In working with our pastors and leaders in Uganda we are focusing, as we are in America, on Jesus’ command to “make disciples.” And that includes a clear understanding of the Gifts of The Spirit … what they are and what they are not.
The Gifts of The Spirit are not the fivefold ministry…
Eph 4:11-12 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ ESV
The Gifts of The Spirit are not the fruit of The Spirit …
Gal 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. ESV
The Gifts of The Spirit are … For the Bride of Christ
Eph 4:12-13 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: KJV
In the original Greek there is no comma after “saints.” Remove the comma and it will help us better understand the intent of the statement; for the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry. The gifts are to perfect the bride of Christ to do the work, not to perfect the work. Perfecting (katartismon) means to correct that which is deficient, which is the purifying and uniting of the bride by instruction and the building up of her faith. God has given us gifts so that we will be able to minister to each other and thereby strengthen one another for the individual and corporate battles the bride faces.
Just as we are instructing our pastors in Uganda, so it is a good reminder for us here in America. We are not called to “get people saved,” that is the purview of the Holy Spirit. We are commanded to spread the gospel and “make disciples” …
Matt 28:19-20 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. ESV
The bottom line is: We cannot make disciples unless we are made disciples. And it is the gifts of The Spirit … the individual gift given to each member of the bride … that we are to discover, receive, step into, and use by faith to edify and equip other members of the bride to fulfill Jesus’ command.
Every member of the bride has been given at least one gift. Do you know what gift you have been given? Have you received it? Have you stepped out into it and are using it?
Sounds familiar, like part of another command we have been given to follow as we walk with God through this life, fulfilling our calling by living The Life we have been given … Jesus’ Life.
Rom 8:29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image [character] of his Son ESV