God bestows upon all members
of His church in every age spiritual gifts which each member is to employ
in loving ministry for the common good of the church and of humanity. Given
by the agency of the Holy Spirit, who apportions to each member as He wills,
the gifts provide all abilities and ministries needed by the church to
fulfill its divinely ordained functions. According to the Scriptures, these
gifts include such ministries as faith, healing, prophecy, proclamation,
teaching, administration, reconciliation, compassion, and self-sacrificing
service and charity for the help and encouragement of people. Some members
are called of God and endowed by the Spirit for functions recognized by
the church in pastoral, evangelistic, apostolic, and teaching ministries
particularly needed to equip the members for service, to build up the church
to spiritual maturity, and to foster unity of the faith and knowledge of
God. When members employ these spiritual gifts as faithful stewards of
God's varied grace, the church is protected from the destructive influence
of false doctrine, grows with a growth that is from God, and is built up
in faith and love. (
Romans 12:4-8;
1 Corinthians 12:9-11, 27, 28;
Ephesians 4:8, 11-16;
Acts 6:1-7;
1 Timothy 3:1-13;
1 Peter 4:10, 11.
)