1 Timothy 4:14 “Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership.”
We have already looked at the above quoted passage of scripture to demonstrate how prophetic words are given through the laying on of hands. Nevertheless this same passage also clearly reveals to us that spiritual gifts are also imparted through the laying on of hands. In this account Timothy had received a spiritual gift and that gift had been named through the prophetic word given. Prophecy is divine utterance given by the Holy Spirit on the spur of the moment. And so the person prophesying in this instance would have found out the same time that Timothy did, regarding what spiritual gift was being imparted by the Holy Spirit. And so we can clearly see from this example that man is simply the vessel used by the Holy Spirit to impart His gifts through the laying on of hands.
Romans 1:11 “For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established.”
In the above quoted passage of scripture we again see that it is the Holy Spirit who decides what gifts are given to whom. The apostle Paul knew that the Holy Spirit used him to impart spiritual gifts, which is why he made this comment to the church at Rome. But I want you to notice that Paul said “that I may impart to you some spiritual gift”. In other words Paul did not know what spiritual gift he would impart; he only knew that the Holy Spirit would use him in that capacity to bless the church in Rome. And so as we have already seen, it is only those who already have a specific anointing upon them that can then be used by the Holy Spirit to impart those same spiritual gifts to others. Nevertheless the examples we have looked at in this section clearly teach us that spiritual gifts can be imparted through the laying on of hands.
Michael E.B. Maher
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