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Gifts of the Gracious Holy Spirit
BEFORE THE DAY OF PENTECOST, THE MINISTRY ANOINTING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT WAS NOT DIFFERENTIATED
BUT IT IS DIFFERENTIATED THERE-AFTER – FOR NO INDIVIDUAL BELIEVER IS THE WHOLE BODY OF CHRIST
AND IT IS THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE SPIRIT TO THE CHRIST THAT WAS GIVEN AT PENTECOST
BEFORE THE DAY OF PENTECOST, THE MINISTRY ANOINTING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT WAS NOT DIFFERENTIATED
BUT IT IS DIFFERENTIATED THERE-AFTER – FOR NO INDIVIDUAL BELIEVER IS THE WHOLE BODY OF CHRIST
AND IT IS THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE SPIRIT TO THE CHRIST THAT WAS GIVEN AT PENTECOST
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"To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good."
1 Corinthians 12:7
ministry began only after His anointing by the Holy Spirit, the same Holy Spirit who was given to His Church at Pentecost, to continue that same ministry of God's grace through them.
Christ's ministry is not given to individuals, to any individual, no matter who that person is, for no 'individual' is the spiritual Body of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is given to the people of God as a whole, fully represented in the local congregation as His Body by the Spirit's relationship to them, not organisationally but as a spiritual fellowship of believers of common identity in Christ.
(For this reason the one Holy Spirit is presented as the 'seven' Spirits of God in Revelation because seven local congregations are being directly addressed).
(For this reason the one Holy Spirit is presented as the 'seven' Spirits of God in Revelation because seven local congregations are being directly addressed).
the distinction between the varied ministries of the Holy Spirit emphasize the complementary nature of these gifts, as the various parts of one human body complement each other. Although variously described as 'gifts, 'service', 'activities', these all emanate from the same one Spirit of God in the one Body of Christ.
It is helpful to remember that in continuity with the Spirit's work through the prophets represented in the Old Testament Scriptures, that act of God on the post-resurrection Pentecost in Christ giving the Spirit to His Body introduced differentiation between the ministry gifts of the Spirit because only the whole fellowship of believers represents Christ's ministry in this world.
So before that Pentecost the ministry gifts of the Spirit in human history were not differentiated.
has been taught that the Gifts of the Holy Spirit are nine in number, as defined in the examples cited in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10, namely:
| the 'word of wisdom' | 'gifts of healing' | 'discerning of spirits' | ||
| 'word of knowledge' | 'working of miracles' | 'various tongues' | ||
| 'faith' | 'prophecy' | 'interpretation of tongues' |
| See: The New Anointing |
have added another five supernatural Gifts from the listing in verse 28 of that same chapter, which with Ephesians 4:11, brings the number to at least fifteen:
| *'apostles' | *'prophets' | 'teachers' | ||
| 'helping' | 'administrating' | 'evangelists' |
'Pastor' is not a special gift of the Holy Spirit. It simply means 'shepherd' and is descriptive of the spiritual leadership responsibility of every Elder, but has become generally used of a full-time spiritual leadership status in much of Christian practice and 'Elder' then become seen as part-time or of secondary status to 'pastor'. This error was helped by the weak translation of Ephesians 4:11, which should rather be read, of the gifts of the Spirit, as "pastoring teachers" and not as two distinct functions.
| *NOT titles of office, thus when so used they mislead God's people! |
The term 'shepherds/pastors' is associated with the gift of 'teacher' as 'pastor' is a general term for spiritual leadership (i.e. every Elder is in principle a 'pastor'). |
| Bryce Hartin's heresy |
that certain gifts of the Holy Spirit referred to in Scripture were only 'temporary', such as taught by Bryce Hartin (Baptist Union of Queensland, Australia, 1993) and other misguided persons, is a serious twisting of Holy scripture.
Hartin quotes 1 Corinthians 13:9-10 –
Hartin quotes 1 Corinthians 13:9-10 –
| "For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial ['tongues' etc] will pass away." |
as though this means that these gifts, such as Tongues and Prophecy, were just 'temporary' until the New Testament was completed, in direct contradiction if its own literary context, which says (13:12) that this end of these gifts will be when I know fully as I have been fully known (i.e. sharing God's infinite knowledge in the end-time Resurrection) –
| "For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face [with Christ] . Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known." |
This has certainly not yet come, so this, his heresy, is certainly a twisting of Holy Scripture.
when the "perfect comes" has already come, as he asserts (in his New-Testament-completion theory), then it requires also that
"I know fully" as I have been fully known by God – which is obviously not yet true!
