This Article of Faith is about Gifts of the Spirit. Elder L. Tom Perry said, "We are given spiritual gifts to guide us as we follow the Lord’s teachings and to protect us from evil. "
The Prophet Moroni talks about Gifts of the Spirit a couple times in the of the Book of Mormon.
Mormon 9:7-8
7 And again I speak unto you who deny the revelations of God, and say that they are done away, that there are no revelations, nor prophecies, nor gifts, nor healing, nor speaking with tongues, and the interpretation of tongues;
8 Behold I say unto you, he that denieth these things knoweth not the gospel of Christ; yea, he has not read the scriptures; if so, he does not understand them.Moroni 10:8, 17-18
8 And again, I exhort you, my brethren, that ye deny not the gifts of God, for they are many; and they come from the same God. And there are different ways that these gifts are administered; but it is the same God who worketh all in all; and they are given by the manifestations of the Spirit of God unto men, to profit them.
17 And all these gifts come by the Spirit of Christ; and they come unto every man severally, according as he will.
18 And I would exhort you, my beloved brethren, that ye remember that every good gift cometh of Christ.There are many Gifts of the Spirit mentioned in Scripture. Everyone is given different Gifts of the Spirit. If we live righteously, we are able to use those gifts for good.
I will just elaborate a bit on the gifts mentioned in the seventh Article of Faith.
The gift of tongues. The gift of tongues is given to missionaries to help them learn to speak foreign languages. So they can share the gospel message with the people who they are called to teach.
Prophecy. Prophets are able to foresee things that will happen in the future and tell us of such events. This has happened numerous times in the scriptures and continues today.
Revelation. We believe the heavens are open. Not only can Prophets receive revelation for the Church. But we can receive personal revelation through prayer.
Visions. Visions or dreams are ways to receive revelation. The ancient prophet Lehi had a vision of The Tree of Life in the Book of Mormon. Of course Joseph Smith received The First Vision when he was visited by God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ in answer to prayer.
Healings. Just as in ancient times when people were miraculously healed, the same happens today through the power of the priesthood.
Interpretation of tongues. This goes hand-in-hand with the ability to speak a foreign language with the gift of tongues. Missionaries are also blessed with the gift of interpretation of tongues to be able to understand the foreign language of those who they are called to teach.
No comments:
Post a Comment