Spiritual gifts

In scripture, the topic of spiritual gifts is first revealed in Ps. 67:19 . In this verse, King David , prophetically speaking about Christ , says: “You have ascended to a height, captured captivity, received gifts for people, so that you can dwell with the Lord among those who resist”. In the Epistle to the Ephesians in the New Testament, the apostle Paul , quoting Ps. 67:19 teaches that the action of spiritual gifts in the Church is a literal fulfillment of David's prophecy ( Eph. 4: 8 ).

As another prophetic illustration of spiritual gifts, some theologians highlight Jesus' parable about talents in Matthew. 25: 14-30 . Giving an explanation to talents, the Orthodox biblical scholar A.P. Lopukhin writes: “By the talent that is given to people, different exegetes understand every gift a person receives from God. But in the private definitions of this general concept, there is some difference. “Under talents,” says Zlatoust, “here it is understood that is in everyone’s power (ή εκάστου δύναμις - everyone’s strength), - or patronage, or estate, or teaching, or something like that. Others understood the gifts the apostle speaks of in 1 Cor. 12 " . ^[four]

Most Bible scholars are unanimous in the idea that the effect of spiritual gifts originates from the day of Pentecost in AD 33, when, as a result of the descent of the Holy Spirit in Acts. 2 chap. the Christian Church was born.

Mostly the biblical teaching on the gifts of ministry is presented by the apostle Paul in the 4th chapter of Ephesians . It is stated here that Jesus Christ , having risen from the dead , established 5 main services in the Church:

There is an opinion that in this passage there are services that are not tied to a specific locality, i.e. functioning in the ecumenical church . In contrast to this, in the 14th chapter of the First Epistle to the Corinthians , on the contrary, it is about the services within the local church . Here the Apostle provides a list of the following eight services:

According to John Chrysostom , the services in this verse are listed in order of importance: “It is not in vain that he says here: firstly, secondly, but delivers the most excellent gift above, and then points to the lowest. Therefore, at first he refers to the apostles who had all the gifts in themselves. He didn’t simply say: God placed others in the Church as apostles or prophets, but added: firstly, secondly, thirdly ... ”

Three other lists of ministry gifts are presented in the following scriptures :

• Rome. 12: 6-8 , apostle Paul : “And as, by the grace given to us, we have various gifts, then, whether you have a prophecy, prophesy according to faith; if you have ministry, abide in ministry; whether the teacher is in teaching; whether exhortation, exhort; whether the distributor, distribute in simplicity; Do you boss, rule with zeal? do benefactor, do good with hospitality ”

• Matt. 23:34 , Jesus Christ : “Behold, I am sending the prophets, and the wise, and the scribes to you” ^[5] .

• 1 Pet. 4: 10-11 , apostle Peter : “Serve one another, each with the gift that he received, as good housekeepers of the varied grace of God. Does anyone speak, speak like the words of God; Does anyone serve? Serve according to the strength that God gives, that God may be glorified in everything through Jesus Christ, to whom glory and power are forever and ever. Amen".

Thus, the scripture contains at least 17 different gifts of service,

• of which five major are mentioned in Ephesus. 4:11 : apostle, prophet, evangelist, shepherd and teacher
• five more in 1Cor. 12:28 : miraculous powers, gifts of healing, gifts of help, gifts of control, different languages
• five more to Rome. 12: 6-8 : minister, admonitor, distributor, boss, benefactor.
• and two more - in Matthew. 23:34 : the sage, the scribe.

Five Major Ministries

Apostle

The word "apostle" comes from the Greek ἀπόστολος (apostle) and in the original language means "sent." An apostle is a person chosen by Jesus Christ and sent with a special commission. The apostle builds a church, and then oversees its development so that it follows the course set by God. The apostle is responsible for appointing a pastor / presbyter / bishop to shepherd the church he planted ( Acts 14: 21-23 ; Tit. 1: 5 ). The distinctive features of a genuine apostle are presented in 2 Cor. 12:12 : "The signs of the Apostle were in front of you with all patience, signs, miracles and powers."

The Gospels distinguish two apostolic groups founded by Jesus Christ: the twelve apostles ( Matthew 10: 1-4 ) and another team - seventy apostles or “apostles from seventy” ( Luke 10: 1-2 ). After the resurrection of the Lord, the ranks of the apostles were filled up by Paul and the other apostles referred to in Ephesus. 4:11 .

In modern Christianity, the Latin equivalent of the word, the missionary, is most often used in relation to people who carry out the ministry of the apostle.

The New Testament teaches the existence of both true and false apostles (or false apostles):

Prophet

The literal meaning of the word “prophet” in Greek: “pro” = “forward, outward”, “fet” = “speak”. Thus, a prophet is someone who says something in advance (or predicts). This is a person with a special message for a specific time and place, received directly from God ( Acts 11:28 , Acts 21:10 ). The results of the New Testament prophet are “edification, exhortation, and comfort” ( 1 Cor. 14: 3 ).

