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

I believe in the infinite creative working of the Spirit to provide whatever abilities are necessary for the building up of the Church. Therefore, I believe that gifts can exist which are not mentioned (or were not present) during the New Testament period. This may explain why the gift lists in the New Testament are so varied and why so little attention is given to the actual form or content of these gifts. One practical example that can be used in support of this view is that art and music were sometimes viewed as “spiritual gifts” in the Old Testament, not mentioned as such in the New Testament, and yet are widely spoken of as “gifts” in the historic experience of the Church. The viewpoint our lesson takes is that just because they were not mentioned does not mean that they are not “spiritual gifts” or that they were not present and recognized in the New Testament Church. The gift lists were occasional lists written to specific churches, not exhaustive lists of every possible spiritual gift. Exod. 31.1-5 - The Lord said to Moses, [2] “See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, [3] and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship, [4] to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, [5] in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, to work in every craft. 1 Sam. 16.23 - And whenever the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hand. So Saul was refreshed and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him. Example: Art and music as spiritual gifts in the Old Testament.

The topic of defining the gifts of the Spirit should be approached with healthy dose of humility and caution. In writing about spiritual gifts, the Anglican theologian Leon Morris points out that:

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Despite the confident claims of many, it is difficult to discover precisely what they were. . . . In view of the difficulties, it is a trifle mystifying that some interpret their