Learn more about spiritual gifts
What is a Spiritual Gift? By Wayne Grudem
A spiritual gift is an ability that is empowered by the Holy Spirit and used in any ministry of the church.
This broad definition includes both gifts that are related to natural abilities (such as teaching, showing mercy, or administration) and gifts that seem to be more “miraculous” and less related to natural abilities (such as prophecy, healing, or distinguishing between spirits). Learn more www.hopecollege.com
The reason for this is that when Paul lists spiritual gifts (in Rom. 12:6–8; 1 Cor. 7:7; 12:8–10, 28; and Eph. 4:11) he includes both kinds of gifts. Yet not every natural ability that people have is included here, because Paul is clear that all spiritual gifts must be empowered “by one and the same Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:11), that they are given “for the common good” (1 Cor. 12:7), and that they are all to be used for “edification” (1 Cor. 14:26), or for building up the church.
1. Spiritual Gifts in the History of Redemption. Certainly, the Holy Spirit was at work in the Old Testament, bringing people to faith and working in remarkable ways in a few individuals such as Moses or Samuel, David or Elijah. But in general, there was the less powerful activity of the Holy Spirit in the lives of most believers. Effective evangelism of the nations had been diminished, casting out of demons2 was unknown, miraculous healing was uncommon (though it did happen, especially in the ministries of Elijah and Elisha), prophecy was restricted to a few prophets or small bands of prophets, and “resurrection power” over sin in the sense of Romans 6:1–14 and Philippians 3:10 was rarely experienced.
But at several points, the Old Testament looks forward to a time when there would be a greater empowering of the Holy Spirit that would reach to all of God’s people. Moses said, “Would that all the LORD’S people were prophets, that the LORD would put his spirit upon them!” (Num. 11:29). And the LORD prophesied through Joel:
And it shall come to pass afterward,
that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your old men shall dream dreams,
and your young men shall see visions.
Even upon the menservants and maidservants
in those days, I will pour out my spirit.
(Joel 2:28–29)
John the Baptist heightens people’s expectations of the fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy when he announces that someone is coming after him who “will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire” (Matt. 3:11; cf. Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16; John 1:33; Acts 1:5).
When Jesus begins his ministry he comes bringing the fullness and power of the Holy Spirit in his person. Luke writes, “And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee” (Luke 4:14). The result is that he teaches with great power (Luke 4:15–22) and he heals and casts out demons from all who are oppressed (Luke 4:31–41). Clearly, Jesus has come in the greater new covenant power of the Holy Spirit and he has come to conquer Satan’s kingdom.
In fact, he says that the power of the Holy Spirit at work in him enabling him to cast out demons is an indication that the kingdom of God has come in power: “If it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you” (Matt. 12:28). Looking back on Jesus’ life and ministry, John tells us, “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8).
But this new covenant power of the Holy Spirit is not limited to the ministry of Jesus alone. He sent his disciples out, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand” and told them, “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons” (Matt. 10:7–8). Nevertheless, this new covenant power of the Holy Spirit is not yet distributed to all who believed in Jesus or followed him but only to his twelve disciples or to the seventy disciples (Luke 10:1–12).
The pouring out of the Holy Spirit in new covenant fullness and power in the church occurred at Pentecost. Before Jesus ascended into heaven he commanded his apostles “not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father,” and the content of that promise was, “Before many days you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 1:4–5). He promised them, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you” (Acts 1:8). When the Spirit was poured out on the church at Pentecost Peter recognized that Joel’s prophecy was being fulfilled, for he said, “this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel” (Acts 2:16), and he then quoted Joel’s prophecy (vv. 17–21). Peter recognized that the new covenant empowering of the Holy Spirit had come to God’s people and the new covenant age had begun as a direct result of the activity of Jesus in heaven, for Peter said,
This Jesus God raised up, and of that we are all witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this which you see and hear. (Acts 2:32–33)
Against the background of Jesus’ ministry and the earlier ministry of the disciples with Jesus, the disciples present at Pentecost would rightly have expected that powerful evangelistic preaching, deliverance from demonic oppression, physical healing, and perhaps also prophecy, dreams, and visions would all begin and continue among those who believe in Christ, and that these things would be characteristic of the new covenant age that began at Pentecost.
A further characteristic of this outpouring of the Holy Spirit was a widespread distribution of spiritual gifts to all people—sons and daughters, young men and old men, menservants, and maidservants, in the words of Joel—all received a new covenant empowering of the Holy Spirit, and it would also be expected that all would receive gifts of the Holy Spirit then as well.3 In fact, that is what happened in the early church (see 1 Cor. 12–14; Gal. 3:5; James 5:14–15). As B. B. Warfield said:
We are justified in considering it characteristic of the Apostolic churches that such miraculous gifts should be displayed in them. The exception would be, not a church with, but a church without, such gifts … The Apostolic Church was characteristically a miracle-working church.
