 A spiritual gift is a supernaturally designed ability granted to every believer by which the Holy Spirit ministers to the body of Christ. A spiritual gift cannot be earned, pursued or worked up. It is merely "received" through the grace of God. Topics: Gifts |
| Nowhere in Scripture do we see real gifts of the Spirit operating when someone is out of control or under some sort of supernatural seizure. Nowhere does the New Testament teach that the Spirit of God causes Christians to fall into a trance, faint, or lapse into frenzied behavior. On the contrary, "The fruit of the Spirit is... self-control". Topics: Gifts, Holy Spirit |
| Our purpose should be to discover the gifts He has given us and to use those gifts faithfully and joyfully in His service, without either envying or disparaging the gifts we do not have. Topics: Gifts
Source: 1 Corinthians, p. 159. |
| Spiritual gifts are divine enablements for ministry, characteristics of Jesus Christ that are to be manifested through the body corporate just as they were manifested through the body incarnate. Topics: Gifts
Source: 1 Corinthians, 1984, p. 283. |
| Generosity is impossible apart from our love of God and of His people. But with such love, generosity not only is possible but inevitable. Topics: Giving
Source: 1 Corinthians, p. 452. |
| Fearing God has two aspects. The first is reverence. It is a sacred awe of God's utter holiness. It involves the kind of respect and veneration that results in fear in the presence of such absolute majesty. The second aspect is fear of God's displeasure. Genuine faith acknowledges God's right to chasten, His right to punish, and His right to judge. Topics: God
Source: Successful Christian Parenting, 1998, p. 78. |
|
|
| God is not a cosmic killjoy. I know some people who believe He is. They think God runs around saying, "There's one having fun; get him!" They believe God wants to rain on everybody's parade. But that isn't so. God made you. He knows how you operate best. And He knows what makes you happy. The happiness He gives doesn't stop when the party's over. It lasts because it comes from deep within. Topics: God, Happiness
Source: You Can Trust the Bible, p. 19-20. |
| Godly character is not the result of good intentions, wishful thinking, some mystical "zap," or even sheer Bible knowledge. It's developed through the self-disciplined application of God's Word at a very basic level, enabled and empowered by God's Spirit. Topics: Godliness
Source: Grace To You, Newsletter, March 17, 2006. |
| The joyless Christian reveals himself by having negative thoughts and talk about others, in a lack of concern for others welfare, and a failure to intercede on others behalf. Joyless believers are self-centered, selfish, proud, and often vengeful and their self-centeredness inevitably manifests itself in prayerlessness. Topics: Gossip |
| God's grace is His unmerited favor toward the wicked, unworthy sinners, by which He delivers them from condemnation and death. Topics: Grace
Source: Titus, p. 107. |
| Grace does not grant permission to live in the flesh; it supplies power to live in the Spirit. Topics: Grace, Power
Source: The Gospel According to Jesus |
| To some measure even unbelievers benefit from God's grace. Theologians call that "common grace" because it is common to all mankind. Common grace is God's continual care for all creation, providing for His creatures' needs. Through common grace God restrains humanity from utter debauchery and maintains order and some sense of beauty, morality, and goodness in society's consciousness. Topics: Grace
Source: Sufficient Grace from Our Sufficiency in Christ |
