The gift of special faith

1 Corinthians 12:7-11 “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.”

There is one more aspect of faith that we need to discuss in this section, which is the spiritual gift of special faith. The apostle Paul has taught the church that there are nine gifts of the Spirit, which he lists for us in his letter to the church in Corinth. As revealed in the above quoted passage of scripture we see that all nine of the gifts listed are supernatural manifestations of the person of the Holy Spirit. In other words when an individual operates in any one of these gifts they are in fact allowing themselves to be used by the Holy Spirit to manifest Himself through that individual. Of the nine gifts listed, one of them is called the gift of faith. A more accurate description of this gift would be to call it the gift of special faith, the reason being that the faith displayed is not the faith of the individual but rather the faith of the Holy Spirit being manifested through the individual. As we can see in this passage of scripture all of the gifts of the Spirit are only manifested as and when the Holy Spirit wills and that would include the gift of special faith. And so one who has received this gift of faith cannot choose when to operate in the gift but are completely reliant on operating in the gift when, and only when, the Holy Spirit chooses. When this gift is manifested through the individual, God supernaturally influences the persons’ thinking and they become completely focused on the issue at hand. In other words their thoughts become so focused that they cannot be distracted by any contradictory thoughts, for at that moment in time every thought has been brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5). And so at the time the gift is manifested the individual has no capacity for thoughts of doubt and there is therefore no hindrance to the Holy Spirit’s faith that is being made manifest through them. Obviously God’s power is released in response to the faith displayed and the moment the desired results are manifested the anointing lifts and the person has full control of their thoughts once again. As we look at biblical examples of this gift in operation it will become clearer as to just how this gift operates.

Michael E.B. Maher