Ephesians 4:7-13 “But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. (8) Therefore, He says: "when He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men." … (11) And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, (12) for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, (13) till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”
1 Corinthians 12:28-30 “And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues. (29) Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles? (30) Do all have gifts of healings? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret?”
The third category of gifts is called ministry gifts. The reason that they are called ministry gifts, is because those who receive these gifts, are called by God to the ministry, i.e. they are called to serve the church in the ministry of the gospel. There are two main passages in the new testament that refer to these gifts. In both passages quoted above, we see that God is the one who gives these gifts, and they are appointed by Him. In total, there are ten ministry gifts listed in these scriptures. There are five main gifts listed in the book of Ephesians, and they are the ones that we will concentrate on in this series, i.e. apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher. The other five listed in the book of Corinthians, are working of miracles, gifts of healings, helps, administrations and varieties of tongues.
Michael E.B. Maher
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