1) Disbelief in the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
There are several theological viewpoints that try to describe the work of the Holy Spirit (or lack there of) throughout Church history and in the present day, one of the most common being cessationism, or, the belief that the "miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit" ceased to function upon the canonizing of Scripture and the death of the last apostle.
The definition of "miraculous gifts" includes prophecy, apostleship, speaking in tongues, healing and miracles. The cessastionist viewpoint advocates the idea that these gifts only purpose was to jump start the church and that now proper study, interpretation and proclamation are all that is necessary to advance the Gospel. The cessationist viewpoint will allow for modern day miracles if they happen among a tribal people who have never before heard the Gospel message. Appealing to sola scriptura, the cessationist denies the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit because the Bible has been canonized, it is infallible and it perfectly sufficient to guide the Church until Christ returns.
I hope that does justice to the cessationist camp. I know many believers who belong to this group and they are good and godly people who serve the Lord faithfully. My primary objection to this viewpoint is that it is un-biblical.
Nowhere in the New Testament does Jesus, the Apostles or one of the other writers ever refer to the gifts of the Holy Spirit no longer functioning. I would imagine that would be an important thing to know if you were a Christian in the early church and would have caused great consternation if on Sunday you had laid hands on someone and they received their sight and then all of a sudden no one could heal any longer. I don't believe that the Holy Spirit has an on/off switch. If it is true that the gifts were going to cease to function in the church upon the death of John, wouldn't he have included that in one of his letters...
"Beloved children, just so you know, when I die, the Holy Spirit is going to become impotent. You will no longer be able to heal, hear from God to proclaim the good news of Jesus to those whose language you don't know. Be sure to gather all of my letters into one place for God is no longer going to speak to you. Good luck and study hard," from John's lost 4th letter to the church.
More to the point, what about all of the things that Jesus said those who believe in Him would be able to do? The great commission in Matthew 28 says that we should "[teach] them to obey all I have commanded you," so what is that? Obviously the 1st and 2nd commandment. But he also taught the Sermon on the Mount (chapters 5-7) and commanded them to heal the sick and cast out demons (chapter 10). Then there is Mark's commissioning story which is even more direct, "These signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons, they will speak in new tongues... they will place their hands on sick people and they will get well." We could argue that those things were only to be done by the first century believers, but then we would have to rule out the Great Commission as well, since it was only spoken to the Eleven. I don't believe we can take Scripture part and parcel. If the Great Commission is for all of us, and it is, then signs and wonders should accompany that proclamation.
Lastly, Jesus says in John 14 "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father." I see no disclaimer here, no asterisk leading me to fine print that says "anyone who has faith in me (and lives in the first century and is named Peter, John or Paul) will do..."
Does this seem silly? I think so too, but this is what major theologians are doing to the Bible. By denying that the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit are in operation today, they make Jesus into a liar. For Jesus said, "It is for your good (benefit) that I am going away." No Jesus, if the Holy Spirit isn't at work in our lives today, it would have been better for you to stick around. You would convince people far better than we would.
'But the Holy Spirit is in operation... just not in those ways,' someone may argue. This brings us to number 2.
2) The apostolic gifting (and other miraculous gifts) "ran out" and is no longer in operation.
This objection is just weird to me. How do certain gifts just run out? Is not God infinite and eternal? Or can we "tap out" His resources.
I am a little riled up, so I am not being quite as fair as I should be to the opposition. Part of how cessationists view the apostolic gifting is the ability to write Scripture. Therefore, with the canonizing of Scripture, they no longer see the need for apostles, since nothing is going to be added to the Bible. It makes sense, except that the ability to write inspired Scripture is nowhere in the definition of apostolic authority.
Many of the apostles did not write anything, or else it was poorly written and didn't make the cut. The only apostles to author a New Testament book were Peter, Paul, John and Matthew. Mark was not an apostle, nor was look. James and Jude were the Lord's brothers, but to by knowledge are not acknowledged as apostles. We don't know who wrote Hebrews, but it made it in there somehow. While the apostles were the church's governing authority and wrote a letter that they expected to be obeyed, I don't think they would have put that letter on part with Isaiah, the Torah or any of the other Old Testament writings. It was believers living after the apostle's deaths that decided what was inspired and worth keeping and what was garbage - the apostles did not.
If it were true that the miraculous gifts "ran out," how sad would that be? So the epitome of what it means to follow Christ is to learn Greek and Hebrew so that we can read and study better? No power? No excitement? What about Paul? "The Kingdom of God is not a matter of talk, but of power." And clearly studying does not fulfill Jesus' desires, for Jesus prayed for His Church to be one. How many factions and denomination of Christianity now exist? We clearly are not one and have become increasingly less so as this idea of cessationism has taken root in our Christian mindset.
Friends, I would love to continue, but this is turning into a novel. I will discuss the third objection tomorrow. Thank you for your perseverance in reading this!
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