Spiritual Gifts — All of Them, Still Active Today
Tongues, healing, prophecy, discernment — Paul listed them. They didn't stop with the apostles.
Most Protestant denominations teach that the spiritual gifts Paul described in 1 Corinthians 12 — tongues, healing, prophecy, miracles, discernment — ceased with the death of the original apostles. This doctrine is called cessationism, and it is the default position in much of mainstream Protestantism: the gifts were given for a season to establish the early Church, and they are no longer needed now that the canon of scripture is complete.
Cessationism has no scriptural basis. Paul himself gives the reason the gifts will continue: "till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God" (Ephesians 4:13). The unity of the faith has not come. The knowledge of the Son of God is not universal. The gifts are still needed.
Latter-day Saints do not argue about whether the gifts are available. They practice them — quietly, faithfully, and without theatrical display. The gifts of the Spirit are woven into the daily fabric of the Church because the Church is led by the same Spirit that gave them in the first place.
What Are the Gifts of the Spirit?
Paul's catalog in 1 Corinthians 12 lists nine gifts: wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discernment of spirits, tongues, and interpretation of tongues. Moroni 10 and D&C 46 expand this list and clarify its purpose. The gifts are not performances. They are tools — given to benefit the whole body of the Church and to confirm the truth of the gospel.
Moroni 10:8–9
“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.”
D&C 46:11–12
“For all have not every gift given unto them; for there are many gifts, and to every man is given a gift by the Spirit of God. To some is given one, and to some is given another, that all may be profited thereby.”
Every member of the Church has at least one gift of the Spirit. Not every gift is dramatic or visible. The gift of wisdom, the gift of faith, the gift of discernment — these operate quietly in the life of a faithful member and may never produce anything that looks miraculous from the outside. But they are real, and they are given for the benefit of the whole.
The Gift of Tongues
The gift of tongues in LDS theology is not primarily about ecstatic speech. It is the miraculous ability to speak or understand a language for the purpose of preaching the gospel. Early Church history is full of documented accounts of missionaries who preached in languages they had not learned — and were understood. It also includes the ability to learn languages with unusual facility when called to serve in a foreign mission.
Paul is explicit that tongues must be interpreted to be useful in a congregation (1 Corinthians 14:2–5). The gift of interpretation accompanies it precisely for this reason. LDS practice treats tongues soberly — it is not a sign to be sought for its own sake, and Joseph Smith warned against putting excessive trust in what appears to be the gift of tongues without accompanying discernment.
The more common and daily expression of this gift is the missionary who, after earnest preparation and prayer, finds that language flows unexpectedly — that doors open, that understanding comes beyond what training alone could produce. This happens regularly and is treated not as exceptional but as the normal operation of the Spirit in the mission field.
The Gift of Healing
Healing by the laying on of hands is practiced throughout the Church. Elders who hold the Melchizedek Priesthood anoint with consecrated oil and pronounce blessings of healing. These are not performances — they are quiet, private, usually family occasions where a husband blesses a sick wife, a father blesses a suffering child, or home teachers anoint a neighbor in crisis.
Mark 16:17–18
“And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.”
These signs shall follow them that believe. Not "these signs once followed those who believed." The promise is ongoing, and the condition is faith. LDS doctrine takes Christ at His word on this point.
Healings happen. Not every time — faith is not a formula that forces God's hand, and His purposes often include suffering as part of sanctification. But healing occurs, documented within families and wards and missions, with enough consistency that members treat priesthood blessings of healing as a real avenue of God's power, not a ritual with no expected effect.
Prophecy and Revelation
Prophecy in LDS theology is not limited to predicting the future. It is speaking under the influence of the Holy Ghost — for edification, comfort, and exhortation (1 Corinthians 14:3). Every person who speaks with the Spirit in testimony, in blessing, or in counsel is, in that moment, exercising the gift of prophecy in its most common form.
At the institutional level, the President of the Church holds the prophetic office — the right and responsibility to receive revelation for the whole Church. But the gift of prophecy in its personal expression is available to every member. The Spirit of God testifies. It warns. It prompts. It speaks specifically about specific situations. These are not claimed as general scripture, but they are treated as real communications from God.
