(χαρίσματα, charísmata):
The word chárisma, with a single exception (1 Peter 4:10), occurs in the New Testament only in the Pauline Epistles, and in the plural form is employed in a technical sense to denote extraordinary gifts of the Spirit bestowed upon Christians to equip them for the service of the church. Various lists of the charismata are given (Romans 12:6-8; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11, 28-30; compare Ephesians 4:7-12), none of which, it is evident, are exhaustive. Some of the gifts enumerated cannot be said to belong in any peculiar sense to the distinctive category. “Faith” (1 Corinthians 12:9), for example, is the essential condition of all Christian life; though there were, no doubt, those who were endowed with faith beyond their fellows. “Giving” and “mercy” (Romans 12:8) are among the ordinary graces of the Christian character; though some would possess them more than others. “Ministry” (Romans 12:7), again, i.e. service, was the function to which every Christian was called and the purpose to which every one of the special gifts was to be devoted (Ephesians 4:12). The term is applied to any spiritual benefit, as the confirmation of Christians in the faith by Paul (Romans 1:11). And as the general function of ministry appears from the first in two great forms as a ministry of word and deed (Acts 6:1-4; 1 Corinthians 1:17), so the peculiar charismatic gifts which Paul mentions fall into two great classes—those which qualify their possessors for a ministry of the word, and those which prepare them to render services of a practical nature.
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Author: International Std. Bible Encyclopedia
Keywords: Spiritual Gifts, Teaching, Tongues, Interpretation of Tongues, Miracles, Gifts of Healings, Healing, Gifts of the Spirit
Source: James Orr (editor), The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, 5 volume set.
Page indexed by: inWORD Bible Software.