A Look at the Lists: Spiritual Gifts for Today

A spiritual gift is a God-granted ministry to each member of the body of Christ in order to edify its members. There are a variety of gifts (each member with his own gift or combination of gifts), but this variety is united in purpose—to edify the church. They are granted by the Triune God—the Spirit, the Son, and the Father, and that for the common good (cf. 1 Cor 12:4–7).

A look at six New Testament lists introduces us to these gifts:

• Romans 12:6–8: prophecy, teaching, exhortation, ministry, leadership, giving, and mercy
• 1 Corinthians 12:8–10: prophecy, word of wisdom, word of knowledge, kinds of tongues, interpretation of tongues, discerning of spirits, gifts of healing, effecting of miracles, and faith
• 1 Corinthians 12:28: apostles, prophets, teachers, kinds of tongues, ministry, leadership, gifts of healings, and miracles
• 1 Corinthians 12:29–30: apostles, prophets, teachers, tongues, interpretation of tongues, gifts of healings, and miracles
• Ephesians 4:11: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers
• 1 Peter 4:10–11: speaking and serving gifts

It helps to capture the context of each list:

• Romans 12 commands us not to think too highly of ourselves due to the gift or gifts that we have but to recognize that any gift is for benefit of others in the body of Christ.
• 1 Corinthians 12 emphasizes using spiritual gifts to care for one another in the body of Christ and not to focus on one gift to the expense of another. Moreover, gifts should be used in love (1 Cor 13) and with order (1 Cor 14).
• Ephesians 4 emphasizes the generosity of Christ in giving people as gifts to the church for its edification. (The English gift is the Greek doma in Eph 4:8 while the other chapters above emphasize the gracious nature of God in giving each gift—they stem from grace, charis, and are thus spiritual gifts, charismata.)
• 1 Peter 4 commands us to serve one another with our gifts for the glory of God.

Some “people gifts” ceased with the apostolic era (apostles and prophets), as did their accompanying miraculous and revelatory gifts. Christ definitively spoke through His apostles (and prophets) as promised (John 16:12–15; Eph 2:20; 3:5), and the miracles that authenticated their newly revealed message ended with them (cf. 2 Cor 12:12; Heb 2:3–4).

Using the previous paragraph to cull through the lists above, the “people gifts” Christ continues to give are evangelists, pastors, and teachers (or, pastors who are teachers). The gifts spread among the body include leadership, teaching, exhortation, giving, ministry, and mercy. As ministry is a general term and these lists were likely not exhaustive, there might be other ways to designate how the Spirit manifests Himself through others for the sake of the body of Christ.

May we all be good stewards who serve others with our gifts, whatever they may be, and that for the glory of God.

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David Huffstutler is the pastor of First Baptist Church in Rockford, IL. He blogs here, where this article first appeared. It is republished here by permission.

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay