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"Would I be correct in assuming that a great number of
Christians in the first century possessed spiritual gifts?" Harrell Davidson |
Question: "Would I be correct in assuming that a great number of Christians in the first century possessed spiritual gifts? (1 Cor. 1:7; the prophesy of Joel in Acts 2:17-21; Peter and John in Acts 8, when the Samaritans believed; in Acts 19 when Paul laid hands on the 12 men.) In Romans 12:6 Paul mentions gifts. Some say these are" natural" abilities but prophecy is mentioned in First Corinthians 12:10 as a spiritual gift, and the best gift in First Corinthians 14:1." — Dennis Tucker, Rogersville, MO Answer: One would probably be correct in saying that many Christians possessed spiritual gifts in the first century church. Spiritual gifts were only accomplished through the laying on of apostle's hands. A good text to emphasize this is found in the following: "Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost" (Acts 8:17). This is the record when those in Samaria had heard the preaching of Philip the evangelist, one of those selected in Acts 6 to minister to the Grecian widows who were being neglected with their daily needs, Peter and John — apostles — were sent for the purpose of laying their hands on them to enable them to have the gift of the Holy Spirit. There are some misunderstandings regarding these spiritual gifts. Paul said in First Corinthians 12:8-10, "For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues." The misunderstanding here is that many say that there were only nine spiritual gifts. While nine are enumerated here there were others. If we have counted correctly there were about 15 or 16 different gifts. We must use all accounts of such gifts and not limit ourselves to one or two passages. A second misunderstanding is that every Christian received a spiritual gift. There is an interesting statement in Acts 2:39 where in part Peter said, "...even as many as the Lord our God shall call." This is interesting because of the meaning of the word "call." It comes from the Greek word proskaleo and is used only in the middle voice. One might ask what this means. First, it signifies that only those called would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Within the framework of all of those who obeyed the Gospel only those called would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Second, this implies that all who were baptized into Christ for the remission of sins did not receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, from within the larger group that obeyed the Gospel, a smaller group would receive the gift as the Lord saw fit. The spiritual gifts were given so that the church in any location could function scripturally. The church in Samaria is a good example of this. When Peter and John had laid their hands on sufficient individuals to enable the church to function properly, it is interesting that Samaria no longer needed Philip, Peter and John. Why? They had been given spiritual gifts so they could carry on their own worship. The Bible student should ever keep this in mind. Yes, many received spiritual gifts, but this side of eternity no one will ever know how many. Spiritual gifts were no longer needed when the Word was completely revealed and confirmed. Since revelation and confirmation occurred in the first century, we have no spiritual gifts today nor do we have the need for them. |