INTRODUCTION:
In this lesson, we are going to finally deal with the topic of miraculous spiritual gifts. This is yet another of the more controversial topics regarding the Holy Spirit in the religious world, especially regarding the possibility that these gifts are still present today, which we will attempt to answer from scripture later in this lesson. We will look at four questions regarding spiritual gifts today:
1. What were the gifts?
2. how were the gifts received?
3. What was the purpose of the gifts?
4. How long were the gifts to last? (and answer some objections to the view I present)
All of these questions are important to consider because God warns us in scripture that there will be people who are false prophets and claim they are doing miracles that are from God, but really are not. He warns us of false prophets and false teachers who may even be able to persuade the elect to follow them. So we must examine these questions so we can know whether someone who claims to have gifts or claims to be a prophet is really from God or not. As Paul states in 1 Corinthians 12:1:
"Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware (or uninformed)" (1 Corinthians 12:1).
Let’s answer these questions from scripture so we are not unaware about these gifts...
I. WHAT WERE THE SPIRITUAL GIFTS?
There are a few categories of spiritual gifts recorded in scripture. The first two will not be the main focus of the lesson today.
• “Equipping” gifts: (Eph 4:11- Apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastors and teachers) These offices were given to the church so that it can be equipped to serve in the kingdom. All of these gifts are still present in the church today. The offices of Apostle and prophet exist through the writings of the New Testament. Our Apostles and prophets are still giving us instruction through their writings which have been preserved for us. And outside of scripture, we have men who are evangelists, pastors, and teachers in the church today to watch over, feed, and equip the flock through the teaching of the word.
• Gifts of ministry/service: (Romans 12:7-9: service, teaching, exhortation, giving, leadership, mercy, love) God gives these gifts/talents/skills so that we can serve each other. It is unknown whether or not this list of gifts are all supernatural giftings of the Spirit or that they can be learned through the teaching of the will of God.
• Gifts of revelation and power (manifestations of the Spirit): These unmistakably showed the Spirit’s presence and power when used. These specific gifts will be the focus of our lesson today. We see these gifts listed in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10
“For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues.
These gifts are supernatural in nature. They gave the recipients abilities that they did not previously have.
1. One who could not heal or perform a miracle before was able to heal any kind of disease or sickness.
2. One who could not speak in a foreign language could now do it without going through the process of learning it.
3. One who could not discern between true and false teaching could no do so perfectly by the Spirit
4. One who did not have great faith would be given faith miraculously without study of the word.
5. Those who had not received direct revelation from God now could through the supernatural gifts of prophecy, knowledge, and wisdom.
In all of these gifts, one did not learn to perform the gift. The gifts were noticeable evidences of the Spirit’s influence and power. I have heard of many instances today where people are taught how to speak in tongues or to perform other of these gifts. I do not believe this is what we see in scripture. People did not learn to speak in foreign languages. They just spoke them by the Spirit.
Just because one had a gift, did not mean that they would be mature in the faith. The Corinthians are a prime example of this. The brethren in Corinth, as far as we know, had all of the gifts present within the church (they came short in no gift - 1Co 1:4-7), but in spite of this, the church was a mess spiritually. There was division and sin in the group, and many of the gifts which were given to the church were abused and led brethren to lift themselves up proudly above their brethren who they considered as not having as good a gift. They used their gifts for personal benefit instead of using them to encourage each other.
Also, these gifts were completely under the control of those who had them. There are some today who think that if you have a spiritual gift that the Holy Spirit takes over your body and makes you perform the gift. But scripture shows that the person had complete control over the gift. We see this in 1 Corinthians 14:27-33. In this text, Paul is giving instruction for how the gifts were to be used in the assemblies.
“If anyone speaks in a tongue, it should be by two or at the most three, and each in turn, and one must interpret; 28 but if there is no interpreter, he must keep silent in the church; and let him speak to himself and to God. 29 Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others pass judgment. 30 But if a revelation is made to another who is seated, the first one must keep silent. 31 For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all may be exhorted; 32 and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets; 33 for God is not a God of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.”
II. HOW DID PEOPLE RECEIVE THE GIFTS?
1. Directly from the Spirit
First, the Holy Spirit did give some gifts to people on His own. Those who held the offices of Apostle and Prophet seemed to be given these gifts directly from the Spirit by the will of God. The Apostles were given the ability to perform all of the gifts directly from the Spirit.
