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(Matthew 18:19,20)
Section 1 - Lesson 13
A Hebraic Perspective
The Holy Spirit: Power Behind Spiritual
Gifts
The Holy Spirit: Instigator of Communal
Connectedness
A Hebraic Perspective
Holy Spirit: Power Behind Spiritual Gifts
“Now about spiritual gifts,
brothers,
I do not want you to be ignorant”
(1 Corinthians 12:1).
“So also you: since you are
zealots of spiritual things,
seek that you may abound to the upbuilding
of the called-out ones”
(1 Corinthians 14:12, literal
translation).
What is a spiritual gift?
Simply, the Holy Spirit working through
His people in a given manner at the time He chooses so that
they can carry out the ministry appointed to them by God.
A gift endowed by the Holy Spirit can be
identified by the motivation for its use. You walk in that gifting by being
prompted or even impelled by the Spirit. His work in you
will cause others to praise God as they see the result of His
participation through you, just as those of Jesus’s day
gave God thanks when they saw what He did!
Almost anyone you encounter has talents or
capabilities that have been developed from either their raw
genetic framework or from intensive training. These are not
spiritual gifts. Gifts of the
Spirit have a supernatural
quality, since the Spirit of Christ has given them to you! In
other words, a spiritual gift is received after conversion.
A friend years back wrote this insightful
passage to clarify the topic of spiritual gifts: “Every
believer has a gift or gifts apportioned to him or her. Every
believer is responsible to exercise
those gifts. Every believer has
some gift, therefore all should be encouraged. No one has all the
gifts, therefore all should be humble. All gifts are for the one
Body, therefore all should be harmonious. All gifts are from the Lord, therefore all
should be content” (emphasis
added).1
Followers of Jesus are indeed privileged
to be gifted by His Spirit. Yet, we are also held accountable
by God to exercise that privilege as His Spirit prompts.
In the earliest Church, the gifts of the
Holy Spirit were manifested in both the believers’
individual and communal lives to build up the Body in
love-grounded obedient trust. Through exercise of these various
gifts, the followers of Jesus were continually aware of
God’s proximity and His loving concern for the spiritual
growth of His people.
A further dimension of reliance on the
Spirit within was spiritual warfare. They had no doubt that their Adversary, as
dangerously ravenous as a roaring lion, had declared war on
them for trusting in Jesus (see Revelation 12:17).
The reality of Satan and evil spirits
wasn’t new to them. Examples of demonic manifestations
and interaction with man are threaded throughout the Older
Testament. (See 1 Samuel 16:14; 1 Chronicles 21:1; Job 1:7;
Zechariah 3:1.) Even more dramatically, these early believers
saw firsthand or heard accounts of demonic deliverance by Jesus
and the apostles.
So one of the functions of the Holy Spirit
was to provide the followers of Jesus with particular
empowerment by which they could do battle against evil.
Great spiritual lessons can be drawn from
the history recounted in the Hebrew Bible. The God Who guided
Joshua and David in battle knew something about fighting and
winning wars!
The first lesson in warfare was that every
soldier had a key purpose and
specialty. Not everyone was a
scout, an armor-bearer or a javelin thrower. The combination of
specialized warriors functioned as an effective army unit.
“Among all these soldiers there were
seven hundred chosen men who were left-handed, each of whom could
sling a stone at a hair and not miss” (Judges 20:
16). The angle of shot for a lefty was opposite that which an
enemy might anticipate, and their accuracy was an especially
prized skill as well!
Others among the troops were “armed with
bows and were able to shoot arrows or to sling stones right-handed or
left-handed” (1 Chronicles 12:2).
Each unique ability was needed for the
good of the whole, just as with spiritual gifting. And because
God shows no partiality (Deuteronomy 10:17), we must not
consider one anointing greater than another. Once again, the
principle of equal value finds scriptural precedent for us
today. David led his troops against the Amalekites who had
captured the families of his men. But his most exhausted
soldiers stayed behind to guard their possessions.
After the battle was won and the families
recovered, David passed an ordinance: “The share of the man who stayed with the
supplies is to be the same as that of him who went down to the
battle. All will share alike” (1
Samuel 30:24). Each did his part to meet the needs of the
whole, and was rewarded accordingly.
When Paul refers to the variety of gifting
intended to serve God’s purposes, he’s able as a
Hebrew Bible scholar to call upon his remembrance of his
people’s military history. Each and every assignment was
necessary for the well-being of the collective called-out ones: “All these are the work of one and the
same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines” (1 Corinthians 12:11).
