Research Paper

Of

Spiritual Gifts

THEO 530-B15 LUO (Fall 2010)

Systematic Theology II

Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary

Fabio Nass (ID# 23672411)

October 15, 2010

Table of Content

Thesis Statement.......................................................................................................................1
Introduction..............................................................................................................................1
Spiritual Gifts…Where do we find them and why are they important?...................................1
Spiritual Gift Analyses........................................................................................................3
Gift of Administration.........................................................................................................3
Gift of Evangelism...............................................................................................................3
Gift of Exortation.................................................................................................................4
Gift of Faith.........................................................................................................................4
Gift of Giving......................................................................................................................4
Gift of Help..........................................................................................................................5
Gift of Pastor-Teaching.......................................................................................................5
Gift of Service......................................................................................................................5
Gift of Showing Mercy........................................................................................................5
Gift of Teacher.....................................................................................................................6
Gift of Apostles, Prophets and Discerning Spirits...............................................................6
Gifts of Miracles and Healing..............................................................................................6
Gift of Tongues and Interpretation of Tongues...................................................................7
Natural Vs Spiritual..................................................................................................................8
Conclusion................................................................................................................................9
Bibliography...........................................................................................................................11
Endnotes.................................................................................................................................12
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Thesis Statement

This paper will serve to give a general analysis of several spiritual gifts, clarify the confusion

surrounding a few particular spiritual gifts, and impart the knowledge of how to recognize the

differences between an actual spiritual gift and the natural gifts and abilities one possesses.

Introduction

Spiritual gifts are a very important part of the Christian life. It is through these gifts that

people can help edify the body of Christ, the church, and the ones around them. It is therefore,

extremely important to understand these gifts as fully as humanly possible. With a general

analysis of 18 gifts and a more in depth view of the 5 that seem to cause the most confusion one

can begin to discern their aptitude for each gift. Like spiritual gifts, natural gifts are God given

as well, and it can therefore be difficult to decifer one from the other. By the end of this paper,

one should have a strong platform from which to delve into discerning their own spiritual gifts

and possibly how best to use them in conjunction with their natural abilities in order to serve

God and

When God gives one a spiritual gift, He expects them to use it for the edification of His name.

The reason why He is the one that picks the gifts for His children is so that none can boast of

their own abilities to gain a particular gift. Paul, in verses 12 - 22 of 1 Corinthians, makes a

powerful comparison of the reason the spiritual gifts are so important. He points out that all

parts of the body (each different gift) are important to the body (church). Paul explains that even

a gift that seems very small must be used to honor God since without it the church would be

incomplete and missing its blessings. Now that an understanding of the importance of the

spiritual gifts is established it will be important to understand what some of the spiritual gifts are

and what are some of the debates found over them.

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Spiritual Gift Analyses

This paper will take a slightly different approach when looking at the different gifts of the

Holy Spirit. Most theologians would divide the gifts in groups of gifts of utterance, and gifts of

the practical ministry. For this work, the spiritual gifts will be divided in order least debatable to

most debatable based on the authors own perspective.

Administration

Evangelism

The gift of evangelism is one that can cause some confusion at times, but not much. This gift

is listed in Ephesians 4:11 and it literally means the gift of proclaiming the Gospel of the God

News. The confusion it raises is that this gift may contradict the Great Commission since one

could claim not having the gift of evangelism excuses them from fulfilling the commission of

Matthew 28. This gift does not exclude one of the duties to proclaim the gospel to others. This

gift gives the person the ability to share the Gospel clearly, and impact others in a special way.

One example of someone who posses this gift would be Billy Graham.

Exhortation

The gift of exhortation is seen on Romans 12:8. The person who holds this gift has the ability

to help and encourage his brother or sister who is struggling. The word exhortation is derived

from the Greek parakalon which means “to be called alongside to help”. This gift can be very

helpful for a church pastor since most of his congregation will come to him at one point or

another looking for an encouraging word but is in no way limited to pastoral leaders.
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Faith

Perhaps this is also a gift that can cause some to raise an eyebrow since all Christians are

required to have faith. The gift of faith is found in 1 Corinthians 12:9 and is specifically talking

about a faith that is stronger than any other. R.J.D. Utley puts it this way “This refers not to

saving faith like Mark 1:15; John 1:12, because the gifts are only given to believers, but to

miracle working faith”.1 A great example of the gift of faith is George Muller who never asked

for any support but trusted God to operate one of the biggest orphanage ministries of his time.

Giving

The gift of giving is found in the book of Romans 12:8. The person who possesses this gift

will be eager to give their material possession in order to further the message of the Gospel.

Sometimes they will go to the extents of giving almost all they have in order to help. God will

usually bless the one with the gift of giving with the ability to acquire material possessions.

