Rom 3/3/78; Eph 289-291, 351-352 8/12/86, 819ff 5/25/88
A. The Source of Spiritual Gifts.
1. All three members of the Trinity are the source of spiritual gifts.
2. God the Father as the source is documented in Heb 2:4. “God [Father] also bearing witness with them, both by signs and wonders, and by various works of power, and by various distributions [of spiritual gifts] from the Holy Spirit in accordance with His will.”
a. God the Father uses the ministry of God the Holy Spirit for giving spiritual gifts.
b. Distribution of spiritual gifts are made as a witness to the strategic victory of our Lord Jesus Christ during the dispensation of the Hypostatic Union.
c. God the Father is also the author of our portfolio of invisible assets. The primary assets include escrow and computer (election and predestination) assets. The secondary assets include volition, production, Christian service, undeserved suffering, and the invisible impact of the invisible hero. The personal assets include both temporary and permanent spiritual gifts.
3. God the Son as the source of spiritual gifts is documented in Eph 4:7. “To each one of us, this grace has been given according to the measure of the spiritual gift from Christ. Therefore, it [Old Testament Scriptures] says, `When He ascended into heaven, He led a host of captives in a triumphal procession from a state of captivity, and He gave spiritual gifts to men.’”
a. There were two results of our Lord’s ascension.
(1) The transfer of Old Testament saints from Paradise in Hades to heaven.
(2) Spiritual gifts were distributed.
b. God the Son is involved in the initial distribution of spiritual gifts which were temporary gifts, no longer extant. Today, it is God the Holy Spirit who gives permanent spiritual gifts to us at salvation. 4. God the Holy Spirit gives to each of us at salvation a spiritual gift as He wills, 1 Cor 12:11.
B. Definition and Description.
1. The Greek noun CHARISMA for spiritual gifts is based on the word CHARIS, or grace. All spiritual gifts are a matter of grace! No gift is given based on God’s foreknown merit of the believer. CHARISMA is primarily a Pauline expression, though it occurs once in 1 Pet 4:10.
2. Spiritual gifts are sovereignly given by the Holy Spirit to each believer at the point of salvation. Therefore, a spiritual gift is never earned, deserved, or developed through any form of emotional experience.
3. The gift given represents the wisdom of the Holy Spirit; remember that when you object to your own or to someone else’s .Your spirituality has nothing to do with your spiritual life as such; i.e., you’re not given a more spectacular or visible gift if it’s anticipated that you’ll be more spiritual, and you’re not given a more “invisible” gift if it’s anticipated that you won’t turn out to be much anyhow.
4. The initial distribution of spiritual gifts, from the day of Pentecost for about twenty years, came from the Lord Jesus Christ and God the Holy Spirit. He made the first distribution on the day of Pentecost, ten days after His ascension, according to Eph 4:7-8. But since that time, the Holy Spirit makes the distribution of all spiritual gifts, according to Heb 2:4 and 1 Cor 12:11. In several passages, spiritual gifts are ascribed to God without distinguishing which member of the Holy Trinity is the giver. But today the Holy Spirit is the giver. 1 Cor 12:11, “But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.” This is one of the few New Testament references to the sovereignty of the Holy Spirit.
5. Spiritual gifts are not earned, not deserved, not developed, and not acquired through emotional experience. Your spiritual gift becomes operational through normal spiritual growth. 6. From the standpoint of the Word of God, all believers have equal privilege and equal opportunity from their computer assets. This means that the distinction between believers in the eyes of God is never related to appearance, personality, or any form of human or alleged spiritual achievement.
7. The only distinction between believers can be categorized under two concepts.
a. Spiritual growth. Some believers use their equal privilege and equal opportunity and achieve phenomenal growth. Distinction among believers on the basis of their spiritual growth is a result of their motivation, volition, and priorities.
b. Spiritual gifts. The distinction among believers in spiritual gifts has its source in the sovereign wisdom of the Holy Spirit.
8. God the Holy Spirit in His sovereign wisdom has provided different spiritual gifts, so that some difference in modus operandi exists in the body of Christ, just as different functions are assigned to different parts of the human body.
9. The effectiveness of the spiritual gift depends upon two factors.
a. The filling of the Holy Spirit is the absolute concept of experiential Christianity.
b. The degree of spiritual growth is the relative concept of experiential Christianity. If you are growing spiritually, your gift will function. Communication gifts can function to some degree even when a believer is out of fellowship, because God honors the gift. But this only applies to communication gifts, and is not a desireable situation.
10. Therefore, spiritual gifts only function inside the divine dynasphere under the enabling power of the Holy Spirit and momentum from metabolized doctrine, totally apart from emotion. Emotion neither characterizes the filling of the Spirit nor the function of spiritual gifts. As you have momentum from doctrine, your spiritual gift will function, even without your cognition. But you will find yourself becoming involved in things where your spiritual gift is functioning.
11. Spiritual gifts are the Father’s witness to the saving work of Christ, and to the strategic victory of our Lord in the angelic conflict. They are distributed today by God the Holy Spirit under that concept according to Heb 2:4 and Eph 4:8, though they were initially distributed by the Lord Jesus Christ as a result of His ascension.
C. There are two categories of spiritual gifts.
1. Temporary spiritual gifts were operational during the pre-canon period of the Church Age, i.e., from circa A.D. 30, the day of Pentecost when the Church Age began, to A.D. 96, the pre-canon period of the Church Age.
2. Permanent spiritual gifts function from the completion of the New Testament in 96 A.D. until the Rapture of the Church, whenever that occurs.
3. Temporary spiritual gifts only functioned during the pre-canon period. On the day the Church Age began, there was no New Testament. So temporary spiritual gifts were designed to take up the slack in the Church Age until the New Testament Canon was completed and circulated, and the mystery doctrine of the Church Age was reduced to writing.
a. Not one principle of the Christian way of life was ever taught in the Old Testament. All mystery doctrine was taught in the New Testament; none of it was ever taught in the Old Testament.
b. So the temporary spiritual gifts were designed to function in place of the New Testament, and many of them were spectacular in nature.
4. On the other hand, permanent spiritual gifts function throughout the Church Age, but are emphasized from the time of the completion of the Canon.
D. Distinctions and Spiritual Gifts.
1. The temporary gifts of the apostolic age became the source of abuse under two concepts.
a. While operative, there were some abuses.
b. Since they have been discontinued, people still claim to have them. This is an abuse since they no longer exist. The Corinthian Church was involved in some of these abuses.
c. The Corinthians emphasized and exalted spectacular gifts, and related them to spirituality. Spectacular gifts are not spirituality, any more than less spectacular gifts. Spirituality is not based upon spiritual gifts; spirituality is based on the filling of the Holy Spirit. 2. Every believer has a spiritual gift in his portfolio of invisible assets; this gift is given to him at salvation.
