Thanks for your response gifts to my message. I can see some of my error on gifts given to unbelievers. It depends on when the gifts are given. Are they like talents, or are they given only after the infilling of the Holy Spirit? I always had assumed you were born with gifts, and if you chose to serve yourself those gifts might manifest in a negative way. For instance a fortune teller with some accuracy, where is that gift coming from? Does Satan give abilities too or is Satan using the already existing gifts to counterfeit any transaction? If I think you shall receive power when the Holy Ghost is poured out, then is it because the gifts are given after the baptism in the Holy Spirit, or are the gifts already there and now in activation?
As to giving gifts without repentance, here is an excerpt from a Hagin teaching
"Romans 11:29 says, “For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.” “Without repentance” means that God won’t change His mind about what He has called you to do. If God has called you, that calling is still there, whether or not you have obeyed. And if God gave you a gift—if He gifted you along a certain line—that gift is still there"
Suppose a believer that operates in the gifts, falls into sin. Would the Holy Spirit still use them? The word of God would certainly still work even though it came from an imperfect vessel. The church has seen a number of ministers that were in sin continuing and either their gifts were counterfeit, or God was using them (for others) in spite of themselves. I used to hear some charismatics preach that you may have gifts of the spirit, but that does not necessarily mean you have fruit of the spirit. Hopefully one would have both.
The gifts and calling are always there once the Holy Spirit has bestowed them. As long as the believer is walking in the Spirit, the gifts are active, according to his faith. That's what Paul said in Romans (about prophesy, but it applies to all the gifts).
When a person is born again, they start living in the Spirit because the Spirit indwells them. Then they have to start walking in the Spirit, and that it conducting one's behaviour according to fruit of the Spirit and not the deeds of the flesh. But there is always a battle because the flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh. But if we are on the upward way and being transformed line by line, precept by precept every day, then we are walking in the Spirit, even if we are not perfect in our walk.
But when we fall into sin, the Holy Spirit in us convicts us that we are stepping out of the light, and usually we will confess the sin (1 John 1:9) and correct our behaviour.
If we refuse, then we are moving into another phase, and that is rejecting the Holy Spirit's conviction, which is the same as rejecting Christ. We don't lose our life in the Spirit, but we are no longer walking in the Spirit, therefore, although the gifts and calling is still there and will not be taken away, they become inactive until we repent of our disobedience, accept the conviction of the Holy Spirit, confess our disobedience and the sin that He first convicted us of - and then we are totally forgiven and cleansed, and the calling and gifts become active again. As we receive the assurance of forgiveness and cleansing, our faith rises again, and away we go in the Spirit!
Falling into sin because of weakness and temptation, which happens to all of us at times, is easily corrected by using 1 John 1:9. We lose our faith momentarily because we feel so bad about our failure in the particular area that seems to trip us up all the time (we all have them). Our loss of faith hinders the manifestation of the gift, unless we receive the assurance of forgiveness and we are able to forgive ourselves as well! Being able to forgive ourselves after God has forgiven us is one of the big hurdles to our faith.
But disobedience is quite another thing, and continued disobedience can lead to outright rebellion, which then leads to backsliding. This is a willful act and goes beyond getting momentarily angry and kicking the cat. This is the attitude, "I will not!!!" One has to ask whether that person is truly born again if that attitude is there. For me, I could never have that attitude toward the Holy Spirit.
One evangelist I read about was reluctant to go and preach in a town that had a bad reputation of "gutting" preachers who went there. God had told him to go there and he held back. In the end, the Holy Spirit said, "Will you or will you not go there???" Because he loved the Lord and knew that not going would have been outright disobedience and the end of his effective ministry, he went, and had a major revival in that place.
Jonah was the same, he went away in outright disobedience, and look what happened to him! He had to be put in the belly of a large fish before he was prepared to repent his actions and obeyed God.
God does not give us up as a bad job very easily, He will go to great lengths to keep us walking in the Spirit, because He loves us and is not willing for us to fail and possibly perish.
