Spiritual gifts are the only divine attribute or spiritual blessing that the Apostle Paul declared to the Corinthians that they could desire. The spiritual gifts were given to the believer so that Jesus would be glorified in everything, and not to exalt or glorify man or any ministry.
What are the spiritual gifts?
Spiritual gifts and their meaning can be classified into three categories. In each of them, God does something different.
- Gifts of Power: Gift of Faith, Gift of Healings, and Gift of Miracles
- Inspirational or Vocal Gifts: Prophecy, various kinds of tongues, interpretation of tongues.
- Gifts of revelation: Word of science or knowledge, word of wisdom, discernment of spirits.
Power Gifts:
1. gift of faith
It is a supernatural manifestation of the Holy Spirit that gives a believer the ability to confidently believe God anything at a specific time, just as God believes. Some types of faith that are not part of the “gift of faith” are: the gift of faith is distinct from saving faith. The gift of faith is received only after salvation. It is true that saving faith is a gift from God to the sinner, in order for him to receive Jesus.
However, the gift of faith is a gift of the Holy Spirit that allows miracles to work. Saving faith works according to plan in the fulfillment of promises, and miracle faith works in unexpected things. The gift of faith is different from general faith or measure of faith.
The gift of faith is not given to all believers, but God does give a measure of faith to each believer so that they receive his promises. Although the gift of faith and the gift of miracles “produce” miracles, the gift of miracles does a miracle and the gift of faith receives a miracle. The gift of faith is different from faith as a fruit of the spirit.
2. Gift of healings:
The gift of healing is a supernatural manifestation of the holy spirit that gives even a believer the ability to be a human instrument so that the supernatural power of God heals all kinds of ailments, whether organic, nervous or mental. The gift of healings is operated exclusively by the Holy Spirit and without any natural or human help.
3. Gift of miracles
What is the gift of miracles? The gift of miracles is a supernatural manifestation of the holy spirit that gives the believer the ability to intervene in a supernatural way, as an instrument or agent of God, in the ordinary course of nature or life. In addition, it is a temporary suspension of the usual order.
Inspirational or Vocal Gifts:
God uses the gifts of inspiration to declare a word to the believer.
“To another, the working of miracles; to another, prophecy; to another, discerning of spirits; to another, divers kinds of tongues, and to another, interpretation of tongues.” 1 Corinthians 12.10
1. The gift of prophecy
This is another of the channels to prophesy. The word for prophecy in the Greek is “naba”, which means to bubble like a fountain, to flow forth, to declare a thing that is only known by divine revelation. Prophecy is one of the nine spiritual gifts. It’s a skill, a Grace, which is not given by Christian maturity, but because the holy spirit wishes to bless his people.
What is the gift of prophecy?
It is a gift of the holy spirit given to the believer, to speak a word inspired by God and declare its truth with boldness; for the purpose of exhorting, comforting, and edifying the body of Christ.
“But he who prophesies speaks to men for edification, exhortation, and consolation.” 1 Corinthians 14.3
What are the purposes of the gift of prophecy in the New Testament?
- speak supernaturally The gift of tongues speaks supernaturally to God, but the gift of prophecy speaks supernaturally to men.
- manifest the hidden from the heart of man. When a word of prophecy is given to a person and the secrets of his heart are revealed to him, that individual recognizes that God is in our midst, he comes to know Christ and the Lord is glorified.
- Build the church. Literally, the word edify means to raise up. As we can see, this word goes beyond speaking in tongues, since they simply build us up or lift us up. However, when we receive a prophecy, it edifies and lifts up the whole church.
- exhort the church. Literally, the word exhort means a call to draw near. Traditionally, it is interpreted as the encouragement and consolation that the prophetic word brings when it is given to our lives, where we are called to get closer to God. After we receive a genuine prophetic word, our hearts should be more sensitive and closer to God. Also, that same word brings us encouragement and comfort. There are countless people who call themselves prophets and the prophetic words they give are of death and destruction all the time. Discard that type of prophecies, do not receive them because they do not come from God and do not agree with his word.
- Comfort the church. The word comfort means relief in times of trouble. trial or difficulty. Sometimes, we are going through difficult testing moments in our life, but God, who knows our condition, brings us a prophetic word and comforts us. We feel that God embraces us and lets us know that he is with us.
- Believers learn. This means that believers become ‘wise in the flow of gifts’; A passion to learn more about the supernatural is awakened in them, and when the gift of prophecy manifests itself, then they learn more, not only about it, but about the rest of the gifts.
