Summary

Faith

When Paul speaks of faith as a gift, he is evidently not thinking of saving faith, which is given by the Spirit to every believer. 1 Corinthians 13:2 sheds light on the nature of this gift. There Paul speaks of a faith that can remove mountains, clearly thinking back to Jesus’ own words (see Matthew 17:20).

Jesus’ mention of a faith that can move mountains came as part of a rebuke to his twelve disciples after they had been unable to cast out a demon. This suggests that the gift of faith is connected to the two gifts that are next on Paul’s list, namely, healing and miracles. In this context, then, faith means firmly trusting that God will do a miracle.

The Bible, as well as the history of the church, is filled with examples of believers who had extraordinary faith in God’s power and promises. While such faith is a gift that the Spirit gives to some believers, we are all encouraged to learn from these believers’ faith and to follow their example (Hebrews 11:1–40; Hebrews 12:1; James 5:10–11, James 5:16–18).

Gifts of Healing

The plural word gifts possibly refers to concrete acts of healing. The New Testament presents miraculous healing as something extraordinary, rather than an everyday occurrence. The power to miraculously heal people was a power that Jesus directly bestowed on his apostles (Matthew 10:1). Some individuals who were closely associated with the apostles also received this power, probably after the apostles laid hands on them (see Acts 6:5–6; Acts 8:5–7).

The purpose of the gifts of healing was not to cure all God’s people from disease, but to demonstrate the truth of the apostles’ message. Paul was not spared from disease and neither were his close fellow workers Epaphroditus, Timothy, and Trophimus (see Galatians 4:13–14; 2 Corinthians 12:7–10; Philippians 2:25–27; 1 Timothy 5:23; 2 Timothy 4:20).

The apostolic age has come to an end, and with it the gifts that specifically belonged to the apostles. (These gifts, such as the power to heal and the working of miracles, are sometimes called sign gifts, since they served to confirm the apostles’ message.) Yet God still commands his people to pray for healing, and he still answers such prayers (James 5:16). Sometimes he heals in a miraculous, that is, a scientifically inexplicable, way. Sometimes he chooses not to heal, and then we are called to trust that his will is best (see Matthew 26:39).