![The Nine Gifts of the Spirit?by Lary R. Hale
There’s a lot of faulty terminology about things in the Bible and in the faith of Christ that really need to be corrected. One of them is about “the nine gifts of the Spirit.” What? Yeah, I’ve heard about the nine gifts of the Spirit for the entire thirty one years that I’ve been in Christ. I’ve seen books, tape and CD series, seminars, etc., on the nine gifts of the Spirit. And this is a valid and integral point to make because the same thing has been done to so many things in the scriptures, and it results in believing erroneous doctrine that does harm to the souls of the hearers thereof. Well, the whole idea behind the nine gifts of the Spirit school of thought is simply that there are nine gifts of the Spirit listed in I Corinthians 12:8-10. So somewhere, at some time, someone ran with that and declared that there are officially “nine gifts of the Spirit.” And again I say that this is truly something worthy to consider because it has been done with much more serious elements of doctrine, to the hurt of God’s people. It’s really amazing about this particular topic because actually there are FOUR MORE gifts of the Spirit mentioned in the 28th verse of the SAME CHAPTER! So by anyone’s estimation there are at least THIRTEEN gifts of the Spirit mentioned in the same chapter where the renowned “nine gifts of the Spirit” are listed. I hope you see my point, and I would be surprised if you have had God’s Spirit in your life for a while and have not heard of “the nine gifts of the Spirit.” The point is that whenever of wherever you hear of this doctrine of “the nine gifts of the Spirit,” the overwhelming implication is that there are ONLY nine gifts of the Spirit, which we have already seen is not the case. But if that isn’t enough we can go to Romans 12 and in verse 10 we see three more gifts come up, which are “exhortation,” “giving,” and “showing mercy.” Now someone will say, “Well, those are things that everyone is supposed to do.” As far as giving and showing mercy that is true, but these are directly referred to by the apostle as gifts of the Spirit, when you look at verse 6. And the truth is, some folks are specially gifted in things of the Spirit that are necessary for everyone to have. A good example is the gift of faith mentioned in I Cor. 12:9 So the count is now up to SIXTEEN gifts of the Spirit, and believe me, the tally is still running.
I have personally seen more unique gifts of the holy Ghost in God’s people then I would be able to number by memory. I will give you just a few examples of what I have seen manifested, as far as gifts of the Spirit that are not even mentioned in the Bible. One of my sons received a gift directly from the Lord several years ago of receiving songs from heaven. Not only so, but he also had a “gift” from the Lord before that of NOT BEING ABLE to learn how to play the guitar, though he tried on a number of occasions over a period of several years. His motivation was selfish in nature, so God would not even allow him to learn a single chord; but when he turned his life completely over to God, it all just opened up to him and flowed, and that for the gospel’s sake. And we’ve all known or known of people who have distinct gifts of the Spirit in music, yet gifts of music are not even listed in the new testament writings. Nevertheless they are quite real, and quite anointed, when it is real. Another gift of music that I have been around is with a brother in Christ who after receiving the Spirit, he just sat down and started playing classical type music on the piano with tremendous skill, without learning how to play. And he had never played piano before in his life. And my other son has had a gift since he was very young, of being able to discern random people in public places that have the baptism of the holy Ghost in their life. It’s really uncanny. And I have known two women in particular who had a distinct gift of talking to people and getting them to come to worship and prayer services, and they receive the Spirit in their lives. Really the list just goes on, but again the point is made that just because their are nine gifts of the Spirit listed in a certain passage in the Bible, that by no means is an indication that those are THE nine gifts of the Spirit, as they are often referred to. And the admonition that we need to consider with these things is to “prove all things; [and] hold fast that which is good” (I Thess. 5:21). Amen.
Original Post at By One Spirit Ministries Facebook page July 28, 2012](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m7x79f3LaQ1qkyp48o1_1280.jpg)
The Nine Gifts of the Spirit?
by Lary R. Hale
There’s a lot of faulty terminology about things in the Bible and in the faith of Christ that really need to be corrected. One of them is about “the nine gifts of the Spirit.” What? Yeah, I’ve heard about the nine gifts of the Spirit for the entire thirty one years that I’ve been in Christ. I’ve seen books, tape and CD series, seminars, etc., on the nine gifts of the Spirit. And this is a valid and integral point to make because the same thing has been done to so many things in the scriptures, and it results in believing erroneous doctrine that does harm to the souls of the hearers thereof. Well, the whole idea behind the nine gifts of the Spirit school of thought is simply that there are nine gifts of the Spirit listed in I Corinthians 12:8-10. So somewhere, at some time, someone ran with that and declared that there are officially “nine gifts of the Spirit.” And again I say that this is truly something worthy to consider because it has been done with much more serious elements of doctrine, to the hurt of God’s people. It’s really amazing about this particular topic because actually there are FOUR MORE gifts of the Spirit mentioned in the 28th verse of the SAME CHAPTER! So by anyone’s estimation there are at least THIRTEEN gifts of the Spirit mentioned in the same chapter where the renowned “nine gifts of the Spirit” are listed. I hope you see my point, and I would be surprised if you have had God’s Spirit in your life for a while and have not heard of “the nine gifts of the Spirit.” The point is that whenever of wherever you hear of this doctrine of “the nine gifts of the Spirit,” the overwhelming implication is that there are ONLY nine gifts of the Spirit, which we have already seen is not the case. But if that isn’t enough we can go to Romans 12 and in verse 10 we see three more gifts come up, which are “exhortation,” “giving,” and “showing mercy.” Now someone will say, “Well, those are things that everyone is supposed to do.” As far as giving and showing mercy that is true, but these are directly referred to by the apostle as gifts of the Spirit, when you look at verse 6. And the truth is, some folks are specially gifted in things of the Spirit that are necessary for everyone to have. A good example is the gift of faith mentioned in I Cor. 12:9 So the count is now up to SIXTEEN gifts of the Spirit, and believe me, the tally is still running.
I have personally seen more unique gifts of the holy Ghost in God’s people then I would be able to number by memory. I will give you just a few examples of what I have seen manifested, as far as gifts of the Spirit that are not even mentioned in the Bible. One of my sons received a gift directly from the Lord several years ago of receiving songs from heaven. Not only so, but he also had a “gift” from the Lord before that of NOT BEING ABLE to learn how to play the guitar, though he tried on a number of occasions over a period of several years. His motivation was selfish in nature, so God would not even allow him to learn a single chord; but when he turned his life completely over to God, it all just opened up to him and flowed, and that for the gospel’s sake. And we’ve all known or known of people who have distinct gifts of the Spirit in music, yet gifts of music are not even listed in the new testament writings. Nevertheless they are quite real, and quite anointed, when it is real. Another gift of music that I have been around is with a brother in Christ who after receiving the Spirit, he just sat down and started playing classical type music on the piano with tremendous skill, without learning how to play. And he had never played piano before in his life. And my other son has had a gift since he was very young, of being able to discern random people in public places that have the baptism of the holy Ghost in their life. It’s really uncanny. And I have known two women in particular who had a distinct gift of talking to people and getting them to come to worship and prayer services, and they receive the Spirit in their lives. Really the list just goes on, but again the point is made that just because their are nine gifts of the Spirit listed in a certain passage in the Bible, that by no means is an indication that those are THE nine gifts of the Spirit, as they are often referred to. And the admonition that we need to consider with these things is to “prove all things; [and] hold fast that which is good” (I Thess. 5:21). Amen.
Original Post at By One Spirit Ministries Facebook page July 28, 2012
Source: byonespirit.com