(This is true regardless of what view one takes about the continuation of miraculous gifts after the time of the apostles.)
2. The Purpose of Spiritual Gifts in the New Testament Age. Spiritual gifts are given to equip the church to carry out its ministry until Christ returns. Paul tells the Corinthians, “You are not lacking in any spiritual gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 1:7). Here he connects the possession of spiritual gifts and their situation in the history of redemption (waiting for Christ’s return), suggesting that gifts are given to the church for the period between Christ’s ascension and his return. Similarly, Paul looks forward to the time of Christ’s return and says, “When the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away” (1 Cor. 13:10), indicating also that these “imperfect” gifts (mentioned in vv. 8–9) will be in operation until Christ returns, when they will be superseded by something far greater.
Indeed, the pouring out of the Holy Spirit in “power” at Pentecost (Acts 1:8) was to equip the church to preach the gospel (Acts 1:8)—something that will continue until Christ returns. And Paul reminds believers that in their use of spiritual gifts they are to “strive to excel in building up the church” (1 Cor. 14:12). Finally, in writing to the Ephesians, Paul specifies that when Christ ascended into heaven he gave gifts “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ” (Eph. 4:12).
But spiritual gifts not only equip the church for the time until Christ returns, they also give a foretaste of the age to come. Paul reminds the Corinthians that they were “enriched” in all their speech and all their knowledge and that the result of this enriching was that they were “not lacking in any spiritual gift” (1 Cor. 1:5, 7).
Of course, this enrichment in their speech and knowledge did not give them the perfect speech or the perfect knowledge that would be theirs in heaven, but only a foretaste or down payment of that heavenly perfection. Similarly, Paul reminds the Corinthians that spiritual gifts are “imperfect” but when the “perfect” way of knowing comes at the Lord’s return, then these gifts will pass away (1 Cor. 13:10). Just as the Holy Spirit himself is in this age a “down payment” (2 Cor. 1:22 NASB mg.; cf. 2 Cor. 5:5; Eph. 1:14) of the fuller work of the Holy Spirit within us in the age to come, so the gifts the Holy Spirit gives us are partial foretastes of the fuller working of the Holy Spirit that will be ours in the age to come.
In this way, gifts of insight and discernment prefigure the much greater discernment we will have when Christ returns. Gifts of knowledge and wisdom prefigure the much greater wisdom that will be ours when we “know as we are known” (cf. 1 Cor. 13:12). Gifts of healing give a foretaste of the perfect health that will be ours when Christ grants to us resurrection bodies. Similar parallels could be found with all the New Testament gifts. Even the diversity of gifts should lead to greater unity and interdependence in the church (see 1 Cor. 12:12–13, 24–25; Eph. 4:13), and this diversity in unity will itself be a foretaste of the unity that believers will have in heaven.
3. How Many Gifts Are There? The New Testament epistles list specific spiritual gifts in six different passages. Consider the table on the next page.
What is obvious is that these lists are all quite different. No one list has all these gifts, and no gift except prophecy is mentioned on all the lists (prophecy is not mentioned in 1 Cor. 7:7, where only the subject of marriage and celibacy is under discussion, but it is certainly included in the “whoever speaks” of 1 Peter 4:11).
In fact, 1 Corinthians 7:7 mentions two gifts that are not on any other list: in the context of speaking of marriage and celibacy, Paul says, “Each has his own special gift6 from God, one of one kind and one of another.”
These facts indicate that Paul was not attempting to construct exhaustive lists of gifts when he specified the ones he did. Although there is sometimes an indication of some order (he puts apostles first, prophets second, and teachers third, but tongues last in 1 Cor. 12:28), it seems that in general Paul was almost randomly listing a series of different examples of gifts as they came to mind.
