Discovering Our Spiritual Gifts:
An Inductive Bible Study

• What is an Inductive Bible Study?
• How Do You Discover the Will of God?
• Advice to Those Battling Corinthians
• Welcome to God's Gym - Body Building 101
• Stewards of the Grace of God
• Integrate the Results of Your Inductive Study

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What is an Inductive Bible Study?

• In an inductive study of the scriptures, you first identify every passage in the Bible which addresses the topic in which you are interested. A good study Bible or concordance will help you to identify these passages.
• Next, you read these passages. As you read, you will begin to notice common themes, images, and words which run through these passages. You will also begin to form general impressions and ideas about your topic.
• As you reread the passages, take notes, listing these themes, images, words, impressions, and ideas.
• Based on your readings and your notes, you should be able to develop a deeper understanding of and feel for the topic that you have chosen to study.
• This approach to Bible study is a nice alternative to the deductive approach most often used in Sunday School classes.

The first step in our process of discovering our spiritual gifts is a careful reading of the four New Testament passages which describe spiritual gifts. These four passages are:

• Romans 12:1-13
• 1 Corinthians 12:1-31
• Ephesians 4:1-15
• 1 Peter 4:7-14

In these passages, two Greek words are used to denote "spiritual gifts"--charismatos (which literally means "grace gifts") and pneumatekon (which literally means "air gifts").

In this study, you will be asked to use an inductive approach. For general instructions about the inductive approach, please read the information in the sidebar.

As you read each passage, you will be asked to respond to several questions. Please note your responses to these questions in a notebook or on a worksheet.

After you have read all four passages, you will be asked to integrate your responses to these questions and your impressions about these passages. As a result of this study, you will:

• Identify common themes and images used in these passages.
• Write your own definition of a spiritual gift.
• List all of the spiritual gifts included in these passages.

Study Tip: It is often helpful to read from several different versions of the Bible. Each version will add a slightly different perspective in your study.

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How Do You Discover the Will of God? Use Your Spiritual Gifts!
Romans 12:1-13

Background Information:

• Though Paul had not yet visited the Christian community in Rome, he felt compelled to write a pastoral letter to that congregation. The resulting correspondence, the New Testament book of Romans, contains challenging and provocative instructions for Christians who wish to understand and to grow in their relationship to God through Jesus Christ.

The first passage in our inductive Bible study is from this book: Romans 12:1-13.

• Read Romans 12:1-2. In practical terms, what does it mean to "present your bodies as a living sacrifice"?
• In verse two, we read, "do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God." Restate this phrase in your own words.
• In verses 3-4, Paul encourages his readers to use sound judgement, not to think too highly of themselves. Paul also uses a particular image of the church to describe the interrelatedness of all Christians. What image does Paul use to describe the nature of the church?
• Read verses 6-13. Which spiritual gifts are listed in these verses?
• After reading the entire passage, what is your assessment of the relationship between understanding the will of God and using your spiritual gift(s)?
• In general, what have you learned about spiritual gifts based on this passage?

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Advice to Those Battling Corinthians
1 Corinthians 12:1-31

Background Information:

• The first century city of Cornith was a major Roman sea port. It was a bustling, raucous town, filled with merchants, traders, and sailors. The town was also a noted center of pagan worship. A temple dedicated to a goddess of sex was located in the city. Sacred prostitution and ecstatic forms of worship were conducted in the area around this temple. Local craftsmen also produced and sold idols associated with the worship of this goddess.
• Into this chaotic, heathen city came Paul preaching the Gospel. Several Gentiles in the city responded to his message and became Christians. A fledgling church was established. After working to establish a solid faith foundation for these former pagans, Paul moved on to other cities.
• From time to time, Paul heard disturbing reports about the church at Corinth. Most biblical scholars believe that the letter we call 1 Corinthians was written in response to one of these reports. Paul penned these words of advice and correction to address a number of important issues that faced the congregation.
• One of these issues was glossolalia--commonly known as speaking in unknown tongues. It seems that, in their previous pagan services of worship, forms of ecstatic speech were interpreted as a sign of special favor with the gods. The Corinthian, when converted, brought these forms of ecstatic speech into their Christian worship. The undisciplined use of glossolalia was causing disruption in the fellowship.
• In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul attempted to address this inappropriate display and the disruptions that it caused. But rather than focusing exclusively on the misuse of glossolalia, Paul provides the longest, most complete teaching on the topic of spiritual gifts in the entire New Testament.

