The gifts of the Holy Spirit
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The gifts of the Spirit have ceased |
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Many
Protestant Churches – such as |
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They
support their teaching through some passages of the Bible, such as 1
Corinthians 13:8-9, which according to them confirms their teaching on the
gift of tongues and the other gifts of the Spirit – and also through some
statements of some well known Christian writers who lived in former times,
such as John Calvin, John Owen, Thomas Watson, Matthew Henry, Jonathan
Edwards, George Whitefield, James Buchanan, Robert L. Dabney, and Benjamin B.
Warfield. |
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John
Calvin (1509-1564): ‘...the gift of healing, like the rest of the miracles,
which the Lord willed to be brought forth for a time, has vanished away in
order to make the preaching of the Gospel marvellous for ever’ (Institutes of
the Christian Religion, Bk IV:19, 18). |
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John
Owen (1616-1683): ‘Gifts which in their own nature exceed the whole power of
all our faculties, that dispensation of the Spirit is long since ceased and
where it is now pretended unto by any, it may justly be suspected as an
enthusiastic delusion’ (Works IV, 518). |
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Thomas
Watson (c 1620-1686): ‘Sure, there is as much need of ordination now as in
Christ's time and in the time of the apostles, there being then extraordinary
gifts in the church which are now ceased’ (The Beatitudes, 140). |
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Matthew
Henry (1662-1714): Speaking of the ‘gift of tongues,’ he said, “These and
other gifts of prophecy, being a sign, have long since ceased and been laid
aside, and we have no encouragement to expect the revival of them; but, on
the contrary, are directed to call the Scriptures the more sure word of
prophecy, more sure than voices from Heaven; and to them we are directed to
take heed, to search them, and to hold them fast ...’ (Preface to Vol IV of
his Exposition of the OT & NT, vii). |
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Jonathan
Edwards (1703-1758): ‘Of the extraordinary gifts, they were given 'in order
to the founding and establishing of the church in the world. But since the
canon of Scriptures has been completed, and the Christian church fully
founded and established, these extraordinary gifts have ceased’ (Charity and
its Fruits, 29). |
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George
Whitefield (1714-1770): ‘... the karismata, the miraculous gifts conferred on
the primitive church ... have long ceased ...’ (Second Letter to the Bishop
of |
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James
Buchanan (1804-1870): ‘The miraculous gifts of the Spirit have long since
been withdrawn. They were used for a temporary purpose’ (The Office and Work
of the Holy Spirit, 34) |
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Robert
L. Dabney (1820-1898): ‘After the early church had been established, the same
necessity for supernatural signs now no longer existed, and God, Who is never
wasteful in His expedients, withdrew them ... miracles, if they became
ordinary, would cease to be miracles, and would be referred by men to
customary law’ (‘Prelacy a Blunder,’ Discussions: Evangelical and
Theological, Vol. 2, 236-237). |
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Benjamin
B. Warfield (1851-1921): ‘These gifts were ... distinctively the
authentication of the apostles. They were part of the credentials of the
apostles as the authoritative agents of God in founding the church. Their
function thus confirmed them to distinctively the apostolic church and they
necessarily passed away with it’ (Counterfeit Miracles, 6). |
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Confutation |
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The
Scripture says that during the first century after Christ God confirmed the
message of His grace by working signs, wonders and various miracles, and by
distributing gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His will (cf. Hebrews 2:4;
Acts 14:3; Mark 16:20). Today God still confirms the message of His grace in
the same way He did in the days of the apostles, that is, by working signs,
wonders and various miracles, and by distributing gifts of the Holy Spirit to
His children. For God has not changed (cf. Malachi 3:6). |
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1
Corinthians 13:8-12 |
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Let
me say something about the following words of Paul: “Love never fails. But
whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they
will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. For we know in
part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then
that which is in part will be done away. When I was
a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child;
but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see in a
mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall
know just as I also am known” (1 Corinthians 13:8-12 – NKJV). According to
those who support cessationism (the theory which says that all the gifts of
the Spirit have ceased), ‘that which is perfect’ is the completion of the
Bible. However, they are wrong, for Paul did not refer to the completion of
the canon of the Scriptures but to the perfection we will experience at the
return of Christ from heaven. For when Christ returns we will receive perfect
bodies, as it is written: “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly
await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that
enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly
bodies so that they will be like his glorious body” (Philippians 3:20-21 –
NIV); we will know the Lord fully, just as we also are fully known by Him;
and we will see Him face to face. Therefore, tongues, prophecy and the other
supernatural gifts of the Spirit will cease when Christ returns. That is
evident also from the fact that Paul says that when that which is perfect has
come knowledge will vanish away (“For we know in part …. But when that which
is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away” 1
Corinthians 13:9 – NKJV). Did knowledge vanish away when the Bible was
completed? Of course not. When will it vanish away then? When Jesus returns
from heaven, for at that time we will know Him fully. |
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The
works of Satan |
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All
those who know the Holy Scriptures know that Satan is God’s adversary, and
that he counterfeits both the works and words of God. Satan is a liar and the
father of lies, and so he takes delight in whatever opposes the truth. He
counterfeits the Gospel, he counterfeits the doctrines of the Bible, and he
counterfeits also the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Therefore the fact that Satan
counterfeits the spiritual gifts means that the spiritual gifts still exist.
In other words, just as the fact that Satan counterfeits the Gospel and the
doctrines of the Bible indicates that the Gospel and the doctrines of the
Bible still exist and have not vanished away, so the fact that there are
false spiritual gifts indicates that there are true spiritual gifts still in
operation. I do not think that Satan would counterfeit something which does
not exist any longer. So the existence of counterfeit spiritual
manifestations implies that the gifts of the Spirit are still in operation in
the midst of the |
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Conclusion |
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Brothers
and sisters, “eagerly desire spiritual gifts” (1 Corinthians 14:1 – NIV), so
that you may lack no spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus
Christ to be revealed. Let no one deceive you with empty words. |