1 Corinthians 12:28
1. apostle8
2. prophet
3. teacher
4. miracles
5. kinds of healings
6. helps
7. administration
8. tongues
1 Corinthians 12:8–10
9. word of wisdom
10. word of knowledge
11. faith
(5) gifts of healing
(4) miracles
(2) prophecy
12. distinguishing between spirits
(8) tongues
13. interpretation of tongues
Ephesians 4:117
(1) apostle
(2) prophet
14. evangelist’
15. pastor-teacher
Romans 12:6–8
(2) prophecy
16. serving
(3) teaching
17. encouraging
18. contributing
19. leadership
20. mercy
1 Corinthians 7:7
21. marriage
22. celibacy
1 Peter 4:11
whoever speaks (covering several gifts)
whoever renders service (covering several gifts)
Moreover, there is some degree of overlap among the gifts listed at various places. No doubt the gift of administration (κυβέρνησις, G3236, 1 Cor. 12:28) is similar to the gift of leadership (ὁ προϊστάμενος Rom. 12:8), and both terms could probably be applied to many who have the office of pastor-teacher (Eph. 4:11). Moreover, in some cases, Paul lists an activity and in other cases lists the related noun that describes the person (such as “prophecy” in Rom. 12:6 and 1 Cor. 12:10, but “prophet” in 1 Cor. 12:28 and Eph. 4:11).
Another reason for thinking that Paul could have made much longer lists if he had wanted to is the fact that some of the gifts listed will have many different expressions as they are found in different people. Certainly, the gift of serving (Rom. 12:6) or helps (1 Cor. 12:28) will take many different forms in different situations and among different people.
Some may serve or help by giving wise counsel, others by cooking meals, others by caring for children or befriending an older person, others by giving specialized legal or medical or financial advice when needed within the church. These gifts differ greatly. Among those who possess the gift of evangelism, some will be good at personal evangelism within a neighborhood, others at evangelism through the writing of tracts and Christian literature, and others at evangelism through large campaigns and public meetings. Still, others will be good at evangelism through radio and television. Not all of these evangelistic gifts are the same, even though they fall under the broad category of “evangelism.” The same could be said about gifts of teaching or administration.All of this simply means that no two people’s gifts are exactly alike.
How many different gifts are there then? It simply depends on how specific we wish to be. We can make a very short list of only two gifts as Peter does in 1 Peter 4:11: “whoever speaks” and “whoever renders service.” In this list of only two items, Peter includes all the gifts mentioned in any other list because all of them fit in one of these two categories. On the other hand, we could take the Old Testament offices of prophet, priest, and king, and have a list of three kinds of gifts: prophetic gifts (in this broad sense) would include anything that involves teaching, encouraging, exhorting, or rebuking others. Priestly gifts would include anything that involves showing mercy and care for those in need or involve interceding before God (such as praying in tongues). The kingly gifts would involve anything having to do with administration or government or order in the church.
Other classifications of gifts are gifts of knowledge (such as distinguishing between spirits, word of wisdom, and word of knowledge), gifts of power (such as healing, miracles, and faith), and gifts of speech (tongues, interpretation, and prophecy).
Then again we could make a much longer list, such as the list of twenty-two gifts enumerated above. But even that list does not include all the possible gifts (no list includes a gift of intercessory prayer, for instance, which may be related to a gift of faith but is not the same as a gift of faith; no musical gifts are included on any list either, and neither is any gift of casting out demons, even though Paul must have known that some Christians were more effective in that area than others). And if we wished to divide up different kinds of service or administration or evangelism or teaching, then we could quite easily have a list that included fifty or even a hundred items.
The point of all of this is simply to say that God gives the church an amazing variety of spiritual gifts, and they are all tokens of his varied grace. In fact, Peter says as much: “As each has received a gift, employ it for one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace” (1 Peter 4:10; the word “varied” here is ποικίλος (G4476) which means “having many facets or aspects; having rich diversity”).
The practical outcome of this discussion is that we should be willing to recognize and appreciate people who have gifts that differ from ours and whose gifts may differ from our expectations of what certain gifts should look like. Moreover, a healthy church will have a great diversity of gifts, and this diversity should not lead to fragmentation but to greater unity among believers in the church.
Paul’s whole point in the analogy of the body with many members (1 Cor. 12:12–26) is to say that God has put us in the body with these differences so that we might depend on each other. “The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,’ nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.’ On the contrary, the parts of the body which seem to be weaker are indispensable” (1 Cor. 12:21–22; cf. vv. 4–6). It runs counter to the world’s way of thinking to say that we will enjoy greater unity when we join closely together with those who are different from us, but that is precisely the point that Paul makes in 1 Corinthians 12, demonstrating the glory of God’s wisdom in not allowing anyone to have all the necessary gifts for the church, but in requiring us to depend on each other for the proper functioning of the church.
