Section 13
human language. It did not matter whether the donkey was small or big, young or old. The gift was miraculous; it did not depend upon the donkey's growth. However, to be an elder in the church does not depend upon a miraculous gift. Do not think that after being saved a short while you can pray for several hours, receive the socalled baptism, and suddenly become an elder. If a person could become an elder in this way, it would mean that eldership is a miraculous gift. But to be an elder you do not need miraculous gifts; you need the gift of grace by growth in life. You need to grow day by day and year by year. If you do not exhibit the growth in life, you cannot be an elder. You cannot be an elder if you lack the adequate measure of life. I hope that everyone who reads this booklet is now able to differen tiate between these two categories of gifts—the miraculous gifts and the gifts of grace in life.
Many of the gifts mentioned in 1 Corinthi ans 12 are miraculous gifts. However, even there some of the gifts are not miraculous. For exam ple, neither the word of wisdom nor the word of knowledge is miraculous. As we have seen, in Romans 12 none of the gifts are miraculous; all of the gifts found there are the gifts of grace in life which require the growth in life. Your growth