The Gifts of the Holy Spirit: - Vital Christianity

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• The Fruit of the Spirit—To emphasize spiritual gifts without an emphasis on the fruit of
the Spirit is not only irresponsible but spiritually dangerous. Gifts that are practiced apart
from the fruit of the Spirit can do more harm than good. It is only in the context of the fruit
of the Spirit that gifts can be properly used, that is, used for the very purpose God intended:
to build up the body of Christ. Therefore the relationship between fruit and gifts is fully
examined.
• The Place of the Supernatural—Books have tended toward one of two extremes, either
they have relegated the supernatural to biblical times with no relevance for today or they
have so emphasized it that anything else has been marginalized. Balance has been sought in
this study. Furthermore there is extensive biblical evidence that shows the legitimacy of the
supernatural beyond Old and New Testament times. In addition, the role of the supernatural
in the body of Christ is explored.
• How To Find Ministries and Gifts—Since God does not ask us to do something we are
not equipped to do, finding our spiritual gifts is vital. They are God’s equipping tools to do
His work. In this study eleven steps are explored in finding ministries and gifts.
• An Atmosphere for Practice and Development—It develops Jesus’ principle of “Come
and see” invitation which was shortly followed by “Go and tell.” That is, Jesus sent His
disciples out by twos, by twelves, by seventies, and He sent them out long before they were
ready--at least by our standards. Why? Because He knew the importance of learning by
doing.
• Personal Spiritual Gifts Analysis—A questionnaire of 300 carefully crafted questions is
included to help indicate areas of strength and weakness.