June 6, 2024
This paper is meant to briefly address the ever-continuing divide and quarrel between Reformed Continuationists and Reformed Cessationists by discussing hermeneutical differences. (When I say "briefly" I am speaking of how much deeper this topic can go, although this paper will not be light reading.) I do not plan to go into much detail about various gifts here but will touch on the Scriptural basis for some of them. First of all, let me define my terms. Cessationists are those who believe that the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit ceased with the Apostolic age of the early church. On the other hand, Continuationists believe that these gifts were given to all Spirit-anointed believers for the entire church age, as the Holy Spirit moves. When I speak of “anointed” believers, I am speaking of those who have not only received the quickening of the Holy Spirit to believe in the gospel (as demonstrated by John’s baptism of repentance) but also who have received the laying on of hands by those anointed by the Holy Spirit in a particular calling of ministry in the church (as demonstrated by the Holy Spirit coming down upon Jesus after his baptism). For example, Paul was not anointed when Jesus came to him on the Damascus road. He was converted at that time, but not anointed. He was anointed when “Ananias, a devout observer of the law who was highly regarded by all the Jews living there” came to him upon the command of the Lord (Acts 9:10-19, Acts 22:12-13). Ananias was not mentioned as having any special office in the church, but God had anointed him and used him to anoint Paul.
When I speak of miraculous giftings, I speak of those gifts given to the church that are defined especially in 1 Corinthians 12-14. Let me clarify that all spiritual gifts, including the gift of hospitality, are miraculous in my perspective because they are driven by the Holy Spirit in both move and power (“If anyone serves, let him do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things, God may be praised through Jesus Christ.” - 1 Pet 4:11). However, when I speak of “miraculous” giftings, I have in mind gifts of miracles, healing, prophecy, and tongues because they work outside the natural way of earth’s physical “laws.” I am also differentiating the way giftings were used by the general church as compared to the Apostles of Jesus Christ, who were establishers of credibility to the New Testament era in an extraordinary show of power and regularity needed for foundation-laying. I am also acknowledging certain offices in the church that come with them the anointing of power needed to fulfill the role of that office. This includes pastors, deacons, and apostles, which imitate the role of the Apostles of Jesus in many ways but no longer lay Scriptural foundations, since that foundation was laid once. The apostolic office entails mission work with Spirit-filled ability to understand God’s heart, coupled with power to lay evangelistic foundations for the taking of demonic ground. Such an apostolic office has a multi-role function of evangelism and shepherding, and the Holy Spirit works through such with great power, including prophecy, miracles and healing signs. An example of this is Barnabas, called an apostle (Acts 14:14), even though he was not one of the Twelve: “Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch), and Saul. 2While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’ 3And after they had fasted and prayed, they laid their hands on them and sent them off” (Acts 13:1-3).
Finally, when defining gifts, I want to be clear how they are manifested. I disagree with at least certain Cessationists who say that gifts imply the giving of God’s powers of miracles, healing, prophecy, and tongues, to be used at the will of those gifted in any and all situations desired. While Cessationists don’t even believe that the aforementioned gifts continue in this time, the key that I wish to point out is my disagreement with how gifts are used (or were used in the early church). Even the Apostle Paul could not do anything about certain trials that opposed him. If he had the gift of healing and miracles at will, which he could use at any time he desired, he would certainly not have written this: “Now I esteemed it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need, 26since he was longing after you all and being deeply distressed because you heard that he was ill. 27And indeed he was sick, nearly unto death. But God had mercy on him, and not on him alone but also on me, that I should not have sorrow upon sorrow” (Phil 2:25-27). Why would Paul not have instantly healed Epaphroditus if he had power to do so? The key to spiritual gifts is keeping in step with the Spirit (Gal 5:25) so that one will discern the will of God (Rom 12:2), and this is why, I believe, so many have been taken in by the devil’s schemes and gone off the rails of Scriptural credence. The Bible is clear about how the gifts operate: “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them” (Acts 2:4). For the rest of this paper, therefore, it is my aim to flesh out these concepts a little more for the purpose of seeing the contrasts of how Continuationists and Cessationists are defining terms, based on their presuppositional lens that is being used to approach Scripture. In both hermeneutical approaches, a whole-Scripture foundation is the springboard from which conclusions are drawn on this point of miraculous giftings in the church age, and for this reason, I don’t believe this is an easy discussion with surface solutions.