3. No matter how insignificant a spiritual gift may appear to you or to others, it is essential for the function of the body of Christ; just as every position on a team is important for the function of that team.
4. One principle has always been true: spiritual gifts, like any other human activity, function under authority. No divine institution can function without authority. Authority doesn’t always exist in the person who is most capable, or who is the best leader. Nothing in life is effective without authority. Orientation to authority is the beginning of virtue.
5. Spiritual gifts have their highest function in spiritual adulthood. When a person has mastered the functions of virtue-love at gates #5 and #6 of the divine dynasphere, then his gift will function to the maximum. Virtue-love includes personal love for God the Father at gate #5, impersonal love for all mankind at gate #6, and occupation with the person of Jesus Christ. Your spiritual gift will not function to the maximum before you reach spiritual maturity, for its maximum function comes in spiritual adulthood.
6. Spiritual gifts are said to differ in value, as we’ll note in 1 Cor 12:28. While we have equal privilege and equal opportunity under our computer assets, there are differences of modus operandi among believers in the utilization of their spiritual gifts.
7. Spectacular spiritual gifts do not imply spiritual growth, superior Christian experience, or Christian greatness. Greatness comes by advancing to spiritual maturity and becoming an invisible hero. You can be an invisible hero with a relatively unknown or apparently insignificant gift and be just as great as a mature believer with a more visible gift.
E. Temporary Spiritual Gifts. The temporary gifts were operational during the pre-canon period of the Church Age, circa A.D. 30 - A.D. 96. Temporary gifts were designed to take up the slack for the beginning of the Church Age until the New Testament was completed and circulated, and until the mystery doctrine was reduced to writing. A list of the temporary spiritual gifts follows in order of merit.
1. The gift of apostleship. (See the Doctrine of Apostleship.)
2. The gift of prophecy was not a national leader like that of the Old Testament prophets. This gift was second in order of merit, and is so listed in 1 Cor 12:28.
It is also mentioned in Rom 12:6; 1 Cor 12:10, and 14:1-40 where it is presented in contrast to the gift of tongues.
a. Old Testament prophets were national leaders, especially in times of crisis. In times of prosperity, he was the final authority on Bible doctrine. However, this gift is not related to national leadership. Many of the Old Testament prophets were great national leaders, e.g., Elijah. Isaiah dictated the correct foreign policy that saved Israel. But those with the gift of prophecy in the Church Age were not national leaders; they only functioned within the realm of the Church.
b. The gift of prophecy included a message of divine guidance or a warning of judgment, or a prediction about the immediate future. In Acts 11, Agabus the prophet predicted the famine and depression to come. In Acts 21:10-11, he warned Paul not to go back to Jerusalem.
c. Prophets had a limited teaching ministry related to contemporary events; that’s why they are called “prophets and teachers” in Acts 13:1.
d. Males with the gift of prophecy recorded in Scripture.
(1) Agabus, Acts 11:27-28, 21:10-11.
(2) Others included Barnabas, Simeon, Lucius, Manaen, and even Paul, according to Acts 13:1. Judas and Silas had the gift, Acts 13:32.
e. Acts 21:9 presents a problem, because the four daughters of Philip the evangelist are said to “be prophesying” in the present active participle. However, they did not have a spiritual gift. So we must distinguish between people permitted by God to prophesy, and those who had the spiritual gift of prophecy. No record of their prophecies is ever given, and obviously they did not have the spiritual gift of prophecy.
f. In exercising the temporary spiritual gift of prophecy, the prophet must receive his message from God, or he must declare God’s will to someone in terms of prophecy, i.e., in terms of future events. The prophecy must be doctrinally accurate.
g. Because of the tremendous amount of eschatology in the New Testament epistles, it is quite obvious that the writers who were apostles also had the gift of prophecy.
h. The gift of prophecy warned about judgment on sin, indicated the will of God regarding current events, and predicted future events during the apostolic age. But the gift did not extend into the post-canon period because of the doctrine of historical trends. Every function of the gift of prophecy during the pre-canon period is fulfilled by the doctrine of historical trends during the post-canon period. By metabolizing doctrine, you become your own prophet. i. With the completion of the canon of Scripture in A.D. 96 and its gradual circulation, temporary gifts of communication ceased to exist; they were replaced by the permanent communication gifts of evangelism and pastor-teacher. 3. The gift of miracles is found in 1 Cor 12:28; 2 Cor 12:12.
a. This temporary spiritual gift was designed to authenticate and certify communication gifts during the apostolic age. This gift was used by an apostle, a prophet, a pastor-teacher, or an evangelist as a credit card to certify that he had that communication gift. The person who had a communication gift could perform a miracle at will. This was the sign that he was from God.
b. Today, no one has the gift of miracles, since the completion of the canon of Scripture. The greatest miracle in all of history is the power of Bible doctrine in the life of the positive believer who makes doctrine his #1 priority.
c. People tended to lean on miracles during the apostolic age, resulting in terrible apostasy. Whenever someone had a problem, instead of using and applying Bible doctrine, they just waited around for a miracle. So that miracles became the basis for leading many into apostasy, even though it was legitimate at that time.
d. While no believer today has the gift of miracles, God still performs miracles if He chooses to do so. But they are not performed by any human through a spiritual gift.
e. Of course, Satan has a clever system for duplicating miracles. But there is no such thing as an intermediary between you and God for the performance of miracles. There is no ceremony; there is no system of prayer for miracles. Believers who practice this today insult God, regarding Him as a genie.
f. The easiest thing God can do for a human being is to perform a miracle. This is because it does not require any cooperation or positive volition from a person; it only requires a decision from the sovereignty of God and the use of His omnipotence.
g. The greatest demonstration of God’s power toward mankind today is the fulfillment of His protocol plan through the believer’s consistent residence inside the divine dynasphere, under the enabling power of the Spirit, and momentum from metabolized doctrine, utilizing his very own portfolio of invisible assets.
h. God never designed miracles to alleviate suffering. Otherwise, our Lord would have been remiss in not healing everyone when He was on earth. Miracles were designed to focus attention on the power of God and the Word of God, to focus attention on the man (or Messiah) with the message. The fact that miracles often alleviate suffering is incidental to the point; it is an after-the-fact result. The greatest thing in life is not a miracle, but Bible doctrine resident in your soul.
i. Miracles are sovereign and personal, never in the hands of a human being during the post-canon period of the Church Age.
j. Paul performed miracles, indicating that he had the gift of apostleship; therefore he was given a hearing. Whenever our Lord performed a miracle, it was always in relationship to His message. The message of doctrine is infinitely more important than any miracle that has ever occurred.