4. Gifts May Vary in Strength. Paul says that if we have the gift of prophecy, we should use it “in proportion to our faith” (Rom. 12:6), indicating that the gift can be more or less strongly developed in different individuals, or in the same individual over a period of time. This is why Paul can remind Timothy, “Do not neglect the gift you have” (1 Tim. 4:14) and can say, “I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you” (2 Tim. 1:6). It was possible for Timothy to allow his gift to weaken, apparently through infrequent use, and Paul reminds him to stir it up by using it and thereby strengthening it. This should not be surprising, for we realize that many gifts increase in strength and effectiveness as they are used, whether evangelism, teaching, encouraging, administration, or faith. Apollos had a strong gift of preaching and teaching, for we read that he was “mighty (or “powerful,” Gk. δυνατός, G1543) in the Scriptures” (Acts 18:24 NASB). And Paul apparently had a frequently used and very effective gift of speaking in tongues because he says, “I thank God that I speak in tongues more than you all” (1 Cor. 14:18).13
All of these texts indicate that spiritual gifts may vary in strength. If we think of any gift, whether teaching or evangelism on the one hand, or prophecy or healing on the other, we should realize that within any congregation there will likely be people who are very effective in the use of that gift (perhaps through long use and experience), others who are moderately strong in that gift, and others who probably have the gift but are just beginning to use it. This variation in strength in spiritual gifts depends on a combination of divine and human influence. The divine influence is the sovereign working of the Holy Spirit as he “apportions to each one individually as he wills” (1 Cor. 12:11). The human influence comes from experience, training, wisdom, and natural ability in the use of that gift. It is usually not possible to know in what proportion the divine and human influences combine at any one time, nor is it really necessary to know, for even the abilities we think to be “natural” are from God (1 Cor. 4:7) and under his sovereign control.
But this leads to an interesting question: how strong does an ability have to be before it can be called a spiritual gift? How much teaching ability does someone need before he or she could be said to have a gift of teaching, for example? Or how effective in evangelism would someone need to be before we would recognize a gift of evangelism? Or how frequently would someone have to see prayers for healing answered before he or she could be said to have a gift of healing?
Scripture does not directly answer this question, but the fact that Paul speaks of these gifts as useful for the building up of the church (1 Cor. 14:12), and the fact that Peter likewise says that each person who has received a gift should remember to employ it “for one another” (1 Peter 4:10), suggest that both Paul and Peter thought of gifts as abilities that were strong enough to function for the benefit of the church whether for the assembled congregation (as in prophecy or teaching), or for individuals at various times in the congregation (as helps or encouragement).
Probably no definite line can be drawn in this matter, but Paul does remind us that not all have every gift or anyone gift. He is quite clear in this in a set of questions that expect the answer no at each point: “Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret?” (1 Cor. 12:29–30) The Greek text (with the particle μή, G3590, before each question) clearly expects the answer no to every question. Therefore, not all are teachers, for example, nor do all possess gifts of healing, nor do all speak in tongues.
But even though not all have the gift of teaching, it is true that all people “teach” in some sense of the word teach. Even people who would never dream of teaching a Sunday school class will read Bible stories to their own children and explain the meaning to them—indeed, Moses commanded the Israelites to do this very thing with their children (Deut. 6:7), explaining God’s words to them as they sat in their house or walked on the road. So we must say on the one hand that not everyone has the gift of teaching. But on the other hand, we must say that there is some general ability related to the gift of teaching that all Christians have. Another way of saying this would be to say that there is no spiritual gift that all believers have, yet there is some general ability similar to every gift that all Christians have.
We can see this with a number of gifts. Not all Christians have a gift of evangelism, but all Christians have the ability to share the gospel with their neighbors. Not all Christians have gifts of healing (in fact, as we shall see below, some people say that no one today has genuine gifts of healing), but nevertheless, every Christian can and does pray for God to heal friends or relatives who are ill. Not every Christian has the gift of faith, but every believer has some degree of faith, and we would expect it to be growing in the life of an ordinary Christian.
We can even say that other gifts, such as prophecy and speaking in tongues, not only vary in strength among those who have the gift, but also find a counterpart in some general abilities that are found in the life of every Christian. For example, if we understand prophecy (according to the definition given in chapter 53)14 to be “reporting something that God spontaneously brings to mind,” then it is true that not everyone experiences this as a gift, for not everyone experiences God spontaneously bringing things to mind with such clarity and force that he or she feels free to speak about them among an assembled group of Christians.
But probably every believer has at one time or another had a sense that God was bringing to mind the need to pray for a distant friend or to write or phone a word of encouragement to someone distant, and later has found that that was exactly the thing that was needed at the moment. Few would deny that God sovereignly brought that need to mind in a spontaneous way, and, though this would not be called a gift of prophecy, it is a general ability to receive special direction or guidance from God that is similar to what happens in the gift of prophecy, although it is functioning at a weaker level.
