Focus: Charismatic Gifts (Pt.1)

Text: 1Cor.12:7

"Each person is given something to do that shows who God is."

Paul has given us a list of nine gifts of the Spirit. Paul describes them as charismatic gifts because they are gifts of grace given by the Spirit of grace.

The Holy Spirit is the Gift of the Father and of the Son to us, and the Spirit in turn has given us the charismatic gifts. The Father gave us the Son of God, and in turn, the Son has brought to the Father the gift of many sons, which includes you and me. The Father and the Son gave us the gift of the Holy Spirit, and in turn, the Holy Spirit has given us nine charismatic gifts, and also, He is making ready the church to be the holy bride for Christ.

Another truth is that the nine charismatic gifts function by the authority of the Trinity. Paul says, "Now there are diversities of gifts, but the SAME SPIRIT. And there are differences of administrations, but the SAME LORD. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the SAME GOD which worketh all in all" (1Cor.12:4-6). Get that? Same Spirit. Same Lord. Same God. That's the Trinity - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Spirit provides differences in the ways that the gifts function in each of us. The Son sees to it that services are rendered by each of us when the gifts are in manifestation. Through us the Spirit dispenses services in the church by the authority of Christ. The Father is behind the energies that produce supernatural effects each time the charismatic gifts are manifested or exercised. So the Trinity works in unity even in the exercise of the charismatic gifts.

A few of us have lied to all of us that the gifts are no longer in use. They tell us that God has withdrawn the use of the charismatic gifts, and the reason they give us for the withdrawal is because we now have the complete Bible. The Scripture, according to them, has replaced the charismatic gifts. But the truth is that the Holy Spirit is still here with us. He is a reality in our lives. He lives in us. He guides us and teaches us the whole truth of God. He comforts and encourages us. He reveals things to us and shows us the way to go and what to do. If He is still here with us, dwelling in us and working with us, why should His gifts be out of use just because we have in our hands the complete Bible, which those of the early church didn't have? 

Our problem as a church is that instead of us to go for what we have lost and to recover it, we find ourselves either making plenty excuses for what we have lost or we see ourselves constructing cheap substitutes to replace the lost original.

Here is the list of the nine charismatic gifts in three divisions:

*Revelatory gifts:

• Word of wisdom
• Word of knowledge
• Discerning of spirits

*Power gifts:

• Faith
• Healings
• Working of miracles

*Prophetic gifts:

• Prophecy
• Diverse tongues
• Interpretation of tongues

Tell me, who doesn't need these gifts today? Has God not ordained that the church should function on earth with these gifts? It is by the use of these gifts that each of us is able to show different aspects of who God is. It is by these supernatural gifts that God is being God among us. Yes, science is really helpful to all of us, but nothing can take the place of the supernatural manifestations of God and the supernatural demonstrations of His presence and power among us. God is being God and showcasing Himself through these gifts. The place of the Holy Scripture is not undermined in our lives by the exercise of these gifts. Rather, by the exercise of these gifts we appreciate the primary importance of the Holy Scripture.

Anyone who is born of the Spirit, indwelt by the Spirit, baptized in the Spirit, and filled with the Spirit is a ready vessel for the impartation and exercise of the charismatic gifts.

It is called charismatic because they are gifts of grace. The Spirit gives it to you not on the basis of your spiritual maturity or personal holiness, but on the grounds of grace. Charisma and character are two different things, but God requires a person of charisma to also be a person of character. It is so sweet when charisma flows through character. Without character, charisma will have a sour taste.

Charisma is a gift given to you for the benefit of others. It is given for the common good of every one in the church. In the fellowship of believers in Christ every one has a gift to share and a blessing to release. Virtually every thing that we get from God flows from the storehouse of grace as a result of the redemptive work of Christ on the cross.

by Bishop Moses E. Peter