Understanding Spiritual Gifts: A Comprehensive Guide, by Sam Storms

Sam Storms, author and pastor, invested several decades teaching on the topic of the spiritual gifts and equipping believers in the faithful practice of God's gifts. However, there remains a great amount of confusion about the nature of the gifts, and how they best function in the body of Christ. In this comprehensive guide to the spiritual gifts, Storms addresses the many strange and misleading interpretations that abound, and confronts the tendency to downplay the urgency of spiritual gifts for Christian living and ministry. He reveals how spiritual gifts, both the more miraculous and the somewhat mundane, are given to build up the body of Christ. God has graciously provided these manifestations of the Spirit so that believers might encourage, edify, strengthen, instruct, and console one another, all with a view to an ever-increasing, incremental transformation into the image of Jesus Christ.

 

Throughout this guide, Storms unpacks the glorious truth that there is a supernatural and divine energy or power that fills and indwells the body and soul of every born-again believer. God does not call upon us to speculate about the nature of this power or to embrace it as a mere idea. His desire is that we avail ourselves of it to partner with him in his purposes on the earth. His desire is that we cry out to him that he might intensify, expand, increase, and deepen the manifestation of this power through us in ever more demonstrative and tangible ways in our lives.

 

Understanding Spiritual Gifts is useful as a reference to address common questions about the gifts, but it also serves as a training manual for using and exercising the gifts in ministry. It is perfect for any individual or group who wants to grow in their understanding of the gifts for today.

 

Chapters include:

 

Part 1: The Nature, Purpose, and Prayerful Pursuit of Spiritual Gifts

- Supernatural Power of Life and Ministry

- Spiritual Gifts: What Are They, and Why Does God Give Them?

- How Many Spiritual Gifts Are There, and How Many Might a Christian Receive?

- Our Responsibility to Desire and Pray for Spiritual Gifts

Part 2: The Debate over the Cessation or Continuation of Miraculous Gifts of the Spirit

- Biblical and Theological Arguments in Support of Cessationism

- Excuses: A Response to Jonathan Edwards on the Cessation of the Charismata

- Biblical and Theological Arguments in Support of Continuationism

- The Evidence from Church History

Part 3: Revelatory Gifts of the Spirit

- Word of Wisdom and Word of Knowledge

- The Nature and Purpose of the Spiritual Gift of Prophecy

- Is The New Testament Spiritual Gift of Prophecy Different from Old Testament Prophecy?

- Judging Prophetic Utterances, and the Spiritual Gift of Discerning of Spirits

Part 4: Speaking in Tongues

- Deciphering the Gift of Speaking in Tongues

- Does God Want All Christians to Speak in Tongues?

- And What about the Gift of Interpretation?

Part 5: Faith, Healing, and Miracles

- The Spiritual Gift of Faith and Its Relationship to Healing

- Miracles and the Spiritual Gift of Miracles

Part 6: Other Gifts and Apostleship

- What about the Spiritual Gifts in Romans 12:6-8 and Ephesians 4:11?

- Is Apostleship a Spiritual Gift, an Office, or Both?

- The Qualifications for Apostleship, or Are There Apostles in the Church Today?

Sam Storms, author and pastor, invested several decades teaching on the topic of the spiritual gifts and equipping believers in the faithful practice of God's gifts. However, there remains a great amount of confusion about the nature of the gifts, and how they best function in the body of Christ. In this comprehensive guide to the spiritual gifts, Storms addresses the many strange and misleading interpretations that abound, and confronts the tendency to downplay the urgency of spiritual gifts for Christian living and ministry. He reveals how spiritual gifts, both the more miraculous and the somewhat mundane, are given to build up the body of Christ. God has graciously provided these manifestations of the Spirit so that believers might encourage, edify, strengthen, instruct, and console one another, all with a view to an ever-increasing, incremental transformation into the image of Jesus Christ.

Understanding Spiritual Gifts is useful as a reference to address common questions about the gifts, but it also serves as a training manual for using and exercising the gifts in ministry. It is perfect for any individual or group who wants to grow in their understanding of the gifts for today.