Spiritual Gifts

Romans 1:11

“I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong (established).”

If you read the history of Christianity then you will come across the printing press.  What the printing press did for mass distribution was amazing.  People could now read the Bible for themselves.  Before the Puritans came over to America, the men and women who read the Bible and practiced what it said were not friends to multiple governments across Europe.  They fled from country to country to seek refuge from persecution.  Crazy as it may sound, the established church was also out to silence them. Their eyes and heart were opened by the reading of the Word and they dared to believe what it said.  

The end of Acts leaves us on a cliffhanger of sorts.  We know Paul is going to be killed in Rome, but the Bible tells us he lived two whole years renting a place in Rome and teaching everyone about Jesus.  So I read the first chapter of Romans, the very next book.  Paul states that he longed to come and teach the saints in Rome so that they would be established and to make them stronger. 

They already believed in Jesus.  They already knew about his death and resurrection, but Paul knew they needed something else so that they could become strong and established; spiritual gifts.  Yes that is right, spiritual gifts.  Paul wrote a letter to the believers in Rome so he could impart spiritual gifts.  So what are the spiritual gifts?  I looked up a list of spiritual gifts in the bible and found an article that gives us a definition of all them.  The list is below.  

1. Administration
2. Being an apostle
3. Discernment
4. Evangelism
5. Exhortation
6. Faith
7. Giving
8. Healing
9. Helps
10. Hospitality
11. Knowledge
12. Leadership
13. Mercy
14. Prophecy
15. Serving
16. Speaking in tongues
17. Teaching (sometimes known as shepherding)
18. Wisdom

If this is your first time diving into the list of spiritual gifts I encourage you to study each of them.  They are all for today and the church of Jesus Christ.  They have not been lost to time.  A weak church is a church that does not recognize or operate in these gifts.  Paul said it best, “so that I may impart some spiritual gifts to you, that you may be strong and established.”

Diving into each spiritual gift will take some time and reading.  If you are unsure about any of them, find them in the Bible, look them up.  If you believe the part of the Bible that tells us we are saved then why should not believe the part that tells us we need spiritual gifts?   Remember, the truth will set you free (John 8:32).  If you don’t know all the truth you will not be totally set free.  It is like you trying to fight the fight of faith without some of the armor God wants to give you.  Dive in and get to know the spiritual gifts.

Prayer: Father, just like the printing press gave the everyone the ability to read the Bible we pray that Holy Spirit would quicken our hearts and minds to understand fully these spiritual gifts outlined in your Word. Help us to understand completely and to use each of them under your direction Lord. Open our hearts to receive the whole truth of the Bible and not just bits and pieces that tickle our ears. We thank you for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on that day of Pentecost in the upper room. We thank you that baptism of the Holy Spirit did not die with the early church but it is alive and well. We accept the outpouring of the Holy Spirit through all of the spiritual gifts and pray that we would operate in each of them under your direction Lord. In Jesus name, amen.