k. All the hocus-pocus in the false function of miracles today is designed to call attention to man. It’s an ego trip. It is an arrogant person trying to control and influence a lot of dumb sheep. Miracles are not the issue today. The very fact that people want, ask, and pray for miracles means they do not begin to understand the true greatness of God’s power, the greatness of His plan and the portfolio of invisible assets. No one in the Church Age has the power to heal you via a miracle
. 4. The gift of healing is mentioned in 1 Cor 12:9, 28, 30.
a. Just as miracles was designed to authenticate the person, so healing was designed to focus attention on the message of apostles, prophets, pastors, and evangelists before the New Testament was completed and circulated.
b. Miracles authenticated the person; healing certified the message. So they were different, though they both had the same connotation in that they dealt with supernatural phenomena. A man with the gift of miracles could perform a miracle at will, anytime he chose to do so, and he could heal as well. In fact, people could just touch Paul and they were instantly healed.
c. Healing as a spiritual gift does not exist today, for it ceased with the completion of the Canon. Any healing today must come directly from God, and not through any delegated human authority or intermediary. Normally, healing is performed through medicine or even a tranquil mental attitude so that the body can heal itself.
d. Healing is not a question of God’s power. Healing is not even a matter of someone’s faith. It is the wisdom of God’s sovereign will in individual situations. God heals today only in special cases in which He has a special purpose, such as extending your life so that you can learn doctrine. But no person has the right to take any credit, should such healing occur. The credit lies with the wisdom and sovereignty of God.
e. Paul had the gift of healing. It was used as a credit card to establish his apostleship, since he murdered more Christians in the first century than anyone else before the great persecutions began. Acts 19:11-12 tells of the spectacular nature of his healing gift, for a person only had to touch Paul to be healed instantly.
f. But once Paul’s apostleship and message was established and generally accepted, God withdrew the gift of healing from him since it was no longer needed. We know this because Paul could not heal two of his closest friends. He solicited prayer on their behalf, but he could not heal them. One was Epaphroditus in Phil 2:27, the other was Trophemus in 2 Tim 4:20; Paul had to leave Trophemus behind because he could not heal him.
g. There is true healing that occurs when a demon-possessed person experiences the demon leaving his body; such a person is then “cured.” This method is used by Satan to establish false teachers.
5. The gift of tongues. (See the doctrine of Tongues.)
a. The gift of tongues was designed to warn the Jews of the coming of the fifth cycle of discipline by evangelizing them in Gentile languages, cf. Isa 28.
b. Tongues was the first of the temporary gifts to be removed - 70 A.D.
6. The interpretation of tongues is in 1 Cor 12:10, 30, 14:26-28.
a. When anyone stood up in a church and spoke in tongues, presenting the Gospel to Jewish unbelievers who were present (Jews whose native tongue was a Gentile language), the rest of the congregation could not understand what was said. They thought the man speaking in tongues had gone off his rocker; he didn’t even know what he was saying.
b. So the one with the gift of interpretation of tongues stood up and explained what was said by the one who had just spoken in tongues. This gift was designed for the rest of the congregation so they would know the one with the gift of tongues was not crazy.
c. The gift of tongues never functioned without the gift of interpretation of tongues also functioning. The gift of interpretation of tongues was the ability to translate the message of the one speaking in tongues.
d. Today any alleged speaking in tongues or interpretation of tongues is either a psychological malady of an emotional reject or demon activity. The EGGASTRAMUTHOS demon who possesses an unbeliever controls that person’s vocal cords, causing him to “speak in tongues.”
7. The gift of knowledge is found in 1 Cor 12:8, 13:8. With this gift, you had instant cognition of mystery doctrine. This was a spiritual gift whereby you knew a Church Age doctrine without studying it, for there was as yet no New Testament canon in writing to study. This knowledge was provided directly by God the Holy Spirit who inserted previously unknown doctrinal information into a person’s right lobe as epignosis. In other words, the gift of knowledge functioned totally apart from the function of operation Z.
8. The gift of wisdom is found in 1 Cor 12:8. This gift accompanied the gift of knowledge, as the ability to explain and apply the mystery doctrine taught by the gift of knowledge. So some taught the mystery doctrine; others taught the application of that doctrine. Today, wisdom comes with spiritual adulthood only. No believer before reaching spiritual self-esteem has wisdom.
9. The gift of exhortation is found in Rom 12:8.
a. Before the canon of Scripture was completed and circulated, the spiritual gift of exhortation was necessary. This was the temporary gift of counseling, comforting, warning, and advising.
b. The Greek word used for this gift was PARAKLESIS which means comforter. But today, the Holy Spirit is the PARAKLESIS. We have the permanent indwelling of the Spirit, the filling of the Spirit, the ministry of the Spirit in teaching, metabolizing, and applying doctrine. Hence, with the completion of the New Testament, this temporary gift was no longer necessary.
c. Today you can do these things for yourself in spiritual adulthood. Beginning with spiritual self-esteem, you counsel yourself; you comfort yourself; you warn yourself; you advise yourself. However, there is still a place for these things in the ministry of the pastor-teacher.
d. Of course, we can always learn from people. Anyone who is honest with you is your friend.
10. The gift of discerning spirits is found in 1 Cor 12:10. This was the spiritual gift for the detection of false doctrine. With the completion of the canon of Scripture, this gift was no longer necessary, since the New Testament contains true doctrine and thereby exposes false doctrine.
11. The gift of faith is found in 1 Cor 12:9. This must be distinguished from the faith-rest drill.
a. This was a special spiritual gift before the New Testament was completed, whereby a believer demonstrated faith in a group which was being persecuted or was under some special pressure. Everyone would be moaning and groaning and complaining about some circumstance, and this believer would exercise great faith in deliverance or in confidence in God, and encourage that group to depend upon the Lord.
b. This person would exercise his gift of faith on behalf of the group, either to comfort them with promises and doctrine, or to announce that a deliverance was about to come. If a group of believers were about to go to the lions, and one of them stood up with the gift of faith and said, “I’m trusting the Lord that we’ll all be delivered,” they would all be delivered and none of them would go to the lions.
c. The New Testament didn’t exist, so there were no promises to claim and no doctrine to apply. This gift was provided in lieu of having New Testament promises and doctrines, so that the faith-rest drill could function.
12. 1 Cor 13:8-10 explains the temporary function of certain spiritual gifts, “Virtue-love is never phased out; but if the gift of prophecies, it will be cancelled out; if the gift of tongues, it will be discontinued; if the gift of knowledge, it will be cancelled. For we know in part [gift of knowledge], and we prophesy in part [gift of prophecy], but when the completed has come [New Testament Canon], what is temporary [the temporary spiritual gifts] will be cancelled [abolished, phased out, withdrawn].”
