Biblical Analysis of Spiritual Gifts

A BIBLICAL ANALYSIS OF THE DOCTRINE OF THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
A Research Paper
Submitted to Dr. Bart Box
of the
New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary
In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the M. Div. Course
Systematic Theology II – THEO 5301
in the Divisions of Theological and Historical Studies
Daniel J. Tripp
B.S., Liberty University, 2013
May 10, 2015

1
CONTENTS
Section
1. Introduction 2
2. Gifts of the Holy Spirit in the Bible 3
Gifts of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament 3
Gifts of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament 5
3. Gifts of the Holy Spirit Today 7
The Gifts 8
The Gifts Continue Today 10
Who Has the Gifts 13
Why The Gifts are Given 14
4. Conclusion 16
BIBLIOGRAPHY 17

2
1. Introduction
There are a variety of doctrines in the Bible. All of them have different viewpoints and
arguments amongst different theological positions. These different doctrines have been studied,
analyzed, scrutinized and more by theologians throughout history. One doctrine that has not been
given as much attention until recently is the doctrine of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. In the past,
“…systematic theologies did not have chapters on spiritual gifts, for there were few questions
regarding the nature and use of spiritual gifts in the church. But the twentieth century has seen a
remarkable increase in interest in spiritual gifts, primarily because of the influence of the
Pentecostal and charismatic movements within the church.”1
This is the topic and study of this
paper.
When it comes to studying a doctrine, it can be helpful to look at developed theological
definitions in order to aid in gaining a basic understanding. There are a few issues in defining,
and therefore explaining, the gifts of the Holy Spirit. First, there is not a Hebrew or Greek
equivalent to the commonly used English phrase, spiritual gifts. Second, there is very little
agreement of what the phrase even means.2
These issues will be discussed and a solution will be
presented in the later subsection of this paper, “The Gifts”. For now, Wayne Grudem offers a
helpful broad definition for the gifts of the Holy Spirit, or spiritual gifts: “A spiritual gift is any
ability that is empowered by the Holy Spirit and used in any ministry of the church.”3
This
definition is helpful but also brings up multiple questions that will need to be analyzed biblically
in this paper. Questions such as: What do the Old and New Testaments of the Bible have to say

1
Wayne A. Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (Leicester, England;Grand
Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; Zondervan Pub. House, 2004), 1016.
2
M. Turner, “Spiritual Gifts,” ed. T. Desmond Alexander and Brian S. Rosner, New Dictionary of Biblical
Theology (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000), 790.
3
Grudem, Systematic Theology, 1016.

3
about the work of the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Holy Spirit? What are the gifts? Do the gifts
continue today? Who has the gifts? Why are the gifts given? This biblical analysis paper will
argue that all justified believers have the Holy Spirit who gives spiritual gifts, as He wills, to
them today for the purpose of building up the church.
2. Gifts of the Holy Spirit in the Bible
When studying a particular doctrine, there is no better place to look than the word of
God. It is false to believe that God has given every detail of every doctrine in the Bible. But,
when systematically studied and analyzed, one can begin to have a clearer understanding of the
doctrine. That is why this paper will begin by looking into both the Old and New Testaments for
a general overview of the gifts and work of the Holy Spirit.
Gifts of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament
The Holy Spirit is God Himself and is the third part of the Trinity. He has always been
God and has always existed. He was present and active during creation (Gen. 1:2) and for all of
history. But, “It is often difficult to identify the Holy Spirit within the Old Testament, which
reflects the earliest stages of progressive revelation. In fact, the term ‘Holy Spirit’ is rarely
employed here. Rather, the usual expression is ‘the Spirit of God.’”4
Because of the different
phrase that is commonly used compared to the New Testament, and usage in this paper, it can be
difficult to study His work in the Old Testament. That is one reason that Jewish believers do not
recognize the Holy Spirit as being a different part of the Trinitarian God than the Father. But, a
perusal through the Old Testament shows that individuals were not only aware of the Holy Spirit
and His work, but were also empowered by him for particular tasks.
Taking just a quick look through a handful of accounts in the Old Testament shows that
He was active during that time. “The Spirit even entered such unlikely persons as Balaam (Num.

