Part 6 of 10 of the theme 'The Holy Spirit in the NT ' by Gijs van den Brink
We are in this series reviewing the meaning of the Holy Spirit in the NT. Last time we talked about the fullness of the Spirit or the filling with the Spirit. This event that occurred at Pentecost the first time has repeated itself many times since then in the lives of individual believers.
So what is it all about? What is this "equipping" or "anointing" with the Spirit" going to bring us?
This fulfillment involves "spiritual gifts. We find examples of this in several places in the NT.
The most famous enumeration is found in 1 Cor. 12:8-10.
The most famous enumeration
'To one is given by the Spirit a word of wisdom; to another a word of knowledge, by virtue of the same Spirit; 9 to a third by the same Spirit faith; and to yet others the same Spirit bestows the gift of healing diseases, 10 the power to do miracles, the gift of prophecy, the discernment of spirits, the ability to speak in languages or to explain their meaning.' (1 Cor. 12:8-10, WV95)
These are pneumatika, to expressions worked directly by the Spirit. And the enumeration seems borrowed from how the Corinthians deal with this. I cannot go into all the gifts listed, but about two I want to say something.
The gift of "faith" (vs.9) here is not about the faith that preserves us, but the gift of "miracle-working faith," which some receive.
It is faith, which can "move mountains. Through this faith you receive special answers to prayer and, for example, possessed people are set free.
It is further noteworthy that the Greek speaks of ''gifts of healings', in the plural, that is. We will have to take this to mean that you do not possess this gift permanently, but that these manifestations are given again and again by the Spirit. This applies to all the manifestations of the Spirit that Paul mentions here.
They are not talents that you possess, but the Spirit possesses these gifts and uses us as instruments. A talent you possess permanently, but a spiritual gift is owned by the Spirit and He uses us whenever He wants.
Author: Gijs van den Brink
From: Study Bible Magazine
This is part 6 of 10 concise blog on the topic of "The Holy Spirit in the NT" from Study Bible Magazine, Some of which we will be posting online in the near future. We hope this will help you understand the Bible better!