F. Permanent Spiritual Gifts.
1. Introduction and Identification.
a. Permanent spiritual gifts function in the body of Christ throughout the entire Church Age, but they are emphasized as functioning from the time of the completion of the New Testament until the Rapture. Permanent spiritual gifts were operational before the completion of the Canon in most cases, and they will continue to function until the Rapture of the Church. b. While temporary spiritual gifts were phased out with the completion and circulation of the New Testament, permanent spiritual gifts will function in the body of Christ until the end of the Church Age.
c. If you have personally believed in Jesus Christ and received Him as your personal Savior, you have a permanent spiritual gift. The question is: what is your spiritual gift? There are no exceptions; every believer is given a spiritual gift at salvation.
d. The initial distribution of spiritual gifts was made by the Lord Jesus Christ after His ascension and session, according to Eph 4:7-11.
e. Thereafter, at salvation, God the Holy Spirit sovereignly distributes spiritual gifts according to His perfect, eternal, and infinite wisdom. One of the forty things you received at salvation, and one of the seven ministries of the Holy Spirit at salvation was His sovereign act in giving you at least one spiritual gift. This is taught in 1 Cor 12:7, 11, 18 and 28.
f. The category of spiritual gift which you possess is not a sign of spiritual superiority, growth, or inferiority. Spiritual gifts are a matter of the sovereign wisdom of God the Holy Spirit. You are not better or worse than anyone else by virtue of your spiritual gift.
g. The effectiveness of your spiritual gift depends upon two categories of experiential sanctification.
(1) The absolute concept, which is the filling of the Spirit or life in the divine dynasphere.
(2) The relative concept, which is a matter of your spiritual growth or lack of it.
h. A distinction must be recognized between natural abilities or talents and spiritual gifts. Your natural abilities are related to your physical birth and genetics; spiritual gifts are related to regeneration.
2. There are three categories of permanent spiritual gifts. These are categorized according to the means of their identification.
a. Communication gifts must be identified because they demand maximum preparation. There are two permanent communication gifts: the gift of pastor-teacher and the gift of evangelism, and any combination thereof related to missionary function. “Missionary” is not a spiritual gift; it is a function of the body of Christ. The communication gifts used out in the field are pastor-teacher and evangelism; non-communication gifts are used in the field as well.
(1) The communication gifts are given to male believers only, and they are given totally apart from human merit.
(2) From His wisdom related to His omniscience, God the Holy Spirit always over supplies. There are always more men with the gift of pastor-teacher than there are men who will actually use it.
(3) These two communication gifts must be recognized as soon as possible, because it takes a tremendous amount of preparation to function effectively under the wisdom of God. This preparation requires many different things, e.g., military service and extensive academic training (to include five to eight graduate years).
(4) Identification is not simple, because it demands persistence in the perception of doctrine. It is not connected with emotion. No feeling should lead or guide you; you have to know from doctrine, and have confidence from that knowledge. If you identify your gift too late for proper preparation, don’t be concerned because God uses that gift in many other ways.
(5) After the individual male recognizes his spiritual gift and prepares for it, then the Bible demands that some local church recognize his spiritual gift through the ritual of ordination. Eventually, some local church will recognize him by calling him to be their pastor.
b. There are spiritual gifts that the pastor of a local church must identify among members in his congregation, i.e., the gifts of administrative leadership, which must be possessed by church officers and some deacons, especially the chairmen of standing committees.
(1) Half of the responsibility of this spiritual gift is specified in 1 Cor 12:28 by the noun KUBERNESIS, which means administration. The ability to administer in the local church is not necessarily the same as the ability to administer in business, in the military, or in bureaucracy.
(2) The other half of the responsibility of this spiritual gift is found in Rom 12:8. The present middle participle of PROISTEMI, which means leadership. (3) The two words together, KUBERNESIS and PROISTEMI, means administrative leadership.
(4) Although the prevalent tradition is for the congregation to vote for deacons and church officers, it is really the job of the pastor to identify these gifts among men in the congregation and to appoint them as church officers. These men are responsible for the function and administration of a local church. No local church can function without deacons. The gifts of administrative leadership definitely carry authority.
c. There are permanent spiritual gifts which function automatically without spiritual growth, and they can function without identification by the possessor. In other words, you can have a spiritual gift which will function without your cognizance of exactly what it is.
(1) Like all spiritual gifts, these are also sovereignly bestowed by God the Holy Spirit at salvation. They depend upon the filling of the Spirit plus spiritual growth for their function.
(2) Once the believer reaches a certain stage of spiritual growth, his gift functions automatically without identification.
(3) These spiritual gifts function with maximum efficiency when the believer attains spiritual adulthood. These do not have to be identified, although with spiritual growth from this doctrine, many may come to recognize their spiritual gift.
(4) These spiritual gifts are the most necessary part of the body of Christ. They include: the gift of service/ministry, the gift of helps, the gift of mercy, and the gift of giving. 3. Permanent spiritual gifts include the following. It is not implied that this list is exhaustive; however, it is categorical. Therefore, this list represents the entire concept of permanent spiritual gifts.
a. First in order of merit: the gift of pastor-teacher, Rom 12:7; 1 Cor 12:8; Eph 3:7-13, 4:11-16. This is the highest communication gift extent in the Church Age today. There is no higher spiritual gift. It is given to male believers only and is designed to function primarily inside the local church. (See the Doctrine of Pastor-Teacher.)
(1) The pastor is not an administrator; he is a policy maker. One of his titles, as found in Eph 4:11, says he has the responsibility of seeing that the policy of administration lines up with the Word of God, that it is a policy that fulfills the concepts of the New Testament. But he himself does not involve himself in administration.
(2) No pastor should ever have anything to do with the money in the church nor with the building and how it functions. Administration is not the pastor’s responsibility.
b. The gift of evangelism is also a communication gift, Eph 4:11.
(1) While the gift of pastor-teacher communicates the whole realm of doctrine inside the local church, the gift of evangelism is designed to communicate the Gospel outside the local church.
(2) The male believer with the gift of evangelism has the God-given ability to communicate the Gospel in a manner that holds the unbeliever’s attention. This is the spiritual gift by which people will gather or assemble to listen to the presentation of the Gospel. These unbelievers will give attention and listen to the evangelist, where they would not listen to anyone else.
(3) While listening to something “religious,” the unbeliever has a tendency to be on his guard and resentful. But all of this is overcome by the spiritual gift of evangelism while communicating the Gospel.
(4) The evangelist exercises his spiritual gift in a group of unbelievers. His gift is designed to reach the unreachable with the Gospel message.
(5) The gift of evangelism has the ability to teach and express the Gospel so that unbelievers will listen and have a clear understanding of the issue of salvation; i.e., that faith in Christ means eternal life, and that rejection of Christ means eternal condemnation.