4
Millard J. Erickson, Christian Theology, 3rd ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2013), 789.

4
24:2).5
” And, even the pagan Pharaoh recognized the Spirit’s work through Joseph (Gen. 41:38).
In Ps. 51:11, David begged God to not take His Holy Spirit away from him. This kind of
pleading did not come from a pagan. This came from a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22)
that was repenting from sin.
At a different time, “When Moses needed assistance in leading the people of Israel, part
of the Spirit was taken from him and given to others…” (Num. 11:25).6
This shows that the
Spirit was present and active but could be taken away or possiblly distributed in different ways.
“The other OT pneumatology presents the Spirit of God as a manifestation of his transcendence
rather than of his immanence, that is, as the charismatic Spirit. On this model, the Spirit typically
‘falls upon’ or ‘seizes’ a person; ‘fills’ him or her, and enables immediate revelation, charismatic
wisdom, inspired speech or acts of power, such as can be attributed only to God’s direct work,
not to ordinary human potential.”7
This was the main way that the Holy Spirit operated in the
Old Testament and the main way that a modern theologian begins to see and learn about the gifts
of the Holy Spirit today. One way that this happened is when the prophets were filled by the
Spirit to write the inspired Scripture that now makes up the Old Testament today (2 Pet. 1:21).
“Since the Holy Spirit produced the Scriptures, they can be referred to as ‘God-breathed’
(θεόπνευστος—theopneustos—2 Tim. 3:16).”8
This was a great task that the Holy Spirit
equipped specific people for. It was for the purpose of giving God glory and spreading His word
to the nations. But, this Spirit empowering was not always on these men. It was a shadow of the
things to come.

5
Ibid., 790.
6
Ibid., 791.
7
Turner, New Dictionary of Biblical Theology, 791.
8
Erickson, Christian Theology, 790–791.

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“Isaiah looks to a future outpouring of the Spirit as a time of productivity within the
creation: there will be desolation ‘till the Spirit is poured on us from on high, and the desert
becomes a fertile field, and the fertile field seems like a forest’ (32:15).”9
The prophet Isaiah
knew that the Spirit was not being poured out in the most complete way. He knew that the Spirit
was vital to life and life abundant. Isaiah was not the only one who looked forward to this day.
The most famous passage on this forward vision of the Holy Spirit is found in Joel 2:28-29. He
spoke of a day when everyone would have the Spirit and they would do mighty works because of
Him in them. This was not yet a reality in the Old Testament.
As was briefly seen above, the Holy Spirit was active in the Old Testament. Miracles did
occasionally occur, prophets were able to deliver prophecies at times, and the Spirit did other
empowering works. But, He was primarily not as active as will be seen in the New Testament
study.10
The prophets looked to the day when the pouring out of the Spirit would be in a greater
capacity; A capacity that was unknown to them and their people during their time.
Gifts of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament
As the story of redemption continued into the New Testament, the Holy Spirit also
expanded His role in the lives of believers, and eventually into the church at Pentecost and today.
Joel’s prophecy would have been well known during the time that the New Testament began.
God had been silent for 400 years. The people were ready for the Spirit to be poured out. When a
wild looking man began to preach that the kingdom of God was at hand, they no doubt were
reminded of Joel’s prophesy. “John the Baptist heightens people’s expectations of the fulfillment
of Joel’s prophecy when he announces that someone is coming after him who ‘will baptize you

