The Bible is full of instances when men and women were given sudden supernatural abilities by the Holy Spirit. In the New Testament, these supernatural abilities are called “gifts of the Spirit.” They are gifts in the sense that they cannot be earned. We should not forget, however, that God does promote those whom He can trust. Jesus said, “He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much” (Luke 16:10). Thus we would expect that gifts of the Spirit would be more likely to be given to those who have proven their trustworthiness before God. Being fully consecrated and yielded to the Holy Spirit is important, as God is more likely to supernaturally use those kinds of people. On the other hand, God once used a donkey to prophesy, so He can use anyone He pleases. If He had to wait until we were perfect to use us, then He couldn’t use any of us!
In the New Testament, the gifts of the Spirit are listed in 1 Corinthians 12, and there are nine altogether:
For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues (1 Cor. 12:8-10).
Knowing how to define each individual gift is not crucial to being used by God in the spiritual gifts. The Old Testament prophets, priests, and kings, as well as the ministers of the early New Testament church, all operated in the gifts of the Spirit without knowledge of how to categorize or define them. Nevertheless, because the gifts of the Spirit are categorized for us in the New Testament, it must be something that God wants us to understand. Indeed, Paul wrote, “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware (1 Cor. 12:1).
