This is part 4 of a 4 part study on the gifts of the Spirit.

The other sections are…

• Part 1: Concerning Spiritual Gifts
• Part 2: The Revealing Gifts of the Spirit
• Part 3: The Spoken Gifts of the Spirit
• Part 4: The Action Gifts of the Spirit

The three action gifts are grouped together because by them the Holy Spirit produces something through the recipient.

Faith

Greek: pistis (pÄ“’-stÄ“s) – a conviction of the truth of anything especially when relating to God, Christ, and the divine; belief.

Defined: The gift of faith is a supernatural gift by the Spirit of God enabling a recipient to supernaturally, and against all odds, believe and trust in God for anything.

Important facts to know:

• The gift of faith is one of the three action gifts (those that do something): gift of faith, miraculous powers, and the gifts of healing.
• There are four kinds of faith:
  • Natural faith – a belief in the processes of this natural world (example: the sun rising in the east and setting in the west.)
  • Saving faith – a belief in Christ for salvation.
    • Ephesians 2:8-9 8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast.
  • General faith – the ever growing trust in God to live out the Christian life.
    • Luke 17:1-6 1Jesus said to his disciples: “Things that cause people to sin are bound to come, but woe to that person through whom they come. 2It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. 3So watch yourselves. “If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. 4If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.” 5The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” 6He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.
  • The gift of faith – a supernatural belief given for a specific reason at a specific time.
• The gift of faith produces supernatural belief in the recipient, where as the other actions gifts typically produce supernatural results in others.
• The gift of faith will often work along side the gifts of healing or the gift of miraculous powers.
  • Sometimes the gift of faith is given to an individual so that she may believe that God wants to miraculously heal somebody through her.

Jesus calms the storm

Mark 4:35-41
35That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”39He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

40He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

41They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

This is a good example of the gift of faith in action. Jesus says in faith, and with confidence, “let’s go to the other side” not know what may happen before He gets there. He is so fixed in His faith that He is able to sleep during a furious squall. After He is awoken by the disciples, He confronts it with the same supernatural faith that believes for a miracle that calms the storm.

The gift of faith for supernatural provision

1 Kings 17:2-6
2 Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah: 3 “Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan. 4 You will drink from the brook, and I have ordered the ravens to feed you there.”5 So he did what the LORD had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there. 6 The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.

This is similar to many modern day missionaries who have been given supernatural faith to believe God will take care of them in barren and hostile countries.

The gift of healing for raising the dead

2 Kings 4:32-35
32 When Elisha reached the house, there was the boy lying dead on his couch. 33 He went in, shut the door on the two of them and prayed to the LORD. 34 Then he got on the bed and lay upon the boy, mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, hands to hands. As he stretched himself out upon him, the boy’s body grew warm. 35 Elisha turned away and walked back and forth in the room and then got on the bed and stretched out upon him once more. The boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes.

John 11 (entire chapter)
3So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.”
4When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” 5Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days.

Even more current ministers of God, such as Smith Wigglesworth, have been given the gift of faith for the healing of dead people.

Gifts of Healing

Greek: iama (Ä“’-ä-mä) – a healing or the means of a healing, remedy, or medicine.

Defined: The gifts of healing are supernatural movings of the Holy Spirit through one believer to physically heal another person.

Important facts to know:

• The gifts of healing are not to be confused with medical science. The gift of God is supernaturally produced while the other is naturally produced.
  • Usually the gifts of healing will produce the physical healing immediately or at a much faster rate then natural healing.
• It is called the “gifts of healing” (plural) not the “gift of healing” (singular) because Holy Spirit produces different types of healings in different ways.
  • For example, through Jesus and the apostles the Spirit of God healed many different types of illnesses (skin and blood diseases, blindness, paralysis, etc.) and the healing occurred in a different way for each one (laying on of hands, speaking a word, through mud, by walking to a priest, by getting up).
  • Because the gifts of healing don’t operate the same every time, trust and faith in God, on the part of the participant and the receiver, is required.
  • The gifts of healing often work in conjunction with the gift of faith.
• Gifts of healing are almost always given to heal others.
  • This is not to say that some times the healing touch may be for the recipient of the gift.
• While the immediate purpose of the gifts of healing is to heal people, another purpose of it is to display God’s glory.
  • John 9:1-7 1As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3″Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. 4As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. 5While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. 7″Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means Sent). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.

