THE SPIRITUAL GIFTS (1)

The two lists of spiritual gifts found in 1 Corinthians 12:8–10 and 12:28 are probably not intended to be exhaustive. Other lists of gifts are found in Ephesians 4:11 and Romans 12:6–8 (see also 1 Peter 4:10, 11 and Mark 16:17, 18). In the first list, the order of gifts seems unimportant, except that the gifts related to tongues are last. This is noticeable because the Corinthians seem to have valued tongue-speaking above all. In the second list, some importance was attached to the order by Paul; but, again, the most significant fact is that gifts of tongues are listed last.

What did these gifts include? The abilities involved in various gifts appear to overlap (for example, one who had the gift of prophecy must also have possessed miraculous knowledge). Nevertheless, some suggestions about what the individual gifts were may be helpful. Nine spiritual gifts are listed in 1 Corinthians 12:8–10:

1. Word of wisdom (“utterance of wisdom”; NRSV)—“the ability to express the message of God’s wisdom in the gospel of Christ.”

2. Word of knowledge (“message of knowledge”; NIV)—information miraculously given to a Christian, which he was then to share with others (see 1 Corinthians 14:6).

3. Faith—miraculous faith, the kind of faith that enabled one to perform supernatural deeds (Matthew 17:20; 1 Corinthians 13:2).

4. Gifts of healing—the power to heal various diseases.

5. Effecting of miracles (“miraculous powers”; NIV)—the power to perform other kinds of miracles besides healing, as Jesus did (see Mark 16:17, 18).

6. Prophecy—speaking for God, by inspiration, whether to foretell the future or to deliver God’s message to others.

7. Distinguishing of spirits (“distinguishing between spirits”; NIV)—the ability to know whether or not one who claimed to speak for God was telling the truth.

8. Speaking in tongues—in Acts 2, the ability to speak in a language which one had not studied and would not be expected to know.

9. Interpretation of tongues—the miraculous ability to interpret the language spoken by another; implied is the idea that the interpreter would not naturally know the language he was interpreting.

Word Affirmation: “ Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer." - Psalm 19:14 (Don't just say it, mean it!)

“ Which of the above gifts do you possess? You can only claim to know God by what He has done through you. "

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