9
Ibid., 790.

10
Grudem, Systematic Theology, 1016–1017.

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with the Holy Spirit and with fire’ (Matt. 3:11; cf. Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16; John 1:33; Acts 1:5).”11
John the Baptist was of course speaking of the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ.
Jesus, the second part of the Trinity, the Son of God, did work in the Holy Spirit. The
Spirit can be seen throughout His ministry. “The Spirit is present in dramatic form from the very
beginning of Jesus’s public ministry, when there was a perceivable coming of the Holy Spirit
upon him at his baptism (Matt. 3:16; Mark 1:10; Luke 3:22; John 1:32).”12
God was making it
obvious that Jesus’ work was in the Holy Spirit. In fact, “Clearly, Jesus has come in the greater
new covenant power of the Holy Spirit and he has come to conquer Satan’s kingdom.”13
He did
this through the preaching of the word, healing diseases, casting out demons and more.
The new covenant power of the Holy Spirit was not contained to only Jesus’ ministry.
Jesus sent out His disciples in Matt. 10:7-8 to do mighty works of God similar to what Jesus was
doing Himself.14
These were ordinary men that were being used by God. Many of these men
were the lowest of the low and would never be naturally picked to serve God. But, the Holy
Spirit used them for particular tasks for His glory and to take the gospel to the world. While
events of Jesus being used by the Spirit and His disciples being used in similar ways occurred,
this was not the fullest outpouring of the Spirit. Ultimately, “The pouring out of the Holy Spirit
in new covenant fullness and power in the church occurred at Pentecost.”15
Before Jesus ascended into heaven, he told the disciples that the Holy Spirit would come
upon them and that they would receive power at that time. Peter stated in his famous sermon in

11
Ibid., 1017.

12
Erickson, Christian Theology, 793.

13
14
Ibid.

15
Ibid.

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Acts 2 that what happened to them was what Joel prophesied. He realized that the time had now
come for the Holy Spirit to come in a fuller way because of what Jesus had done and that He had
now ascended and was seated at the right hand of God.16
This meant that the Holy Spirit was now
more active in the lives of believers around the world. According to Joel’s prophesy, the Spirit
was poured out on all flesh. He was still empowering believers for specific tasks for His glory
and to take the out the gospel. But, He now began doing this in a bigger, broader way.
This is why Paul and Peter spent time in some of their inspired letters that now make up
the New Testament, to discuss and explain spiritual gifts. There are multiple New Testament
passages in the epistles that the apostles made space to explain this doctrine. These passages will
be analyzed and discussed in the following sections in “Gifts of the Holy Spirit Today”. But, one
thing must be stated now. The Holy Spirit was beginning to operate in greater ways, which
meant that individuals, and even entire churches, misunderstood and misused the gifts that the
Holy Spirit was giving. This is a tragedy. It is a sad reality that these men even had to address the
gifts of the Holy Spirit in their letters. The reality that is event sadder is that these gifts are still
misunderstood and misused today. That is why a biblical analysis of the doctrine of the gifts of
the Holy Spirit cannot merely look into the overall viewpoint of the doctrine in the Old and New
Testaments. This doctrine must be studied further for the purpose of understanding and using the
gift for the purpose that God originally intended. This purpose, along with other questions about
the doctrine is the next subject of this paper.
3. Gifts of the Holy Spirit Today
After looking at a basic overview of the doctrine of the gifts of the Holy Spirit in the Old
and New Testaments, it is obvious that the Holy Spirit’s work exploded at Pentecost. He was
always at work, but He became much more active when He came upon the apostles after Jesus

16
Ibid., 1018.

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ascended into heaven. The brief study above left much to be desired. There are many practical
questions that have been left unanswered until this point. Questions such as: what are the gifts?
Are they all still for today? Who has the gifts? Why were the gifts even given? These questions
will now be answered in the following subsections of this paper.
The Gifts
As explained in the introduction of this paper, there is no Greek equivalent to the phrase
‘spiritual gifts’ in English. This can make it difficult to study this doctrine and to understand it
practically for today, as this section intends to do. Looking at the first reference from Paul, “The
apostle Paul uses the noun charisma G5922 (‘favor, something graciously bestowed, gift’) in
combination with pneumatikos G4461 (‘spiritual’) only once, when writing to the Romans: ‘I
long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong’ (Rom.
1:11)”17
In this particular reference, Paul is referring to a singular gift. While it is unknown as to
what he is exactly referring to, he is not speaking in the plural. In other places, Paul doesn’t
combine these two Greek words together. Instead, he puts either of the words by themselves in
the plural.18
This is where the term, spiritual gifts, is found in the Greek. Turner offers a helpful
description of a spiritual gift in order to move forward, “…a spiritual gift is a manifestation of
the Spirit through an individual in an event or enabling for the service of God and/or his
people.”19
The different manifestations (1 Cor. 12:7a) are the subject for the rest of this section.
In Grudem’s Systematic Theology, he offers a helpful list of the six New Testament
passages that list any specific spiritual gifts that are listed in the New Testament. The gifts are