I’m using the word “Reformed” to speak of believers who hold to the “Doctrines of Grace” as the main outline for gospel truths, meaning, that man is totally depraved and dead in sin apart from the quickening of the Holy Spirit to see or understand his condition in sin or to see and understand and believe in the hope of Jesus’ sacrifice for sin. For this reason, all volition unto salvation is on God’s side, requiring that He elect those whom He will redeem. He has chosen only to elect a limited number, as is evidenced in the small nation of Israel as compared to the whole world. Those He has elected will be drawn by the Spirit irresistibly, much in the same way a young man is drawn to a woman that he “loves at first sight.” Finally, those whom He has drawn, He will sanctify unto holiness and will preserve until the Day of Christ, preventing them from falling away. (To clarify, many appear to come to faith in Jesus and yet fall away, and such a falling away reveals a grave concern over whether they savingly believed at first. This is why much Scripture addresses the ongoing examination of the fruit of repentance in one’s life, for only when one crosses the finish line is the conclusion of the matter certain.)
Now then, assuming that we are at least somewhat on common ground in this “Reformed” doctrine of Scripture, I wish to address what has become a great thorn among believers as it concerns the outworking of this truth in practical Christian experience. I believe that the root of the debate between Cessationists and Continuationists has to do with two hermeneutical divides: the first, which really lays the foundation for the second, is the understanding of how the Old Testament defines the New Testament in our understanding of how God operates from start to finish, and second is the purpose of miraculous giftings of the Holy Spirit.
I don’t intend to get deep into the first hermeneutical divide because it goes very deep, involving all of Scripture. I only wish to convey a general concept of it so that hopefully, understanding of the differentiation might help to open the door to further, respectful conversation on the subject between these two Scriptural positions. Ultimately, the way I personally, as a Continuationist, see our lens differentiation is in what I will summarize as follows: Cessationists and Continuationists perceive the Old and New covenants in a different way of application in how the Old flows into the New and how the New fulfills and is to be defined by and interpreted by the Old. To illustrate this, Cessationists believe that the office of prophet as seen in the Old Testament is not imitated or needed in the New Testament beyond the time of the Apostles of Jesus, because they believe that this office is for the completion of canonized Scripture, and no more than that. However, if one perceives this office to be an ongoing way in which God works for the shepherding of His people, with Old Testament prophets only projecting the ultimate fulfillment of prophecy in the Spirit-filled church, then a great deal of understanding of this New Testament gifting can be drawn out of an observation of Old Testament prophecy. Continuationists recognize the great increase in light given in the New Testament, the fulfillment of many Old Testament types and shadows, and the ultimate fulfillment of all offices by Jesus Christ. While the Old Testament pointed forward to Jesus, the New Testament offices and gifts of the church are meant to point back to Him, emphasize His purpose, and shed more and more light, as the Spirit gives clarity, on our understanding of the Kingdom Age that is being ushered in. In light of this, it is clear that there will be shifts of content and usage among New Testament prophets compared to Old. No more is the foundation of Scripture needing to be laid, so therefore, prophets in the New Testament church age beyond the Apostles of Jesus Christ will not need to speak canonical truths that are meant to be immovable promises of God. Instead, New Testament prophets will reemphasize these promises and speak in revelatory ways only for the purpose of shedding new light on the Old, even the way Jesus’ teachings revealed with new light Old Testament truths: “You have heard that it was said…but I tell you.” Even the Apostles of Jesus are models of this, laying the foundation for how future apostles and prophets are to operate.
Flowing out of this, we come to the second area of divide in our hermeneutical lens. Cessationists believe that miraculous giftings are for a singular purpose: that of God establishing evidence and credibility for a big dispensational move in the history of this world. In the case of the church age beginning, God needed to demonstrate the reality of Jesus’ ministry as the Son of God and to prove that He had appointed hand-picked Apostles to establish the foundation of the church and its purpose and ministry until the return of Christ. For this reason, miracles were “commonplace” in Israel and eventually in the Gentile nations during the generation of Jesus’ first coming. “Men of Israel, listen to this message: Jesus of Nazareth was a man certified by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs, which God did among you through Him, as you yourselves know” (Acts 2:22). Similarly, God operated this way with Moses and Joshua, who were hand-picked instruments of His power to be revealed in a new chapter among the children of Israel. However, once that new chapter was established, God did not cease raising up Spirit-filled leaders to shepherd his people: consider the Judges (e.g., Sampson) and the prophets (e.g., Elijah and Elisha). This observation is where Continuationists perceive Scriptural principles differently from Cessationists on the application of how God worked in the Old Testament to how He works now.
It is for the reason of the patterns of God in Scripture throughout history that Continuationists purport more than one reason for God using His people to do miracles on the earth: not just for foundation-laying. Not only do the miracles serve to prove a move of God in a new dispensation but they also serve to protect and establish that move of God throughout all generations while attesting to those on whom He has rested as living temples of His glory. Evidence of this is the way God used prophets throughout the whole time that Israel was a nation, well beyond the new dispensation of making a nation of Israel when He removed them from Egypt and established for them His national laws. Besides speaking of future events, these prophets were all basically repeating the same message from God over and over, seeking to chastise Israel for their abandonment of God or encourage their obedience. Yet these prophets were not without miracles! God used miracles and parabolic demonstrations through the prophets, according to what the Spirit knew the people needed in that prophet’s generation, giving the prophets credibility in their message to the people. Furthermore, different prophets had different focuses of ministry. Daniel’s focus was much more about the proclamation of future events, while Elijah’s ministry was much more about the condemnation of rebellious hearts and God’s chastisement of His people. Thus, even in this, we can see that prophetic gifting is not a “one-size-fits-all” calling. All throughout Scripture, we see time and again how God chooses human vessels to display His power and glory as living tabernacles, doing so to emphasize His Word. In the same way that the Shekinah glory could be seen filling the human-made temple in Jerusalem, so also, that glory should be visible in those God has filled. “Do you not know that you yourselves are God’s temple, and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” (1 Cor 3:16)
By way of notation, Satan imitates God in this very thing: “The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie” (2 Thess 2:9). Hence, we see the many heretical sects that have sought to undermine the true gospel since Jesus’ ascension, including some popular Pentecostal churches. On a micro scale, we simply see an infusion of mixture of what is false into what is true. One can see that in every single church and denomination, not just in Pentecostalism. The obvious heretical sects are well-known for their beginnings through miraculous “visitations,” signs, and wonders, such as Mormonism and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Jehovah’s Witnesses). But being aware of the devil’s schemes should not cause us to shrink back from realizing and submitting to God’s chosen methods. Just as the magicians of Pharaoh sought to undermine the signs and miracles God gave Moses in Egypt by imitating them, so also do true, Spirit-filled believers face the same challenges. Jesus’ addresses to the seven churches in Revelation prove this reality. For nearly all the churches, He applauds them for certain strengths but rebukes them for letting falsehood infiltrate.
The devil is ever seeking to skew and undermine God’s established means to reveal His glory on the earth and is therefore justified for his craftiness in not only completely leading astray large masses (such as many Pentecostals) but also trapping well-meaning believers in their fight against him through backlash that blinds them to the big picture. (In other words, the “baby is thrown out with the bathwater.”) Many of those who are fighting certain Pentecostals’ abandonment of Scripture and the gospel as the focal point are failing to realize that there are “Moseses” among the Egyptian magicians.
Miraculous giftings help to apply the Word in every cultural scenario and in every Christian’s personal life. Since every person and every generation is equally needy of the Spirit’s application of the gospel of redemption, the same supernatural tools are equally needed to fight a foe that is superhuman and ever seeking to undermine the truth of Jesus Christ. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph 6:12). The Holy Spirit varies the giftings designated to Christians according to the callings given them. For example, evangelists will likely have more public giftings, such as the gift of healing and miracles, in order to establish ongoing credibility for the power of the gospel in the name of Jesus among unbelievers. Certain prophetic giftings will be public, such as in a pastoral office, and others will be more personal and hidden, such as seen with the prophet Agabus in the New Testament and the daughters of Philip the evangelist.
