Gifted to Serve
Every Christian has a place in the body of Christ, and every Christian has been equipped by the Spirit to fill it. Some believers assume that spiritual gifts belong to pastors, missionaries, and especially devoted saints. Scripture says otherwise. As every man hath received the gift, Peter writes, even so minister the same one to another (1 Peter 4:10).
Spiritual gifts are also a subject of sharp disagreement. Pentecostal and charismatic believers expect every gift named in the New Testament, including tongues, prophecy, and healing, to operate today. We believe the miraculous sign gifts did a particular work in a particular era and have ceased. That question deserves careful study, and it has its own topic. But it must not crowd out the larger truth: God has gifted you to serve, and the church needs what He has given you. God didn't gift you to serve yourself, but to serve Him.
A divine enablement given by God's grace and distributed by the Holy Spirit to each believer, for serving and building up the body of Christ. It is not earned or deserved, and it is never for the believer's own advancement (1 Corinthians 12:7; 1 Corinthians 12:11).
If God has gifted every believer to serve His church, what has He given you, and who is waiting for you to use it?
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For Deeper Study
- Spiritual Gifts: What They Are and Why They MatterAmazon Thomas R. SchreinerA Southern Baptist New Testament scholar's readable study of the gifts (2018). Once a continuationist, he argues that prophecy and tongues have ceased.
- What Are Spiritual Gifts? Rethinking the Conventional ViewAmazon Kenneth BerdingArgues that Paul's gift lists describe ministries the Spirit assigns more than abilities believers possess (2006). A helpful challenge to gift-inventory thinking.
- The Holy SpiritAmazon Charles C. RyrieA compact dispensational survey of the Spirit's work, including clear chapters on spiritual gifts.
- Signs of the ApostlesAmazon Walter J. ChantryA brief classic arguing that the miraculous gifts were the credentials of the apostles and ceased with them.
- Charismatic ConfusionAmazon Ernest PickeringA Baptist pastor's short, careful evaluation of charismatic teaching on the gifts.
- Foxe's Book of MartyrsAmazon John FoxeThe classic Protestant record of those who died for the faith, from the early church to the English Reformation.
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Sign Gifts and the Completed Word
The miraculous sign gifts confirmed Christ, His apostles, and the revelation they delivered, and now that God's Word is complete it bears its own witness, while God still answers prayer and heals in His providence.
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