No 9

(Permanent gifts of the Body)

As we have already seen, the Holy Spirit bestows gifts on believers; these gifts must be brought forth or put into practice if the Body of Christ is to be built up. “For the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ” (Eph 4 :12). There are two categories of Spirit-given gifts : Permanent edifying gifts and temporary sign gifts.

Here is the list of the permanent edifying gifts :

q PROPHESY (telling forth) This is preaching the word as in a sermon and it is not be confused with the office of a prophet (Eph 4 :11). This gift is generally bestowed on preachers but this does not necessarily mean that it has to be in front of a crowd; it could be preaching to one person or a group of 5000 and anything in between.

q TEACHING This is when a person takes a Bible text and exposes it to a group of persons or to one person. The idea here is to sit down and study Scripture. James 3 :1 says that teachers :“shall receive the greater condemnation”.

q FAITH This gift could very well be called the gift of prayer. George Mueller had the gift of faith and each believer has faith because : “Without faith it is impossible to please Him” (Heb 11 :6)

q WISDOM This is the application of spiritual truth to real life situations. A person does not necessarily have to be old to be wise; wisdom comes from applying the Bible to our lives.

q KNOWLEDGE This is academic facts such as research and it is not according to one’s IQ. Spiritual truth is found by meditation and by study of Scripture.

q DISCERNING OF SPIRITS This is the ability to uncover evil spirits in individuals. There are good examples of this in Mark 8 :33 – Jesus rebukes Satan in Peter and, later on, Peter does the same in Acts 5 :3, 8 – Ananias & Sapphira. A person can discern evil spirits; I personally know of two people who have this gift.

q SHOWING MERCY This is simply doing acts of loving kindness to others. Giving a glass of cold water to a thirsty traveller is like as if it was given to Jesus. Matt 25 :40 – “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these, ye have done unto Me”.

q EXHORTATION This is when someone sits alongside someone else giving encouragement and words of comfort and counselling. A good definition of exhortation is to stimulate the faith of others.

q GIVING This a material ministry : food, clothing, etc because “God loveth a cheerful giver” 2 Cor 9 :7, 8.

q RULING This has to do with administration and authority. 1 Timothy 5 : 17 says“Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine”.

q MINISTRY OR HELPS This is a service or helping ministry. Deacons are called to perform this ministry; this does not stop someone who wants to help but does not have the title of deacon. Everyone can help.

In each gift, there are those who have the specific gift and there is a sense in which all believers have each gift, but to varying degrees. Scripture passages for the gifts are: Romans 12: 6 – 9; 1 Corinthians 12 :8 - 10 and Ephesians 4.