Paul’s military references in his
letters to Timothy, Philemon and the followers of Jesus in
Philippi reinforce the understanding that we are at war in the
heavenlies. A warfare mentality
demands that each soldier for Christ do his or her part through
the power of the Holy Spirit. Much
of the Church, however, has relegated the gifts of the Holy
Spirit to something akin to an elective college course.
Whether at the level of home fellowship or
congregation, the spiritual coordination
and cooperation of the gifts to
meet God’s purposes for each faith community is dependent
on discerning and obeying the Holy Spirit.
Two chief reasons underlie the lack of coordination
of gifts in faith communities:
• Failure to understand the nature of the spiritual warfare in which the Church is engaged.
• Ignorance of the importance of spiritual gifts in contending victoriously in this struggle.
The Church was called to take the
offensive in waging war against the powers of darkness. As our
Captain promised, “I will
build my church, and the gates of hell will not withstand
it” (Matthew 16:18).
“Gates” don’t fight! They’re meant to
be knocked down by our Lord’s troops as we invade enemy
soil with the Sword of Truth.
The gifts of the Holy Spirit, the individual spiritual
empowerment He gives as He judges best for each, equip us to
fight vigorously and victoriously in the inevitable spiritual
warfare we’ll encounter. The Spirit aspires to use every follower of Jesus to do his or her part.
Try to envision yourself and your faith
community at war as the early Church did. Then try to grasp the nature
of the power that’s required to wage and win the war. Again,
a spiritual gift is not the same as a natural talent. Your natural abilities
are put to use according to the impulse of your mind’s determination.
Spiritual gifts are imparted by the Holy
Spirit to your spirit. Because they emanate from God to serve His
purposes, spiritual gifts come to you after your conversion. At
that point you are indwelled by His Spirit and available to be
an instrument in His hand.
The Holy Spirit knows precisely which
gifts are necessary within each faith community to wage the
particular battles they encounter. No two battles are the same.
Each must be fought with Spirit-discernment and with the
weapons that will be effective when they are coordinated.
David, the warrior who had God’s
heart and ear, was victorious because he was God-dependent in
his battle strategies. Each time He sought His Lord’s
tactics, God directed him differently yet precisely (see 1
Chronicles 14:10; 1 Samuel 23).
Spiritual gifts are a means by which our
Father’s grace is poured out on His children. The Greek
word for gift, “charisma,” comes from
a verb meaning “to show favor, to give freely.” It
is related to the word charis, which means “grace”. So our
Father’s spiritual gifts are His favor freely given to
you for you to walk in spiritual power on His behalf.
The gifts of the Spirit are also referred
to as “pneumatikon”, as in “manifestation
of the Spirit” (see 1
Corinthians 12:7). The indwelling Spirit manifests His presence
in each believer through the particular gift or gifts He has
imparted. His gifts are
Spirit-breathed, and come with the power to use them and the wisdom to know when to use
them.
Aren’t you overwhelmed with humble
gratefulness as you consider the amazing love of our Lord to
impart such gifts to mere humans? These gifts are completely unmerited by
us, for they emanate not from natural inclinations or hope for
recognition but from God’s desire to use us for His
purposes.
Jesus spoke of the Spirit as “power [dunamis, dynamic
power] from on high” (see Luke 24:49). Having walked the earth as a
man, He recognized how frail we are in our own strength, no
matter how noble our intentions. That’s why His promise
is so necessary if we are to fulfill our Father’s plans:
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit
comes on you; and you will be my
witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all
Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).
Recognizing his own limitations, Paul
relied on the wisdom and power of God to touch people’s
hearts through him. The apostle insisted that his preaching was “not with wise and persuasive
words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power; not
in words taught by human wisdom but in words taught by the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 2:4,13).
Since the Holy Spirit was so vitally
necessary to the work of the early Church, believers today must
regain a biblical understanding of His importance.
[For more on spiritual gifts and their use
in spiritual warfare, see our book, God’s Instruments For War. It contains a spiritual gift survey to help determine
what gift(s) the Spirit has apportioned to you.]
Writers’ Observation:
In the military, people are assigned
because of their particular specialty. For example, Mike was a
helicopter pilot. His assignments were based on where a
helicopter pilot was needed.
