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DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN THE GIFT OF THE PROPHET & PROPHESYING
One
of the reasons there is confusion today about the prophet gift is the
failure to distinguish between the “gift of the prophet” and “gift
of prophesying”.
According
to Ephesians 4:11-16 “He(Christ: See v7))gave some… i.e., prophets
…for the 1)perfecting of the saints, 2)for the work of the ministry,
3)for the edifying of the body of Christ…”.
In the Greek, this passage states that these equipping leaders were
themselves a gift of Christ to His church and it was not just the gift of
prophecy that was given. Even
though to the casual reader it may appear to be just a play on words, this
fact is crucial in understanding the difference in the “gift of the
prophet” and the “gift of prophesying”.
I Corinthians 12:28 adds, “And God hath set some
in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly
teachers…”
Only
the prophet, as an equipping servant-leader, is qualified according to
Scripture to function in what the KJV calls “office”. It is important to qualify this word “office”, for the
connotation today is that “office” implies position or rank.
In reality, the KJV’s use of the word “office” does not
accurately translate that Greek word in any of the above three cases.
All
three uses of the word “office” used in the KJV, which include Romans
11:13, Romans 12:4 and I Timothy 3:1 should not be
translated as “office”. Romans
11:13 “I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine “office”
(Gr.diakonia=service, ministry).
Romans 12:4 “For as we have many members in the one body,
and all members have not the same “office” (Gr.proxis=work,
action, use).” I Timothy
3:1 “This is a true saying, If a man desire, the “office”(Gr.episkope=oversite)
of a bishop, he desireth a good work.”
In
truth, the “office” is not a position nor a rank but rather a
descriptive function. The
different Greek names given to represent the various leaders in the
church(i.e. apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers, deacons,
etc.), simply describe who these leaders were and what their function was
in the church.
The
servant leaders who are described in Ephesians 4:11 were themselves
gifts to the church. Their
primary purpose was to serve and lead by example.
Their primary function was 1)”For the perfecting of the
saints,” 2)”for the work of ministry,” 3)”for the edifying of the
body of Christ:”
A
person who serves in the function of a prophet, that is as one who is a
gift from Christ to the church to equip the body, operates in this gift as
a primary ministry and is known and recognized by the church as a result
of the confirmation of the Holy Spirit.
The
“gift of prophesying” on the other hand, is a gift of the Holy Spirit
available to any believer in the Body of Christ.
According to I Corinthians 12:7 “The manifestation of the
Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.
I Corinthians 12:8, 10 adds “For to one is given by
the Spirit…i.e. prophecy…” In
I Corinthians 12:11 it
states, “But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit,
dividing to every man severally as he will.”
I Corinthians 12:18 says, “But now hath God set the
members every one of them I the body, as it hath pleased him.”
In I Corinthians 12:29 it says, “Are all apostles?(Gr. ‘No’)Are
all prophets?”(Gr. ‘No’)Are all teachers?” (Gr. ‘No’)
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