Spiritual Gifts

Spiritual gifts (charismata, from charis, grace) are special abilities or ministries granted by the Holy Spirit to members of the Christian community for the service of the body and the advancement of God's purposes. The primary NT passages are Romans 12:6-8, 1 Corinthians 12-14, Ephesians 4:11-13, and 1 Peter 4:10-11. The Corinthian passage provides the most extensive treatment, listing speaking in tongues, interpretation of tongues, prophecy, wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, and discernment of spirits among the gifts (1 Cor. 12:8-10, 28-30). Romans 12 and Ephesians 4 emphasize gifts of service, leadership, teaching, and pastoral care. 1 Peter 4 simplifies the taxonomy into two broad categories: 'speaking gifts' and 'serving gifts.'

Several theological issues arise from the NT data. First, spiritual gifts are distributed by the sovereign will of the Spirit ('He gives them to each one, just as he determines' — 1 Cor. 12:11), not acquired by human effort alone. Second, they are given for the common good (1 Cor. 12:7), not marks of individual spiritual status — Paul's extended argument in 1 Corinthians 12-14 corrects a Corinthian overvaluation of spectacular gifts (tongues) at the expense of community-edifying gifts (prophecy, teaching). Third, gifts exercised without love accomplish nothing (1 Cor. 13). The question of whether certain gifts (primarily tongues, prophecy, and healing) ceased with the apostolic age (cessationism) or continue throughout the church age (continuationism) is the major contemporary debate, with Pentecostal, charismatic, and Reformed cessationist traditions representing the principal positions.