I wish to interject here a testimonial of my own life in order to show a practical outworking of resurrection power in Holy Spirit anointing and how it personally affected me in the application of the gospel.
In 2017, I was going through a wave of battle over various stronghold sins in my life that had put a chokehold on me in various waves and patterns throughout my life. I would go through a time of deep yearning after God to rescue me, find some deliverance, and then fall back into those sin patterns months or years later. One of them was deep anger and bitterness, and this particular round was instigated by the unloving processes of a church that caused an almost-adopted daughter to be permanently taken from my barren-at-the-time sister and her husband. This time, the rage was so overwhelming, that preaching Scripture to myself was like trying to plant seeds in hard ground. Nothing was swaying how I felt. I began to beg God for power, appealing to the sufficiency of the cross and the sign of the resurrection. It was at this time that God began to reveal things to me about the intimacy of His working in the world through the miraculous. One such “miracle” was the way in which he caused several ground hogs to invade my garden, moments after the garden door had broken down. God used it to cause me to release my feelings to Him in a way I never before had. This was just one of many stepping stones God was using over the course of several months. The final stepping stone came in late January, when I had requested that some believers who work in the continuing gifts, lay hands on me and pray for me. At the time, my primary goal in this was for some relief of chronic physical illness that had ramped up so severely, that I was in an extreme state. However, God had a higher purpose, which I will expound. First of all, I was in awe over the lack of stress I felt to “impose” upon this brother and sister. Living an hour from my home at the time, the sister offered to travel to my home and pray for me. A few days later, I asked to go to their home, because while her prayers evidenced a clear answer, I could tell that there was more to be done. They were immediately willing. Their eagerness to love me was tangible. Second, during that second prayer meeting, that lasted over 2 hours, I was given a sense of the wonder of the personalness of the cross that I had never before experienced. While I had gone through various phases of grasping this wonder over the course of my life as God was sanctifying me and drawing me nearer to Him, this time was different. It was so personal that it seemed as if Jesus was tangibly saying, “I died to save YOU, Rachel Anna.” There’s no way to convey this in words, the way it was conveyed to my spirit. I was so overcome, that I fell to my face and wept and wept, right in front of the brother and sister praying with me. I would have been mortified with embarrassment to do such a thing publicly if the Spirit were not so heavily fallen upon me, that I had lost all care or concern about appearances. From that day on, the overwhelming burden of various ongoing sin patterns was lifted, and the immense love and gratitude for the sacrifice of Christ that I had, only deepened more. This was no momentary sensational effect; this affected all of me so powerfully, that I was willing to face ridicule from those I loved the most and had lifelong wanted validation from more than anything, in my attempt to share this manifestation of God's power and stand by it. But if that was not all, the night of this grace of God upon me, I suddenly began to speak in tongues and was so full of joy, that I cried and laughed for the whole hour driving home. I never, ever had experienced such joy. Joy comes from the Holy Spirit, not from the devil. Mortification from sin comes from the Spirit, not from the devil. And awe and wonder over the cross of Jesus Christ could never come from the devil. This pivotal moment of this Holy Spirit anointing was further confirmed with other giftings soon following this, particularly the gift of prophecy, and with deeper and deeper outworking of the fruit of the Spirit in my life. It was as if the root that had been growing in me for so many years, suddenly exploded with growth, like I had received a shot of miracle grow!
Based on what I have heard coming from the Reformed preachers in their backlash against Pentecostalism, I believe that due to the errors and heresies found among certain Pentecostals, the Continuationist stance has been misunderstood and skewed. For this reason, I think prominent Reformers have misrepresented the Continuationist arguments and cannot grasp how one could hold to the Reformed truths of the gospel while believing in continuing miraculous giftings of the Holy Spirit. Unlike some in the Pentecostal camp, who have sensationalized the “gospel” and have made experiences the driving force of “truth” rather than the foundational truths of Scripture, Reformed Continuationists believe strongly in the inerrant and unchanging Word of God. They believe that the gifts of the Holy Spirit, including prophecy, do not add in any way to Scripture. Instead, these giftings affirm and enable the proper understanding of Scripture in a “3D” and living walk with God and for the purpose of teaching and building up the church while evangelizing the lost, much as the prophets of the Old Testament were used.
