God bestows upon all members of His church in every age
spiritual gifts which each member is to employ in loving ministry for the
common good of the church and of humanity. Given by the agency of the Holy
Spirit, who apportions to each member as He wills, the gifts provide all
abilities and ministries needed by the church to fulfill its divinely ordained
functions. According to the Scriptures, these gifts include such ministries as
faith, healing, prophecy, proclamation, teaching, administration,
reconciliation, compassion, and self-sacrificing service and charity for the
help and encouragement of people.
Some members are called of God and
endowed by the Spirit for functions recognized by the church in pastoral,
evangelistic, apostolic, and teaching ministries particularly needed to equip
the members for service, to build up the church to spiritual maturity, and to
foster unity of the faith and knowledge of God. When members employ these
spiritual gifts as faithful stewards of God's varied grace, the church is
protected from the destructive influence of false doctrine, grows with a growth
that is from God, and is built up in faith and love.
Scriptural References
} (Rom. 12:4-8; 1 Cor. 12:9-11, 27, 28;
Eph. 4:8, 11-16; Acts 6:1-7; 1 Tim. 3:1-13; 1 Peter 4:10, 11.)
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