A number of people in the New Testament are referred to as prophets. These are mainly Judah and Strength ( Acts 15:32 ), Agab ( Acts 21:10 ), Varanava, Simeon, Lucius, Manail, and Saul ( Acts 13: 1 ).

Evangelist

An evangelist (from the Greek. Ευαγγελιστηζ, literally "evangelist") is one who preaches the Gospel (or the Good News) to unbelievers.

The only character in the New Testament mentioned as an evangelist is Philip ( Acts 21: 8 ). His work is described in the 8th chapter of the Acts of the Holy Apostles and is considered an example of the ministry of the evangelist.

The central theme of the evangelist’s sermon is the person of Jesus Christ ( Acts 8: 5 ). The purpose of his ministry is to introduce sinners to the Savior and to baptize new converts in water ( Acts 8:16 ). The preaching of the evangelist is accompanied by miracles of healing and casting out demons, attracting the attention of unbelievers and confirming the truth of the gospel ( Acts 8: 6 ).

Traditionally, the authors of the four Gospels are called evangelists - St. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, (which are discussed in the Bible, but which are not called "evangelists" there).

Pastor

A pastor (literally translated from Greek as a shepherd) is the main person of the local church, whose duties include caring for the flock. In chapter 10 of the Gospel of John, Jesus speaks of Himself as a “good shepherd,” and conducts His pastoral ministry as a model.

It is generally accepted that the main essence of pastoral ministry is expressed in John. 10: 11-12 , where Jesus contrasts the image of a true and false shepherd: “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd puts his life for the sheep. But the mercenary, not the shepherd, to whom the sheep are not his own, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep, and flees; and the wolf plunders the sheep, and disperses them. "

Teacher

A teacher is a person who has the special gift of clarifying and interpreting scripture , making it understandable and applicable in life.

Some scholars believe that there are “mobile” teachers who serve the whole Church , regularly teaching different audiences ( Acts 18: 27-28 ) ^[6] , and “local” teachers who teach parishioners of the local church, first accepting from teaching someone, and then transmitting only what they themselves accepted ( Tit. 1: 9 ; 2 Tim. 2: 2 ) ^[7] .

Other Services

The scriptures contain accounts of a number of different ministries that were not identified by a specific name. However, biblical characters required supernatural inspiration and anointing of the Holy Spirit to perform these services. Some theologians include such ministries:

• Intercession ( Rom. 8: 26-27 , Ezek. 22:30 )
• Glorification ( Eph. 5:19 , 1 Chronicles 16: 41-42 )
• Playing musical instruments ( 1 Sam. 16: 16,16: 23 )
• Needlework ( Exodus 28: 3-4,31: 3-11 )
• Celibacy (or sexual abstinence, monasticism) ( 1 Cor. 7: 7 ) ^{[8] [9] [10]} .

The theme of the gifts of the Holy Ghost is examined in detail by the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians, chapters 12-14. The opening words are considered fundamental:

Based on this text, it is customary to distinguish 9 gifts of the Holy Spirit:

• 1 - the word of wisdom
• 2 - the word of knowledge
• 3 - faith
• 4 - gifts of healing
• 5 - wonderworking
• 6 - prophecy
• 7 - discernment of spirits
• 8 - different languages
• 9 - interpretation of languages

It is believed that the key to understanding these gifts is the word “manifestation” ^[11] . The Holy Spirit dwelling within the believer is invisible. But, thanks to the action of gifts, the Spirit of God reveals Himself to the human senses. In other words, each of these gifts is a supernatural manifestation of the Holy Spirit dwelling in the believer and acting through him. And since these gifts are not a believer, but a person of the Holy Spirit, they are all supernatural in nature. Theophan the Recluse believes that "the words" manifestation of the Spirit "mean a clear action of the Spirit, His discovery, noticeable to all." ^[12]

In Pentecostalism and the charismatic movement , where spiritual gifts are given increased attention, the manifestations of the Holy Spirit are generally classified into three different groups:

• Gifts of speech - gifts acting through the organs of human speech (prophecy, different languages, interpretation of languages)
• Gifts of revelation - gifts that provide supernatural revelations (word of wisdom, word of knowledge, discernment of spirits)
• Gifts of power - gifts that demonstrate the power of God in physical reality (faith, gifts of healing, miracles) ^[13]

• The fruit of the Holy Spirit
• Jesus Christ
• Holy Spirit
• Christian church

• Protopresbyter Nikolai Afanasyev "Church of the Holy Spirit"
• Samrall L. “Gifts of Ministry and Gifts of the Holy Spirit”
• Derek Prince "Five-Dimensional Service"