Spring Warrior Church of Christ

7432 S. Red Padgett Road

Perry, FL 32348
584-5176

Prove All Things Vol. 1 No. 19

“Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” 1 Thessalonians 5:21

The Gifts of the Holy Spirit by Bill Blue, bill@bibleweb.com [6/13/01]

In previous articles, we examined how the Holy Spirit is a divine person (Vol. 1
No. 15) who ushered in the New Testament era beginning at Pentecost (Vol. 1 No. 17).
In this article, we want to examine various miraculous “gifts” of the Holy Spirit.

Paul lists nine different gifts of the Holy Spirit in 1 Cor. 12:4-11:

1. Wisdom - 2 Pet. 1:19-21, 3:15; 2 Tim. 3:16-17

2. Knowledge - 1 Cor. 13:8
3. Faith - 1 Cor. 13:2
4. Prophecy – 1 Cor. 12:29, 13:8; Eph. 3:5; Acts 21:9
5. Distinguishing of Spirits - Acts 16:16-18
6. Healings - Acts 3; 1 Cor. 12:30
7. Miracles - Acts 20:9-11; Acts 28:3-6
8. Tongues (different languages) - Acts 2:7-8; 1 Cor. 12:27-30; 1 Cor. 14:13-28
9. Interpretation of Tongues - 1 Cor. 14:13-28

How were the gifts acquired?

At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit gave the Apostles the ability to speak in tongues
(Acts 2:7-8). He also guided the Apostles into all truth, taught them all things, and
brought to their remembrance all things Jesus had said in their presence (John 14:16,
26; 15:26; 16:7-15).

Like the Apostles, Cornelius and the gentiles with him also received the baptism
of the Holy Spirit and the ability to speak in tongues because of that baptism (Acts
10:44-46). Cornelius’ baptism, however, appears to be a unique event that occurred to
convince Peter and other Jews that God intended to share the Gospel with the Gentiles
(Acts 10:45, 11:18). (See “Baptism of the Holy Spirit,” Vol. 1 No. 12)

Apart from Cornelius and the Apostles, everyone else who received a miraculous

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gift of the Holy Spirit appears to have received it through the laying on of the Apostles’
hands. Consider Philip, who was “full of the Holy Spirit,” but not an Apostle (Acts 6:3-
6). Philip was unable to distribute miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit even though he
was able to perform miracles himself (Acts 8:12-17). Indeed, Peter and John went to
Samaria behind Philip so that they may impart the Holy Spirit through the laying on of
hands (Acts 8:17). One of Philip’s baptized converts, Simon, even tried to purchase the
power of the Holy Spirit from Peter and John (Acts 8:12-13, 18-19).

Paul understood that he had the ability to impart “spiritual gifts” (Rom. 1:11),
and he laid hands on disciples so that they may receive the Holy Spirit (Acts 19:6).
Despite this ability, Paul also understood that the Holy Spirit decided which gift a
Christian would receive if any (1 Cor. 12:11).

What was the purpose of these gifts?

The purpose of the gifts or “power” given to the Apostles was to assist them to “be
witnesses [of Jesus] in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the
earth” (Acts 1:8). The Holy Spirit and His gifts accomplished this by serving as a
witness of authority from God (Heb. 2:4). Jesus performed miracles and signs for
essentially the same reason, to convince people to believe His testimony (Jn. 20:30-31,
21:25). Notice the effect that Jesus’ divine knowledge had on the Samaritan woman at
the well (Jn. 4:19), or how Peter’s healing of the lame man drew such attention (Acts
3:9-11). (But also note how persuasive the Gospel is by itself – Jn. 4:42; Acts 2:37, 3:4;
Rom. 1:16-17).

The purpose of miraculous gifts was also “for the edification of the church” (1
Cor. 14:12), “for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry for the edifying of
the body of Christ … according to the effective working by which every part does its
share causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love” (Eph. 4:12, 16; see also
1 Cor. 12:7; 14:3, 12, 26).

Today, we no longer have the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit. We do have,
however, the product of these gifts – the Bible (2 Pet. 1:20-21), which is sufficient to
assist us in our maturity (Heb. 5:12-6:5) and make us “complete, thoroughly equipped
for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16-17). Indeed, it contains the “gospel of Christ which is
the power of God to salvation” (Rom. 1:16-17).

In our next article on the Holy Spirit, we will explore why these miraculous gifts
do not exist today.

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