Spiritual Gifts
In: Religion Topics
Spiritual Gifts
Kendall LucyTHEO 201 – D17
Short Essay 3
Spiritual Gifts
Logging in to facebook yesterday, I noticed that I had a message from an old friend that I had
not seen since high school. She wanted to know if I would talk to her about spiritual gifts and
answer some questions that were being debated in her church. She wanted answers to questions
about spiritual gifts, the Fruit of the Spirit, speaking in tongues, and baptism in the Holy Spirit. I
told her that I would share the biblical view of spiritual gifts. I sent her an email with the answers
to her questions. Here is a part of the email that I sent to her.
In 1 Corinthians 12, we learn that spiritual gifts are given to God’s people by the Holy Spirit
for “the common good.” Verse 11 says the gifts are given according to God’s sovereign will.
Ephesians 4:12 tells us these gifts are given to prepare God’s people for service and for building
up the body of Christ. While there are different kinds of gifts (1 Corinthians 12:4), spiritual gifts
are God-given graces meant for works of service.
There are two major evidences of the baptism in the Holy Spirit. The outward evidence is
speaking with tongues. Further evidence of the Spirit’s abiding presence in our lives is the Fruit
of the Spirit, which Paul mentioned in Galatians 5:22-23. A spiritual gift is an ability to be used
in service, whereas spiritual fruit relates to a Christian’s character.
Many people inaccurately define speaking in tongues as “speaking gibberish” or “talking
nonsense.” The truth is that speaking in tongues is the most intelligent and perfect language in
the universe. It is a heavenly language. It is God’s language. Since it is God’s language, then it
must be the most intelligent and perfect.
The Holy Spirit baptism is a gift from God to the new believer. It is the promise that the
disciples waited earnestly for until it was outpoured on...
