Bible Basics 2.3 Gifts of the Holy Spirit

2.3 Gifts of the Holy Spirit At various times in His dealings with men, God conferred the use of His power (“Holy Spirit”) on men. However, this was never in the form of a “blank cheque”, as it were, enabling them to do what they wished; always the use of this Holy Spirit was for a specific purpose. When it was accomplished, the gift of the Holy Spirit was withdrawn. We must remember that God’s spirit acts in a way which fulfils the purpose which is in His mind. This purpose may allow short-term suffering in the lives of men in order to bring about His long-term purpose (see Study 6.1), so it is to be expected that His Holy Spirit would not necessarily be used to alleviate human suffering in this life. Any such relief it does achieve will be for the higher purpose of expressing God’s mind to us.This is in marked contrast to some attitudes to the Holy Spirit today; the impression is given that belief in Christ is worth it because of the immediate material benefit, e.g. healing from illness or the acquisition of money. This would explain why in poorer countries like Uganda there has been a marked outbreak of people claiming to possess spirit gifts of healing and, historically, such claims have often coincided with times of great human need. This in itself places present claims of spirit possession under some suspicion; if someone is looking for experience which transcends the present human plight, it is easy to claim to have found something which fills the bill.God has always given His spirit to achieve specific, defined objectives. Because of this, those who truly possessed the gifts of the spirit knew exactly what they were to use them for, and therefore did not achieve only partial success in their use of them. This contrasts with the many failures and partial cures experienced by those who claim to have spirit gifts of healing today.The following examples all indicate specific reasons and objectives being behind the granting of spirit gifts. In none of these cases was there any subjective element associated with possessing the gifts, nor were the possessors of the gifts able to use them just as they saw fit. Because we are talking of God’s spirit, it is inconceivable that men could direct the use of it, seeing that it was given to them in order to perform certain the specific desires of God, rather than those of the men who had the temporary use of it ( cf. Is. 40:13).§ Early in Israel’s history, they were commanded to make an elaborate tent (“tabernacle”) in which the altar and other holy items could be kept; detailed instructions were given concerning how to make all the items which would be necessary for the worship of God. To accomplish this, God gave His spirit to certain men. They were, “filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron’s garments...” etc. (Ex. 28:3).