(6) Often an evangelist will have a speaking talent that goes with his gift, but it is actually the gift that provides hearing from the unbeliever. When this spiritual gift functions, the unbeliever will listen to the Gospel almost by compulsion.
(7) The man with this gift is sensational in his communication of the Gospel to the unbeliever. He is a sensational speaker with a sensational personality; this is necessary in order to get a hearing from unbelievers. Such a person can hold the attention of unbelievers.
(8) Pastors do not have this gift, but they are mandated to do the work of an evangelist in 2 Tim 4:5, “Do the work of an evangelist.”
. (9) All believers are mandated to evangelize in 2 Cor 5:19. This is because, as a royal ambassador, every believer represents God before the human race. Therefore, it is necessary to personally witness for Christ and give the message of reconciliation as opportunity presents. So the gift of evangelism must be distinguished from personal witnessing, which is the responsibility of every believer.
(10) Therefore, three categories of believers are mandated to communicate the Gospel.
(a) The function of the spiritual gift of evangelism is the sensational approach.
(b) The function of the spiritual gift of pastor- teacher is merely an accurate communication of the Gospel under the ministry of God the Holy Spirit, 2 Tim 4:5.
© The function of every believer, 2 Cor 5:19.
(11) Every evangelist must learn doctrine from his own pastor-teacher.
c. The gift of administrative leadership, sometimes called the gift of governments, is found in Rom 12:8 and in 1 Cor 12:28.
(1) This is the gift of administrative leadership, because it has delegated authority from the pastor. Rom 12:8, “He who leads must do so with diligence.” 1 Cor 12:28 also mentions this gift under the word “governments” or “administrations.” The two Greek words from these two verses, KUBERNESIS and PROISTEMI, describe the two parts of this gift. It entails both authority and leadership and the function of administration.
(2) This spiritual gift is held by deacons, those who fulfill administrative responsibilities on missionary boards; leaders of Christian service organizations; those who lead and administer the training of children in the local church; church officers and chairmen of standing committees or other organizations within the local church. Apparently, this gift is given to men only.
(3) Men with this administrative leadership spiritual gift must chair the various committees in the local church; such as the church office committee, finance committee, membership committee, missionary committee, nursery committee, prep school committee, property committee, and ushers committee. (Those who serve on committees must have the gift of ministry or service.)
(4) So there are two kinds of deacons: those with the administrative leadership gift and those with the service administrative gift, called the gift of ministry or the gift of service.
(5) It is the responsibility of the pastor to identify men who have this gift and appoint them into the appropriate slot. The pastor who fails to do this eventually becomes the loser himself. The very existence of this gift emphasizes the fact that the primary responsibility of the pastor is not administration.
(6) The gift of administration, then, is linked to the function of the local church. One important distinction must be made. A person can be great in administrating some business or organization, but that does not necessarily mean he has this spiritual gift.
(7) The gift of administration calls for more than simply effective administrative function. It is a spiritual gift which is sensitive to the needs of the local church and how they are best administered.
d. The gift of ministry or service is found in Rom 12:7. The Greek noun DIAKONIA is translated “ministry” in the KJV; or “service” in better modern translations. (Some confusion arises because DIAKONIA resembles DIAKONOS, which though transliterated “deacon,” actually refers to the gift of administrative leadership.)
(1) DIAKONIA is a spiritual gift of service given to both men and women. DIAKONOS is an office in the local church, held by a man serving on the deacon board. The KUBERNESIS is the one with administrative leadership over the board.
(2) This gift (DIAKONIA) functions in the administration of the local church. It means ministry or service; it does not refer to the office of deacon in the local church. This gift is given to men and women.
(3) Those who have this spiritual gift should serve on committees and in specific administrative functions in the local church, on mission boards, in Christian service organizations. The deacon, who is the chairman of the committee, has the gift of administration. Those who serve on the committee have the gift of ministry or service. This makes for effective, administrative function in the local church.
(4) This spiritual gift is strictly administrative without the leadership function provided by the Holy Spirit.
(5) Rom 12:7, “If service, then serve within the framework of the gift of service.”
(6) The spiritual gift of service or ministry is one of the more common spiritual gifts among men; it also includes some ladies. It is from this gift that so many things are done in the local church.
(7) Although women cannot have the first three spiritual gifts, they can have this spiritual gift. This explains the feminine form, “deaconess,” in Timothy. No woman has the gift of pastor-teacher, the gift of evangelism, or the gift of administration. But this shouldn’t keep ladies from teaching children, from personal witnessing, or from functioning in the administration of the church if they have the gift of service.
e. The gift of helps is found in 1 Cor 12:28. Possessed by thousands of believers, this gift is very important. It is this gift that makes the royal family tick. It is the most sustaining gift, and it provides the real stability in a local church.
(1) This spiritual gift functions by helping and ministering to the sick, the afflicted, the handicapped, and the helpless. It is held by men and women.
(2) This gift is a marvelous thing to behold. It is this gift which functions by visiting the sick and those in hospitals. It is not the pastor’s responsibility to call on the sick. But for those who have the spiritual gift of helps, this is their great and magnificent function. This is the spiritual gift that really undergirds all the other spiritual gifts.
(3) This gift is synonymous with the gift of “giving aid,” as it’s translated correctly in Rom 12:8. It can be extended inside or outside the church; it can function to both believers and unbelievers.
(4) Possibly one difference between the gift of ministry or service and the gift of helps is that ministry or service functions within the church, whereas the gift of helps functions both inside and outside the local church.
f. The gift of showing mercy is found in Rom 12:8. Showing mercy is a virtue under grace, but the gift of showing mercy is quite different.
(1) Rom 12:8, “He who shows mercy must always do so with cheerfulness.” This implies that if you have the gift of mercy, you will automatically show mercy, but you won’t necessarily like it without virtue. So this verse commands that virtue accompany the function of this spiritual gift. People often show mercy under the virtue of grace. But this is actually a spiritual gift.
(2) This gift might be synonymous with helps, except that it extends primarily to the afflicted, to the persecuted, and to those who are victims of tyranny among believers and even unbelievers. Therefore, it is perhaps more dramatic than the gift of helps.
(3) In the time of the writing or Rom 12:8, it was dangerous to help Christians who were imprisoned or under persecution. Hence, this spiritual gift is always related to courageous acts of mercy.
g. The gift of giving must be distinguished from the individual believer’s responsibility in giving.
(1) Rom 12:8, “He who gives with generosity.”
(2) This is a special spiritual gift given to both rich and poor for the extravagant use of their earthly possessions in providing for the needs of both believers and Christian institutions, such as the local church, missions, Christian service organizations, to the destitute and needy, and to those who are financially helpless.