We can even consider the gift of speaking in tongues from this perspective. If we think of speaking in tongues as prayer in syllables not understood by the speaker (see 1 Cor. 14:2, 14),15 then it is true that not every Christian has the gift of speaking in tongues (and once again it must be said that some Christians would argue that no one has that gift today, since the age of the apostles has ended).
But on the other hand we must recognize that every Christian has times of prayer in which his or her prayer is expressed not only in intelligible words and syllables, but also in terms of sighs, groans, or weeping that we know is understood and heard by the Lord, and that expresses needs and concerns of our hearts that we cannot fully put into words (cf. Rom. 8:26–27). Once again we should not call this a gift of speaking in tongues, but it does seem to be a general ability in our Christian lives that is somewhat related to the gift of speaking in tongues, in that it gives expression to prayer in syllables that we do not fully understand, but that the Holy Spirit nonetheless makes into effective prayer that is heard by God.
The point of this whole discussion is simply to say that spiritual gifts are not as mysterious and “otherworldly” as people sometimes make them out to be. Many of them are only intensifications or highly developed instances of phenomena that most Christians experience in their own lives. The other important point to be drawn from this discussion is that even though we have been given gifts by God, we are still responsible to use them effectively and to seek to grow in their use that the church may receive more benefit from the gifts of which God has allowed us to be stewards.
Finally, the fact that gifts may vary in strength allows us to recognize that a certain person’s gift (such as teaching or administration, for example) may not be strong enough to function for the benefit of the entire church in a large church where many people already have that gift developed to a very high degree. But that same person, moving to a younger, smaller church where few have gifts of teaching or administration, may find that his or her gifts are very much in demand and able to function for the benefit of the entire congregation. (In this sense, something that is only considered a general ability in one setting might rightly be considered a spiritual gift in another setting.)
5. Do Christians Possess Gifts Temporarily or Permanently? In most cases, it seems that the New Testament pictures a permanent possession of spiritual gifts. The analogy of the parts of the body in 1 Corinthians 12:12–26 fits this, in that the eye does not become a hand, nor does the ear become a foot, but various parts exist in the body permanently.16 Moreover, Paul says that some people have titles that describe a continuing function. Some people can be called “prophets” or “teachers” (1 Cor. 12:29) or “evangelists” (Eph. 4:11). We would expect that those people have a permanent possession of the gifts of prophecy, teaching, and evangelism unless some unusual circumstance would come along which would take that gift away. Similarly, Paul talks in terms of possessing spiritual gifts when he says, “If I have the gift of prophecy” (1 Cor. 13:2 NIV).
And when Paul requires that there be an interpreter present for anyone to speak in tongues (1 Cor. 14:28), he assumes that the church will know whether someone who has the gift of interpretation is present, which implies that that gift would be possessed by someone over time. When he says, “If anyone thinks that he is a prophet” (1 Cor. 14:37), he realizes that some at Corinth will have functioned with the gift of prophecy frequently enough to think of themselves as “prophets.” All of these verses point in the direction of a permanent, or at least abiding and continuing, possession of spiritual gifts.
Indeed, in Romans 12, Paul begins his sentence, “Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us” (Rom. 12:6). And he tells Timothy, “Do not neglect the gift that is in you” (1 Tim. 4:14, literal translation), again indicating that Timothy had had that gift over a period of time. Therefore it seems that in general, the New Testament indicates that people have spiritual gifts given to them and, once they have them, they are usually able to continue to use them over the course of their Christian life.
However, some important qualifications must be made, because there are some senses in which gifts are not permanent. There are some gifts that are nonpermanent by their very nature, such as the gifts of marriage and celibacy (1 Cor. 7:7).
Though Paul calls them gifts, in the lives of most believers there will be times at which they are unmarried, and times at which they are married. Moreover, some gifts, though perhaps exercised fairly frequently, still cannot be exercised at will. Effectiveness in the gift of healing, for example, depends on God’s sovereign will in answering prayer for healing. Similarly, prophecy depends on the giving of a spontaneous “revelation” (1 Cor. 14:30) from God, and simply cannot be exercised at will. The same could even be said about the gift of evangelism: It is ultimately the work of the Holy Spirit to bring regeneration and enable someone to believe, so the evangelist may pray and preach, but only God can give the harvest of souls.
In other cases, some particular gift may be given for a unique need or event. Though it is not, strictly speaking, a spiritual gift in the New Testament sense, the return of Samson’s strength one last time at the end of his life (Judg. 16:28) was given temporarily for one final moment in his life. And, in the New Testament, the remarkable revelation of heaven Stephen had when he, “full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God” (Acts 7:55) was a manifestation of the Spirit given to him only for that specific moment.