17
J. D. Douglas, Zondervan Illustrated Bible Dictionary. (Rev. ed. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan,
2011), 528.

18
Ibid.

19 Turner, New Dictionary of Biblical Theology, 790.

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found in the following passages: 1 Cor. 12:28: apostle, prophet, teacher, miracles, kinds of
healings, helps, administration, and tongues; 1 Cor. 12:8-10: word of wisdom, word of
knowledge, faith, gifts of healing, miracles, prophesy, distinguishing between spirits, tongues,
and interpretation of tongues; Eph. 4:11: apostle, prophet, evangelist’, and pastor-teacher; Rom.
12:6-8: prophecy, serving, teaching, encouraging, contributing, leadership, and mercy; 1 Cor.
7:7: marriage and celibacy; and 1 Pt. 4:11: whoever speaks and whoever renders service.20
It is
obvious when looking at these gifts that there is some overlap in these lists as well as different
kinds of gifts that are listed. In fact, “Some gifts appear to be closely related to natural talents
and/or Christian character (e.g., the gifts of helps and generosity, respectively). Others seem to
be out of the ordinary (e.g., speaking in tongues, especially if understood to be ecstatic).”21
But,
it is incorrect to view some gifts as natural and some as out of the ordinary. God gives all the
gifts for His purposes. So, by definition, they are all supernatural because they are not from
human origin. Although some of the gifts such as administration, teaching, serving, and others
can be done outside of the Christian faith; they are not spiritual gifts unless they are given by the
Spirit for His purposes. Any gift that is given by the Holy Spirit is a spiritual gift.
Lastly, there is a practical question of how many spiritual gifts there actually are. In
Grudem’s list above, there are 22 different spiritual gifts. But, did Paul purposefully list these
exact gifts because there are only that many gifts? Most likely, “…Paul was not attempting to
construct exhaustive lists of gifts when he specified the ones he did…it seems that in general
Paul was almost randomly listing a series of different examples of gifts as they came to mind.”22

20
Grudem, Systematic Theology, 1019–1020.
21
Graham A. Cole, He Who Gives Life: The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit. (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books,
2007), 249.

22

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This is most likely why Peter chose to simply summarize the types of gifts that are possible in 1
Pt. 4:11: whoever speaks and whoever renders service. As will be seen later, the gifts are given
in different ways. This means that the church is full of a great variety of gifts, all for the Holy
Spirit’s purposes.
The Gifts Continue Today
It was seen above that there are a variety of spiritual gifts given for the Holy Spirit’s
purposes. But, there is a great debate in Evangelical circles today about these gifts. Some circles
state that these gifts are completely active today and that some are even necessary to be seen for
salvation while others “…would argue that some of the more miraculous gifts (such as prophecy,
tongues plus interpretation, and perhaps healing and casting out of demons) were given only
during the time of the apostles, as ‘signs’ to authenticate the apostles during the early preaching
of the gospel.”23
These circles are called Pentecostals and cessationists, respectively. The
majority of Evangelicals do not fall into either of these extreme circles but might agree with
some of each of their views. The fact is that “Both cessationists and continuationists are
supernaturalists. Their differences lie in different assessments of the importance for today of the
gifts of the Holy Spirit.”24
This section will attempt to provide an answer to this important
question for today.
As referenced in the last quotation above, there are two major views regarding the Gifts
of the Holy Spirit today: cessationism and continuationism. As the names describe, the two
major views involve whether or not the ‘miraculous’ gifts still continue to be given today.
Cessationists believe that there are “No ‘miraculous’ gifts today, but miracles may happen as

