1 Corinthians 12:4-11 “There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. (5) There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. (6) And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. (7) But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: (8) for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, (9) to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, (10) to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. (11) But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.”
In the passage of scripture quoted above the Holy Spirit teaches us about His gifts, of which He lists nine in total. Our Lord Jesus had all the gifts of the Spirit operating through His ministry except tongues and interpretation of tongues, for those two gifts are given only to the church and were not available to the saints under the Old Covenant. Unlike the Lord Jesus however we do not operate in all the gifts, but rather each member in the body of Christ receives at least one gift of the Spirit, which we are then required to minister to the rest of the body (1 Peter 4:10). And so ministering in the gifts of the Spirit is one of the main purposes for the doctrine of laying on of hands. There are different types of anointing and each gift carries its own unique type, but even within the various gifts, the Holy Spirit tells us that there are “differences of ministries” and “diversities of activities”. So it is possible for two members of the body of Christ to have the same gift, but operate differently to each other in ministering that gift. For example, I have seen two prophets; both operate in the same gift of the word of knowledge. While the one prophet could tell a person to simply stand up in the audience and then minister the word of knowledge to them. The other prophet had to have the person come stand in front of them and then lay hands on them, and only then were they able to minister the word of knowledge to them. In both cases it was the same gift of the word of knowledge being manifested, but there was a difference in the way they ministered their gift. The gifts of healings would be another example. Notice that it is called gifts (plural) of healings (plural). For example, some are anointed to heal blindness while others are anointed to heal people who are paralyzed. And so even though the gift is the same, the anointing for that gift is given to the individual to operate in one area only, such as the healing of blind people for example.
Michael E.B. Maher
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