“The question of gifts is entirely within the sovereignty of the Spirit, and because of that we should always be open, in mind and in heart, to anything that the Spirit of God may choose to do in his sovereignty.”
- Martin Lloyd-Jones
Since the beginning of time the Holy Spirit has given gifts to men and women in order to accomplish the plans and purposes of God. The Bible teaches that the gifts of the Spirit are available to all believers. Christians may have one or more of the gifts. The main purpose of the gifts is to build up the body of Christ (Eph. 4:7-13).
Spiritual gifts are also given by the Holy Spirit to individual believers to empower and enable them to serve others (1 Cor. 12:4-21; Eph. 4-7-13; Romans 12:6-8). There are numerous gifts of the Spirit. There are motivational gifts, manifestation gifts, and administrative gifts.
The Sovereign Spirit
The Holy Spirit is the One who gives the gifts as he wills. The gifts are not the result of human effort, but they are completely the work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is sovereign and may give any gifts he wants at any time he wills (1 Cor. 12:11). John Owen reminds us, “He works sovereignly. The Holy Spirit distributes to everyone as he wills. He gives one gift to one person and another to another person. So the saints are to keep in constant dependence on him and his sovereignty.” Affirming God’s sovereignty over the gifts keeps us humble and dependent upon him.
Exercising The Gifts
It is important to note that spiritual gifts do not prove an authentic spiritual experience (1 Corinthians 12:7, 11, 13; Ephesians 4:7–8). The Corinthian church had manifestations of the Spirit, but they lacked spiritual maturity and holiness. Therefore, Paul dedicated 1 Corinthians 12, 13, and 14 to address the correct exercise of the Spiritual gifts in the local church. The gifts are to be exercised under the leadership of the church and according to biblical guidelines (Rom. 12:3-8; 1 Cor. 12, 14).
In addition, we should not “believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God” (1 John 4:1). Many Christians have an uncritical acceptance of unbiblical practices in the name of the Holy Spirit. Just because we believe in the continuation of the gifts of the Spirit does not mean that we should accept everything. In conclusion, it is important for us to test the spiritual gifts by the Word and to know that God is sovereign in the bestowing of spiritual gifts.
To be continued.
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ReplyDeleteLloyd Jones had much to contribute to this area of theology. He has a lot more to say that he gets ink for in Murray's biography. Like all the giants of the faith (particularly of the reformation), to really know them, one has to read their own writings, not what others have written of them.
ReplyDeletegrace & peace