Gifts or Graces?

I Corinthians 12:1-11 selected

Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant:. . . ⁴ There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. ⁵ There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. ⁶ And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. ⁷ But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: ⁸ for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, ⁹ to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, ¹⁰ to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. ¹¹ But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.

I have been having an ongoing discussion with a friend about gifts that God gives. Many years ago I realized that the gifts spoken of in 1 Corinthians 12:1 (Now concerning spiritual gifts,) has been wrongly interpreted. In fact the word translated "spiritual gifts" (πνευματικων pneumaticon in Greek) doesn't say gifts at all. It says, "things of the Spirit." Paul's following discussion is not about "gifts" as a possession of an individual believer, but the working of the "graces" (charismata) of the Spirit of God indwelling every believer.

I have come to understand that the concept of gifts (charismata) as our possessions creates a wrong image of ourselves and God. It leaves us with the wrong impression that the gifts of the Spirit are things He brings in His hand to give us and leaves them with us. This is wrong. 

If we understand gifts only as a result of the work of the indwelling Spirit of God then we can understand the word "charismata" which is used of the spiritual results of having the Holy Spirit present and released in our lives in the rest of the chapter.

When we speak of a person being charismatic we do not mean that he brings us lots of gifts and then leaves. We mean that he or she brings a giftedness to us in their presence with us. 

The word charismata is directly from the word "charis" which means grace. Charismata are the graces that a person possesses and bring with him or her wherever they are. This is what it means to have the graces of the Holy Spirit. It means that He is in us and if released to express himself He will share his graces (charismata) through us. This is why the question of what is my gift? is not a proper one when we are speaking about things that deal with the Holy Spirit and not of us. 

We have gifts (charismata) as well. We need not confuse them with the Holy Spirit's gifts. Our gifts were first bestowed upon us in our creation. They include everything about us. Our gifts come out of our logos. But these gifts are distinct from the gifts of the Holy Spirit in that they come from us and not directly from God. They may be inspired from the Spirit of God but they do not come directly from the Spirit as do His own unique "graces." 

Our humanity cannot perform miracles. Only the Holy Spirit in us can do that. Our humanity can create a beautiful work of art. And the Holy Spirit can work with our gift and create Spirit inspired art like Bezalel's artistic creations for the tabernacle or David's songs.  The point is that when we speak of the charismata of the Holy Spirit we are talking about what He does through our humanity but not out of it.

You may be asking why this is such an important point with me? 

It is because I have seen the wrong understanding of gifts be used to keep common believers in a state of spiritual passivity. 

I have also seen it used to justify not ever taking an active role in the great commission. "I don't have that gift" I have heard so many say. If you have the Holy Ghost in your life you have any empowerment (gift) you need because it is not your power (gift) it is His!

The person who longs to see God use them but has been told all their lives that they must wait for God to gift them for service, if they believe it, will most likely wait for their whole lives to receive what God has already given them when He gave them the Holy Spirit. If the Holy Spirit is in us then every "grace" (gift) He gives is already in us. We simply need to believe that He is there and move out in faith to do what He has already asked us to do in the Bible.

That is the other problem. Often with the concepts of special gifts that are our unique possession outside of the gift of the indwelling Spirit of God being given to us, comes a requirement to have a special revelation to do anything for God. The Bible is all the revelation we need to do God's will and the indwelling Spirit of God is the power to do it without a special dispensation. 

Does God sometimes speak supernaturally to give us an indication of a special mission He has for us? Undoubtedly! Are these an indication of greater value of the activity? Absolutely not! Are these the only true work we do for God? Never! Are things we do just because we are told to in the Bible "of the flesh?" that is such a wrong understanding! This is the lie of the Logos - Rhema teaching that completely devalues obedience to the stated desires of God in His love letter, the Bible. It says we need a revelation beyond the written word to actually follow God. We do not need any extra biblical revelation to please the Father's heart. We just need to respond in love to what He has shared in His precious Word.

When the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in any believer the only limit to His ability to express all of His "graces" (gifts) is faith and surrender. Whatever charismata we need to accomplish God's purpose as we follow His Word will be manifested in our lives. 

We are not one bit less "gifted" than the Apostle Paul was because the same powerful Spirit of the Living God dwells in us.