The person of the Holy Spirit is not someone unique to the New Testament. The Holy Spirit has co-existed with Father God from the beginning. We see the Spirit of God at work in Creation- Genesis 1:1-2, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters”.
In Old Testament times, the Holy Spirit would “come upon” or “be with” someone to enable them for a specific purpose or task, but in the New Covenant, the Holy Spirit lives “within” the believer. Christ-followers are the temple or home for the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 6:19 says, “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own”? Show More
The grace of the Holy Spirit is especially evident in the
- Helper, to help us in our trouble
- Comforter, to comfort us in our distress
- the Spirit of Truth, to lead us out of bondage into freedom.
The
As we learn to walk in the Spirit, we will overcome the desires of the flesh (Gal 5:16-18). This new life in the Spirit requires a new way of thinking and doing things. The Bible instructs us to “…be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which
We also have the following promise: “For if you live according to the flesh you will die; “but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live”. For as many as are led by the S
Putting to death the deeds of the body has to do with putting to death those habits and patterns of thinking that are contrary to God’s righteousness and replacing those habits and patterns of thinking with godly habits and godly thoughts. This is where the Holy Spirit’s help is crucial. The Holy Spirit can reveal the truth, remind us of the Scriptures and speak encouragement to us.
As if all of that were not enough, the Holy Spirit also made available, to all believers, important spiritual gifts. As a matter of fact, the Apostle Paul warns us to not be ignorant or unaware of these gifts in 1 Corinthians 12:1, “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant”. In other words, Paul was saying that these gifts are too important for the church
While I would encourage you to read all of 1 Corinthians chapter 12, I will be touching, ever so briefly on the gifts listed in 1 Corinthians 12:8-11.
These spiritual gifts are available to all born-again believers in Jesus Christ because the Holy Spirit lives in you. These are the Holy Spirit’s gifts, not man’s gifts. While all the nine gifts are available to the believer some believers operate more strongly in certain gifts.
The gifts of the Spirit function to encourage, edify and exhort the Christian into a stronger walk of faith. The gifts also provoke those non-believers who are searching for spiritual truth. To show the non-believer that God is real, that God is for today and that they need Him in their lives.
There are nine gifts of the Spirit described in 1 Corinthians 12 and they are:
- Word of Wisdom – A spoken message of wisdom inspired by the Holy Spirit to an individual, dealing with the deep things of God. Usually, a word of wisdom speaks of taking or making decisions now for a future benefit. It has most to do with an individual applying the word of God to their lives.
- Word of Knowledge –A spoken message referring to understanding things that could not be naturally known. A word of knowledge is never about something you already know about a person or situation. It always has to do with something you could not possibly know about a person. It is not the gift of suspicion or repeating things you have heard from others.
- Faith –Extraordinary faith as opposed to “saving” and “normal” Christian faith in the Bible, the faith to move mountains.
- Saving faith has to do with the faith to believe that Jesus died for you, that you are forgiven and loved by God and that you are going to heaven.
- The normal Believer’s faith has to do with the faith that has grown as a result of reading and knowing the word of God, the Bible.
- The Gift of Faith has to do with a dramatic supernatural event that normally you would not have the faith to believe for. It is a prompting of the Holy Spirit and therefore an assurance that it will come to pass.
- Gifts of Healings –The supernatural ability to administer healing to others. The plural form of the word healings indicates a variety of illness common to mankind. There are no limits to what the Holy Spirit can do in the area of healing. The individual hears the Holy Spirit say, “I am going to heal that person- go and pray for him or her!
- The Working of Miracles – Supernatural ability to over-ride or reverse natural laws of nature. Jesus showed us examples of miracles, read the Gospel of John and examine the seven miracles He performed. Remember what Jesus said in John 14:12, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.
- Discerning of Spirits –The supernatural ability to discern the source of a spiritual manifestation. The three sources are the spirit of God, the spirit of Satan and the spirit of man. This is not a discernment with our five physical senses. It is a discernment that the Holy Spirit gives us.
- Prophecy –The supernatural ability of speaking what Jesus is saying at the moment to encourage, edify, exhort by revealing what God will do. The prophet does not speak what he thinks, he speaks what the Holy Spirit is saying. Nothing less nothing more.
- The Gift of Tongues– The supernatural ability to speaking an unlearned language which glorifies God. When done in public, as in church, it should be followed by the gift of the Interpretation of Tongues. This is not talking about a personal prayer language. That is something else.
- The Interpretation of Tongues –This gift always follows the public speaking of the gift of tongues so that it would be understood by those in attendance. As a side note the Gift of Tongues and Gift of Interpretation when taken together is prophecy.
These gifts of the Spirit are nested between 1 Corinthians 12:7 & 11
7 “But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all”. The “all” is referring to the Body of Christ or the spiritual Church.
11 “But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills”. The Holy Spirit sovereignly gives His gifts as He pleases.
Allowing God to use us with his gifts requires us to walk by faith. When we hear or sense in the spirit that God wants us to say something, do something or be aware of something we must act. That is how we go from faith to faith and grow as spiritual Christians.