A Word-Study Chart · The Gift and Its Gifts
charis · grace · favor · a gift freely given
unearned favor — and the very root from which God's gifts to the church spring
One root · a whole family
The Greek root χαρ- ties together words English keeps apart. Grace (charis) gives a gift (charisma); the heart that receives it gives thanks (eucharistia) and overflows with joy (chara); and to forgive is simply to "grace" someone (charizomai). Hold the family together and the logic of the Christian life appears: God's free favor produces gifts, gratitude, gladness, and a people who freely release others as they were freely received.
Grace is not a vague kindness; it has a definite shape. It is free in its giving, received through faith, and answered by a transformed life. Three steps hold these together without collapsing them into either legalism or license.
If it could be earned, it would not be grace.
τῇ γὰρ χάριτί ἐστε σεσῳσμένοι … θεοῦ τὸ δῶρον· οὐκ ἐξ ἔργων
tē gar chariti … theou to dōron, ouk ex ergōn
By grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God — not of works, lest anyone should boast.
Grace is a gift (δῶρον), set in flat contrast to works. Romans 11:6 makes the logic airtight: "if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace." It cannot be half-earned.
δικαιούμενοι δωρεὰν τῇ αὐτοῦ χάριτι
dikaioumenoi dōrean tē autou chariti
Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
"Freely" (δωρεάν) is the same word Jesus uses — "freely you received" (Matt 10:8). Titus 2:11: this grace "appeared, bringing salvation to all." 2 Cor 8:9: He became poor so that we might become rich.
Faith is the empty hand that simply receives; it adds nothing to the gift.
δι' οὗ καὶ τὴν προσαγωγὴν ἐσχήκαμεν τῇ πίστει εἰς τὴν χάριν ταύτην
tēn prosagōgēn … tē pistei eis tēn charin
Through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand.
Faith is the door into grace, not the price of it. Romans 4:16 — "it is of faith that it might be according to grace" — so that the promise is sure. Faith receives with an open hand what grace holds out.
Free does not mean cheap; received grace remakes the receiver.
ἐπεφάνη γὰρ ἡ χάρις τοῦ θεοῦ … παιδεύουσα ἡμᾶς
epephanē hē charis … paideuousa
The grace of God has appeared … teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly.
Grace itself trains us. So Paul: "by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain — I labored … yet not I, but the grace of God with me" (1 Cor 15:10). Romans 6:1–2 forbids using grace as a license to sin; 2 Cor 6:1 warns against receiving it "in vain."
The same grace that saves also gives. In Ephesians 4 the ascended Christ hands the church a first kind of gift: not abilities, but people — five equipping ministries whose whole job is to prepare the saints to do the work, so the body grows up into maturity.
ἑκάστῳ δὲ ἡμῶν ἐδόθη ἡ χάρις … ἔδωκεν δόματα τοῖς ἀνθρώποις
hekastō … edothē hē charis … edōken domata
To each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift … "When He ascended on high, He gave gifts to men."
The framework is grace: each member receives a measure, and the ascended Christ "gave gifts." Here the gifts are the ministers themselves, distributed for the body's good.
αὐτὸς ἔδωκεν … πρὸς τὸν καταρτισμὸν τῶν ἁγίων εἰς ἔργον διακονίας
pros ton katartismon tōn hagiōn eis ergon diakonias
He Himself gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers — for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ.
The aim is stated plainly: equip the saints (καταρτισμός — to mend, fit, prepare) so that they do the ministry, "till we all come to the unity of the faith … to a mature man, to the measure of the fullness of Christ." The five exist to make the many able.
The five equipping gifts — and what each is for
| Gift (person) | Greek | What they equip the body to do |
|---|---|---|
| Apostle | ἀπόστολος | "Sent one" — pioneers, plants, lays foundations on Christ, carries the gospel to new ground. |
| Prophet | προφήτης | Speaks God's word to build, exhort, and comfort (1 Cor 14:3); calls the body back to God's heart. |
| Evangelist | εὐαγγελιστής | Carries the good news, wins and gathers, stirs the whole body to reach the lost (2 Tim 4:5). |
| Pastor (shepherd) | ποιμήν | Feeds, guards, and tends the flock; cares for souls and leads them to safe pasture. |
| Teacher | διδάσκαλος | Grounds the saints in sound doctrine so they are not tossed by every wind (Eph 4:14). |
All five serve one end (Eph 4:12–16): the saints equipped, the body built up, growing in love into the full stature of Christ.
The second kind of gift is the charismata — literally "grace-things," the Spirit's manifestations distributed among the members. Their name says it all: they are grace at work, given not for display but "for the profit of all," to build up the body and to confirm the gospel with God's own witness.
διαιρέσεις χαρισμάτων … πρὸς τὸ συμφέρον
diaireseis charismatōn … pros to sympheron
There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit … the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all.
The gifts are diverse but the Source is one. Each is "given" (grace language) and aimed outward — "for the profit of all" (πρὸς τὸ συμφέρον). A gift kept for self misses its whole purpose.
συνεπιμαρτυροῦντος τοῦ θεοῦ σημείοις … καὶ πνεύματος ἁγίου μερισμοῖς
synepimartyrountos … pneumatos hagiou merismois
God also bearing witness with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will.
A second purpose: the gifts are God's co-witness to the message. So Mark 16:20 — the Lord confirmed the word "through the accompanying signs"; Romans 15:18–19 — Paul's gospel was attested by the power of signs and the Spirit.
The manifestations named in 1 Corinthians 12:8–10 (with Rom 12 & 1 Pet 4)
| Gift | Reference | Purpose in the body |
|---|---|---|
| Word of wisdom | 1 Cor 12:8 | Spirit-given insight to apply God's truth to a situation. |
| Word of knowledge | 1 Cor 12:8 | Knowing something only the Spirit could reveal, for the body's good. |
| Faith | 1 Cor 12:9 | Special God-given confidence to believe Him for the impossible. |
| Gifts of healings | 1 Cor 12:9, 28 | Restoring the sick as a sign of the Kingdom's mercy and power. |
| Working of miracles | 1 Cor 12:10 | Acts of power that confirm the word and glorify God. |
| Prophecy | 1 Cor 12:10; 14:3 | Speaking to "edification, exhortation, and comfort." |
| Discerning of spirits | 1 Cor 12:10 | Telling the Holy Spirit's work from the flesh's or the enemy's. |
| Kinds of tongues | 1 Cor 12:10; 14:2 | Spirit-prompted speech; for prayer and, with interpretation, edification. |
| Interpretation of tongues | 1 Cor 12:10; 14:13 | Rendering a tongue so the assembly is built up. |
| Serving, teaching, exhorting, giving, leading, mercy | Rom 12:6–8; 1 Pet 4:10–11 | Further grace-gifts; each member a "steward of the manifold grace of God." |
Whatever the gift, the rule is one: "Let all things be done for edification" (1 Cor 14:26). Grace given, grace shared.
Sincere believers disagree over whether the more miraculous charismata (tongues, prophecy, healings) continue today or ceased with the apostolic age. This guide reflects the continuationist conviction — that the Giver has not withdrawn His gifts and the church still needs them — which is the historic Pentecostal and charismatic position. Even where the question is debated, both sides agree on the gifts' purpose: not self-display, but the building up of the body and the glory of God. Test everything; let love govern; "do not despise prophecies" yet "test all things" (1 Thess 5:19–21).
Grace is guarded on two sides. Turn it into permission to sin and you betray it; try to add your works to it and you forfeit it. Both ditches miss the road grace actually lays down.
τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμῶν χάριν μετατιθέντες εἰς ἀσέλγειαν
tēn … charin … eis aselgeian
…ungodly men who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the Lord.
The first distortion: treating free grace as a permit to sin. Paul's reflex answer — "shall we sin that grace may abound? Certainly not!" (Rom 6:1–2).
τῆς χάριτος ἐξεπέσατε
tēs charitos exepesate
You have become estranged from Christ … you have fallen from grace.
The opposite distortion: trying to be justified by law-keeping cancels grace. "I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain" (Gal 2:21).
The life of grace runs in a single direction: God gives, faith receives, the receiver is changed and becomes a giver in turn. The gifts to the church — both the equipping ministries and the Spirit's manifestations — are simply grace made visible, handed around the body until it reaches "the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ."
So Peter's charge fits every believer: 1 Pet 4:10 — "as each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God." And the only fitting growth: 2 Pet 3:18 — "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."
In Ephesians 4 the gift Christ gives is the minister himself — an apostle, a pastor, a teacher — handed to the body. Their task is not to do all the ministry while the saints watch, but to καταρτισμός, to equip the saints so the whole body works. A healthy church multiplies ministers; it does not create spectators.
The very word χάρισμα is built on χάρις. A spiritual gift is therefore not a reward for the worthy or a trophy of the advanced — it is grace, unearned, given "to each one" as the Spirit wills (1 Cor 12:11). That keeps gifts from breeding pride: you cannot boast in what was freely given.