Directly from the Spirit: Baptism of the Holy Spirit
There are also two special occasions within scripture in which we see a gift given through what is commonly referred to as the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
• the apostles, at Pentecost - cf. Acts 2:1-4
• the household of Cornelius, the first Gentiles - cf. Acts 10:44-46
The account in Acts 2 shows us what being baptized by the Holy Spirit looks like:
“When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:1-4)
This is the only description of what being baptized with the Holy Spirit looks like in scripture. There was a rushing wind along with tongues of fire, and it resulted in them receiving the ability to speak in foreign languages of the day which they did not know. In both case of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the gift of tongues seems to be the only gift that is given.
The baptism of the Holy Spirit seemed to mark special times for the people of God. The first occurrence marked the time in which the Kingdom of God was opened to the Jews so that they could be saved by the work of Christ and enter the New Covenant given by God, along with the fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel 2:28-32. The second occurrence of Holy Spirit baptism (the household of Cornelius) marked the time in which God showed Peter and his Jewish brethren that the Gentiles could be accepted into a covenant relationship with Him by being baptized into Christ.
There is not any evidence that the baptism of the Holy Spirit was given to anyone else in scripture. The only other verse that is normally brought up in this discussion is 1 Corinthians 12:13:
“For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body...”
I will point out from this passage that it does not teach that we are all baptized with the Holy Spirit into Christ. The passage says that the Holy Spirit is the One who baptizes us into the body of Christ, which is speaking of what the Spirit does at water baptism.
2. Through the “laying on of hands” by the Apostles (accompanied with prayer?)
The Apostles were given the authority by God to impart these gifts to others. We see a clear example of this in Acts 8:14-19:
“Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them Peter and John, 15 who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. 16 For He had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then they began laying their hands on them, and they were receiving the Holy Spirit. 18 Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was bestowed through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money, 19 saying, "Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit."
We are told here that the Samaritans believed and were baptized. According to Jesus’ statement in Mark 16:16, they were saved at this point, but they had not received any spiritual gifts yet. It took the Apostles Peter and John to come so that they could receive these gifts. They prayed to God and then began laying their hands on the Samaritans to give them the gifts. The fact that Peter and John were giving these gifts to these brethren could be seen by those who were watching. Simon saw that it was through the laying on of hands that they Spirit was given. This was a special authority that was given to the Apostles.
Two other passages I would point you to in order to show that it was through the laying on of the Apostles hands that these gifts were given are Acts 19:6 and Romans 1:11
And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking with tongues and prophesying. Acts 19:6
For I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established; Romans 1:11
Though the Spirit (in this miraculous manifestation) was imparted by the laying on of hands, it was the Spirit who determined what gift one received:"But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills." 1 Corinthians 12:11
3. Additional gifts may have been received through prayer…
Paul instructed some of the Christians in Corinth to pray that they might receive a gift in 1Cor 14:13. Those who already had the gift of speaking in other languages could pray to receive the gift of interpreting those languages. Some ask the question from this passage: could those who had not already received a gift pray for one? I don’t know the answer to this question.
We do not know for sure if every Christian in the early church received a spiritual gift. There is some evidence that this is not the case. There are a few passages in which we could go to in order to show this. In Romans 1, Paul tells the Christians in Rome that he wanted to visit them so that he could impart spiritual gifts to them so that they could be strengthened. It could be inferred from this that the Christians in Rome had not yet received gifts because Paul wanted to come so he could give them to brethren there.
III. WHAT WAS THE PURPOSE OF THE GIFTS?
As we studied in our lesson on the inspiration of the word, these gifts had particular purposes.
First, they were given to reveal and to confirm God’s will in the absence of written scripture.
“So then, when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. 20 And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word by the signs that followed.” Mark 16:19-20
“how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, 4 God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.” Hebrews 2:3-4
These passages tell us plainly what the purpose of these gifts were. They confirmed the spoken revelation of God. These gifts being given were God’s testimony that those who were giving revelation spoke on His behalf. As men went out into the world to preach the Gospel, it was these gifts, especially the working of miracles and healing which showed those listening that they must obey what was being said.