(3) A very false doctrine prevalent today is that you must give all your money through or to the local church. In other words, if you give to any people in need, but not by means of the local church, it really isn’t true giving. That is a lie from the pit of hell! You have a right to give your money directly to any number of organizations or people in need, and it is legitimate Christian giving.
(4) Tithing commanded in the Old Testament was taxation.
(5) Spiritual giving in both the Old and New Testament never has any percentage attached to it. Spiritual giving is first of all a mental attitude, one you can have though impoverished.
(6) You can still have this mental attitude even if you’re not able to give because of the superseding mandate from the Scripture: to provide for you family. Before you give to the local church, you have a responsibility to provide for your family! If a person has the spiritual gift of giving and he has a family, he is limited in how he can use his spiritual gift.
(7) A person with the spiritual gift of giving will give sacrificially. There are two types of believers who have this gift: rich and poor. If they have this gift, they will give sacrificially. For the gift will function when they reach a certain stage of spiritual growth, even though they may not know they have the gift. But remember, by and large with most of the spiritual gifts, you don’t have to identify the gift; you simply have to grow in grace and it will function automatically.
(8) Those who are single, and those who are wealthy and have already provided beautifully for their family, have no problem in giving sacrificially. This gift of giving is giving sacrificially.
(9) If you have the gift, God will provide for the poor and for the rich to give sacrificially. But this is a spiritual gift which relatively few seem to have. If you do not have this gift, then God only requires that you have the mental attitude of a desire to give whether you are able to give or not.
h. These are a few of the spiritual gifts extent today. This does not imply that these are all of them. So where do you fit in? How do you read yourself into the picture? The answer is very simple. Unless you have the gift of pastor-teacher or evangelism, you do not have to know what your gift is. In fact, you may not ever discover your gift until there is momentum and spiritual growth in your life.
i. You will know your spiritual gift by the time you reach spiritual adulthood, because by that time it should be functioning and operational. Without spiritual growth, your gift will not function; you’re just a dead battery.
G. The Function of Spiritual Gifts, Rom 12:4-8. This passage tells us how the gifts should function, using an analogy to the human body.
1. Verse 4, “For just as we have many parts [many spiritual gifts] in one body [royal family of God], and all parts do not have the same function.” All believers do not have the same spiritual gifts. The Holy Spirit distributes different spiritual gifts to each of us at salvation, just as a coach might assign players to different positions on a team.
2. Verse 5, “so we, who are many are one body in Christ, and each part [every spiritual gift in the body] belongs to all the others.”
a. While we all have equal privilege and equal opportunity as members of the royal family, the Holy Spirit assigns different spiritual gifts to us. The one with the gift of pastor-teacher belongs to all of you. You all have many different gifts which belong to him. We all belong to each other. We cannot separate from each other and be effective. We are all members of the same team!
b. Spiritual gifts are the basis for the team concept in the royal family. Your spiritual gift determines what position you play on the team. No matter how inconspicuous or insignificant your gift may seem to be, you are on the team and your gift is just as necessary as any other gift. Your insignificant gift is needed just as much as a spectacular gift.
c. Don’t ever have a bad mental attitude about your less spectacular spiritual gift, because you are resenting the wisdom of God the Holy Spirit. All gifts function under the enabling power of the Spirit inside the divine dynasphere only. Effectiveness of function is determined by your spiritual growth.
d. So how should your spiritual gift function, once you’ve gained some momentum, and once it begins to function with or without your consent?
3. Verse 6, “We have different gifts according to the grace given to us. If the believer’s gift is prophecy, let him prophesy in proportion to his doctrine.” This was a temporary gift. There was no sense in trying to use the gift of prophecy unless you had doctrine so that your prophecies were accurate.
4. Verse 7, “If his gift is the gift of ministry [or service], let him function in the sphere of his service. If his gift is the gift of teaching [pastor-teacher], let him teach.” In other words, don’t try to be something you’re not. You’re great in functioning within your own spiritual gift. If you try to do something else, you fall flat on your face. Scripture doesn’t say the pastor-teacher is to run absolutely everything; that’s ridiculous. He is to oversee that the policies line up with the Scripture; he should know that much. But he delegates everything. The pastor who doesn’t delegate cannot study and teach.
5. Verse 8, “If it is the gift of exhortation, then let him counsel and comfort. If it is the gift of giving, let him give generously. If it is the gift of governments [administration], let him govern with diligence. If it is the gift of showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.”
a. In other words, stick with your gift! Don’t get ambitious and try to be something you’re not. God the Holy Spirit gave you your gift. His wisdom is perfect; therefore, stay with your gift.
b. If you have the gift of giving, though God will provide the means to give, your giving is sacrificial. This is different from all believers giving as a part of the privacy of their priesthood. If you have the gift of giving, then as you grow spiritually you’ll find yourself being unusually generous and perhaps sacrificial. But you don’t have to give to the local church; you can give to Christian service organizations or to missionaries.
c. The gift of governments or administration is not necessarily the ability to administer in business or be an good executive in business. The person with this spiritual gift is able to function as an executive or to function as an administrator in a local church. He is sensitive to the needs of that local church, whereas in a business, he would not necessarily do well.
d. Those who need mercy are generally the unattractive people in life, and especially unattractive to the one giving the gift of mercy. Therefore, this is an obscure gift, because it is being nice, kind, thoughtful, and loving toward someone with whom you have a natural antagonism. Doing it “cheerfully” means without any rancor, without any thought that “this person is a jerk and brought this on himself.”
H. The Team Concept of Spiritual Gifts, 1 Cor 12:1-14.
1. Just as every team has certain positions, so the body of Christ has spiritual gifts. Every operational spiritual gift is necessary for the advance of the body of Christ.
2. 1 Cor 12:1, “Now concerning spiritual gifts brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant.” This emphasizes the importance of epistemological rehabilitation.
3. 1 Cor 12:4, “There are a variety of spiritual gifts, but the same Holy Spirit.”
a. The source of spiritual gifts is the sovereignty of God the Holy Spirit, who gives the believer his gift at salvation on the basis of HIS decision, not ours. Our spiritual gift is a matter of the wisdom of the Holy Spirit; it is not a matter of any personal merit. We do not acquire, attain, earn, or deserve our spiritual gift. In fact, we would not even know what to order if we had a choice.
b. All spiritual gifts depend upon two factors for their effective function.
(1) The filling of the Spirit, or residence inside your very own palace, the divine dynasphere.
(2) Momentum, or spiritual growth, from perception, metabolization, and application of Bible doctrine. This is called epistemological rehabilitation or cognition of doctrine.