Help

1 Corinthians 12:28 announces the gift of help. The word derives from the Greek, and it

means “to make helpful deeds, assistance”. The person with this gift will have a burden to help

anyone in need not caring for what situation they find themselves in, homeless, sick, orphans,

strangers, or travelers.

Pastor-Teaching

The gift of pastor-teaching found in Ephesians 4:11 is one gift and not two. The pastor, like

the name suggests, is in reference to watching over sheep and protecting them. This will be the

job of the pastor, to watch closely and protect the sheep from danger. Furthermore, the job of a

pastor is also to teach his sheep. If one makes a comment that a pastor cannot teach, but that he

is a good pastor, P. P. Enns believes that, this is impossible. “If a person has this gift, he is both a
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shepherd and a teacher.”2 Since the job of a pastor is also to build up the congregation the gift of

teaching is necessary so that the message taught can be understood very clearly.

Service

The gift service in Romans 12:7 is basically the desire to donate one’s time and resources to

the advancement of the body of Christ. This gift can be easily confused with the gift of giving.

The gift of service is different for the simple fact that one is not donating their material

possessions but their physical possessions, such as time and talents, to the church.

Showing Mercy

In Romans 12:8 Paul states the gift of mercy. The person with the gift of mercy is usually the

one crying with everyone who is suffering. This person can usually sense when someone is

going through a difficult situation and is there to offer a shoulder to the ones in need. The word

mercy comes from the Greek word eleon meaning “feel compassion, show pity”.3 The person

with the gift of mercy must be careful not to be taken advantage of since they are apt to act based

on their feelings more so than their discernment.

Teacher

Paul writes about the spiritual gift of teaching in Romans 12:7 and 1 Corinthians 12:28. One

statement is important to make here. The gift of teacher and the gift of pastor-teacher are

different gifts, essentially because one can have the gift of teaching without having the gift of

pastoring. However, the opposite statement is not true. One can never be a pastor without the

gift of teaching.

Apostles, Prophets and Discerning Spirits

The gift of the Apostles (Ephesians 4:11), Prophets (Romans 12:6), and Discerning Spirits (1

Corinthians 12:10) are all gifts that are related to the period that Jesus Christ needed them in
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order to build the church during the early church period. The gifts of apostles and prophets were

used to deliver new revelations and interpret the text for the early Christians. Many believe that

once the canon was closed there was no need for new interpretation. P. S. Karleen believed that

once the apostles and prophets fulfilled their objective, they would not be needed any longer.4

Since the apostolic and prophecy gifts are no longer in use anymore the gift of discerning spirits

is also no longer necessary. The gift of discerning spirits was used in the early church in order to

interpret if the prophecies or teachings were a God-given message, or if it was a false teaching

that needed to be rebuked. The bible includes all future revelations that would ever be given by

God. One only needs to look into the pages of His word to discern whether or not a “revelation”

or “message” is from God, if it is not in the scriptures already it is indeed false. Since no new

revelation will be made by God, there is no longer the necessity for any of these gifts anymore.

Miracles and Healing

The gifts of Miracles and Healing are closely intertwined, with the gift of Healing being a

narrower aspect of the gift of Miracles. These gifts like the gifts mentioned above were related

to a specific period of time and many theologians believe that the actual gift has disappeared.

Those gifts were used by the apostles and by Jesus Christ in order to further the message of the

Gospel and to authenticate the message that they were preaching. Since Jesus Christ died and

rose again the authentication of the Gospel message does not need to be authenticated by those

miracles.5 It is very important however, to separate the view that the gifts of miracles and

healing have disappeared and that miracles and healing are still happening. The gift of miracles

is the ability that God gives someone to touch a person and heal them instantly. The apostles and

Jesus had this gift. To say that this kind of healing does not exist anymore is different than to

say that miracles do not happen anymore. God can decide to operate miracles at any given time.
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He is all powerful, and if He heals someone because of prayer it is still a miracle. However, it

does not mean that the people that were praying possessed the gift of healing. Furthermore, in

this realm of discussion an important point to make is that not all present day healings and

miracles are of God. Satan is powerful and deceiving, and while it still requires God’s

permission, satan is capable of using his power to manipulate the minds of people by seemingly

“miraculous” happenings.