23
Ibid., 1031.
24
Cole, He Who Gives Life, 252-253.

11
God pleases.”25
Within continuationists there are 4 separate viewpoints: Open but Cautious,
Third Wave, Charismatic, and Pentecostal. Each of these views, respectively, progressively have
a more open view to the ‘miraculous’ gifts today. Open but Cautious proponents say that the
“Apostolic message was uniquely validated by abundant miracles, but the NT does not teach
‘cessationism.’ Modern miracles may be rare and must be performed biblically.”26
Third Wave
views that miraculous gifts still help during evangelism but that Spirit baptism and the new birth
are the same occurrence. They do believe that other fillings or empowerments by the Spirit are
still available. Next in the progression of viewpoints today are those that are Charismatic. They
are not all united in their beliefs on the gifts but tend to be more of an in between of Third Wave
and the last viewpoint, Pentecostal. They do believe that all of the miraculous gifts are for today
and some are very similar to the Pentecostal beliefs. Lastly, the Pentecostal viewpoint believes
that all of the gifts are for today, baptism of the Spirit is for a Christian to be empowered and
should be sought after, and that tongues are the sign that the baptism of the Spirit has occurred.27
In order to understand which of these viewpoints is most viable, one must look no further than 1
Cor. 13:8-12.
1 Cor. 13:8-12 is in the middle of Paul’s three chapter long explanation to ensure that the
Corinthian church is not misinformed about the gifts of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12:1). He clearly
states in 1 Cor. 13:8 that prophecies, tongues, and knowledge will cease, or, pass away. The
question is: when will these gifts pass away? It is obvious through the Greek construction that

25
Gaylen P. Leverett, “THEO350, Fundamental Theological Issues" (unpublished class notes, Liberty
University, Fall 2012), 44.
26
Ibid.

27
Ibid.

12
this is an incomplete list that could include all of the ‘miraculous’ gifts. 28
The answer to this
question can be found in the remaining verses. Paul states that these gifts are the partial (v. 9-10)
and that when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away (v. 10). He also states in v. 12 that he
and the Corinthians saw things in a mirror dimly but will see things face to face when the perfect
comes. It is obvious that the solution to this cessation vs. continuation debate is when the perfect
comes (v. 10). “1 Corinthians 13:10 could be paraphrased, ‘When the perfect is come, prophecy
and tongues and other imperfect gifts will pass away.’ The only remaining problem is to
determine what time is meant by the word ‘when.’…the Lord’s return is what Paul has in
mind.”29
The main reason that this is the best interpretation of the passage is because of the
phrase ‘face to face’ in v. 12. “The phrase ‘see face to face’ is several times used in the Old
Testament to refer to seeing God personally—not fully or exhaustively, for no finite creature can
ever do that, but personally and truly nonetheless. So when Paul says, ‘but then face to face’ he
clearly means, ‘but then we shall see God face to face.’ Indeed, that will be the greatest blessing
of heaven and our greatest joy for all eternity (Rev. 22:4: ‘They shall see his face’).”30
Thus the
partial, the ‘miraculous’ gifts, will continue until Christ returns. This has not yet happened which
means that these miraculous gifts are still being distributed as the Lord wills today.
An analysis of 1 Cor. 13:8-12 made it clear that a continuationist viewpoint is the most
viable biblical viewpoint on the doctrine today. But, which of the four views is the best? Are any
heretical? In short, the Pentecostal viewpoint, along with any Charismatics that share their view
on the baptism of the Holy Spirit should be viewed as heretical. There are seven key passages on
the baptism of the Holy Spirit and after careful study of them, one can decide that this baptism is