This is not to say that those gifted with the infilling of the Holy Spirit do not wrestle with false interpretations of Scripture, as the devil is always prowling around as a roaring lion. If there is anything I have personally found to be my greatest battle since my baptism in the Holy Spirit, it has been the devil’s effort at every turn to gain a foothold in undermining the living reality of my walk with Jesus Christ, even using Scripture (out of context) to attempt this.
I would like to create a table that gives a brief overview of what I believe to be the opposing arguments of Continuationism versus Cessationism. Since my primary purpose in this paper is to overview the Continuationist perspective, most of my discussion and supporting Scriptures will be camped on this point of view.
Continuationists and Cessationists are in agreement, I believe, on this row | The purpose of the cross and resurrection for eternity: To remove the eternal curse of sin and God’s wrath. “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:18). “Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to do My judgments” (Ezek 36:26-27). | The purpose of the display of miracles on a macro level: To reveal the opening of a new level of revelation to the purpose of God’s eternal salvation and to redeem His covenant people more completely. I believe that where Continuationists differ here is in the assertion that there is a micro purpose for the continuing display of miracles in the church age that is not connected to a change of dispensation. And this micro purpose does not alter or add to the foundations laid in the change of dispensation, but rather upholds, continually verifies in a living way, and testifies to those foundational truths, as recorded in the Holy Scriptures. |
The purpose of the cross and resurrection for this life | The purpose of God’s display of miracles in this post-Apostolic age | |
Continuationists | To remove God’s curse against us for not obeying His law perfectly (meaning, we now have a restored relationship with God and the power to fight back against the darkness, and, our remaining weakness is used for redemptive purposes): Gal 3:13: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, ‘CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE’” This includes two things:
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The purpose of the cross and resurrection for this life | The purpose of God’s display of miracles in this post-Apostolic age | |
Cessationists | Through the cross, God has given us the power to internally overcome our sins and afflictions so that we can fulfill His purpose in us despite our weakness. However, this does not include miraculous giftings that display the power of God working through human vessels. | For extraordinary situations, and not connected to a person as a vessel carrying that miracle of God. |
The purpose of the cross and resurrection for this life
To remove God’s curse against us for not obeying His law perfectly, which ultimately means, to restore relationship with Him:
Deut 28:45: “If you refuse to listen to the LORD your God and to obey the commands and decrees he has given you, all these curses will pursue and overtake you until you are destroyed.”
Gal 3:13: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, ‘CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE’”
Num 21:9:
“So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.”
3 John 1:2:
“Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers.”
While Continuationists will say that the removal of the curse of God certainly must ultimately be about the soul, they will also say that redemption from the curse is also for the body. And this bodily redemption is not disconnected from God’s redemption of the soul but interacts. If, however, one should heretically focus on the body and the material and the emotional to the disregard of the soul, this is also a grave error and is damning.
I believe that Cessationists put most of their emphasis on the effectiveness of the cross for the soul and for the sanctification of the soul and do not provide a clear picture as to how that redemptive work affects the body. While they believe in the power of God to redeem bodily trials, they may not fight for this promise with all the weapons allotted us in a jealousy for the display of His sacrificial sufficiency in this life and as a promise that is directly linked to the plan of the redemption for the here and now to be a display of God’s power and glory. Therefore, ongoing ailments that are determined to be “God’s will” because of their ongoing presence are not thoroughly examined for their root source or purpose: Is it caused by ongoing sin that has a stronghold (consider lung cancer caused by a smoking addiction)? Is it caused by Satan’s war against us that we should fight with truth (how do we know if it’s Satan)? Is it the residual result of unbelief in what the cross accomplished (can we know that? Only God sees where our heart lacks, but I say the Spirit wants to lead us to this understanding)? Or is it a means God wants to use to show that no matter our “handicap,” God will fulfill His purpose in us despite us? On this last point, I want to make clear that this is always the case in one way or another among the children of God, because God has not redeemed us to keep us from suffering. On the contrary, Scripture is clear that God calls us to go through suffering for the glory of His name, for our sanctification and development of patient endurance, for the increase of depth of character and perspective, and for the building of our faith in God, which is really all about relationship with God. I think that ultimately, all of God’s children, Cessationists or not, end up coming to these conclusions but without seeing the full picture that can be obtained through spiritual gifts meant to enhance our relationship with God. These gifts help us to recognize the practical reality that the cross and resurrection secured for us the lifting of the curse of God for those who truly embrace this reality by faith, and this curse ultimately was our being shut out from the presence of God. This lifting of the curse can be seen in how for some, God turns bodily ailments into the roadway to glory for us as we are refined through them and as He reveals His power through us in weakness. Joni Ericson Tada is a good public visual image of the reality of this. For others, God might reveal His redemptive glory by miraculously healing of diseases or physical bondages that have beset us, including sin addictions. We know already from Scripture that sin addictions are not the will of God, and therefore, we can claim the sufficiency of the cross to conquer them! How many Christians do that? How many keep pursuing self-help means instead of looking for the power of God? This is one reason why I believe that an insufficient understanding of the redemption to free from the curse is a root issue among Cessationists.