We’ve seen over the years that the
most spiritually vibrant work of any marriage or faith
community comes about as the individuals know and coordinate
their spiritual gifts. Here’s a point for you to consider:
What if our God, in His foreknowledge, has ordained certain of
His followers to marry because of the gift(s) each brings with
them into their marriage union? Sadly, we’ve found that the lack of knowing and
using their gifts brings frustration into the marriage.
Oftentimes the Spirit draws people into a
particular faith community because their gift(s) are needed
there for the building up and service of that body. The
individuals may not even be aware of the Spirit’s purpose
for joining them to this family of believers. Yet, God’s
Word speaks to this:
“In his heart a man plans his
course, but the LORD determines his
steps” (Proverbs 16:9).
“A man’s steps are directed by the LORD.
How then can anyone understand his own way?” (Proverbs 20:24).
Even without your conscious awareness, our
Lord designed that you marry a particular individual endowed
with particular gifts(s), even if your and/or your
spouse’s relationship with Him didn’t come about
until years later! And, He has placed you in a particular faith
community because your gifts are needed in their midst.
It’s important for you to get hold
of this reality. It will change your spiritual perception of
both your spouse and others in your faith community! As you
come to know the gifts of others, your collective purpose in
God’s service becomes all the more clear.
Do you know what gifts the Holy Spirit has
apportioned to you? Yes or No. If yes, what are they? [If no,
please see our book.]
If yes, would you classify yourself as
someone who zealously uses your spiritual gifts in the body and
in the world, or as a complacent spectator who is apprehensive
to use your gifts? Have you resisted His use of you in your
gifting? When?
Describe two or three instances in which
you experienced the Holy Spirit using your gifts.
If you’re married, do you know your
spouses gift(s)? Yes or No. If yes, how do you coordinate
together in using your gifts?
Do you know the gifts of others close to
you in your faith community? Yes or No. If yes, how do you
coordinate together to use your gifts?
What benefits would derive in your faith
community if each believer manifested the gifts of the Spirit
to one another?
A Hebraic Perspective
Holy Spirit:
Instigator of Communal Connectedness
“What then shall we say, brothers?
When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of
instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All
of these must be done for the strengthening of the
church”
1 Corinthians 14:26
People share fellowship to not only
worship God and praise Him communally (John 4:24), but also to
stir one another in mutual edification (1 Corinthians 14:5,12).
Communal worship and building up truly occur when the Holy
Spirit within each person in the faith community is encouraged
to participate (1 Corinthians 14:26, above).
Have you ever wondered why there are so
few descriptions and instructions about faith communities in
the Newer Testament? First, the apostles didn’t have to
explain what was so very well known among the Hebraic believers
who comprised the early Church.
As to offices and anointings, there were
already apostles and evangelists functioning in the synagogues
prior to the time of Christ. Also, elders and deacons oversaw
the gatherings and collected and distributed alms for the
needy. Their activities were not new developments that
originated in the Newer Testament.
One particular element was critical in the
fellowshiping together of the earliest followers of Jesus: communal participation. This was made possible by the presence of the Holy
Spirit in their midst. The Hebraic model for faith community
gatherings provided the freedom for participation, a pattern
that was adapted into the Church.
Coming together as extended spiritual
family was the means by which followers of Jesus were able to
“one another” in obedience to the commands of
Jesus. Paul’s instructions to the family of Jesus in
Colosse are precise:
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly
as you teach and admonish one
another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual
songs with gratitude in your hearts
to God (Colossians 3:16).
These varied expressions of the
Spirit’s work in their lives were part and parcel of
their relational intimacy with each other as brothers and
sisters.
The participatory enactment we see in the
earliest Church did not just spring up in a vacuum. Far from
it! The earliest Church understood their mutual accountability
for communal righteousness. They communally stayed repentant in order that
the Father would answer their prayers. Linked to their communal
prayer life were communal
responsibility and communal participation in their fellowship gatherings.
Many people who read the Bible in English
are unaware that most of the commands in the Newer Testament
are plural, addressed to the whole faith community — not
singular, for the individual. Exceptions, of course,
appear in personal messages to Timothy and Phile-mon, for
example.
Paul’s instructions to the body of
believers in Philippi address them all together: “Therefore, my
dear friends, as you have always
obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my
absence—continue to work out
your salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians
2:12). The majority of Christians who read this verse today
would understand that they, alone, are to work out their own
salvation. Not so!
Both the Greek verb and the pronoun which
build off the Hebraic view of communal
responsibility are plural. It would
better be understood as “You all work out you all’s salvation with each other’s help.” We’re commanded to collectively and
communally help each other on our pilgrimage to salvation.
