Further Objection Examined

A few commentators take the position that in a certain sense all the children of God have the “spirit of prophecy“: hence, this expression should be understood as applying to them. They argue that as the gifts are bestowed upon the children of God, all God’s people are actuated by the “spirit of prophecy.” This argument, however, is not at all well founded. The fruit of the Spirit, God longs to see in the lives of all His children, and He has through the Divine Spirit distributed the gifts of the Spirit to His people. But while one individual has one gift and another person a different gift, all do not have the gift of healing; all do not have the gift of government; all do not have the gift of prophecy. In the very nature of the case, they could not all be in possession of all these gifts.EGWC 555.3