Understanding the Gift of Prophecy
Concerning Jesus’ redemption of the body, therefore, the question that should be posed is: what is God’s will for the body for each individual case and how do we know? Another way to put this would be: how does God want to use our bodies to display His glory? “Therefore I urge you, brothers, on account of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship” (Rom 12:1). As just discussed concerning sin addictions, the answer to that can be clearly seen in some cases from Scripture. But more often than not, the answer is not clear. And that is where Cessationists and Continuationists divide, because Cessationists would say that apart from the observation of providence, there’s no way to really know that. This is dangerous ground because providential circumstances are very tricky, and Satan uses them well to present false ideas. For example, I might be misguided to think that it’s God’s will I move to Maryland because a job opened there, and I desire to move. However, the Apostle Paul desired to go to certain places and even had the providential opportunity. However, because he had the gift of prophecy, he learned that this was not God’s will. An example is in Acts 16:7-10: “And when they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not permit them. 8So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas.
9During the night, Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and pleading with him, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’ 10As soon as Paul had seen the vision, we got ready to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.”
Continuationists would say that God wants us to be a moving part of His active advancement in demonstrating God’s will, and in order to do that, we need to know how to fall into rank. We need to know His mind. To know His mind practically, beyond the foundational truths of His character as seen in Scripture, we need supernatural gifts, particularly that of prophecy.
In Job’s case of trial, Satan was at war against him, though Job did not know why he was suffering. He sought God for truth until God came to his rescue in this life. It was a direct encounter with God that finally enabled Job to know that he had come to the end of his prayers to God on the matter, because God Himself spoke to Job, which is what the gift of prophecy is all about–God speaking. While He basically told Job, “It’s for me to know, and you to submit,” that was enough for Job, to know that His prayers were heard, and he could rest in God. God didn’t have to then restore Job, but He did. And in some cases in our lives, God gives us the same answer and chooses not to restore us in this life. However, it’s the answer that gives us the peace to know that we can stop fighting. It’s about relationship with God.
In Paul’s case, with his “messenger of Satan,” it was God’s means to show that no matter his “handicap,” God would fulfill His purpose through him. Paul did not cease fighting the ailment in prayer until he had a clear answer from God on why he was enduring this affliction, and again, that answer came through prophecy. God Himself answered Paul by the Holy Spirit and told him that it was to manifest His sufficient grace to him through weakness.
In the man-born-blind’s case, it was “so that the works of God might be manifested in him” in this life (John 9:3) through a miracle, and we know this because the blind man went to Jesus and heard from His own lips the answer to his trial.