Tongues and Interpretation of Tongues

Tongues were most definitely a spiritual gift in the early church. Paul expressed in 1

Corinthians 12:28 that the spiritual gift of speaking in tongues existed. Schaff defines “The

speaking with tongues is an involuntary psalm-like prayer or song, uttered from a spiritual

trance, and in a peculiar language inspired by the Holy Spirit. The soul is almost entirely passive,

an instrument on which the Spirit plays his heavenly melodies.”6 The question that many people

ask themselves today is the possibility of this gift still existing. Some would argue that the gift

of tongues is still in existence, and some would argue that it ceased to exist after the canon was

closed. Enns believes that the gift of tongues has ceased and in his defense, he uses the passage

in 1 corinthians 13:8 which states that “they will cease”, ” they will stop themselves”, when

talking about the tongues.7 Utley also defends this position that the use of tongues is no longer

necessary. His reasoning, however, is that tongues, like miracles, were used to authenticate the

work of the apostles. Since the completion of the scripture, there is no need for this kind of

authentication, instead the Bible becomes the authentication. Looking at these two points one

could come to a conclusion that the gift of tongues is not necessary anymore. However, if one

believes that tongues still exists it is important to remember the teachings of Paul in how to use

it. Paul taught that the one that possesses this gift should use it in private to edify them and
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worship Christ. Also, it is important to note that if the gift of tongues is spoken publicly one

must be present to interpret what was said. This brings up the topic of the gift of interpretation

of tongues. If the gift of speaking in tongues is still valid then so would the interpretation of

them be, since one depends on the other. However, if the gift of tongues is no longer available

then the interpretation would also no longer exist and vice versa.

Natural Vs Spiritual

The debate between natural gifts and spiritual gifts is one that is very important for the

believer in Christ. If one understands the difference between the gifts that are given to them at

birth and the gifts that are given to them at the moment of salvation, he or she will be able to

better serve the body of Christ. The study of spiritual gifts is very important for the growth of

the believer and so is understanding the difference between the natural and spiritual gifts. Lloyd-

Jones believes that the two are a separate entity and that to believe that a spiritual gift is a natural

gift that escalates to a spiritual gift is wrong.8 So how can one identify a spiritual gift from a

natural gift? Though this is not an easy distinction it is possible to understand the difference.

Natural gifts are capabilities that are innate. A person has them (or the capacity for them) from

birth and learns how to develop them through the years. For example, playing a sport, an

instrument, or cooking are all natural abilities or gifts. These abilities are God given abilities

that, when recognized, should be used to further the kingdom of God. The main difference

between a spiritual gift and a natural gift is the fact that a natural gift can be used without

honoring God while the spiritual gifts will always have to line up with God. An example of this

is a professional athlete who was born with a natural ability to run. Through years of practice

and exercise this athlete became a world class star. He accomplished amazing things as an

unsaved man so while he did this it never crossed his mind that his abilities were a gift of God,
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and he did all of this without ever bringing glory to God. Though he was an amazing athlete in

his own strength, something would be missing in his life on the spiritual level, and he would feel

empty, to some extent, no matter how much he gained. One may ask but what if this person was

a Christian? If this was the case, he would use his God given spiritual gift (whatever that may

be) to worship God, and he would be happiest in dedicating his natural gift to glorify Christ in

the manner God asked of him. Enns created this really nice table to help one understand both

gifts better.

COMPARISON OF NATURAL AND SPIRITUAL ABILITIES

Comparisons Natural Talents Spiritual Gifts

Source: From God From God

Through parents Independent of parents

Possessed: From birth Probably from conversion

Purpose: To benefit mankind on the To benefit mankind on the

natural level spiritual level

Process: Must be recognized, Must be recognized,

developed, developed,
exercised exercised

Function: Ought to be dedicated by Ought to be used to God’s

believers to God for His glory9
use
and glory

Although one may have now determined the difference between natural and

spiritual gifts, there is still another obstacle to overcome. Many might also struggle

to find their spiritual gifts because of the intertwining of their own natural abilities.

God gives some a spiritual gift that will complement, or serve to keep in check,
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their natural gifts. And some He gives a double dose of gifts in which natural and

spiritual are the same gifts, but just because one has the natural leaning toward

certain spiritual gifts does not necessarily mean that those are, in fact, their

spiritual gifts. One may be a natural teacher, but when it comes to using that for

God’s glory, they may be more comfortable serving if service is their spiritual gift.

The balance between natural and spiritual gifts can be a difficult one to get just

right, but because they are intimately intertwined at times, it is that much more

important, as well as rewarding, to be able to use them both jointly in order to

minister to others for the glory of God.

Conclusion

The issue of the spiritual gifts is very challenging and the amount of valid information

available to people is limited. There is a lot of information out there and readily available that

can cause even more confusion when it comes to this subject. Knowing this will leave a person

two options; either they will search for an answer and dig deeper to try to find their gifts in order

to use them for the glory of God and the advancement of the church, or they will flee the subject

and never develop their abilities. One must always choose the first option when it comes time to

make this decision. However, with the amount of information that is available today one should

always be very diligent and never rely on their own strengths in order to find or develop their

gift. The first thing one must do is ask God in prayer what are their gifts. After all, it was God

who gave them so it is safe to say that He knows your gift. Another idea is to try the different

gifts out to see which gift you are most comfortable in and the one that feels like you are being

blessed instead of burdened. Some gifts will be very fulfilling, and one will be very comfortable
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in it. However, with other spiritual gifts it will be harder to manage. Also, one can always ask

someone close that is a strong follower of Christ what their opinions are about your gifts. They

will be able to analyze you more objectively than you can and help you understand your spiritual

gifts. The last thing is to never give up on trying to find your gift, and utilize it every chance you

get so that the kingdom of God can be advanced.