4. 1 Cor 12:5, “There are a variety of ministries [services], but the same Lord.” There are many different kinds of Christian service, and many opportunities for Christian service. All believers are serving the same Lord, but all believers do not serve in the same way.
5. 1 Cor 12:6-7, “There are different kinds of activities, but the same God works all of them in all persons. Furthermore, to each of us is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good [team, body of Christ].” The manifestation of the Spirit in view here is in perception, in virtue, and in spiritual gifts. Every spiritual gift contributes to the common good of the body of Christ.
6. 1 Cor 12:8-10, “To one there is given through the Spirit the gift of wisdom, to another the gift of knowledge by the same Spirit, to another the gift of faith by the same Spirit, to another the gifts of healing by means of the same Spirit, to another the gift of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning spirits, to another the gift of tongues, to another interpretation of tongues.” The spiritual gifts listed are all temporary. They were mentioned because many had been abused in the local church at Corinth.
7. 1 Cor 12:11, “All these spiritual gifts are the work of one and the same Spirit; He gives them to each believer just as He determines.”
8. The concept of one body, 1 Cor 12:12, “For even as the body is one [one royal family] and has many parts [spiritual gifts], and all the parts of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is the Christ.”
a. Certain parts of the human body are prominent; others are hidden. So it is with spiritual gifts; some are obscure, others are obvious.
b. The baptism of the Spirit at salvation entered every believer in union with Christ, and made us all members of the royal family of God.
9. How did we become royal family? 1 Cor 12:13, “For by means of one Spirit we were all baptized [baptism of the Holy Spirit] into one body, whether Jews or Greeks [no racial discrimination], whether slaves or free [no social distinctions], and all were made [caused] to drink one Spirit.”
a. There are no human viewpoint distinctions. There is no racial discrimination or social distinctions. Once you believe in Jesus Christ, you must regard yourself as a person, having no superiority or inferiority complex. You are a member of the royal family with equal privilege and equal opportunity. You are arrogant, if you are preoccupied with yourself in terms of inferiority or superiority.
b. Drinking illustrates faith in Christ at salvation, the time when the baptism of the Spirit occurs. All kinds of people can drink, but the drinking process is the same for all. Drinking is a non-meritorious procedure which everyone can do. So also, faith is common to all members of the human race as a non-meritorious system of perception.
c. “Drinking of One Spirit” is the fulfillment of our Lord’s invitation on the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles in Jn 7:37-39, “Now on the last day, the great day of the feast [Tabernacles], Jesus stood up and shouted saying, `If any person is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, “Streams of living water shall flow from within him."’ But this He spoke about the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive. For the Spirit was not yet given, because Christ was not yet glorified.”
d. So in a passage about spiritual gifts, it is fitting that drinking should be used as analogous to faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, in which moment we receive our spiritual gift.
10. 1 Cor 12:14, “Now the body [royal family] is made up not of one part, but of many parts [spiritual gifts].” The body is a unity but it has many parts.
I. The Abuse of Spiritual Gifts, 1 Corinthians 12:15-21. 1. There are two abuses of spiritual gifts.
a. The attempt to perpetuate temporary gifts of the pre-Canon period into the post-Canon era. Many times people have tried to perpetuate into the post-Canon period some temporary spiritual gift, like healing, miracles, tongues, or the interpretation of tongues. That’s an abuse of spiritual gifts.
b. The second problem is that of arrogance or inferiority. Many believers are arrogant because their spiritual gift is more obvious in its function. Others are in a terrible state of inferiority, thinking that because their spiritual gift is not obvious and doesn’t function in front of people, they are second-class Christians. But there’s no such thing as a second-class Christian. 2. 1 Cor 12:15-21 describes this abuse. This is a part of the dissertation on the body of Christ, the royal family of God, in which distinctions are made only where our spiritual gifts are concerned. Remember that when it comes to our privileges and opportunities, we all have equal privileges and equal opportunities from our portfolio of invisible assets.
3. 1 Cor 12:15, “If the foot should say, `Because I am not the hand, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not, for that reason, cease to be a part of the body would it?”
a. Bother foot had an inconspicuous gift. Brother hand had a conspicuous, spectacular gift.
b. Some people have an inferiority complex because their spiritual gift isn’t spectacular. Some who have spectacular spiritual gifts suggest and imply that they are greater believers because they have this gift. Behind all this is the erroneous assumption that you earn, deserve, or merit your spiritual gift. In reality, it is the wisdom of God the Holy Spirit.
c. Spiritual gifts are not issued on the basis of spiritual growth or spiritual advance. Those with less spectacular gifts are not spiritually inferior to those with an ostentatious gift.
d. This passage was to correct the abuse resulting from Corinthian arrogance which said, in effect, “you’re not really saved until you speak in tongues.” Or, “you’re not really saved until you exercise some spectacular and emotional function in life.”
e. The royal family of God, when it comes to spiritual gifts, is a team. Each part is necessary. So whether you are a lady or a gentleman, you are important in the royal family of God. Your spiritual gift is your position on the team. It was sovereignly bestowed to you by God the Holy Spirit at salvation, and your spiritual gift is just as important as anyone else’s.
f. The different spiritual gifts generally fall into just these two categories, foot or hand. The foot represents the gifts not so obvious, the behind-the-scenes gifts, like the gift of helps or service. The hand represents the spectacular gifts. Among the temporary gifts, these would have been tongues, the interpretation of tongues, healing, and miracles. These were prominent, dominant, and well-known, along with the gifts of apostleship and prophecy. But the many behind-the-scenes gifts are just as important for the modus operandi of the royal family.
g. If you as a believer have an inferiority complex, there is either something vitally wrong with your understanding of doctrine or with your function in your experience. There is no place for an inferiority complex!
h. On the other “hand,” those with spectacular gifts are no better than those with hidden gifts. You’re not more spiritual because you have a spectacular gift. An evangelist, especially one well-known, is often thought to be deeply spiritual and far greater than others. But this is not necessarily true. The same is true of a pastor-teacher. Neither the pastor or evangelist is necessarily any better as a Christian than anyone else. What differentiates them is simply that their spiritual gifts are exercised in public, while other believers’ spiritual gifts are exercised in private. The actual spiritual advance of any believer really belongs to the privacy of his priesthood; it is really no one else’s business. Every believer must live his own life as unto the Lord and before the Lord.
i. So the only differences among believers are determined by their spiritual gift. Spiritual gifts have nothing to do with the natural inferiorities or superiorities that are assigned to race, to social, business, professional, or academic life, to athletic ability, to personality, or to human attractiveness or ugliness.
j. Conclusion: you are just as much a part of the body of Christ if your spiritual gift is exercised in private!