This quote is actually a reference to our future experience in the coming Resurrection event at Christ's return and certainly not some speculated time when the last page of the New Testament was penned.
did not originate this heresy
but propagates it, for sadly
it is widely taught
in theological colleges
especially those with a
Calvinistic/Reformed slant.
counter argument to this, is that if it referred to Christ's return then it would have said 'when He comes' rather than "when the perfect comes", but this passage is actually speaking of human experience of God's inspiration and not of the person of Jesus, so this counter-argument is also a misrepresentation, and he also does not seem to understand the distinction between the ministry gift of 'tongues' as used in the congregation at Corinth in Greece (Bryce Hartin thinks tongues was just a sign to Israel), followed by the gift of Interpretation of Tongues to the congregation, on the one hand, and the private practice of tongues-prayer as emphasised by the apostle Paul on the other (1 Corinthians 14:18) –
| "I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. Nevertheless, in church I would rather speak five words with my mind in order to instruct others, than ten thousand words in a tongue." |
apostle Paul also does not give us a total number of gifts in dealing with this subject, and so by the structure of his description these all should be taken simply as examples and not as the limit, for he is simply describing the variegated activity of the infinite Spirit of God. This is born out by Romans Chapter Twelve which adds another three spiritual Gifts of the Holy Spirit to this ministry of God's grace:
| serving; | encouraging; | giving. |
There is no limit!
range of supernatural grace-responses in the Spirit to the needs of those around us is as limited as the love of God.
The gifts of the Spirit in any situation are limited only by the purposes of God.
Though nine specific Gifts are cited in 1 Corinthians 12, this is no more a limit than that the nine Fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5 is a limit on the moral attributes of the Spirit in the life of a believer. Those cited are simply illustrative.
It has also been said by some that every Christian has a 'gift of the Holy Spirit', and books are written and courses run to help people profile their personalities in order to 'discover' their gift. While this has encouraged some to become more involved in the things of God in order to find their niche in the local church, it is simply a fallacy and robs them of a real Biblical view.
Common
'Christian'
Fallacies
Understanding of the supernatural Gifts of the Holy Spirit has been much confused, specifically by a failure to distinguish between the natural and the supernatural – simply because both come from God (as Creator and then as Saviour).
Creator of all things, and more particularly as having foreknown us in Jesus Christ as His own – God has managed all things natural to equip us appropriately for the purpose of our existence, in its timing and circumstance, including each person's unique DNA recipe of their human identity, for His non-transferable purpose in each individual Christian.
But this is not what the Gifts of the Holy Spirit are about!
Gifts of the Holy Spirit are the ministry of the Holy Spirit to and through the spiritual Body of the Lord Jesus Christ, His congregation.
Each Spirit Gift is part of a whole which functions fully only from within the spiritual unity of God’s people. This is the teaching given in 1 Corinthians 12, as part of the perspective of the Church as Christ’s Body, running through from Chapters 10 to 14 of First Corinthians.
The relation between a specific Gift of the Spirit in an individual’s experience, and that person’s natural ability or giftedness is no more than the relationship between a beautiful gemstone and its specially designed setting. The two are completely distinct!
an analysis of personality-attributes will no more identify an individual’s ‘Gift of the Spirit’ than a description of various settings equates to various gem stones. The natural and the supernatural are absolutely distinct, and it is inexcusable ignorance to think otherwise!
"Baptism of the Spirit" on the Day of Pentecost was the Lord’s inauguration of His Church’s ministry, just as Christ’s own ministry had been inaugurated by John’s water baptism of Himself.
Pentecost was the inclusion of Christ’s people in this uniquely direct relationship between the man Jesus and the Spirit of God who had anointed Him at His baptism. At Pentecost that unique relationship, essential to the human ministry of Jesus, now became the Holy Spirit’s relationship to all those who are ‘in Christ’. The Gifts of the Spirit are simply the various ways of ministry which the Spirit Himself chooses to use through individual Christians as a part of the whole, conditioned by the faith response to God of each individual believer.
as our Old Testament describes, the supernatural/miraculous works of the Spirit through various persons were present before Christ came, these supernatural events were not the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, no matter how many times a particular prophet was inspired, or a leader was supernaturally enabled.
| "...the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified." |
The Gifts of the Holy Spirit belong uniquely and exclusively to a New Covenant relationship between the Spirit of God and the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, which began in human history on the Day of Pentecost, after Christ had completed His three Jerusalem works of grace for those who believe – His atonement; His resurrection; and His ascension to the Father on our behalf.
But what about the Gift of Apostle in 1 Cor.12:29 and Eph.4:11? Are there really apostles today?
Yes, 'apostle' as in the Gift of the Spirit given at Pentecost, such as Paul later received;
but this does not apply to the unique Twelve Apostles of Jesus.
