Comparative study and essay gifts callings and more

            Here is a comparative study of the fruit of the spirit, the ministerial callings as in Romans 12 and Ephesians 4, the motivation gifts with a description of them, and then also the gifts of the spirit essay. I am leading this off with the nine fruit of the spirit, which are listed in Galatians chapter 5:

(Galatians 5:22)  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

(Galatians 5:23)  Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

(Galatians 5:24)  And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

(Galatians 5:25)  If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

I will talk briefly about each one of the fruits of the spirit which every believe is really to manifest for they show how well you have crucified your flesh and all -

1. Love is one of the most powerful fruits and totally selfless, always preferring another’s wants and desires above one’s own, and totally sacrificial in this love.

2. joy the happiness which will radiate out of people at almost all times and people will notice it.

3. Peace is the type of godly peace that will manifest almost no matter how trying things sometimes are for them.

4. Longsuffering the type of strong patience that helps one bear through even the  hardest of tests and trials that life can offer.

5. gentleness- a measure of how kind you are to others not wanting to hurt feelings and so on.

6. Goodness that you are indeed good and not do evil things, showing mercy and love to others

7. Faith strong belief in God (or others) that you believe in what has not been manifested yet

8. Meekness being humble and not prideful and submissive towards others especially in leadership

9. Temperance. Moderation and chastity The person basically does right and lives right avoiding evil and things that bring reproach

All of these are the ideal behaviors to display to the world so they know that you have something that they do not. These are manifestations of one’s born again in Christ’s nature. These are not callings, or ministry gifts or motivational gifts and they are definitely not the gifts of the spirit which are also nine.

Next by contrast here are the ministry gifts which are like pastors, and so on. I am giving the scripture first in Romans chapter 12, the first 12 verses:

(Romans 12:1)  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

(Romans 12:2)  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

(Romans 12:3)  For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

(Romans 12:4)  For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office:

(Romans 12:5)  So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.

(Romans 12:6)  Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;

(Romans 12:7)  Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching;

(Romans 12:8)  Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.

(Romans 12:9)  Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.

(Romans 12:10)  Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;

These are the gifts of ministry and these are also very similar to the motivation gifts which I will go through below and the seven things here are:

1. Prophecy – being the prophet perhaps similar indeed to the gift of the spirit but this is the office of the prophet.

2. Ministry and I am thinking this could be a wide compassing one including pastoral and evangelist too and youth too,

3. Teacher who teaches seminars or Sunday school, anything teaching, very much like the motivational gifting, too

4. exhorter- here someone who knows to say the right thing at the right time to cheer someone up, and does so.

5. giver someone who gets pleaser out of giving financially to the various things though also this could be giving time as well (serving/ministry of helps)

6. ruler one who leads and organizes projects or church services, could be a pastor or other administrator

7. mercy- those who show pity and compassion to the downtrodden, giving time, money and/or materials to help them out in whatever ways needed.

Most of the motivation gifts listed below do in fact also show up here. Here now is the scripture from Ephesians chapter 4 and I am including 14 verses to stress again how we are all ONE body and to do all these things in unity, love and more:

(Ephesians 4:1)  I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,

(Ephesians 4:2)  With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;

(Ephesians 4:3)  Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

(Ephesians 4:4)  There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;

(Ephesians 4:5)  One Lord, one faith, one baptism,

(Ephesians 4:6)  One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

(Ephesians 4:7)  But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.

(Ephesians 4:8)  Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.

(Ephesians 4:9)  (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?

(Ephesians 4:10)  He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)

(Ephesians 4:11)  And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

(Ephesians 4:12)  For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

(Ephesians 4:13)  Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

(Ephesians 4:14)  That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

Here are the five callings or ministry gifts which here listed in the above scriptures with a brief description of each:

1. Apostles who go out and start churches and otherwise do intensive mission work as the early apostles did, and are often gone from family and home for months or years at a time, even a lifetime, sacrificing many comforts in so doing.

2. Prophets similar to what is listed Romans, again the office of the prophet and the do indeed prophesy. This is not the gift of the spirit, but these may really flow in that gift.

3. Evangelists who love to win souls and do crusades and are gifted also in one on one evangelism. These also may go on extended mission trips and end up sacrificing much for their calling and offices sake.

4. Pastor the head and shepherd of a church and leads its functions at all times, which often is no easy task, and can also require much sacrifice

5. Teacher the one who goes about teaching the various people. These often teach Sunday School or bible studies

Now here are the seven motivation giftings. These are what someone has a strong motivation to do, and this as a result is subjective. While these are based largely on what is listed in Romans chapter 12, there are also tests online which you can take to see what indeed does motivate you.

