BIBLICAL BRIEFS 20
Baptism with the Holy Spirit enables the believer to function in the gifts of the Spirit. Yet many misunderstandings, misconceptions, and ignorance concerning these gifts exist. Believers possess the fruits of the Spirit, but do not possess the gifts of the Spirit. You could liken these to two types of trees: one which produces fruit naturally (= fruit) and the other, a tree onto which gifts (= gifts) are hung. [Keep in mind that this is not for decoration, but for usage.] During the last century a very strong perception came to the fore namely that if a person is able to speak in tongues, he must have been baptised with the Holy Spirit. This Pentecostal view is not biblically correct, and has unnecessarily caused considerable uncertainty and doubts. There is nowhere any scriptural basis to be found to confirm this point of view. The best support in this regard is given by Paul in 1 Cor. 12:30: “All do not have gifts of healings, do they? All do not speak with tongues, do they? All do not interpret, do they?” As with all the other gifts, speaking in tongues is given by the Spirit “for the common good” (1 Cor. 12:7) – it is distributed to each one individually just as He wills (12:11). The attestation of being baptised with the Spirit of God is the ability that you can hear the voice of God. Since these gifts are specifically to be regarded as gifts, nobody may claim those as being a personal ministry belonging only to themselves. I believe it is not Biblically correct to refer, for example, to a ‘ministry of healing’ nor a ‘ministry of miracles’. All of those are gifts that are distributed when and if it pleases the Holy Spirit. Claiming a specific ministry to oneself opens the door to demons who exercise a similar function (e.g. healing), but it does not take place through the Spirit of God.
Dr. Tom Gouws
