This is the first in a series of posts based on many email messages between my Pastor (a cessationist) and myself (a continuationist) concerning spiritual gifts, the historic context of their place in the NT and their place in a 21st century church.
I have reduced the content of the emails to just the questions and answers we posed each other. Comments in Blue are his original questions to me. Comments in black are my responses. Comments in Red are his follow up questions.
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Do you believe the Holy Spirit still imparts the gift of healings through individuals to this day and it was not just a 1st century gift confirming the gospel message prior to canonization?
– To answer this question honestly and accurately, it would be necessary to know what the 1st century gift of healing looked like and how it operated. The Apostles were agents of instantaneous and verifiable healings. If that is what the NT gift of healing looked like and what Paul is talking about in 1 Cor. 12, then it would seem that it is no longer in operation. However, I do not necessarily believe that the purpose of the healing gift was confirmation of the gospel until the completion of the canon. It falls within the list that Paul cites as for the service and edification of the body of Christ. As the body of Christ is still in existence, then it stands to reason that these gifts, including healings, would continue to serve the body (the Church is arguably in greater need of the legitimate operation of the gifts of the Spirit now than when it was young).
Later in 1st Cor. 12 and in Eph. 4, one of the spiritual gifts listed was apostleship, which was for the benefit of the church, yet you don’t believe that gift continues do you?
There are two ways to interpret this verse: 1) it is only referring to the first Apostles (with a capital A) and is no longer a ministry function today; 2) it is referring to the first Apostles and in a broader perspective, the apostles or “commissioned ones” that would come later and throughout church history. My best understanding of the term in this sense is that “apostles” today most closely fits with missionaries or those who make great sacrifice to start new works. The word apostolos cannot really be made to fit only the first Apostles — at least not in my best understanding of the word.
Either way, there are no modern-day Apostles with the same apostolic authority that the original ones had. The Apostles had access to special revelation/inspiration that was unique for the purpose God was using them — to write His message to us. We do not have that today — whether or not some could technically be called “apostles” in the broad sense of the term.
Even so, in the Ephesians passage, if apostleship in the broad sense of the term has ceased, when did we attain the unity of the faith, knowledge of the Son of God, etc. that this passage indicates these gifts serve to assist? This sounds terribly familiar to Paul’s language of “when that which is perfect/complete has come…” in 1 Corinthians 13. Again, if one sees the “perfect” and “unity of the faith” as the completed canon, then all of these would have ceased early on — including prophets, pastors-teachers and so on, but I do not understand the “perfect” and “unity of the faith” as the completed canon, so I can allow for all of these gifts to continue.
Again, for the sake of clarity, there are no modern-day Apostles with apostolic authority, but as I stated earlier, the use of apostolos can easily apply to missionaries and the such.
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Tags: cessationist, contiuationist, gifts of the spirit, spiritual gifts