Bibliography

Achtemeier, Paul J., Publishers Harper & Row and Society of Biblical Literature. Harper's Bible

Dictionary. 1st ed. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1985.

Carre, Henry Beach. The Ethical Significance of Paul’s Doctrine of the Spirit. The Biblical

World vol. 48 no. 4 pp. 195-207. The University of Chicago Press. 1916.

Duffield, Guy P. and Nathaniel M. Van Cleave. Foundations of Pentecostal Theology. Los

Angeles, Calif.: L.I.F.E. Bible College, 1983.

Elwell, Walter A. and Philip Wesley Comfort. Tyndale Bible Dictionary. Tyndale reference

library. Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers, 2001.

Enns, Paul P. The Moody Handbook of Theology. Chicago, Ill.: Moody Press, 1997.

Erickson, Millard J. Christian theology. pp 891. Grand Rapids, MI.: Baker Academic, 1998
 11

H. H. Esser, “Mercy,” in Colin Brown, ed., New International Dictionary of New Testament

Theology (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1976), 2:594.

Karleen, Paul S. The Handbook to Bible Study : With a Guide to the Scofield Study System. New

York: Oxford University Press, 1987.

Lloyd-Jones, David Martyn. God the Holy Spirit. Wheaton, Ill.: Crossways Books, 1997.

Nielsen, Charles Merritt. More or Less Grace. Journal of Bible and Religion vol. 30 no. 3 pp.

232-236. Oxford University Press. 1962

Prime, Derek. Opening Up 1 Corinthians. Leominister: Day One Publications, 2005.

Schaff, Philip and David Schley Schaff. History of the Christian Church. Oak Harbor, WA:

Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997.

Smalley, Stephen S. Spiritual Gifts and I Corinthians 12-16. Journal of Biblical Literature vol.

87 no. 4 pp. 427-433. The society of Biblical Literature. 1968

Swanson, James and Orville Nave. New Nave's. Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, 1994.

The New King James Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982.

Utley, Robert James Dr. Vol. Volume 5, The Gospel According to Paul: Romans. Study Guide

Commentary Series. Marshall, Texas: Bible Lessons International, 1998.

Utley, Robert James Dr. Vol. Volume 6, Paul's Letters to a Troubled Church: I and II

Corinthians. Study Guide Commentary Series. Marshall, Texas: Bible Lessons International,

2002.

Wiersbe, Warren W. The Bible Exposition Commentary. Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books, 1996.

Willmington, H. L. Willmington's Bible Handbook. Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers,

1997.
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Endnotes
1
Robert James Dr. Utley, vol. Volume 6, Paul's Letters to a Troubled Church: I and II Corinthians,
Study Guide Commentary Series (Marshall, Texas: Bible Lessons International, 2002), 143.
2
Paul P. Enns, The Moody Handbook of Theology (Chicago, Ill.: Moody Press, 1997), 274.
3
H. H. Esser, “Mercy,” in Colin Brown, ed., New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology
(Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1976), 2:594.
4
“ the gifts of apostle and prophet (needed for the giving of new revelation and interpretation of the
great, new events of the unfolding apostolic age) were for the early stage of the building of the Body of
Christ. Once they had fulfilled their purpose they would no longer be needed.” Paul S. Karleen, The
Handbook to Bible Study : With a Guide to the Scofield Study System (New York: Oxford University
Press, 1987), 231.
5
“Miracles were given to authenticate a message, and in each of the above mentioned periods, the word
miracles means “power” or “a work of power.” Paul P. Enns, The Moody Handbook of Theology
(Chicago, Ill.: Moody Press, 1997), 271-272.
6
Philip Schaff and David Schley Schaff, History of the Christian Church (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos
Research Systems, Inc., 1997).
7
Paul P. Enns, The Moody Handbook of Theology (Chicago, Ill.: Moody Press, 1997), 273.
8
“Some people have fallen into that error. They have thought that what a spiritual gift really means is
that a person’s natural gift is taken hold of by the Holy Spirit and heightened or made more vivid so
that it therefore becomes a spiritual gift. But that is not what the Scripture would have us believe. A
spiritual gift is something new, something different.” David Martyn Lloyd-Jones, God the Holy Spirit
(Wheaton, Ill.: Crossways Books, 1997), 265.
9
Paul P. Enns, The Moody Handbook of Theology (Chicago, Ill.: Moody Press, 1997), 270.