4. Verse 16 brings in two other factors to repeat the idea, going from parts of the body to parts of the face. “And if the ear should say, `Because I am not the eye, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not, for that reason, cease to be a part of the body would it?”
a. The ear refers to the congregational gifts, in contrast to the communication gifts. The use of the ear is very appropriate as a reference to the congregation. For no one ever grows spiritually without listening to Bible teaching.
b. Since the ear is generally unnoticed, it refers to the various unseen congregational gifts, like the gift of helps or the gift of mercy. These hidden gifts are very important.
c. The eye represents the communication gifts, like pastor- teacher or evangelist. While speaking, the communicator must look you in the eye. Again, the use of the eye is very appropriate. For by looking, the communicator can easily gauge the response to his message.
d. The point is that many believers develop an inferiority complex and arrogant dissatisfaction because they do not have a communication gift. Timothy even faced this problem with certain women in his congregation.
e. Spiritual gifts do not determine the status of experiential sanctification. Experiential sanctification, or the spiritual life, has two concepts, absolute and relative.
(1) The absolute concept is being filled with the Spirit or life in the divine dynasphere, versus being carnal in cosmic one or two.
(2) The relative concept is the stage of your spiritual growth or retrogression.
f. Those believers with communication gifts are not superior to those believers with non-communication gifts. Those with communication gifts do have superior authority which is built into the gift. But their superior authority does not imply a superior spiritual life.
g. The superior spiritual life results from consistent residence inside the divine dynasphere, under the enabling power of the Spirit, and momentum from metabolized doctrine.
5. Verse 17, “If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?”
a. In other words, if everyone had communication gifts, believers could not listen and learn doctrine. Hence, the royal family of God would be composed of spiritual morons.
b. Furthermore, if everyone had communication gifts, the royal family would be in a state of inordinate competition. There would be no authority for teaching Bible doctrine, and therefore no function of operation Z at gate #4 of the divine dynasphere.
c. The sense of smell refers to the non-spectacular action gifts, such as service, helps, mercy, and giving, which in their function are almost evanescent. But these are just as important as the spectacular gifts.
6. Verse 18, “But in fact, God has arranged the parts of the body [distribution of spiritual gifts], every one of them, just as He willed.”
a. Spiritual gifts are distributed according to the sovereignty of God, not according to the merit of any particular believer.
b. There is no excuse for a superiority complex because you have an ostentatious spiritual gift. In fact, a spectacular spiritual gift does not in any way indicate a superior spiritual status.
c. There is no excuse for an inferiority complex because you have an obscure spiritual gift. In fact, an obscure spiritual gift, like helps or mercy, does not indicate an inferior spiritual status.
d. Whatever spiritual gift we have is a matter of the sovereignty of God. Therefore, we cannot complain about our spiritual gift. It is the will of God, not ours. We did not earn it, deserve it, or work for it. It is strictly the function of the sovereignty of God.
7. The principle of spiritual gifts.
a. All spiritual gifts are necessary for the function of the body of Christ, and they require faithfulness in the execution of the protocol plan of God for their proper function.
b. Some spiritual gifts have to be recognized by the possessor, that is, the communication gifts, because they require extensive training and preparation.
c. Other spiritual gifts, however, do not have to be recognized or identified, since they function automatically under spiritual growth.
d. All spiritual gifts function in maximum effectiveness under spiritual adulthood, beginning at spiritual self-esteem.
e. Regardless of spiritual growth, no spiritual gift can function apart from the filling of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we have the mandates of Eph 5:18 and Gal 5:16.
f. There are two categories of arrogance related to spiritual gifts.
(1) The superiority complex because of the possession of a spectacular gift.
(2) The inferiority complex because of the possession of an obscure spiritual gift.
g. Since the Holy Spirit assigned these spiritual gifts at salvation, there is no place for human merit, or assigning any greatness or arrogance to your spiritual gift.
h. Under computer assets, every believer still has equal privilege and equal opportunity for the fulfillment of the protocol plan of God and the distribution of his escrow blessings for both time and eternity regardless of whatever spiritual gift he may possess.
8. Verse 19, “In fact, if they were all one part, where would the body be?” All spiritual gifts are necessary for the function of the body of Christ as the royal family of God.
9. Verse 20, “Now there are many parts [spiritual gifts], but one body.” Regardless of spiritual gift, every believer is royal family of God with equal privileges and equal opportunities under his portfolio of invisible assets. The only differences are personnel differences, the third category of assets in the portfolio of invisible assets.
10. Verse 21 takes up the case of brother eye with the gift of pastor-teacher and brother hand, who has some obvious gift such as administrative leadership. “The eye cannot say to the hand, `I do not need you!’ And the head [Jesus Christ] cannot say to the feet, `I do not need you!’” a. In other words, no pastor is an island to himself. No pastor can function effectively in the communication of Bible doctrine without the function of administrative gifts.
b. The last half of verse 21 is really something. The head refers to our Lord Jesus Christ, as in Eph 1:22, 4:15, 5:23, and Col 1:18.
c. The feet here refers to the invisible or non-spectacular gifts, such as the gifts of service, helps, giving, showing mercy. Even Jesus Christ cannot say to the least of all spiritual gifts “I do not need you!” He cannot say to any part of the body, “I do not need you!” Therefore, every spiritual gift has significance in the body of Christ.
12. 1 Cor 12:22-25 teaches the importance of obscure spiritual gifts. Verse 26-27 teaches the importance of teamwork in spiritual gifts. Verse 28-30 teaches the perspective of spiritual gifts. Verse 31 is a transitional verse into the doctrine of Virtue-Love, as the answer to any apparent inequalities in spiritual gifts.
J. Questions About Spiritual Gifts.
1. What happens to the male believer who has the gift of pastor- teacher and does not identify it or recognize it? Surely there are more men who have this gift than are functioning in churches or on the mission field or in some Bible teaching situation. Answer: This believer functions without a spiritual gift. If he doesn’t recognize his gift of pastor-teacher in his own life, that means there is no other spiritual gift under which he can function. God replaces him with another male believer who has not only identified his gift, but has spent the necessary years in preparation for the function of this communication gift.
2. What happens to the carnal Christian? Obviously his spiritual gift does not function. Answer: The carnal Christian loses the blessing and the production associated with that gift. He spends a lifetime in self-induced misery related to the law of volitional responsibility, plus he suffers under the three categories of divine discipline: warning, intensive, and dying discipline.
3. When does the spiritual gift begin to function? Answer: When the believer has momentum in the protocol plan of God. Maximum function occurs in spiritual adulthood. It requires the filling of the Spirit and spiritual growth from the perception of Bible doctrine. The communication and administrative gifts require identification. But the obscure gifts, by and large, function without identification.
4. What happens when the believer does not function under his spiritual gift? Answer: He is replaced by a believer who has the same or a similar spiritual gift.