The second reason why these gifts were given was for the encouragement of the body of Christ in the absence of the writings of the Apostles and prophets.
"But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good." 1 Corinthians 12:7
"But one who prophesies speaks to men for edification and exhortation and consolation." 1 Corinthians 14:3
These gifts were designed to build up the church. They were to be used in the assemblies of God’s people to encourage and help them in their faith. This is why Paul gives instructions on how to use the gifts in the assemblies in 1 Corinthians 14. He tells them when and how to use the gifts.
IV. HOW LONG WERE THE GIFTS TO LAST?
I believe scripture itself teaches that these gifts would cease when they had fulfilled their purpose.
8 Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part; 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. 11 When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. 13 But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:8-13
It is agreed by all that this passage is teaching that the spiritual gifts would cease at some point of time. Verse 8 says that prophecies, tongues, and knowledge would cease (these three representative of all the miraculous gifts).
The question that is debated is: “when is the point of time in which these gifts would cease?” The whole debate hinges around what Paul is referring to when he speaks of “that which is perfect” in verse 10. There are two main views of this passage; that the perfect is a reference to:
• The return of Jesus and our being taken to Heaven
• The completed revelation
I hold to the second position. I believe that this is a reference to the completed New Testament. This seems to fit the context better. Paul in this passage is comparing that which is partial (the gifts) to that which is complete/perfect. Once again, these gifts were given for the purpose of giving revelation from God and confirming it. These gifts, when used, gave partial revelations from God. So it seems that the contrast between the partial and the complete/perfect is talking about revelation. The partial revelation vs the complete revelation from God, which would be given through the Lord’s Apostles and prophets. They gave us the complete revelation of God. They revealed Christ to us completely in their writings. The spiritual gifts were in a sense the “scaffolding” that God used until the New Testament was completed and circulated amongst the churches in the first two centuries of the church.
The contrast with what remains - 1Co 13:13
Paul also gives us a contrast in this passage between that which will cease (the gifts) and that which will remain (faith, hope and love). He says that while prophecies, tongues, and knowledge would cease, faith, love, and hope "abide" (Grk., meno, "remain, dwell, continue, tarry, endure"). To say Christ or heaven is "that which is perfect" makes Paul's point meaningless. For there will be a time when spiritual gifts have ceased, while faith, love, and hope remain. Yet when Christ or heaven comes, faith and hope will be no more! We will no longer walk by faith, but by sight! (cf. 2Co 5:7). We will no longer hope for what is unseen! (Ro 8:24-25).
We are also told in scripture that we have all that we need to be perfect/mature and to do every good work that God wants us to do
All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17
Scripture is sufficient for us today. We do not need new truth revealed and confirmed to us today. I believe that the logical conclusion to believing that the gifts are still present today is that there is still revelation and confirmation being given to us by God today. This is what we see the purpose of these gifts are, so if they are still here, they still must fulfill their purpose. This would also mean that Jesus was incorrect when He told the Apostles that the Spirit would lead them into all truth (John 16:13). I believe God has fulfilled His promise to guide the Apostles into all truth, which they reveal to us in their writings.
There are some objections to the belief that the gifts have ceased.
OBJECTION 1: SINCE THE SPIRIT DID THIS WORK IN THE PAST, HE MUST TODAY.
Sometimes folks claim that the Spirit/God did miracles in the past, so He must do so today. They claim God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. I will make two points regarding this objection:
First, the fact that the Holy Spirit/God/Jesus have done something in the past does not necessitate that they will do the same thing in the future. There are works of God that were limited in their duration
Many miracles which God or the Spirit did in the past have ceased and will not be repeated.
• Creation - Gen. 1,2 (cf. 2:1,2). God created and then ceased from this work.
• The flood of Noah's day - Gen 6-9 (note 9:8-17)
• The virgin birth - Matthew 1:18,20; Luke 1:35
• Jesus' resurrection
• God’s work of apostles living on earth (Acts 1:21,22). If those who believe that the gifts are still present JUST AS they were in the 1st century, would they apply this to the office of Apostle? If they were consistent, they would say that we must have living Apostles today also JUST AS we did then.