They were apostles before Pentecost, and their apostleship was similar to the apostleship of those sent out by the Jewish Sanhedrin to the synagogues of the Diaspora. It was not a product of Christ's gift of the Holy Spirit to His people.
| See: Apostolic Succession The Mormons do not deserve mention in this regard. |
The Twelve Apostles on the Day of Pentecost are – |
| • unique, • irreplaceable, and • without successors! |
These Twelve were appointed as unique eye-witnesses of the historical Jesus (Jn.15:27) and are therefore irreplaceable and without successors (in spite of what the Anglican, Catholic, and Orthodox churches teach to authenticate their denominational identity).
| "And you also [in addition to the Holy Spirit] will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning." |
| "beginning from the baptism of John – until the day when He was taken up from us – one of these men must become with us a witness to His resurrection." |
replacement for Judas Iscariot had to have been an eye-witness of the historical ministry of Jesus – from His baptism by John until His ascension from the Mount of Olives (Ac.1:22). It is for this reason that it is their individual personal names which are symbolically inscribed in the historical foundation of the "New Jerusalem" (the 'Bride'/Church of Jesus), and not their title or office, for there can be no successors to their witness. They are unique in human history.
Holy Spirit Gift of Apostle is different however. It began only after Christ ascended when He poured out the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, as one of the Spirit-anointed leadership ministries given until Christ's Church comes to its spiritual maturity in this world.
from Pentecost
| "Therefore it [Psalm 68:18] says, |
| 'When He ascended on high He led a host of captives, and He gave gifts to men' ...And He gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints [believers] for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ UNTIL..." |
'Apostle' is simply one of the ways the Holy Spirit supernaturally equips spiritual leadership of Christ's Church (together with Prophets, Evangelists and Teachers), to build the ministry of His people in this present world, until He comes in the maturity of His Church, when His Bride has made herself ready (Rev.19:7).
of these leadership gifts is a rank or status in itself!
There is no hierarchical structure!
These gifts are Spirit-inspired equipment to serve God’s people. Paul's statement, 'first apostles, second prophets, third teachers' is not about a leadership hierarchy/pyramid. It simply describes the relative geographic scope of these ministries through each of these Gifts of the Holy Spirit, the apostle being the most mobile. (See apostle).
the way, 'shepherds/pastors' are what all spiritual leaders of the Christian Church are without a particular spiritual gift, but 'teachers' more particularly are 'shepherds' of His people, hence the direct association in the Ephesians 4:11. Thus 'teacher' ought to be the supernatural gift most evident among shepherd-elders: Spirit-inspired ability.
Acts 20:28
Remember, Paul's gift of apostleship did not come from any ordination by another apostle. It was a gift of the Holy Spirit directly, as all His gifts are, and Paul makes this very plain when he declared to the churches of Galatia which he had founded –
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a new form of an old lie is now being spread in many churches – that God is 'restoring Apostolic Government' to the church.
False prophets/teachers, such as Bob Jones, Todd Bentley, Bill Hamon, and their associates such as C. Peter Wagner (Fuller Theological Seminary), are widely propagating a false concept of 'apostle' as though the Bible-phrase "first apostles..." means first in hierarchical structure (oversight structure), rather than simply first/largest in geographic scope of ministry, as the Word of God itself teaches us.
'New Apostolic Reformation'
beginning 2001.
| See: The Words of the 2nd Temptation are among us |
lie is more than just a misunderstanding.
Because this deception claims for itself the status of a divine revelation, it is corruptively demonic in nature.
In addition, into its subversion of the practical restoration of the gifts of the Spirit in the life of the Christian Church world-wide (generally known as the Pentecostal revival or Charismatic movement)
this deception has also incorporated the deceptive prosperity doctrine of the modern Faith movement.
Bill Hamon's web site:
"In God’s divine order there is a principle that causes the flow of God’s blessing that originates at the top [Bill Hamon and 'Christian International'] to flow to each covenant member. ...that flow through Dr. Bill Hamon and CI leadership to every individual whose heart is joined with Christian International."
"In God’s divine order there is a principle that causes the flow of God’s blessing that originates at the top [Bill Hamon and 'Christian International'] to flow to each covenant member. ...that flow through Dr. Bill Hamon and CI leadership to every individual whose heart is joined with Christian International."
the true character of this deceptive hype is well reflected in the advertisement on Bill Hamon's website for the book
'Financial Miracles Now!!!' by Gale Sheehan –
Apostle Gale Sheehan tells a real life personal story of how God allowed Gale and Shelly to become millionaires through the power of His Prophetic Word and the principal[?] of Deuteronomy 8:18, God gives “Power to make Wealth”. |
Enough said!
self-denying love of God, which is poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us, is the basis of any ministry of the Gifts of the same Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 13.
It should be understood that in order for a believer to be entrusted with the mind of God or the power of God concerning a person or an issue, that believer must first be in harmony with/share the attitude of God – His unconditional love!
Human nature in its arrogance would like to regulate the supernatural within the Church, and so denominations develop which create ranks and positions related to so-called Gifts of the Spirit, but this is not possible in reality.
The Gifts are not part of any self-perpetuating structure, no matter how old it may claim to be. They are the response of the love of God to the specific needs of those for whom Christ died.
that, for every believer, this newness of life in the Spirit can no more be regulated than that the paths of the wind can be predetermined and controlled by us. This Lord Jesus, the Christ of God, said:
| "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." |
And so to every believer, He the Spirit has been given to serve the holy purposes of God's holy and un-limiting love.
