Spiritual Gifts part 136: So what exactly is a spiritual gift?

Class Outline:

Spiritual Gifts Part 136:   So what exactly is a spiritual gift?

  At the moment of salvation, God the Holy Spirit, in one of His seven ministries to the new believer at salvation, bestowed on you a spiritual gift.

If you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, then you have a spiritual gift.

  Spiritual gifts are the sovereign decision of God the Holy Spirit, 1CO 12:4-7, 11.

The Doctrine of Spiritual Gifts

Point 1:  Setting the scene for Paul’s teaching on the Spiritual Gifts.

The most extensive treatment of the subject of spiritual gifts is found in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, chapters 12 through 14.

The first letter of Paul to the Corinthians can be seen as an appeal to unity in the face of some shocking examples of disunity.

This problem was festering in the church of Corinth, and Paul addressed the problem head on with his teaching on the spiritual gifts.

This problem was disunity.  Division.

Point 2. The Giver of the Gifts: The Person and Work of God the Holy Spirit.

Because we have received the Spirit we get the blessing of also receiving a spiritual gift from Him.

Point 3:  What is a “Spiritual Gift”?

All three members of the Trinity are involved in the spiritual gifts, from start to finish.

a. Divine in origin. b. Miraculous in manifestation.c. Supernatural in operation.

1.  If there is one thing the Holy Spirit is telling us about spiritual gifts, it is that they are marked by VARIETY!!!

 No believer is a carbon copy of another when it comes to spiritual gifts.

Variety is what makes unity so vibrant, and unity is what makes variety beautiful.

NO TWO LISTS of spiritual gifts in the New Testament are the same!

Sometimes they talk about the people who have the gift (apostles, pastors), and sometimes they talk about the gifts themselves (mercy, helps).

Varieties of gifts.Varieties of ministries.Varieties of effects.

ROM 12:6 Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith;