Several churches and denominations continue to put tremendous emphasis on the value of the sign gifts. According to the Bible, the sign gifts include prophecy, healing, speaking in tongues, knowledge, distinguishing between spirits, wisdom, and faith. However, there continues to be a debate amongst many evangelicals as to whether the gifts are relevant, biblical, or even needed in human life. Proponents, on the other hand, opine that these gifts represent the presence of the Holy Spirit and if a person does not manifest them then their position as a Christian remains questionable. It is vital to appreciate that many Christians believe in the charismatic gifts because the Bible discusses them at great lengths. The book of Corinthians in Chapters 12 to 14 addresses the significance of the gifts as well as Romans and Ephesians. 1 Paul in his letters outlines additional gifts such as healing, teaching, helping, and administration. The debate comes with the gifts that appear ethereal especially to the contemporary Christian world. There is a section of Christians who believe that prophesying, speaking and interpreting tongues are no longer valid or even needed today with others holding that they are relevant and should form part of Christian life.
Two groups of people have emerged as a result of the debate on the relevance of these gifts to Christians lives today. The sides include the Contiuationists and the Cessationists. Contiuationists believe that the gifts mentioned continue to exist and manifest in people’s lives today. 2 On the contrary, the Cessationists assert that the charismatic gifts were only relevant to the first-century church. Therefore, a majority of them hold that believers who show an inclination to the gifts are either not being true to themselves or are under the deceptive powers of the demons. Towards the beginning of the 20th century, a Pentecostal movement emerged that involved people who questioned the philosophy of the Cessationists. They further expressed the importance of the spiritual gifts and asserted that they never ceased to exist as depicted by the Cessationists. In criticizing the Cessationists, Jack Deere noted that “no one ever just picked up the Bible, started reading, and then came to the conclusion that God was not doing signs and wonders anymore and that the gifts of the Holy Spirit had passed away”. 3 Therefore, according to Deere, the ideology of Cessationism did not emanate from a careful assessment of the scriptures.
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One of the primary arguments of the Cessationists is always that at one point in the history of the church, people stopped speaking in tongues. Therefore, this was enough proof that the charismatic gifts were never meant to be permanent. However, this seems to be a weak argument considering the fact that many doctrines held by the church have always experienced dormancy or extinction at some point in history. Cessationists must take cognizance of the fact that the supreme knowledge belongs to the Bible irrespective of what the church does or does not. Since the Bible is regarded as an infallible word of God, it should, therefore, be held as the sole source of Christian doctrine. Cessationists have always used two readings in justifying that the gifts are no longer relevant to the people today. In 2 Corinthians 12:12, the Bible teaches that the signs and wonders were synonymous with the apostles. Additionally, in Ephesians 2:20, the message provided is that the apostles were only vital in the foundation of the church and therefore they are no longer vital today. 4 Therefore, using the two arguments, one can easily conclude that the charismatic gifts were only characteristic to the apostles and played a significant role in the foundation of the church. Therefore, since the position of the apostles is no longer there, the same can be said of the signs and wonders.
In the wake of these arguments by Cessationists, Contiuationists have countered the arguments in several ways. Whereas they have agreed that the miraculous signs were attached to the office of the apostles, they have failed to agree that the gifts or signs were limited to the apostles. In Corinthians 12:12, Paul only compared true apostles versus the fake ones, and at no single point did he compare apostles to ordinary believers. In the book of the Acts of the Apostles, individuals who were not apostles such as Philip and Stephen conducted the wonders. Ordinary believers also spoke in tongues, prophesied, and interpreted the scriptures. Therefore, it would be true to conclude that an authentic apostle possessed the miraculous gifts, but the possession of these powers did not amount to apostleship. As such, this nullifies the assertions by the Cessationists who associate the non-existence of apostles to the end of the charismatic gifts. It would be wrong to intimate that because there no genuine apostles today, gifts can no longer manifest in people. 5
Contiuationists believe that the spiritual gifts are continuous and relevant to this generation because of the assertions made according to the book of Ephesians 4: 11-13. Here, the Bible says that the gifts are meant for "building up the body of Christ…to maturity, to the measure if the full stature of Christ”. 6 The meaning drawn from this reading is that the gifts are supposed to exist in humanity until the second coming of Christ. In 1 Peter 4, the Bible emphasizes the need to utilize all the acquired gifts since "the end of all things is near." However, the Cessationists provide a contrasting view in proving the irrelevance of these gifts. A Cessationist known as Dr. John McArthur, for instance, states that gifts such as speaking in tongues no longer exist. According to him, "tongues were, therefore, a sign of transition between the Old and New Covenants. With the establishment of the church, a new day had dawned for the people of God. God would speak in all languages, but once the period of transition was passed, the sign was no longer necessary”. 7 The end of the prophecy as a gift is also predicted in 1 Corinthians 13:8. Other gifts mentioned in the text include knowledge and the ability to speak in tongues.
Cessationists have gone ahead to indicate that the signs and wonders only played a significant role in verifying the gospel. However, the Contiuationists have rebutted by intimating that the message provided in the gospel is supposed to last until the end of age. Cessationists further intimate that the gifts were necessary because the scripture was yet to be completed. As such, miracles were essential given the fact that Christianity was in a phase of transition. However, such claims do not have solid biblical support. Indeed, the bible in 1Corinthians teaches that some of the gifts will cease and go away. Cessationists associate the end of the gifts with God's complete revelation manifested by the bible. However, it appears fallacious to put gifts such as prophecies and tongues at the same level as the scriptures. Fundamentally, Cessationists opine that tongues and prophecies compensated for the lack of the Bible during the early church. In the book of Acts 21:10-14, Paul refused to heed the prophecy of Agabus. Paul would not do the same if it were the scriptures thereby debunking the myth that the gifts held a similar stature to the scriptures. In this regard, the Cessationists' stance fails to make sense because none of the gifts and the scriptures could fill for the other.
Significant to appreciate is that both the Cessationists and Contiuationists agree that the charismatic gifts will end at the time of perfection. However, what differs is their perception of perfection. As previously noted, the Cessationists believe that the perfection, which has already been achieved, was as a result of the completion of the scriptures. They opine that it is irrelevant to possess some of these gifts because the scripture is already complete. 8 Furthermore, they assert that some of the gifts including giving, preaching, teaching, and administration are only relevant because that is the fashion the body of Christ has to function in the church. The Contiuationists, however, believe that the charismatic gifts continue to hold relevance because perfection to them means the second coming of Jesus. Therefore, it remains an opinion amongst the Contiuationists that the end of the gifts will only come as a result of the glorification of believers after they ascension to heaven.
However, an important point that both factions need to consider in the debate is that the Bible clearly states that not everyone will have the same type of gifts. Therefore, those who emphasize that Christians must possess a gift such as speaking in tongues neglect fundamental teachings of Paul as presented in Corinthians 12. 9 Paul further asserts that even if one speaks in tongues, but nobody is around to edify to interpret the message, there lacks a sense of edification to those who hear. Furthermore, prophesying is a biblical term that people have misunderstood for a long time. According to the bible, it means to encourage or proclaim obedience to God. Prophecy does not necessarily allude to speaking about a futuristic truth. According to Genesis 20:7, God also referred to Abraham as a prophet. Cessationists have however limited the scope and definitions of these gifts leading to the thought that they have ended and no longer exist amongst people. 10 Contiuationists, on the other hand, have provided them with a broader perspective and that is why they continue to find them relevant amongst individuals today.
In discussing the debate about the charismatic gifts, it remains valuable to draw in the position of Jesus Christ. During his ministries, Jesus asserted that those who believed in him would continue with his work and even do greater jobs. Contiuationists have interpreted this to mean that that the Jesus encourages human beings to continue utilizing their gifts of signs and wonders. On the contrary, Cessationists have a different opinion about this. They associate the "greater works" mentioned by Jesus to salvation since no miracle is greater than salvation. 11 Despite the high esteem that these individuals regard the gospel, their interpretation of the bible appears flaky. The greater works could not have referred to salvation because Jesus said that he would also do them. In the real sense, the greater works Jesus talked about represented miracles as the context would verify. He further noted that the reason why the greater works were possible was that he was doing them on behalf of his father. Contiuationists, therefore, imply that because of the presence of the Holy Spirit, more people can perform the great works of miracle so long as they believed. Another fundamental question raised is whether everybody qualifies to perform the great works that come with the gifts. In the Gospel according to John, the phrase "whoever believes in me" is utilized more than five times. Therefore, the passage of John does not in any way limit those who can utilize their power that comes with the charismatic gifts.
Cessationists have over the past asked some very valid questions that could point out to the fact that indeed the charismatic gifts are not relevant today. One of the vital queries fronted is why Paul could not perform the gift of healing in certain occasions. Examples of these incidences are documented in Philips 2:26, 1 Timothy 5:23, and 2 Timothy 4:20. In the book of James 5:14-16, James called for elders instead of looking for those who possessed the gifts of healing, The third vital question raised by members of this belief concerns the non-existence of miracles today. 12 However, Contiuationists argue that these gifts as manifested by the Holy Spirit were not provided by God on a permanent basis. They are only manifested through the will of God. Humans do not have any significant control over them. A good example to prove this was Samson, who was only able to manifest his powers after the spirit descended on him. Furthermore, God did not always manifest the healing power in the life of Paul. Contiuationists further argue that miracles happen today especially in missionary endeavors but not as much as they occurred in the book of Acts. 13
In conclusion, the charismatic gift debate has led to a sharp contradiction between the Cessationists and the Contiuationists. The former believe that the gifts continue to happen and draw biblical and contemporary evidence to illustrate so. The former, on the other hand, assert that the charismatic gifts are irrelevant and do not hold any position today. They also refer to biblical readings and contemporary evidence to illustrate their position. Therefore, from the argument, the jury remains open and it relies on one’s understanding of scripture, their faith, and the doctrinal principles of their respective churches to come up with a verdict.
Bibliography
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