28
Ibid.
29

30
Ibid.

13
the same occurrence as the new birth. Thus, Pentecostals, and Charismatics who share their
viewpoint, add a component to salvation that the Bible does not. It is therefore best for a
theologian to exclude himself from all Charismatic viewpoints as well in order to be safe. This
leaves a theologian with two viable, biblical options, Open but Cautious and Third Wave. This
writer most comfortably agrees with the Open but Cautious viewpoint but believes that Graham
Cole’s wording, Open but Discerning, is more accurate and helpful. Cole describes Open but
Discerning as a “…a certain generosity toward those who are enthusiastic for Christ and who
believe in a living God who acts in history today, but whose theological skill in articulating the
nature of their experiences, ministries, and gifting maybe lacking. Genuine gifts from God and
experiences of the Lord may simply be misdescribed. It is all too easy to dismiss the experience
rather than to explain the way of the Lord more accurately as Priscilla and Aquila did with
Apollos (Acts 18:26).31
Any claims or practicing of the ‘miraculous’ gifts must be “…tested by
doctrine (1 Cor. 12:2-3) and on moral grounds (Matt. 7:15; Rom. 8:9).”32
Who Has the Gifts
Now that it has been seen what the gifts are and that they are continuing today and will
continue until Jesus comes back, another practical question still remains: Who has the gifts?
Thankfully, Paul had this in mind when he wrote 1 Cor. 12:1-11. In this pericope, when handled
exegetically, one can understand the answer to the question of this section.
In v.1, Paul explains that he does not want the Corinthian church to be uninformed about
spiritual gifts. He is giving his audience the subject to his topic for the next three chapters. This
tells the audience to switch their minds to the subject of this particular paper. He begins his
explanation and argument by bringing their minds back to their past sinful state. He reminds

31
Cole, He Who Gives Life, 258.

32
Douglas, Zondervan Dictionary, 529.

14
them that they were once led astray to mute idols. They were useless, speechless, idols, not the
one true God. In v. 3 Paul makes it clear that an individual can only serve one master. If someone
truly has the Spirit then he will proclaim that Jesus is Lord. This means that only justified
believers have the Holy Spirit. In Eph. 1:13, Paul explains that believers are sealed with the
promised Holy Spirit. This is the Holy Spirit that Joel prophesied about and that Jesus promised
would come after Him. This tells the audience that there is something distinctly different about
those that are in Christ. 1 Cor. 12:3 tells us that they have the Spirit! V. 4-11 explain that there
are multiple kinds of gifts. As seen earlier in this paper, it is not even known how many gifts
there truly are. There are certainly at least 22 different kinds of gifts. But, with all of these gifts,
there is only one Spirit and one God. V. 6b-7a are key verses for summarizing this passage in
order to answer the question of this section. Paul states that everyone is given a manifestation of
the Spirit. This means that all justified believers, not literally all of the human race (v. 3), has the
Spirit and has been given a spiritual gift by Him.
Lastly, in v. 11, Paul states that all of the gifts are empowered and given by the Holy
Spirit and that He does this as He wills. In this statement, it can be said that God is sovereign
over His gifts. The Holy Spirit gives them all for His purposes. This means that every believer is
held responsible and that “Everyone is accountable for any gift given to him or her (1 Cor. 4:7; 1
Pet. 4:10).”33
They are held responsible by and to the one that gave the gift(s): the Holy Spirit.
Why the Gifts are Given
It is now understood what the spiritual gifts are, that they continue today, and who they
have been given to. But, the question that remains, that has been hinted at already, is why the
gifts are given. To ask it in a different way, what exactly are those that have been given spiritual
gifts going to be held accountable to do? God has sovereignly apportioned spiritual gifts to every

