First Corinthians 12:8-10 lists nine gifts which the Spirit distributed among Christians. While the Spirit determined who would receive each gift, the gifts themselves were imparted through the laying on of the apostles’ hands. Although the recipient was enabled to exercise the gift he received, he could not pass on the power to work miracles to others. Philip, one of the seven servants appointed to see that the widows’ needs were met, went down to Samaria. Through the miracles he worked, a great number of Samaritans believed and were baptized. Yet, for those Samaritan believers to also work miracles, the apostles had to come from Jerusalem and lay hands on them so that they could receive the gifts (Acts 8:14–17).
The nine gifts were the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, faith, gifts of healing, the working of miracles, different kinds of tongues, the interpretation of tongues, prophecy, and the discerning of spirits. In addition to these gifts, God set some in the church as apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers (Ephesians 4:11). These men would all need the various gifts of the Spirit. Some of the nine gifts were exercised from the very first day of the church’s existence — the day the Holy Spirit “fell” (Acts 2:4-47).
The first two gifts were dependent upon one another. Wisdom would be of little value without knowledge, and knowledge needed wisdom in speaking God’s revelation in a way that would benefit the hearer. Jesus had told His disciples that they would stand before kings and authorities, and that they did not need to be anxious about what they should say, for it would be provided to them in that moment (Matthew 10:19). Stephen confounded the Jewish opponents who resisted his teaching. Luke the historian wrote, “And they were not able to withstand the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spake” (Acts 6:10). God helped Stephen as He had promised. They could not answer him, but they could kill him — and they did (Acts 7:57-60).
The third gift was “faith.” This faith was miraculous. It came by the laying on of the apostles’ hands and enabled the recipient to work miracles; it was not the “faith that saves.” The faith that saves is what “comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17).
The fourth and fifth gifts were gifts of healing and the working of miracles. Both were miraculous of course, but the gift of healing appears to have been more limited. Miracles could take several forms, some of which had nothing to do with healing. Jesus turned water into wine, multiplied a few loaves and fish to feed 5,000, and stilled a raging storm into a calm sea, along with other miracles of a similar nature.
The sixth and seventh gifts, prophecy and the discerning of spirits, were gifts that were somewhat dependent upon one another. Prophecy sometimes related to future events, but it could also include the revelation of the present. The discerning of spirits enabled the recipient to know whether someone who claimed to be a prophet truly was one. John wrote, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but prove the spirits whether they are of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1). One who possessed the gift of discerning spirits could do that miraculously. Another way to test the spirits was to weigh what they claimed against the word already revealed.
The last two gifts were tongues and the interpretation of tongues. These tongues were not gutturals (which were not actual languages at all). The tongues of the Bible were languages spoken and understood by people of other nations, as illustrated by what was spoken on the day of Pentecost. The record says of the apostles, “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance … And they were all amazed and marveled, saying, Behold, are not all these that speak Galileans? And, how hear we every man in our own language, wherein we were born?” (Acts 2:4, 7). The interpreter of tongues could hear an unknown language and tell those listening what the messenger was saying.
However, these nine gifts were temporary. In our next study, we will discuss when these gifts would end.
Jim McDonald