Spiritual Gifts part 140: Your spiritual gift is your share in the spoils of Christ's victory.

Pastor-Teacher

John Farley

Thursday,

July 7, 2011

  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.

The Doctrine of Spiritual Gifts

Point 3:  What is a “Spiritual Gift”?

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

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

3.  Spiritual gifts come to us from the Holy Spirit, and are supernatural in character.

All three members of the Trinity are involved in the giving of spiritual gifts.

God the Father as the source is documented in Heb 2:4.

HEB 2:4  God also bearing witness with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles [which means works of divine power] and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His [God the Father's] own will.

God the Father ordained the spiritual gifts as a witness to our Lord Jesus Christ’s strategic victory on the cross.

b. There is also the ministry of God the Son in the distribution of spiritual gifts, Eph 4:7-8.

In Ephesians 4 we learn that our Lord Jesus Christ – the ascended Christ -  gave gifts to men.

Christ’s ascension is the unique occasion that called for giving gifts.

The ascension is that doctrine of Christology pertaining to the transfer of our Lord's true humanity from planet earth to the third heaven in a resurrection body.

Once arriving in heaven, Jesus Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father. This is called the session of Christ.

While our spiritual gifts operate down here on earth, they are connected with things in heaven, namely Christ in His ascension and  session.

The Lord Jesus Christ gives the gift of gifted men who have certain communication and leadership gifts, and take the point in building up the Body of Christ.

My Lord Jesus Christ bought me, and I am His slave now, so He gets to give me to whomever He wishes, to serve the members of His body as He sees fit.

The ascension and session of Christ explain the uniqueness of the Church Age and the importance of having a royal family for this dispensation!

The Holy Spirit came to indwell believers after Christ was glorified  at His ascension.

The Father ordained spiritual gifts as a means of glorifying His Son and celebrating His victory in the angelic conflict.

Spiritual gifts are the spoils of victory, and they proclaim and celebrate the victory of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross.

Christ defeated satan, sin, and death at the cross.

Matt 4:4 But He answered and said, "It is written, 'MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.'"

The Church is His body. (Col 1:24)

He IS the word of God. (Joh 1:1)

It is by the speaking of the truth that the body grows.  (Eph 4:15)