Many Christians think of The Acts of the Apostles as the primary source of information on spiritual gifts. Not so. The focus of the New Testament book of Acts is the distribution of The Gift, as distinct from the variety of spiritual gifts distributed according to the will of the Holy Spirit.
Thie distribution of The Gift began in Jerusalem, continued through Judea and Samaria, and continued on to “the utmost parts of the earth”, which in those days was Yemen (which in King Solomon’s day was Sheba.) In short, wherever believers went and witnessed (Acts 1:8).
Surprisingly, “charisma”, the Greek word for “grace gift”, is nowhere found in the original Greek version of The Book of Acts. Luke, in his Gospel, uses the word “dorea” when referring to the Gift of the Holy Spirit, which is not a spiritual gift but rather The Gift of the Spirit.
The spiritual gift of speaking in tongues is mentioned throughout the book of Acts, but the context refers to those who had received the Holy Spirit already (Acts 2:4; 10:46; 11:15-17; 19:6).
That being so, it should not surprise us that while “charisma” is used frequently in Paul’s First Epistle to the Corinthians, “dorea” is used not at all by Paul in that book — the reason being that Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians does not address the distribution of the Gift of the Holy Spirit, singular, but instead the proper use of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, plural; that is, spiritual gifts, which had been “divided” to every believer according to the will of God (1 Corinthians 12:11).
The Corinthian church needed no teaching on the Gift, singular, which they had received; however, it did need sound teaching on the gifts, plural, of the Spirit, and the proper use of them in the church. The church at Corinth lacked “no gift” but lacked understanding of the use of them in church meetings — especially the spiritual gift of speaking in unknown tongues.
(1 Corinthians. 1:7; 14:23, 27, 28)
(For “dorea”, see Acts 2:38; 8:20; 10:45; 11:17. For charisma, see 1 Cor. 1:7; 7:7; 12:4; 12:9; 12:28; 12:30; 12:31.)
There is a clear distinction between the Gift, singular, and gifts, plural. We should pray that Jesus will baptize new believers in the Holy Spirit, and leave the giving of spiritual gifts to the Spirit who filled them. Not to make this distinction, leads to praying for new believers to speak in tongues. This is out of order, in that it puts a spiritual gift before The Gift.
Jesus first baptizes new believers in the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:33) and the Holy Spirit then distributes spiritual gifts to them. The scriptural order is to ask the Lord Jesus, who well knows those who are forgiven and cleansed through his shed blood to baptize them in the Holy Spirit.
So, the proper order is: “repent, be baptized in the name of Jesus”, as per Acts 2:38. Acts 10:44 records that some believers were baptized in the Spirit before being baptized in water, but they were Romans. Peter’s experience while preaching to them was likely a bigger surprise to him than it was to them! (Acts 10:44-45)