I have seen it presented in this forum that the "gifts" of Ephesians 4:11 are the same as the "gifts" of Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12. This is not true.
When we do our due diligence and study the original words in Greek, we see that Paul was saying something completely different to the Ephesians (in 4:11) than he was to the Romans and Corinthians in chapters 12.
Let's examine the text:
Ephesians 4:11 (NASB) And He
gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.
Romans 12:6 (NLT) In his grace, God has given us different
gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. 7 If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. 8 If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.
1st Corinthians 12:1 (NLT) Now, dear brothers and sisters, regarding your question about the
special abilities the Spirit gives us. I don’t want you to misunderstand this. 2 You know that when you were still pagans, you were led astray and swept along in worshiping speechless idols. 3 So I want you to know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God will curse Jesus, and no one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit.
4 There are different kinds of spiritual
gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. 5 There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. 6 God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us.
7
A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. 8 To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. 9 The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. 10 He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. 11 It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.
Summary
Ephesians
In Ephesians 4:11 we see Jesus giving the Church certain positions to people within the Church:
- for the equipping of the saints for the work of service
- to the building up of the body of Christ
- until we all attain to the unity of the faith
- and of the knowledge of the Son of God
- to a mature man
- to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.
The word translated as "gave" (NASB) is a common act (a verb) and is the same one we would use to mean that something was passed form one person to another. Here is the word in the Strong's Concordance:
http://ift.tt/1O0Zyex
There is nothing inherently spiritual about it (although those who are in such positions definitely have a spiritual job to do).
What Paul is saying to the Ephesians is that Jesus gave the Church AS A WHOLE the positions of:
- apostles
- prophets
- evangelists
- pastors
- teachers
Romans
When speaking to the Romans, Paul gives a very different message of what Jesus gifts each of us with.
The word he uses there is a noun, which is best understood as "charisma". This is a special thing that holds a spiritual significance in the life of the recipient (much different than the common gift of Ephesians 4). You can read the Strong's Concordance entry for this word here:
http://ift.tt/1fY2XNj
The Romans 12 gifts are:
- the ability to prophesy
- serving others
- being a teacher
- to encourage others
- giving
- leadership
- showing kindness to others
So, the above gifts are spiritual enablings that are given to individuals for carrying out God's will in service to each other; not offices for people to hold within the Church.
Likewise, Paul lists spiritual gifts to the church in Corinth:
Corinthians
- the ability to give wise advice
- a message of special knowledge.
- great faith
- the gift of healing
- the power to perform miracles
- the ability to prophesy
- the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit
- the ability to speak in unknown languages
- the ability to interpret what is being said (in a foreign language)
1 Cor. 12:11 It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have. (Which goes for the list in Romans 12 as well.)
Conclusion
Reading these three passages, it should be obvious that Paul is making a distinction between the
offices held (in Ephesians) and the
abilities given (in Romans and Corinthians).
With that said, it can also be said that the people who hold the offices of Ephesians 4:11 have been gifted to perform those offices according to God's will. But caution must be exercised in this. Because the office of Apostle is not a gift of the Spirit, whereas the others could be. Certainly, prophesying, teaching and pastoring (leadership) are gifts of the Spirit. Evangelism is simply a call for all of God's people to engage in and may or may not require special gifting (since it is the Spirit Who quickens men's hearts to accept the Gospel). So, I might argue that we are all evangelists.
Another way to view it is that the Ephesian list is for the Church as a whole; the other lists are for the individual believer.
Therefore, if someone tells you they have the gift of apostleship (or all 5 "gifts" in Eph. 4:11), you can tell them "no, you don't".
Your servant in Christ,