Second, this objection misunderstands what is meant when scripture says that God does not change. It is referencing His nature and character, not the things that He does within His creation
OBJECTION 2: THE VIEW THAT GOD DOESN'T DO THE MIRACULOUS THROUGH MEN LIMITS GOD
No it doesn't. If God says in His word that He is not going to do something, we are not limiting God in saying we believe what He says. Most assume that there is not a scripture that teaches that the gifts would be limited in duration and they do not consider opposing arguments. They just assume that the gifts will continue till Christ returns. Ask the one who makes this objection to prove their view from scripture. We should not just assume the view without a book, chapter, and verse that teaches it. I believe I have shown from the Bible that God teaches that the gifts had a certain purpose, and when this purpose was fulfilled, the gifts would dissapear.
I believe God still does miracles today, I just do not believe He gives gifts to men that enable them to do the miraculous. Some brethren may disagree with this, but I do not see any teaching within the word of God that says that God Himself does not do anything miraculous today. It does teach that the gifts would end, but it doesn't teach that God doing any miracles Himself would end. I think this is an important distinction to make. Usually when we say the gifts have ceased, most who believe in the gifts usually assume that what we are saying is that GOD doesn't do anything miraculous today.
OBJECTION 3: GOD STILL CONFIRMS HIS WORD TODAY
Some believe that God confirms His word through the miraculous to every generation. I believe this objection misunderstands what scripture teaches about the giving of God’s word. What we see in scripture, once again, is that those who were giving inspired teaching that was from the Spirit had their teaching confirmed. This has been done. The Apostles and prophets gave the inspired word and confirmed it by miracles. If I taught and then performed a miracle, it would not prove the Bible is from God, it would prove that every word I am saying is from God and needs added to the Bible.
But if God continually must confirm His word today, why didn't the Old Testament need reconfirmed in every generation after it was fully given? God gave the inspired message, confirmed it, and no other confirmation was needed.
Luke 16:27-31 (NASB) 27 "And he said, 'Then I beg you, father, that you send him to my father's house— 28 for I have five brothers—in order that he may warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.' 29 "But Abraham *said, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.' 30 "But he said, 'No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!' 31 "But he said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.'"
Abraham tells the rich man that no other miracle was necessary to get his family to get them to listen to Moses and the Prophets. They had all they needed in what was already revealed and confirmed.
OBJECTION 4: I KNOW WHAT I HAVE FELT AND EXPERIENCED, AND I HAVE A SPIRITUAL GIFT!
This objection is near impossible to deal with. When someone has a subjective feeling or a personal experience that they believe is from God, it is hard to change their mind. If you try to, most of the time they will believe you are contradicting the Holy Spirit (or maybe even blaspheming the Spirit) by denying their “gifting.” The fact that someone believes they have a spiritual gift does not prove objectively that they are still present today, or that what they have is from God.
When talking to those who claim to have gifts today, I like to ask them if there are people whom think they have spiritual gifts but really do not. Pretty much everyone who claims to have a gift themselves would say “yes.” Once they do, I ask them how they can tell that they really don’t have a gift. How can they tell that certain men who have claimed to be prophets are not? How can they prove that those who claim to speak in tongues whom they disagree with do not? Usually the answer is some kind of theological belief or false teaching. Once they answer this way, I ask them if they are willing to apply the same standard to themself, and then I show them from the Bible where they are not right with God (most people I have talked to claim to be Christians when they have not obeyed the Gospel Biblically)
I also ask them how they received this “gift” and what objective evidence can they give to prove it is from God? It is good to listen to them describe their experience. Does it sound like what we see in the Bible? I have not heard someone give an account that agrees with scripture yet regarding receiving gifts. Many of those who claim to have the gifts today are not even Christians biblically, and many of them would contradict what the Bible teaches about salvation. Even though they may claim such, they do not pass the test of one who is speaking for God or doing works for Him.
V. CONCLUSION
Spiritual gifts were important to the beginning of the church. They were the means by which the Lord bore witness to His Word and His apostles (Mk 16:19-20; He 2:3-4) and how He provided a full and final revelation of His will.
Yet spiritual gifts, the miraculous manifestations of the Spirit, were simply a means to an end. He gave them for the purpose of produce the Word of God, the sword of the Spirit and for encouraging and building up the people of God until it was finished being written.