Because of their heritage as a people
called out for God’s purposes, our Hebraic ancestors in
the faith clearly perceived themselves as an interconnected whole.
They collectively desired to relate to God in love-grounded
obedience. What we today might refer to as “body
life” was an essential element of that communal
awareness. Communal responsibility, communal righteousness, communal participation all
flowed out of their mutual commitment to God and to each other.
With the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at
Pentecost, is it any wonder you see the enactment of their
communal responsibility shortly thereafter? “All the believers were together and had everything in common.
Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he
had need” (Acts 2:
44,45).
As it pertains to communal participation,
giftings are manifested when the faith community of extended
spiritual family is gathered together. Paul gives us a glimpse
into communal participation as a means of sharing each
other’s gifting:
If the gift of
tongues is exercised, let it be by
two or at most three, and each in turn; and let someone
interpret. And if there is no one present who can interpret, let the
people who speak in tongues keep silent when the congregation
meets — they can speak to themselves and to God. Let two
or three prophets speak, while the others weigh what is said. And
if something is revealed to a prophet who is sitting down, let
the first one be silent (1
Corinthians 14:27-30)
This is the way the extended spiritual
family in Jesus functioned until the Hellenists introduced the
pagan religious practices that are now hallowed as
“church services”. Hellenist-influenced gatherings
produce spectators. A few put on a performance for the many.
Communal participation is the indicator
that the Spirit within each person is given the freedom to both
worship God and build up one another (1 Corinthians 14:5,12).
Are you in a participatory faith community? Yes or No? Describe what
it’s like for you during your fellowship time with
others.
How does what you’ve written align
with what we cited about the earliest Church gatherings?
Recap: Your Life With The Holy Spirit
The early Hebraic believers appreciated
their unique relationship with God because it fulfilled the
Hebrew Scripture prophecies of their righteousness in Christ.
They also clung to one another as an extended spiritual family,
a “body” in which each belonged to the other. The manifestation of the Holy
Spirit in their midst assured them of their acceptance and
chosenness, “a deposit
guaranteeing [their] inheritance until the redemption of those who
are God’s possession” (Ephesians
1:14).
We want to encourage you: The same power
that came upon Jesus when He rose up out of the Jordan River is
available to you and to everyone else who puts their trust in
Jesus as the Bible stipulates. Paul describes it this way:
...his incomparably
great power for us who believe.
That power is like the working of
his mighty strength, which he
exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated
him at his right hand in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 1:19,20).
The Bible affirms certain signs that
evidence the Holy Spirit is truly in someone who claims to be a
Christian. In other words, it isn’t what someone without
the Spirit claims to be, but proof of the
Spirit’s presence that
confirms his true status as our Father’s child. Romans 8:
9 sums it up simply: “...if
anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to
Christ” (Romans 8:9).
Let’s review a few indicators of the
Holy Spirit’s indwelling:
First, the
presence of the Holy Spirit in you indicates you’ve embraced the true Gospel. The 23,000 competing denominations worldwide each
proclaim their own individual versions of the Gospel.
Somebody’s distorting the truth! So the Spirit’s
presence in you is your assurance that you’ve embraced
the true Gospel.
Second, the
convicting presence of the Holy Spirit causes you to live repentantly.
You have a readiness to confess your sins and turn from them,
and you’re reluctant to even tolerate unconfessed sin in your life.
Third, your
life is empowered by the Spirit. As Paul reveals, “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit... All
these are the work of one and the same
Spirit, and he gives them to each one,
just as he determines” (1
Corinthi-ans 12:4,11). When you’re empowered by the
Spirit of God in you, everyone who knows you will recognize it.
Just look at the life changes in followers of Jesus in the Book
of Acts! Out of your mouth will flow testimonies to our
Father’s glory. The Spirit of God in you enables you to experience our
Father and His Son.
Do you think that someone who experiences God can
keep His mouth shut about what that Spirit is doing in and
through him? We don’t think so!
Although the Spirit’s presence in
you is unseen, His working in each of us is evident. Weigh these
realities about the Holy Spirit:
• He’s either dwelling within
you, or He’s not.
• You either live convicted,
repentant and empowered, or you
don’t.
• You either live communally
responsible and actively participating, or you don’t.
Would you and those who know you well in
the faith attest that they see indicators of the Holy Spirit in
you? Ask them to describe evidence that the Spirit indwells
you.
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