God the Holy Spirit, Mentor's Guide, MG14

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G O D T H E H O L Y S P I R I T

In light of this, the validity of any spiritual gift is established by its fidelity to the essential truths of Scripture (1 Thess 5.21; Jude 3), by its ability to build up the body of Christ (1 Cor. 14.12), and through its use being guided by true love for God and others (cf. 1 Cor. 13) in submission to legitimate church authority (Heb. 13.17).

~ Rev. Terry G. Cornett

3. The gifts described in the New Testament

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a. For a description of these gifts see:

(1) “Table of Spiritual Gifts Specifically Mentioned in the New Testament” (please refer to the Appendix of this workbook).

(2) Craig S. Keener, Gift and Giver , pp. 113-136 (course text).

b. Categorizing the gifts

One thing that many people find helpful is to organize the spiritual gifts into categories that suggest what God is trying to doing through each gift. Theologians through the years have had many different ways of organizing but one I find especially helpful is to speak about word gifts, service gifts, power gifts, and leadership gifts.

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(1) Word Gifts

(a) These are gifts that make God’s intentions visible.

(b) Among these gifts are discernment, evangelism, exhortation, knowledge, prophecy, teaching, and wisdom. (c) When these gifts are exercised in the Church, the people of God better understand God’s plans, God’s values, God’s mission, and God’s commands and are able to see more clearly how to obey them.