I took this test in 2011 when I found I was a servant motivated person and then teacher, and there wise a wide gap in there. Now I suspect the gap has closed somewhat and I also feel as though I am more anointed as a teacher versus a server. I think my calling might be based on more of a teaching gifting, though it could be evangelist or even apostle, but God knows for sure what it might be. Here are the seven motivation giftings in order of my strongest personally to my weakest and what they mean.

1. Serving. This is a servant hearted person that goes out of his way to do all he can to help in almost any given situation, and gets much fulfillment in their lives out of helping others in a love motive. She/he often will be very active in the ministry of helps including things like the soup kitchen, cleaning washing things and really any way they can help out. These people sometimes are even grieved when they can NOT serve in a situation (I am speaking about myself here) and these people often make poor leaders as they are not good at delegating tasks but often would rather do it themselves. These people also do not like to be served by others, much preferring to serve and do things. Again, I am like that way, too. They can sometimes miss out on blessings because of that unwillingness to be served.

2. Teachers- These people love to teach others anything, whether it is secular or church related. These people would really enjoy teaching others in any setting, from preaching, to soup kitchens to bible study, to crusades, even to putting up notes and essays on blogs or facebook such as this one. God often uses such teachers as pastors, evangelists, and even apostles, as well as all forms of teachers to help lead others to Christ and to edify the body itself.

3. Exhorters. These people are motivated to say the right thing at the right time to lift up another’s spirits which can be a real blessing if a person really needs a lift up, like when they are having a bad day. They know how to liberally use compliments with a motive of love. Unfortunately people nowadays often think these people have ulterior evil motives, wanting something or even are paranoid of them misusing this gift to manipulate others for their own selfish ends as some sometimes do and that is a trap the exhorter needs to avoid falling into.

4. Mercy. These people feel sorry for the less fortunate and then often take action to help them out in one way or another. Often those who have a motivational gifting of mercy are servant hearted, are exhorters, or even are givers, giving of their possessions or finances to help another person out of their difficulty.

5. Giving. This person gets much joy out of giving their money and/or possessions away to those who are less fortunate than they are, feeling a soft heart to them. Some givers are also servant hearted, enjoying also giving their time to other people. It is very hard for them to say no when asked to give to anything and as such they can be easily taken advantage of by those who are not scrupulous(sometimes servant hearted people also can be taken advantage of in a similar matter). These types of people though are much loved by the Lord, too, as they are selfless about their possessions and not stingy, so long as they give of a motive of love, not expecting to receive back off others, but trusting the Lord for the right reward at the right time by faith.

6. Prophecy/seer This type of person gets pleasure out of correcting others about their faults in a loving and pure manner with loving motivations, with the goal of setting people free of the issues, sin, and strongholds which beset them(anyone, really, since nobody is perfect). This too is loved by God when done lovingly with a right motive for it will then draw people to repentance of their evils. They must beware of being too harsh and mean in their correction or doing it in a wrong motivation for they can drive people away from God also if done too harshly. The last two verses in James chapter 5 describe this motivational gift and its benefits very well:

(James 5:19)  Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him;

(James 5:20)  Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.

7. Leadership/Organizer. This person gets much pleasure leading others and even organizing events, and directs the others so things go smoothly and things get done well. These people know how to delegate tasks in a loving manner, too. Again with the prophet these people can be harsh or tyrannical or even try to take too much on for themselves, as Moses did, as any servant hearted person can when thrust into this situation, for often servants don’t really want to delegate a task to another person more qualified/able/available to do it, preferring to do all themselves and often taking on too much and being overburdened as a result, which is what happened to Moses.

To conclude this study and essay, here is a teaching on the nine gifts of the spirit that which are listed in 1 Corinthians. All nine of these gifts are all equally powerful and can and should be manifested in the believer’s life because these nine gifts and their proper application can make such a powerful difference in peoples lives both to yours and others. The right use of one or more of these nine gifts also can be a decisive and key factor in leading a person to accept Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior.I know many have taught on these many times but this is too important to ignore or overlook because they are so powerful. Look at what Jesus says in Matthew 10 when he sends out His disciples

(Matthew 10:7)  And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.

(Matthew 10:8)  Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.

We have freely received the gifts of the Spirit so we are to freely give them wherever we go. The two gifts here illustrated by His commands are gifts of healing and working of miracles. Look at what Jesus says in John chapter 14, verse 12

(John 14:12)  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.