Read 1 Corinthians 12:1-31. As you read the passage, answer the following questions:

• Why are spiritual gifts given? (Verses 4-7)
• Who receives a spiritual gift? (Verse 7)
• What is the source of all spiritual gifts? (Verse 11)
• What image of the church is used in this passage? (Refer specifically to verses 13-26.) In light of the controversy in the Corinthian church (described in the sidebar), what is the significance of this image with regards to giftedness?
• Which spiritual gifts are identified in this passage?
• How does this teaching about spiritual gifts in Chapter 12 relate to the famous Love Chapter, 1 Corinthians 13, which follows?

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Welcome to God's Gym--Body Building 101
Ephesians 4:1-15

Background Information

• In his teachings about spiritual gifts in the book of Romans, Paul gave individual Christians advice about how to discover the will of God. In that book, he encouraged the reader to present his or her entire life as a living sacrifice. He urged the reader to avoid a life based on the principles of this world; rather, he counseled the individual to come to a new understanding of God's principles and how they can be played out in this world. His advice to the individual Christian: to discover the will of God for your life, discover and use your spiritual gifts!
• In his letter to the Christians at Ephesus, Paul shifts his attention from the commitment of the individual Christian to the life of the church, a unique community established by God through the work of Jesus Christ. While Romans 12 focuses on the individual and giftedness, Ephesians 4 focuses on the church and giftedness.

Read Ephesians 4:1-15. As you read, consider the following questions:

• According to verses 1 and 2, describe the "calling to which we have been called."
• In verses 3-6, how is the theme of unity described?
• Who receives a spiritual gift? (Verse 7)
• Which spiritual gifts are listed in this passage? (Verse 11)
• Why are spiritual gifts given? (Verse 12)
• What image of the church is used in this passage?
• What does this image of the church have to do with the idea of "Christian body building"?

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Stewards of the Grace of God
1 Peter 4:7-14

Background Information

• While Paul often wrote to specific churches with whom he had some associations, this epistle from Peter was probably circulated among a number of churches in rural Asia Minor. It is further believed that the letter was written in response to a local or regional persecution of Christians. As a respected leader of the church in Jerusalem, a letter under the signature of Peter would have carried much weight with these persecuted Christians. They would have been comforted and challenged by his words of advice.
• So, one passage about spiritual gifts was written to settle a church fight; a second was written as words of advice in the face of persecution.
• It is also important to note that two of the major leaders of the New Testament church wrote about spiritual gifts--Paul, writing to three, separate and prominent congregations, and Peter, writing a general epistle with a wide circulation. These key leaders felt that an understanding of giftedness was important to discover the will of God, to settle a church controversy, to describe how the church should function, and to provide stability in the face of persecution.
• As important as giftedness was to those first century Christians, it is equally important for twenty-first century Christians.

Read 1 Peter 4:7-14 and answer the following questions:

• Describe the overall tone of this passage.
• Who receives a spiritual gift? (Verse 10)
• Which spiritual gifts are identified in this passage? (Verse 11a)
• Why are spiritual gifts given? (Verse 11b)
• Based on this passage, what have you learned about spiritual gifts?

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Integrate The Results of Your Inductive Study

• What common themes, images, and words did you find in these four passages? List them.
• List all of the spiritual gifts that you discovered in the four New Testament passages. Depending on the version(s) of the Bible that you used, you should find around 22 gifts.
• Incorporating everything that you have learned about spiritual gifts, write your definition of a spiritual gift.

Based on your current understanding of giftedness, respond to the following statements:

• Assuming that talents are abilities received at birth, or skill developed after birth--capacities which are possessed by all people--what is the difference between talents and spiritual gifts? Are the two related? If so, how?
• Is it possible for a Christian to deny the fact that he or she has at least one spiritual gift? Why or why not?
• Is this statement consistent with your understanding of spiritual giftedness:
  
  Spiritual gifts are congregational, not personal. Through these gifts, the Church and the local congregation are equipped to function as worshiping, discipling, community-building, witnessing, serving, and ministering family of faith.

This course of study is based on the following definition of a "spiritual gift":

A spiritual gift is an ability, skill, or talent given through the activity of the Holy Spirit working in the life of each individual Christian. Collectively, the spiritual gifts possessed by the members of a local congregation enable that congregation as the body of Christ to perform the mission and ministry to which it has been called by God.

How does your definition compare with this definition? What points of clarification would you raise?

Congratulations!

You have completed an inductive Bible study of the four New Testament passages which describe spiritual giftedness. The next section of this booklet contains A Spiritual Gifts Inventory designed to help you discover your individual gifts.

Next: A Spiritual Gifts Inventory
Previous: The Basics about Spiritual Gifts
Top: Discovering Our Spiritual Gifts