The book The Gifts and Calling of God by Kenneth E. Hagin focuses on describing the differences between gifts and callings of God. The author focuses on the use of scriptures from the Bible to ensure that the audience understands the degree of God's anointing and the reasons for gifting and calling individuals. He recounts various instances that describe gifts and callings of God. The author discusses the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives and indicates that anointing is an important aspect that helps to identify individual gifts and calling. The book is based on the letters of Paul, which he wrote to different churches concerning God's blessings and anointing in the form of gifts and calling. The information provided in the book helps to better my understanding of God and how He works to ensure that we fulfil our divine purpose using our talents and callings.
Summary
The book begins with an analysis of the issue of gifts by providing different definitions of gifts considering that there were diverse meanings of the word gifts. The author recounts that different Greek words translate the word gift differently. For example, the word “gift” is regarded as an endowment or a gratuity. The author furthers the explanation on the issue of gifts and calling mentioning that the Holy Spirit gifts people to undertake different roles in the society (Hagin, 1986). The author maintains that Paul had a significant role in describing the fact that the Holy Spirit gifted people differently. Additionally, the callings of God differed among people considering that people were called to perform different roles in the church.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Analysis
To provide a distinction on the issue of gifts and callings, the author maintains that the Holy Spirit anoints people to obey their callings according to the defined purpose of God. In the second chapter, describe the callings of God and the role of the Holy Spirit in ensuring that the people obey His callings. The author discussed that the anointing by the Holy Spirit enabled an individual to obey God’s calling. He further discussed that callings differed among individuals as they were required to engage in different roles focusing on spreading the word of God to other people in the society. The author uses an example from Romans 12:4 that describe the role of each different gift in spreading the gospel. Hagins (1986) mentions that “Having then GIFTS differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith” (p.7). In the given scripture, Paul described the body of Christ using a physical body to indicating the different functions of various body parts. In this case, the author’s purpose is to demonstrate that people may be called to salvation and get anointing from the Holy Spirit but have different callings and gifts.
In the third chapter, a description of different aspects that concern the age of accountability and different perceptions associated with reaching the age are provided. The book posits that most believed that only born-again people would go to heaven. In this chapter, the author describes a young boy who died at an early age without reaching the age of accountability and without professing faith in God (Langer, 2017). He then focuses on addressing the issue from Paul’s point of view, mentioning that the most important aspect is to be spiritually alive, even without dwelling on the age of accountability. The book addresses the fact that a child may have spiritual anointing and gifts from God even before the age of accountability. The information in this chapter focuses on describing the fact that being born again does not define whether one will get to heaven, but rather being spiritually awake does. Hagin (1986) maintains that “He couldn't be talking about being physically alive, because he was physically alive afterwards” (p.32).
In the fourth chapter, the author focuses on the issue of the voice of God in calling the chosen ones. The chapter describes the experience of a 17-year-old boy who preached and engaged in different church activities that involved teaching Sunday school class and speaking to the youth on issues concerning faith in God. The young boy engaged in a wide range of church activities but later he was overwhelmed and got discouraged to continue with the activities. He continued to feel that the roles were difficult to accomplish as they required specialized gifts and a calling from God (Hagin, 1986). Considering that engaging in the given roles was a calling, there was a voice from heaven that mentioned that “I want you to go teach my people faith. I have taught you faith through my word” (p.36) The author maintains that for Christians there are times when they feel like things are not right considering that they fail to fulfill and follow the voice from heaven providing directions on what to do.
My Opinion
My opinion on the book is that it helps to broaden the understanding that gifts and callings are distinct factors that helps us to understand God’s purpose in our lives. When focusing on the aspect of gifts differing, the book helps in providing examples that indicated that indeed gifts vary and different purposes. The author demonstrates the characteristic of gifts differing by quoting the letter of Paul to the Romans. Hagin (1986) mentions that “For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office” (p.5). I believe that this statement helped to demonstrate how gifts and callings from God differ by the intended purpose and role in the society. The Christian faith requires an individual to welcome the Holy Spirit so as to guide on the process of identifying gifts and God’s calling, which is a factor that helps to accomplish the purpose of our lives.
When focusing on the aspects of differing gifts, I believe that they differ based on the grace that we receive from the Holy Spirit. Additionally, I think that God’s gifts and callings are everlasting, meaning that God does not revoke His blessings and anointing in our lives. Hagin (1986) described the letters of Paul mentioning that “the gifts and calling of God are without repentance” (p.5). I am certain that the Holy Spirit has a significant role in defining our blessings and providing us with the anointing to obey the calling of God. The blessings of God come in different form, which is an aspect that cannot be changed. In the Christian faith, all individuals have a gift from God but it takes salvation to identify the gift and the specific callings from God. The book helps to understand the need for salvation in ensuring that an individual recognizes their God given gifts and that they focus on obeying their callings from God.
Overall, I believe that the book may have a significant impact on our individual lives as it helps to provide information that concerns the differences between gifts and callings of God. The information on the book impacts on the life of a Christian by defining the different aspects concerning the use of gifts for the glory of God. The book has a primary role of strengthening faith in God because God has a special gift for all that believes in him. Additionally, the approach used by the author to deliver the intended message to the audience is effective as it focuses on providing real-life stories that demonstrate the aspect of gift and callings of God. The use of scriptures and the letters of Paul help in presenting the reliability of the information provided by the author. I believe that Paul had a better understanding of the issues of the gifts and calling of God and the role of the Holy Spirit in understanding the gifts.
Conclusion
Gifts and callings of God are vital aspects in the lives of Christians. God ensures that all individuals have unique gifts that help to ensure that we accomplish the role of serving Him. The Holy Spirit has a significant role in defining our gifts and provides an anointing that enables individuals to obey God’s calling. The book by Kenneth E. Hagin focuses on outlining various concepts that are significant in undertaking the role of gifts in our lives and their impact in church. It also capitalizes on describing the fact that gifts differ and discuss the importance of the varying gifts. From the information obtained from the book, I believe that God has a divine purpose in our lives and therefore directs the Holy Spirit to provide an anointing that enables us to obey His callings. I believe that the book is an important source of information on the issues of faith in Christ and different factors that concern gifts and callings from God.
References
Hagin, K. (1986). The Gifts and Calling of God . Faith Library Publications.
Langer, R. (2017). “Gifts and Calling:” The fruits of coming to know living Jews. Studies in Christian-Jewish Relations , 12 (1), 1-77. https://doi.org/10.6017/scjr.v12i1.9797