The key to doing the same works that Jesus did and the greater works is the manifestation of the nine gifts of the spirit in your lives. These nine gifts are listed in 1 Corinthians chapter 12 in the first eleven verses of that chapter:

(1 Corinthians 12:1)  Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant.

(1 Corinthians 12:2)  Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led.

(1 Corinthians 12:3)  Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.

(1 Corinthians 12:4)  Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.

(1 Corinthians 12:5)  And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.

(1 Corinthians 12:6)  And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.

(1 Corinthians 12:7)  But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.

(1 Corinthians 12:8)  For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;

(1 Corinthians 12:9)  To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;

(1 Corinthians 12:10)  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:

(1 Corinthians 12:11)  But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.

Now I will give an explanation of each of these gifts in the order that they are listed in the teaching.

1. Word of Wisdom This is a word that is spoken to another person concerning some aspect of their life that the Holy Spirit needs to address. It can be encouraging to the hearer but might be corrective, with the idea of helping someone repent of a wrong or even break a stronghold or oppression. This can also inform or instruct them in something that the Holy Spirit needs them to know or even warn them to avoid something.

2. Word of Knowledge  This is a word that is spoken concerning something in another to a person who then reveals it to the person that they are helping or praying for. Jesus displayed this gift when He spoke to the woman at the well, telling her about her own life. This is also called revelation knowledge. It sometimes can be used by the Spirit to set up other giftings, too, such as healing or miracles, such as the Holy Spirit might reveal a health issue to be prayed over and thus healed.

3. Faith – this is the gift of extraordinary faith by the same spirit which helps us receive a healing but also make miracles happen too, mountain moving ones too. It operates in conjunction with the healing and miracles to help those gifts manifest to aid the body.

Mainly though it helps someone receive a miracle that God has intended for them though I suppose it will help the one or ones who are praying for them at the time, too.

4. Gifts of healing – This is plural as there are several gifts of healing available to the believer. This  not only includes external healing such as the removal of tumors, pulling people out of wheelchairs, cleansing of leprosy,even whole colonies of lepers, currently the healing of diseases also like HIV, malaria and more, but also includes inner and emotional healing where our own emotional wounds from things such as bullying are healed and people are delivered from the effects of them.

5. Working of miracles. This includes the casting out of demons, the raising of the dead, and also manifestations like Jesus feeding the 5000. It can be walking on water and include anything supernatural at all. This can include many of the more spectacular healings above, especially events like body parts manifesting where they were not before, legs and arms growing out to their full lengths, and even cancerous or non cancerous growths falling off of a person. There really is no limit here.

6. Prophecy. This is the speaking of a word to someone one on one, or spoken by an individual to a whole body of believers in a church service or bible study setting to give a word of encouragement, edification, instruction or correction, it need not necessarily deal with the future as the old testament prophets almost invariably did though it could as God gives them promises of their future. This can act like the word of wisdom can be used to enlighten or instruct the individual or the body in the church service or bible study.

7. Discerning of spirits- This gives the bearer a feeling of a person whether the person is good, evil or perhaps even demon possessed, in which case especially if the thing manifests it can and then really must be cast out of them. The big help here with this gift is to let one know when someone is good to interact with or should even be avoided even though the person him or her self may give indications to the contrary with their personality.

8. Diverse kinds of tongues-   There are several kinds of tongues too that are included with this gift. One is in Acts 2 where someone is supernaturally given the language of the hearer and is able to preach a flawless sermon with it. Another is one that can manifest in church services or bible studies with a word for the others present, in which case gift nine will also manifest with an interpretation of the said word spoken. Then there is the personal private gift of tongues which is the personal private prayer language that each believer gets and is used to edify the believer and is used so they pray in their most holy faith. It also prays the perfect will of God so God will invariably answer ALL such prayers made in your personal prayer language as all are in His will. I cannot stress how important this gift is to go deeper in your walk with God, too, especially as the bible commands us to pray ceaselessly twice, and this is the way to do it, with our personal prayer language. The gift of tongues has been such a blessing for me, too, personally, lifting me up on many occasions over the last few years that I have been using it.

9. The interpretation of tongues. This functions combined with gift number of 8, tongues, in a church service or bible study where one person speaks in an unknown tongue at the service or bible study  than either the speaker of the tongue in the church service or bible study or another individual then will interpret the said tongue speaking out its meaning in English or whatever the language the service or study is being conducted in so the rest of the body receives edification, much like a prophecy

All nine of the gifts are essential for the functioning and maintaining of the body and as said in the scripture above but these manifest as the spirit wills, meaning one can have at one point or the other all nine gifts come on one.

