Pursue love, and
earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, 1Corintians 14:1
Abuses
abound today with spiritual gifts, just as they did with the Corinthians. It is
legitimate to put a question mark over some manifestations that have been
passed off as genuine. It is not legitimate to reject extraordinary spiritual
gifts on that grounds. Doing that is fear-based theology. The fears areÉ
á
Fear of falling into the extremism of some movements.
á
Fear of losing control of oneself or allowing disorder in
meetings.
á
Fear of unbiblical teaching that may come through supposed spiritual
manifestations.
These
fears are dispelled when we apply biblical criteria for distinguishing the
genuine from the counterfeit. Once these principles are rooted in our minds, we
are free to earnestly desire the
spiritual gifts and enjoy a new sense of security in evaluating spiritual
manifestations. Following are four criteria for assessing the legitimacy of any
supposed spiritual phenomena.
When the Spirit of
truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, É He will glorify me. John 16:13-14
God
gave the Holy Spirit to glorify Jesus Christ. His mission is to bring attention
to Christ, not to himself. If another person, doctrine or movement or even a
ÒgiftÓ itself is getting more glory than Christ, something is wrong. If Christ
alone is glorified, then we can safely assume the manifestation is from God.
Beware of false
prophetsÉYou will recognize them by their fruits. Matthew 7:15,16
Let all things be done
for building up. 1Corinthians 14:26
The perfecting and sanctifying of his people is GodÕs goal in the church. Does it lead to that? Or does it produce disorder? Does it result in a better understanding of sound doctrine? Or does it introduce doubtful and confusing questions? Is the teaching implied scripturally sound?
But all things should be
done decently and in order. 1Corinthians 14:40
Paul lays down rules to maintain order in the use of spiritual gifts. Are these rules respected?
Élet the others weigh
what is said. 1Corinthians 14:29
Obey your leaders and
submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will
have to give an account. Hebrews
13:17
Does the person manifesting a supposed spiritual gift show a willingness to submit to evaluation and correction? Or do they insinuate they are above evaluation on the grounds that their supposed gift came from the Holy Spirit? This latter attitude is spiritual pride and deserves rebuke.
Once biblical criteria are established, fear-based theology
goes out the window. This frees us to be proactive in the pursuit of spiritual
gifts as Scripture commands. We can evaluate any spiritual manifestation with a
greater sense of confidence. This allows us to exalt Christ even more.