Gifts of the Spirit, 1 Corinthians 12

This post concerns gifts of the Spirit.

Gifts of the Spirit discusses differences between the baptismal measure and the gifts of the Spirit.

In Acts 6 the apostles laid their hands on the deacons. This meant these men could do miracles. When Philip went to Samaria (Acts 8), he did miracles and preached Christ. Many baptisms occurred. Then, the Jerusalem church sent Peter and John to pray and lay hands on some so that they could receive the Spirit, because only the apostles could pass on this ability.

The Apostle Paul discussed these gifts in 1 Corinthians 12:1; 4-11. “… concerning spiritual gifts…

…Now there… varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there… varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there… varieties of activities, but… the same God who empowers them all in everyone…To each… given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one…given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.”

These verses show that individual Christians could receive a special gift of the Spirit. Note, the purpose of giving these gifts was for the common good. In the early days of the church, the New Testament was being written. So, these gifts enabled the church to practice the will of God during the writing of the New Testament. Note, when all the apostles died, passing on of these gifts ceased. When all the Christians who received these gifts died, the special gifts for Christians disappeared.

Today we have the New Testament to show us how to do the will of God. We do not need these gifts, and no one today has any of these gifts.

So, what did we learn?

1.Only apostles could pass on gifts of the Spirit.

2.These gifts guided the church before the written word was available.

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#apostlesPassOnHolySpiritGifts #spiritualGiftsGuidedChurch.