission and also for personal devotion and edification. In this particular post, we will be specifically discussing the general believers’ spiritual gifts. Then in subsequent post I will discuss more on the ministerial or official gifts.
The Nine Gifts of The Spirit
Listed and discussed below are the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit that are available to any believer in Christ Jesus, for the common profiting or edification of the Church of Christ:
- The Word of Wisdom: This gift of the Holy Spirit is a revelation to a believer, which gives him solution to a particular problem. The word of wisdom is not the same as natural human wisdom; it is revelatory wisdom from the Holy Spirit.
- The Word of Knowledge: The word of knowledge is a revelation of the Holy Spirit that gives a believer supernatural knowledge or insight concerning things he/she cannot possibly have a natural knowledge of. The word of knowledge can be knowledge of the past, present or future event. One can receive word of knowledge concerning known or unknown things or truth.
- The Gift of Faith: According to scriptures, every believer has the measure of faith deposited in him at salvation (see Romans 12:3). The gift of faith supernaturally empowers the believer’s faith for full manifestation of his faith in order to accomplish some great or miraculous deeds. At the manifestation of the gift of faith, the believer receives supernatural confidence or assurance for a miraculous deed from God.
- The Gifts of Healing: The gifts of healing empowers the recipient of the gifts to minister supernatural healing or cure to someone with sickness or disease. Some supernatural healings can take place instantaneously, while others take place by the process of time. That is, the person that is ministered to with the gifts of healing recovers with time. But often the recovery period is very short. This gift manifest more in the lives of ministers of the gospel. Obviously because they have more contacts with people that needs healing.
- The Working of Miracles: The gift of working of miracles empowers the believer to accomplish acts that defies natural laws through the flow of the Almighty power of God. Examples of miracles include: the Lame Walking Instantly, blind eyes opening instantly; and dead bodies coming back to life.
- Prophecy: Prophecy means speaking under divine inspiration. Prophecy can be forth-telling or foretelling. The bible says prophecies are for exhortation, edification and comfort (see 1 Corinthians 14:3). Not every believer can function in the office of a prophet, but every believer can operate in the gift of prophecy.
- Discerning of Spirits: The gift of discerning of spirits, is the gift of the Spirit that enables us distinguish between different kinds of spirit. Apart from the Holy Spirit of God and the angels of God, there are several other types of evil spirits. There is familiar spirits, there is the spirit of infirmities; there is the spirit of witchcraft. The Holy Spirit helps us, believers, to distinguish between the good spirits and the evil spirits through the gift of discerning of spirits.
- Diverse Kinds of Tongues: The gift of speaking in diverse kinds of tongues is the primary gift of the Holy Spirit, given to a believer, immediately he or she is baptized in the Holy Spirit. This gift of tongues enables the believer to speak in diverse kinds of tongues unto God. The gift of tongues edifies the believer and also helps to stir up other spiritual gifts in the believer by the Holy Spirit.
- The Interpretation of Tongues: The gift of interpretation of tongues is the supernatural ability given to a believer to be able to interpret utterances that are given in tongues. With the gift of interpretation of tongues, the believer can interpret his own or other people’s tongues. For an utterance to be accepted as true interpretation of tongue, it must be a word to the Lord, and not to the congregation.
The interpretation can be thanksgiving or prayer. If the said interpretation is an exhortation or a word of comfort to the church, then it is not an interpretation, but prophecy. Because from scriptures, we see that when people were filled with the Holy Spirit, they spoke in tongues and prophesied. So most of what people call tongues and interpretation, is actually tongues and prophecies.
So those are the general gifts of the Holy Spirit that is available to every believer, with the Holy Spirit in him or her. To see the manifestation of this gifts, we are to maintain quality relationship with the Holy Spirit of God in us through faith and love. Any of the gifts we desire, we can covet and specifically ask God for their manifestation in our lives and ministry. And as we earnestly covet and seek God for the manifestation of these gifts in our lives and ministry, we will definitely see these gifts in manifestation in our lives according to the will of God.
If you have any question or comment on the gifts of the Holy Spirit, you can drop them below.
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