Godhead and Gifts

We’ve written a fair bit here about the gifts of the Holy Spirit over the years, though perhaps not so much recently. A quick search by topic shows 34 posts referencing spiritual gifts, and there may be more that didn’t get tagged, yet I doubt we’re in any danger of exhausting the subject.

There is at least one aspect we haven’t explored much or, if we have, I’ve forgotten about it. That would the origin and empowerment of the gifts.

The Source

We call them gifts of the Spirit because scripture tells us the Holy Spirit is their source. Spiritual gifts did not exist before Pentecost. Oh, there were prophecies and healings throughout the Old Testament, but only a few individuals manifested such abilities and nobody could claim the permanent indwelling of God’s Spirit. However, in Ephesians, Paul tells us the ascension of the Lord Jesus (“when he ascended on high”) became the occasion for an abundance of gifts (“he gave gifts to men”) transforming the lives of every believer.

So then, there’s more to the origin and empowerment of spiritual gifts than just the Spirit himself. To examine the subject, we’ll look at three of the four great Bible passages that deal with gifts. Romans 12 doesn’t help us much. There, Paul simply notes that “having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us”, we ought to use them (v6). He does not mention how we got that grace, or from whom.

However, the other three passages utilize a variety of verbs and prepositions to describe the source and function of the gifts in the lives of believers.

The Engine

As to the “power source”, 1 Corinthians 12 tells us “the same God empowers them all in everyone” (v6), yet only a few verses later, we read, “all these are empowered by one and the same Spirit” (v11). Yet if we flip to Ephesians 4, Paul attributes the gifts to Christ: “He who descended … gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers to equip the saints …” When Peter writes about speaking and service, he too says the use of gift is “by the strength that God supplies” (4:11). So then, the entire Godhead is involved in the process.

The Means

If we go back to 1 Corinthians 12, we find a variety of prepositions used to describe how the gifts are given. They come:

• “through the Spirit” (v8);
• “according to the Spirit” (v8); and
• “by the Spirit” (v9).

Paul uses these terms more or less interchangeably, but the element of intentionality is evident in all. The Spirit is making choices and the members of the body are equipped according to his sovereign wisdom.

The Measure

The apostle reinforces this concept with the verbs he uses. We have already encountered “empowers” and “supplies”, but here are two more. First, the Spirit “apportions to each one individually as he wills” (v11). Ephesians 4 also says, “Grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift” (v7).

Later on, we read, “God has appointed in the church first apostles …” (v28). The gifts are not just to individuals but to the church as a whole.

In any case, it’s evident the entire Godhead is involved not only in a one-time shower of miraculous gift at Pentecost but also in the ongoing equipping of the Lord’s people for service throughout the ensuing centuries.