Peter and John used to heal a crippled person

Acts 3:1-10
1One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon. 2Now a man crippled from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. 3When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. 4Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” 5So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.6Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” 7Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. 8He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. 9When all the people saw him walking and praising God, 10they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

Paul receives a healing and is used to provide healings

Acts 28:1-10
1Once safely on shore, we found out that the island was called Malta. 2The islanders showed us unusual kindness. They built a fire and welcomed us all because it was raining and cold. 3Paul gathered a pile of brushwood and, as he put it on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand. 4When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, “This man must be a murderer; for though he escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.” 5But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects. 6The people expected him to swell up or suddenly fall dead, but after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.7There was an estate nearby that belonged to Publius, the chief official of the island. He welcomed us to his home and for three days entertained us hospitably. 8His father was sick in bed, suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went in to see him and, after prayer, placed his hands on him and healed him. 9When this had happened, the rest of the sick on the island came and were cured. 10They honored us in many ways and when we were ready to sail, they furnished us with the supplies we needed.

Miraculous Powers

English: miracles
Greek: dynamis (dü’-nä-mÄ“s) – strength, power, ability, might.

It’s from this Greek word that the English word “dynamite” comes from.

Defined: The gift of miraculous powers is a supernatural moving of the Holy Spirit to intervene in the ordinary course of nature, a temporary suspension of the accustomed order, an interruption of the system of nature as we know it for the benefit of God’s Kingdom and people.

Important facts to know:

• The gift of miraculous powers often works in conjunction with the gift of faith.
• The primary purpose of the gift of miracles is to display God’s power and control over all of creation.

Jesus calms the storm

Mark 4:35-41
35That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”39He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

40He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

41They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

Here we see the gift of miraculous powers working with the gift of faith as Jesus clams the furious squall by speaking to it.

Jesus walks on water

John 6:16-21
16When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, 17where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum. By now it was dark, and Jesus had not yet joined them. 18A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough. 19When they had rowed three or three and a half miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were terrified. 20But he said to them, “It is I; don’t be afraid.” 21Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading.

Jars of oil

2 Kings 4:1-7
1 The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the LORD. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.”2 Elisha replied to her, “How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?”
“Your servant has nothing there at all,” she said, “except a little oil.”

3 Elisha said, “Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few. 4 Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side.”

5 She left him and afterward shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. 6 When all the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another one.”
But he replied, “There is not a jar left.” Then the oil stopped flowing.

7 She went and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left.”

This is another clear example of a miracle as the jar of oil only became empty when there were no more jars left to fill.

Exodus 14 records the account of Moses dividing the Red Sea at the Lord’s command. The gift of faith was necessary in this account as it would take a miracle to divide the sea and allow the Israelites to walk across on dry ground.

An Axhead Floats

2 Kings 6:1-7
1 The company of the prophets said to Elisha, “Look, the place where we meet with you is too small for us. 2 Let us go to the Jordan, where each of us can get a pole; and let us build a place there for us to live.”
And he said, “Go.”

3 Then one of them said, “Won’t you please come with your servants?”
“I will,” Elisha replied. 4 And he went with them.
They went to the Jordan and began to cut down trees. 5 As one of them was cutting down a tree, the iron axhead fell into the water. “Oh, my lord,” he cried out, “it was borrowed!”

6 The man of God asked, “Where did it fall?” When he showed him the place, Elisha cut a stick and threw it there, and made the iron float. 7 “Lift it out,” he said. Then the man reached out his hand and took it.

Clearly another example of the gift of miraculous powers in operation.