- Convince the unbelievers. An example of this can be when an unbeliever enters a church and is approached by someone who gives him a prophecy that speaks directly to his life, discovering the secrets of his heart, which only he knew. So, this individual is convinced, he repents of his sin and know Jesus as lord and savior. It is time for the church of Christ to manifest the supernatural of God so that the unbeliever does not have to look for diabolic sources, but instead comes to the Lord’s church and that he, through us, reveals his heart.
What is not the gift of prophecy?
• It is not the preaching of the word of God; because preaching is speaking the biblical truths that have been investigated and studied. Prophecy is an improvisation by inspiration of the holy spirit. Preaching proclaims the logos, which is the written word. Prophecy proclaims the rhema, which is a living word given by God at a specific time. It is not a gift to guide believers, but to confirm the will of God.
• It is not a gift that prophesies evil all the time. Some people believe that this gift is to prophesy evil, God’s judgments and condemnation for people; but the reality is, that this gift is to build, exhort and comfort his people.
• The gift of prophecy is not the same as the office of the prophet. Any believer can prophesy, but not every believer can be a prophet. The gift of prophecy is given to the individual and the prophet is given to the body.
Revelation Gifts:
These are the gifts through which God reveals something. It is very important to know the gifts of revelation. If we wish to walk in the prophetic, we will often see these gifts operating in us.
1. Word of science or knowledge
What is the gift of the word of science or knowledge?
The word of science or knowledge is the supernatural revelation of the holy spirit at a specific time. It reveals certain facts of the mind of God and hidden truths regarding the past and present tense of people, places, and things. The revelation of him is only transmitted in a supernatural way.
What is not the gift of the word of science or knowledge?
First of all, his name is not the gift of knowledge, but the word gift of knowledge, it is not knowledge that can be acquired by studying, it is not knowledge that can be accumulated through life.
There are three levels of knowledge:
• Human or natural knowledge. This is the type of knowledge that each person has acquired in life, through experiences and teachings lived daily.
• Biblical Knowledge. This is the kind of knowledge we have acquired by studying, reading, and meditating on God’s word.
• The gift of word of science or knowledge. This is a gift of the holy spirit, which comes at a specific time through a revelation supernatural. This knowledge has nothing to do with natural or biblical knowledge; it is a revelation of the holy spirit.
two. The Gift of Word of Wisdom:
What is the gift of the word of wisdom? It is the supernatural revelation that the holy spirit gives to a person at a specific moment, that is, the holy spirit, through this gift, reveals to us the mind, the will and the purposes of God for a person in terms of events that will occur in the future.
What are the three levels of wisdom?
Natural or worldly wisdom; This is the kind of wisdom gained from the good and bad experiences we have had in life. The word of divine or biblical wisdom; is the word of God gives us the ability to acquire wisdom in each of the areas of our life, such as: family, money, friendships, among others.
The gift of word of wisdom; This is the gift of Holy Spirit that reveals to people God’s purpose and will of future events. Most of the time, the word of knowledge and the word of wisdom operate together. One reveals past and present situations and events, and the other reveals future situations and events. When a prophetic word comes that tells us about the future, sometimes it is accompanied by a word of wisdom. There are people who call everything prophecy. Remember that there are nine gifts in operation.
3. The gift of discerning of spirits
What is the gift of discerning of spirits?
It is the supernatural ability given to a person by the Holy Spirit, to be able to understand, perceive, recognize and see the spirits, either from a person or from any place. The believer with this gift has the ability to penetrate the spiritual world and recognize spirits, both good and evil. Also, he has the ability to sense whether a person’s actions are God-inspired, Satanic, or simply a human source.
The gift of discerning of spirits includes four aspects:
• Understand how spirits operate.
• Perceive when there are spirits operating.
• Recognize the spirits.
• See the spirits.
What is not the gift of discerning of spirits?
• It is not reading the thought and mind of a person.
• It is not discovering the sins of others.
• It’s not just seeing demons.
Maybe you might be interested in: Gift of Discernment of Spirits: What It Is and How It Manifests…
What is the purpose of spiritual gifts?
1. Building and growth of the church: God has given the gifts for us as believers to grow and be built up.
2. Glorify Jesus: The spiritual gifts were given to the believer so that jesus be glorified in everything, and not to exalt or glorify man or any ministry.
3. Evangelize effectively: The word of God tells us…