Another sense in which a gift may be non-permanent is if a person neglects his or her gift, and perhaps grieves the Holy Spirit or falls into serious doctrinal or moral error (as Samson did in the Old Testament, for example). In such a case the gift may be withdrawn. Certainly Paul warned Timothy, “Do not neglect the gift you have” (1 Tim. 4:14), and we may perhaps also learn from the parable of the talents, in which Jesus says that “to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away” (Matt. 25:29).
Moreover, we must remember that the Holy Spirit is still sovereign in distributing gifts: he “apportions to each one individually as he wills” (1 Cor. 12:11). The word here translated “apportions” is a present participle, which indicates continuing activity over time, and we could paraphrase, “The Holy Spirit is always continuing to distribute or apportion gifts to each person individually just as he wills to do.” This means that, although it is ordinarily the custom of the Holy Spirit to continue to empower the same gift or gifts in people over time, nonetheless, there is a continual willing and deciding of the Holy Spirit to do this or not, and he may for his own reasons withdraw a gift for a time, or cause it to be much stronger or much weaker than it was.
Finally, 1 Corinthians 13:8–13 (to be discussed below) indicates that the present spiritual gifts which we have are only for this age, and will be superseded by something far greater. Therefore in that sense, no gift is “permanent” since every gift will be rendered useless at the time of the Lord’s return.
Within this discussion of the question of whether spiritual gifts are temporary or permanent, sometimes Romans 11:29 is mentioned: “For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable.” It does not seem to be appropriate to use the verse in the context of this discussion, however, for in this case, Paul is talking about the status of the Jewish people, including their calling as God’s people and the gifts or blessings bestowed on them as a result of that status. Here Paul is arguing that God still has a purpose for his people Israel, but the question of gifts of the Holy Spirit in the sense of 1 Corinthians 12–14 is not in view at all in Romans 11:29. And certainly, in any case, this sentence would not be true as a totally unrestricted statement concerning spiritual gifts, for it is evident that through misuse, neglect, or grieving of the Holy Spirit, people can have their gifts diminished or removed by God’s sovereign choice.
6. Are Gifts Miraculous or Nonmiraculous? The answer to this question really depends on the definition of the word miracle. If we define a miracle as “a direct activity of God in the world,” then all the spiritual gifts are miraculous because they are all empowered by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12:11; cf. vv. 4–6). But in that sense, everything that happens in the world might be said to be miraculous, because all of it is brought about by God’s providential work in creation (see Eph. 1:11; Dan. 4:35; Matt. 5:45).18 Therefore the word miracle loses its usefulness because it is difficult for us to find something that happens in the world that is not miraculous in this sense.
A miracle is a “less common activity of God in which he arouses people’s awe and wonder and bears witness to himself.” In terms of this definition, only some gifts are “miraculous”: namely, those gifts that people think to be miraculous because they are amazed at the activity of God operating in them. Certainly we would include in this category prophecy (note the amazement of the unbeliever in 1 Cor. 14:24–25), healing (similarly, note the response of people in Acts 3:10 et al.), casting out of demons (see Acts 19:11–13, 17), or speaking in tongues when it is an actual foreign language and understood by others (see the description of Pentecost in Acts 2:7). Probably other remarkable phenomena would be included in the gift of miracles (1 Cor. 12:10) as well.
On the other hand, in this definition, some gifts would be thought of as nonmiraculous. Gifts of serving, teaching, encouraging, contributing, and doing acts of mercy (in Rom. 12:7–8) would fall in this category, as would the gifts of those who act as helpers and administrators (1 Cor. 12:28). But it is still the same Holy Spirit who gives them and works through them.
The point of this analysis is to caution us against making a supernatural/natural distinction in our minds whereby we think that some gifts are “supernatural” and some gifts are simply “natural.” The Bible makes no such distinction, and the danger of doing this is that we may tend to think that some gifts (which we think to be “supernatural”) are more important or more clearly from the Lord, and we may tend to devalue or deemphasize the gifts which we think to be “natural.” If we do this we will fail to see God’s hand in the working of all the gifts and fail to thank him for all of them.
On the other hand, the misleading supernatural/natural distinction could also cause us to be very suspicious about those which we think to be “supernatural,” or could lead us to think that they are very unlikely to happen in our own experience. In that case, we would tend to emphasize the gifts we thought to be “natural” and have a very low degree of expectation or faith regarding anything which we thought to be “supernatural.”
