Ephesians 4:7 Cross References

Ephesians 4:7

7: However, he has given each one of us a special gift according to the generosity of Christ.

As God's messenger, I give each of you this warning: Be honest in your estimate of yourselves, measuring your value by how much faith God has given you.

God has given gifts to each of you from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Manage them well so that God's generosity can flow through you.

A spiritual gift is given to each of us as a means of helping the entire church.
To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another he gives the gift of special knowledge.
The Spirit gives special faith to another, and to someone else he gives the power to heal the sick.
He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and to another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to know whether it is really the Spirit of God or another spirit that is speaking. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, and another is given the ability to interpret what is being said.
It is the one and only Holy Spirit who distributes these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.

As you already know, God has given me this special ministry of announcing his favor to you Gentiles.

Just think! Though I did nothing to deserve it, and though I am the least deserving Christian there is, I was chosen for this special joy of telling the Gentiles about the endless treasures available to them in Christ.

Here is a list of some of the members that God has placed in the body of Christ: first are apostles, second are prophets, third are teachers, then those who do miracles, those who have the gift of healing, those who can help others, those who can get others to work together, those who speak in unknown languages.
Is everyone an apostle? Of course not. Is everyone a prophet? No. Are all teachers? Does everyone have the power to do miracles?
Does everyone have the gift of healing? Of course not. Does God give all of us the ability to speak in unknown languages? Can everyone interpret unknown languages? No!

God has given each of us the ability to do certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out when you have faith that God is speaking through you.
If your gift is that of serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, do a good job of teaching.
If your gift is to encourage others, do it! If you have money, share it generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.

He gave five bags of gold to one, two bags of gold to another, and one bag of gold to the last--dividing it in proportion to their abilities--and then left on his trip.

That is why the Scriptures say, "When he ascended to the heights, he led a crowd of captives and gave gifts to his people."
Notice that it says "he ascended." This means that Christ first came down to the lowly world in which we live.
The same one who came down is the one who ascended higher than all the heavens, so that his rule might fill the entire universe.
He is the one who gave these gifts to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers.
Their responsibility is to equip God's people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ,

For he is sent by God. He speaks God's words, for God's Spirit is upon him without measure or limit.

As God's partners, we beg you not to reject this marvelous message of God's great kindness.

But we will not boast of authority we do not have. Our goal is to stay within the boundaries of God's plan for us, and this plan includes our working there with you.
We are not going too far when we claim authority over you, for we were the first to travel all the way to you with the Good News of Christ.
Nor do we claim credit for the work someone else has done. Instead, we hope that your faith will grow and that our work among you will be greatly enlarged.

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