I like what is said in the next 11 verses of 1 Corinthians chapter 12 concerning the gifts and how the body of Christ is one body with many members all of whom having the same need to each other even the weak ones and one member can NOT say to another that there is no need for it

(1 Corinthians 12:12)  For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.

(1 Corinthians 12:13)  For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

(1 Corinthians 12:14)  For the body is not one member, but many.

(1 Corinthians 12:15)  If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?

(1 Corinthians 12:16)  And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?

(1 Corinthians 12:17)  If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling?

(1 Corinthians 12:18)  But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.

(1 Corinthians 12:19)  And if they were all one member, where were the body?

(1 Corinthians 12:20)  But now are they many members, yet but one body.

(1 Corinthians 12:21)  And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.

(1 Corinthians 12:22)  Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary:

Paul then gives more instructions on the body in the remaining verses of 1 Corinthians 12 about how God makes things with the body and how we are to rejoice when one rejoices and mourn when one mourns. Paul then goes through the offices and gifts of the church and then exhorts all to covet earnestly the best gifts of the spirit and then speaks of something better(love)

(1 Corinthians 12:23)  And those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness.

(1 Corinthians 12:24)  For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked:

(1 Corinthians 12:25)  That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.

(1 Corinthians 12:26)  And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.

(1 Corinthians 12:27)  Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.

(1 Corinthians 12:28)  And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.

(1 Corinthians 12:29)  Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles?

(1 Corinthians 12:30)  Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?

(1 Corinthians 12:31)  But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way.

These gifts and such are one of the best things about being saved. God sent Jesus to die for our sins to restore relationship with Him and then the death of Jesus on the cross which He willingly and lovingly went through enabled us to regain this wonderful relationship with God. There is nothing that can compare with the relationship with God or even come remotely close to it at all. I am now including a prayer which you can say to invite Jesus in your heart to begin this wonderful relationship with Him. Please pray this with me now:

Heavenly Father I come to You in the Name of Jesus. I confess to You that I am a sinner and cannot save myself. I confess and repent of all of my sins and unrighteousness. Right now I confess with my mouth Jesus as the Lord of my life and believe in my heart that You, God did indeed raise Him from the dead. I thank You for cleansing and forgiving me of all of my  sins and unrighteousness and for saving me. I thank You for sending Your Son to die in my place for my sins, and for the inexpressible gift of eternal life that I now claim through the death of Jesus on the cross. Thank You, Lord, again for saving me. In the Name of Jesus I pray Amen

Do you have the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues? It is also easy to get and I strongly recommend it too, as I have found praying in tongues to be such a blessing to me. I have found myself flowing in several of the other gifts too as the spirit willed. The only one that I may have not manifested perhaps has been the interpretation of tongues. I guess it isn’t as important to me as the other 8 so it hasn’t been manifesting. My favorites are speaking in tongues which can be so edifying, healing and miracles. I am now going to include a prayer which you can pray with me to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit along with the gift of tongues to prove the manifestation of this baptism as well as the other 8 gifts. Please pray this prayer with me

Heavenly Father I/we come to You in the Name of Jesus. I we confess in Your word that if we ask all things in prayer believing I/we shall receive it. Right now I/we are asking You for the baptism of the Holy Spirit and now we believe we now have received it along with the gift of speaking in tongues. I/we thank You for this wonderful gift of the baptism of the Holy Spirit including the evidence of speaking in tongues with all the other eight gifts that will manifest as you will. In Jesus Name I/we pray Amen. 

I conclude this teaching by strongly encouraging you to keep confessing that you have this baptism again and again, thanking God for giving it to you to fight the devil. I also urge you strongly to begin speaking in tongues as soon as you can. Often you have to force this to happen, one syllable at a time, if need be and letting it slowly develop and manifest over time. Some it can come suddenly, too without warning. If it does, praise God and do not be scared of it, for it could lose the gift for fear. This making it happen shows God your faith in that you have indeed believe the baptism of the Holy Spirit and it will help your gifts and relationship grow deeper with God. I urge you to pray in tongues as much as you can as it will keep you built up and edified in the spirit, chasing away discouragement and even rejection, and this gift will also hasten the sanctification process too. Speaking in tongues also makes it easier to hear God’s voice and sometimes can help you deal with the clutter which can mask His voice. If you can do it, pray in the Spirit for hours per day, even if under the breath. As I said the more you do it the better it will be for you.

God bless you and yours.