Related Scriptures on Prophecy
- Numbers 11:29 — Moses: “Would God that all the Lord's people were prophets” — the prophetic gift was never meant to be restricted to a few
- Joel 2:28 — “Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy” — Peter quotes this at Pentecost as already fulfilling
- D&C 46:22 — The gift to know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God — itself a form of personal prophetic revelation
LDS doctrine does not restrict prophetic utterance to the pulpit or the prophet's office. It expects it in daily life — in the home, in prayer, in study, in the still small voice that answers when you are seeking direction. This is not enthusiasm. It is the normal functioning of the relationship between God and His covenant people.
Discernment of Spirits
Not every spiritual experience comes from God. The adversary is real, and his influence can mimic spiritual phenomena. The gift of discernment is the ability to tell the difference — to know whether what is being felt or communicated is of God, of man, or of the devil.
Moroni 7 gives the framework: every good gift comes from God, and the Spirit of Christ is given to every person to know good from evil. The gift of discernment as a specific spiritual gift goes further: the ability to read spirits, to detect deception, to know when something that appears spiritual is not. This gift is particularly important for Church leaders — bishops, stake presidents, mission presidents — who must evaluate the sincerity and spiritual condition of those they serve.
In a world where spiritual deception is real — where false prophets arise and signs and wonders can mislead (Matthew 24:24) — the gift of discernment is not optional. It is the spiritual immune system of the Church. Cessationism, by removing this gift from availability, leaves believers without their primary defense against spiritual fraud.
The Gift of Faith
Faith is listed as a gift of the Spirit because it is not uniformly distributed. Some people have been given a measure of faith that exceeds the ordinary — the ability to believe without wavering, to act on spiritual impressions that others would hesitate to follow, to hold on through circumstances that would break someone with lesser faith. This is not intellectual superior performance. It is a gift, as real as healing or tongues, given to specific individuals for specific purposes.
D&C 46:14 is precise: "To others it is given to believe on their words" — meaning the gift of faith in one person becomes the foundation that supports the belief of others who have not yet received that same direct witness. The gifts work together as a system, not as individual performances.
Why These Gifts Are Still Necessary
Paul gives the reason directly. Writing to the Ephesians about apostles, prophets, evangelists, teachers, and the gifts that accompany the full ministry of the Church, he specifies how long they are needed:
Ephesians 4:11–13
“And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.”
The gifts are given until we all come in the unity of the faith. That unity does not exist. The world is not united in faith. The knowledge of the Son of God is not universal. The spiritual gifts Paul listed are still needed for exactly the reason he gave: the work of perfecting the saints and edifying the body of Christ is not finished.
Cessationism, honestly evaluated, is not a scriptural position. It is a theological accommodation to the embarrassing absence of the gifts in many churches — a way of explaining why the signs Christ promised do not appear by arguing that they were never meant to continue. LDS doctrine declines that accommodation. The signs follow those who believe. If the signs are absent, the question is not whether the gifts ceased. The question is what happened to the faith.
How to Seek and Recognize Them
Moroni closes his record with a direct invitation: ask God. Pray specifically. Ask what gifts you have been given. Ask what gifts you need. Ask for the Spirit to teach you to recognize the gifts already operating in your life — because many people have spiritual gifts they have never named or understood.
Moroni 10:17–18
“And all these gifts come by the Spirit of Christ; and they come unto every man severally, according as he will. And I would exhort you, my beloved brethren, that ye remember that every good gift cometh of Christ.”
The gifts are not sought for display. They are sought because the work is real, the adversary is real, the needs of the people are real, and God has given tools to meet those needs. A Church without spiritual gifts is a Church operating on its own resources. A Church with spiritual gifts is a Church operating on God's.
The restoration of spiritual gifts is one of the clearest evidences that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is not a human institution. Human institutions do not heal the sick, speak in tongues, prophesy, and discern spirits as ordinary features of their community life. The presence of the gifts is itself a witness of the restoration — that the same Spirit who poured out at Pentecost is present still.