In contrast to this perspective, Scripture says that “all” the gifts are worked in us by the same Holy Spirit, the same Lord, and the same God (1 Cor. 12:4–6). The worldview of Scripture is one of continuity and continual interaction between the visible world that we can see and touch and the invisible world that Scripture tells us is there and is real. God works in both, and we do ourselves and the church a great disservice by separating these aspects of creation into “supernatural” and “natural.”
Finally, should we seek the more unusual or miraculous gifts, or should we seek the more ordinary gifts? Once again, Scripture does not make this kind of distinction when it tells us what kind of gifts to seek. Paul says to the Corinthians, “Since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church” (1 Cor. 14:12). This means that we should learn which gifts are most needed in the church we attend, and then pray that God would give those gifts to ourselves or to others. Whether those gifts are thought to be miraculous or non-miraculous really is not the important point at all.20
7. Discovering and Seeking Spiritual Gifts. Paul seems to assume that believers will know what their spiritual gifts are. He simply tells those in the church at Rome to use their gifts in various ways: “if prophecy, in proportion to our faith … he who contributes, in liberality; he who gives aid, with zeal; he who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness” (Rom. 12:6–8). Similarly, Peter simply tells his readers how to use their gifts, but does not say anything about discovering what they are: “As each has received a gift employ it for one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace” (1 Peter 4:10).
But what if many members of a church do not know what spiritual gift or gifts God has given to them? In such a case, the leaders of the church need to ask whether they are providing sufficient opportunities for varieties of gifts to be used. Though the lists of gifts given in the New Testament are not exhaustive, they certainly provide a good starting point for churches to ask whether at least there is an opportunity for these gifts to be used. If God has placed people with certain gifts in a church when these gifts are not encouraged or perhaps not allowed to be used, they will feel frustrated and unfulfilled in their Christian ministries, and will perhaps move to another church where their gifts can function for the benefit of the church.
In the case of individuals who do not know what their gifts are, they can begin by asking what the needs and opportunities for ministry are in their church. Specifically, they can ask what gifts are most needed for the building up of the church at that point. In addition, each individual believer who does not know what his or her gifts are should do some self-examination. What interests and desires and abilities does he or she have? Can others give advice or encouragement pointing in the direction of specific gifts? Moreover, has there been blessing in the past in ministering in a particular kind of service? In all of this, the person seeking to discover his or her gifts should pray and ask God for wisdom, confident that it will be given according to his promise, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives to all men generously and without reproaching, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting” (James 1:5–6).
Sometimes God will grant this wisdom in terms of more accurate insight into one’s own abilities. At other times it may come through advice from others or through seeing the increased blessing in one area of ministry. And Paul indicates that in some cases there may be prophecy that gives indication of a specific gift, for he says to Timothy, “Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you through prophecy with the laying on of hands of the council of elders” (1 Tim. 4:14, author’s translation).
Finally, the person wondering what his or her spiritual gifts are should simply begin to try ministering in various areas and see where God brings blessing. Teaching a Sunday school class or home Bible study is an excellent way to begin using the gift of teaching. Every community has opportunities for greater use of the gift of evangelism. People who think they may have a gift of healing could ask their elders for opportunities to accompany them when they go to pray for the sick. People who think they may have a gift of faith or a gift of intercessory prayer could begin to ask some Christian friends for specific needs about which to pray. In all of this, churches can give encouragement and opportunities for people to try out using various gifts, and can also give teaching and practical training in the proper methods of using various gifts. In addition, churches should continually be praying that God would allow people to find what their gifts are and then to be able to use them.
In all of this the goal is that the body of Christ in each location grow up to maturity, until “the whole body, joined and knit together by every joint with which it is supplied, when each part is working properly makes bodily growth and upbuilds itself in love” (Eph. 4:16).
Beyond the question of discovering what gifts one has is the question of seeking additional spiritual gifts. Paul commands Christians, “Earnestly desire the higher gifts” (1 Cor. 12:31), and says later, “Make love your aim, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts especially that you may prophesy” (1 Cor. 14:1). In this context, Paul defines what he means by “higher gifts” or “greater gifts” because in 1 Corinthians 14:5 he repeats the word he used in 12:31 for “higher” (Gk. μείζων, G3505) when he says, “He who prophesies is greater than he who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be edified” (1 Cor. 14:5). Here the “greater” gifts are those that most edify the church. This is consistent with Paul’s statement a few verses later, when he says, “since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church” (1 Cor. 14:12). The higher gifts are those that build up the church more and bring more benefit to others.
