Bible Lexicons

χάρισμα, χαρίσματος, τό (χαρίζομαι), a gift of grace; a favor which one receives without any merit of his own; in the N. T. (where (except 1 Peter 4:10) used only by Paul) the gift of divine grace (so also in Philo de alleg. legg. iii. § 24 at the end δωρεά καί εὐεργεσία καί χάρισμα Θεοῦ τά πάντα ὅσα ἐν κόσμῳ καί αὐτός ὁ κόσμος ἐστιν); used of the natural gift of continence, due to the grace of God as creator, 1 Corinthians 7:7; deliverance from great peril to life, τό εἰς ἡμᾶς χάρισμα bestowed upon us, 2 Corinthians 1:11; the gift of faith, knowledge, holiness, virtue, Romans 1:11; the economy of divine grace, by which the pardon of sin and eternal salvation is appointed to sinners in consideration of the merits of Christ laid hold of by faith, Romans 5:15; Romans 6:23; plural of the several blessings of the Christian salvation, Romans 11:29; in the technical Pauline sense χαρίσματα (A. V. gifts) denote "extraordinary powers, distinguishing certain Christians and enabling them to serve the church of Christ, the reception of which is due to the power of divine grace operating in their souls by the Holy Spirit" (cf. Cremer in Herzog edition 2 vol. v. 10ff, under the word Geistesgaben): Romans 12:6; 1 Corinthians 1:7; 1 Corinthians 12:4, 31; 1 Peter 4:10; χαρίσματα ἰαμάτων, 1 Corinthians 12:9, 28, 30; specifically, the sum of those powers requisite for the discharge of the office of an evangelist: 1 Timothy 4:14; 2 Timothy 1:6. ((Of temporal blessings, 'Teaching 1, 5 [ET] (cf. δώρημα in Hermas, mand. 2, 4 [ET])); ecclesiastical writings.)