The drive to and from work is time used for catching up with myself in this busy world. Some days the time is spent listening to the traffic and the thoughts that time would not otherwise make room for. Other days the listening is to one of the local Christian radio stations. The songs that fill the air can lift the spirits and invite one to sign along. They are customarily interrupted by preachers and teachers of the Word sharing portions of a prerecorded sermon. Over time, while listening to the bits of lectures, I noticed that there seemed to be a rivalry between gifts of the Spirit. The orators would commend the gift or gifts that they perceived as the one the Spirit had given to them and would admonish the ones that another was commending.
There started to appear to be an on air debate of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. One would say that speaking in tongues was the gift that sanctifies the soul and the sign of the Holy Spirit. Another would say that the gift of tongues was minor and while one should be thankful for any gift, not one to be sought after. The gift of preaching and praying in a tongue that sanctifies the body of Christ and of prophecy are to be praised. And still another would say that the rattling of the tongue in strange sounds is of the devil and how he tricks one into praying to him. The gift to seek is self-control so that you can obey, obey, obey.
Then the first would return and say that if you are not speaking in tongues you do not have the spirit in you and are confused. Once your spirit prays for you, you can truly love and are open to the spirit to speak through you and the gifts come. When you speak freely in the spirit through tongues then only are you speaking to the Father. The second one returns and preaches that it is the great calling to take the news of the kingdom to the world. The gift of tongues is not required to fulfill the great mission. Love is a fruit of the Spirit and that love will follow the Word into righteous teaching. The third will return and yell that without the discipline to obey one can only teach false doctrine. The fruit of love is not love of the law and the law is the written word.
Brethren I do not want to be ignorant concerning the gifts of the Holy Spirit. No one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. There are diverse gifts but one spirit and different ministries but the same Lord. There are diverse activities but it is the same God who works all in all. The manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit. For to one is given wisdom and to another knowledge through the same Spirit, to one faith and to another healing by the same Spirit, to another working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discernment, to another tongues and still to another interpretation. One and the same Spirit works in all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.
The gifts of the Holy Spirit are given as a gift. The fruits of the Holy Spirit come when we are living in Christ filled with the Holy Spirit and are using the gifts to serve and praise God. We are sanctified by the gifts when we put them into action. We sanctify God in our life when those actions are fulfilling the mission. As not every one has the same gift, not everyone will receive the information of God’s grace in the same way. As a child I loved to read and that is how God first reached me. As a young man I listened to music (and still do) and God ministered to me with song. Not everyone is called to preach, but we are all called to use the gifts we have to be a witness of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ sanctifies us. As Jesus prayed for the believers he said ” Sanctify them by your truth. Your Word is truth.” and “for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified.”
Jesus Christ is the Word of God made flesh. He came to us to sanctify us with the spilling of His blood. It is into His body that we are called. The Holy Spirit is a gift from God the Father in answer to a promise and prayer of the Lord Jesus. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are gifts from the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. When the Spirit dwells in you, so does the Father and the Son. No one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. If you have the gift of tongues from the Spirit, you will not curse Jesus or the Father that sent Him. But do not hold yourself better that others that receive another gift. Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the Alter which sanctifies it. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ receive this in love.