But how do we seek more spiritual gifts? First, we should ask God for them. Paul says directly that “he who speaks in a tongue should pray for the power to interpret” (1 Cor. 14:13; cf. James 1:5, where James tells people that they should ask God for wisdom). Next, people who seek additional spiritual gifts should have right motives. If spiritual gifts are sought only so that the person may be more prominent or have more influence or power, this certainly is wrong in God’s eyes. This was the motivation of Simon the Sorcerer in Acts 8:19, when he said, “Give me also this power, that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit” (see Peter’s rebuke in vv. 21–22). Similarly, Ananias and Sapphira sought glory for themselves when they purported to be giving the entire proceeds of the sale of their land to the church, but it was not true, and both lost their lives (Acts 5:1–11).
It is a fearful thing to want spiritual gifts or prominence in the church only for our own glory, not for the glory of God and for the help of others. Therefore those who seek spiritual gifts must first ask if they are seeking them out of love for others and a concern to be able to minister to their needs, because those who have great spiritual gifts but “have not love” are “nothing” in God’s sight (cf. 1 Cor. 13:1–3). This is why Paul says, “Make love your aim,” and only after that adds, “and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts” (1 Cor. 14:1). He repeats the same theme again when he says, “since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church” (1 Cor. 14:12). Every person asking God for an additional spiritual gift should search his or her own heart frequently, asking why this particular gift is desired. Is it really out of a love for others and a desire to build up the church and to see God glorified?
After that, it is appropriate to seek opportunities to try the gift just as in the case of a person trying to discover his or her gift, as explained above. Small group Bible studies or prayer meetings in homes often provide a good setting in which people can try gifts of teaching or intercessory prayer or encouragement or prophecy or healing, for example.
Finally, those who are seeking additional spiritual gifts should continue to use the gifts they now have and should be content if God chooses not to give them more. The master approved of the servant whose pound had “made ten pounds more,” but condemned the one who hid his pound in a napkin and did nothing with it (Luke 19:16–17, 20–23)—certainly showing us that we have responsibility to use and attempt to increase whatever talents or abilities God has given to us as his stewards.
To balance this emphasis on seeking and growing in spiritual gifts we must also remember that Paul clearly says that spiritual gifts are apportioned to each person individually by the Holy Spirit “as he wills” (1 Cor. 12:11), and that “God arranged the organs in the body, each one of them, as he chose” (1 Cor. 12:18). He says that God has put various gifts in the church and not all are apostles or prophets or teachers (1 Cor. 12:28–30). In this way he reminds the Corinthians that ultimately the distribution of gifts is a matter of God’s sovereign will, and it is for the good of the church and for our good that none of us have all of the gifts and that we will need continually to depend on others who have gifts differing from ours. These considerations should make us content if God chooses not to give us the other gifts that we seek.
8. Gifts Are Tools for Ministry, and Not Necessarily Related to Christian Maturity. We must recognize that spiritual gifts are given to every believer (1 Cor. 12:7, 11; 1 Peter 4:10). Even immature Christians receive spiritual gifts from the Lord—this was certainly evident in the Corinthian church, which had an abundance of spiritual gifts (1 Cor. 1:7), but was still very immature in many areas of doctrine and conduct. Paul says, “But I, brethren, could not address you as spiritual men, but as men of the flesh, as babes in Christ” (1 Cor. 3:1). So spiritual gifts are not necessarily a sign of spiritual maturity.
It is possible to have remarkable spiritual gifts in one area or another but still be quite immature in doctrinal understanding or in Christian conduct, as was the case at Corinth. Indeed, on occasion even unbelievers are able to prophesy and cast out demons and do miracles, for Jesus says that at the last day many will say to him, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?” But Jesus will declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers” (Matt. 7:22–23). It is not that Jesus knew them once and later did not know them; he says, “I never knew you.” They were never Christians, yet they performed many remarkable works. So we must not evaluate spiritual maturity on the basis of spiritual gifting. Maturity comes through a close walk with Jesus, and results in obedience to his commands in everyday life: “He who says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked” (1 John 2:6).
Why then does the Holy Spirit give us spiritual gifts? They are given for the work of ministry and are simply tools to be used for that end. They should never be a source of personal pride on the part of those who possess them, nor should they be thought of as a mark of maturity. We should strive simply to excel in loving others, caring for their needs, building up the church, and living a life of conformity to the pattern of Christ’s life. If we do that, and if God chooses to give us spiritual gifts that equip us for those tasks, then we should thank him for that, and pray that he would keep us from pride over gifts that have been freely and graciously given, and which we did not earn.
Grudem, W. A. (2004). Systematic theology: an introduction to biblical doctrine (pp. 1016–1031). Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; Zondervan Pub. House.