33
Ibid.

15
justified believer (1 Cor. 12:11). He has given spiritual gifts for the purpose of building up His
church.
Going back to 1 Cor. 12, Paul is trying to inform the Corinthian church about spiritual
gifts. He is doing this in order to correct them because they were regenerated saints that were
living as if they did not know Christ. In 1 Cor. 12:7-20, Paul continued his teaching by
explaining that all justified believers have a spiritual gift given by the Holy Spirit. Although they
are given these gifts directly as God wills for them individually, all of the gifts are given for one
unified purpose: for the common good (v. 7). This phrase, for the common good, will be
discussed in detail later. First, it must be understood that every believer, although an individual,
is part of the body of Christ. They are one together, in Christ. The reason for this can be found in
v. 12-13. The cross is the great equalizer. Everyone is either dead in his sin (Eph. 2:1-3) or
baptized into one body (1 Cor. 12:13a). Going off of the analogy of a body, Paul explains in v.
14-20 that although there are many parts to a body, there is just one body. Every single one of
the members, or parts, serves a particular role and is needed. A body that is just an eye would not
be able to hear and a body that is just and ear would not be able to smell (v. 17). Every believer
serves a particular purpose for the body of Christ and that purpose was chosen by God (v. 18).
The only issue is that this purpose is still undefined. As stated above, v. 7 states why all
justified believers have a spiritual gift: for the common good. But, what does this mean?
Erickson, states that the gifts are given “…for the edification of the whole body, not merely for
the enjoyment or enrichment of the individual members possessing them (12:7; 14:5, 12).”34
It is
in Paul’s later explanations on the gifts of the Holy Spirit in chapter 14 that He defines and
explains, ‘for the common good’ (v. 7). It is to build up the body of Christ that he spoke at length

34
Erickson, Christian Theology, 798.

16
about. It is for the common good, of the body. Any other use of the gift is in direct opposition to
the will of God: sin. This is because God gave the gifts by His will. In order then, to understand
how to remain in God’s will in this area one must understand the basic function of a church. Of
course, one basic function is to give God glory and to enjoy Him forever.35
But, more specific
than this, the church exists to share the gospel and to make disciples of all nations (Acts 1:8,
Matt. 28:18-20). Ultimately, spiritual gifts must be used for this purpose. Believers are to be
equipped for the work of this ministry (Eph. 4:12). This is how they can be good stewards of the
gift that was given to them by the Spirit. This is what they are accountable to do.
4. Conclusion
Due to the surge of charismatic churches over the past 50 years, there has been an
increasing need to have a better understanding of the Holy Spirit and His spiritual gifts. This
paper has attempted to be a brief biblical analysis of this doctrine. Through consideration of the
Old and New Testaments, it was seen that the Holy Spirit has been active throughout history and
was poured out on all believers after Christ ascended into heaven as promised by the prophet Joel
and Christ Himself. These believers, even today, have been given spiritual gifts according to the
will of God. He will continue to give spiritual gifts until the day that Jesus, the perfect, returns.
These gifts are for the purpose of building up the church, to glorify God by taking the gospel to
the world and making disciples of Christ. Any abuse of the gifts and how they are prescribed in
His word would be a direct contradiction to the will of God and would be sin. By the grace of
God, He has taught His followers what they need in order to not be misinformed about the gifts
(1 Cor. 12:1) in the word of God.

35
"Bible Presbyterian Church Online: WSC Question 1." Bible Presbyterian Church Online: WSC
Question 1. Accessed May 10, 2015.

17
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Books
Cole, Graham A. He Who Gives Life: The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit. Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway
Books, 2007.
Douglas, J. D. Zondervan Illustrated Bible Dictionary. [Rev. ed. Grand Rapids, Mich.:
Zondervan, 2011.
Erickson, Millard J. Christian Theology. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1983.
Grudem, Wayne. Systematic Theology: an Introduction to Biblical Doctrine. Grand Rapids,
Mich.: Zondervan, 1994.
Leverett, Gaylen P. “THEO350, Fundamental Theological Issues.” Unpublished class notes.
Liberty University, Fall 2012.
M. Turner, “Spiritual Gifts,” ed. T. Desmond Alexander and Brian S. Rosner, New Dictionary of
Biblical Theology (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000), 790.
Electronic Documents

“Bible Presbyterian Church Online: WSC Question 1.” Bible Presbyterian Church Online: WSC
Question 1. Accessed May 10, 2015.

Biblical Analysis of Spiritual Gifts

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