So we see that in all these cases, God chose to manifest His power in different ways through various people. In all cases, the works of God were being manifested, but they were revealed through prophetic understanding. Without prophetic understanding, these works of God would have just been “events” that we could guess at but not really understand to give God glory for according to the Holy Spirit’s will. Interestingly, when a Cessationist is telling me that he was completely mentally and physically unprepared to enter a teaching situation until the moment he entered it and then was supernaturally charged both mentally and physically to fulfill the calling of God on him as soon as he had to step up “to the plate,” I am seeing a prophetic demonstration of how God intends to display His glory through that man and his physical limitations. There is indeed more than one way God can reveal Himself prophetically, but I believe Cessationists have limited Him in their minds by saying that He can no longer use words in a relational way in this time. Yes, He uses the Words of Scripture, which are paramount, but I’m talking about the kind of revelatory words given to individual cases such as those discussed above. And again, having lived most of my Christian life without those relational words, I can attest to the fact that God can keep us on His narrow way without prophetic counsel. But it’s not an issue of can. It’s an issue of God’s desire. The gift of prophecy opens a whole new dimension of relationship with God that enables us to rise up with wings of eagles, and to see what is happening in this world from a divine view, in the moment-by-moment details, for the glory of His name to be displayed. To give a personal example, when God began gifting me prophetically, I began to understand why I suffer with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia, among other things. I began to understand, as He revealed it layer by layer, how He is using it for me to fulfill a tailor-made calling for me, unto His glory, and this has greatly lightened the pressure I feel to keep trying to find a cure. I recently testified to my mom that I’ve come to the place where I’m not going to go out hunting, having already circled all the options I know. If God wants to use a human means to give me another boost physically, and He makes clear something that I should pursue, then I will gladly. Otherwise, I will not. I am only wasting precious energy on what is not His direction for me.
The following Scriptures are the foundation for why God intends to use us to conquer the stronghold of the devil that is in opposition to the redemptive fulfillment of the cross and resurrection. Understanding that God wants us to walk with the Spirit in relationship in the nitty gritty of circumstances brings these Scriptures to life in a new way. Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it in all its fullness” (John 10:10). Jesus has restored to His children the first mandate given to Adam. Gen 1:28: “God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that creeps on the earth [including the serpent].’” “For as indeed in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive” (1 Cor 15:22). “For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God” (Col 3:3). “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus” (Eph 2:6). “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God?” (1 Cor 6:19). “But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness” (Rom 8:10). “As it is written:
‘For Your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’
37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 8:36-39).
To summarize and conclude my discussion of prophecy, we are heirs of God and co-heirs of Christ as children of God, having been made now living tabernacles of His glory! Therefore, should we not expect, as children, to be recipients of communion with Him through the Holy Spirit? And that communion touches all aspects of life, not just doctrinal truths and principles that are of course foundational and necessary for life and godliness but also real answers to real questions (prayer) as to how to practically live out God’s will in our respective callings. This leads to one big need for the gift of prophecy, because if we pray without expecting an answer, we are foolish children without ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches (Rev 2:17, 3:22, 3:6, many more). In the Old Testament, any time anyone inquired of the Lord, such as a king of Israel, they expected an answer from the prophet! Have we sunk down into a time of even lesser revelation now in the church age, that God would not reveal specific answers to our questions, as children coming before a Father? Knowing the “why” and “how” of a problem enables a route of action! While God doesn’t always give the “why,” to an answer, He has historically given an answer to the “how” (what course of action He would have us take) when His people inquire of Him. I emphasize that I’m talking about a walking-with-God relationship here. I’m not talking about questions of “how do I read these Scriptures” which are of course of utmost importance, and which the Spirit must enlighten (which I believe my Cessationist brothers agree with). Understanding the Scriptures as they apply dynamically to what the Spirit is illuminating for us about Himself is a major part of walking with God and truly knowing Him, and absolutely foundational. However, the physical dimension is also paramount in that relationship in day-to-day life as His vessels in the details! It is the application and outworking of the inward reality of relationship with God.
Luke 10:19:
“Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions [metaphorical powers of evil], and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you.”
Matt 16:16, 18-19: “And Simon Peter answered and said, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ …upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. 19I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”
John 14:18-20, 25-26:
“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also. 20On that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you…25“These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you. 26But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.
The Concept of Ministry Without Miraculous Giftings
I’d like to set before us what many Western Christian ministries look like that are not working in the miraculous giftings, and then in the next section, I will delve into the purpose of giftings, and how they apply. Concerning the demonstration of gospel love through ministries of mercy, I would challenge whether most of such ministries are really glorifying the sufficiency of Jesus’ death and resurrection to save both soul and body. Paul said, “I want to know Christ, and the power of His resurrection.” The key word here is “power.” Christian love looks much the same as the “love” of many other charitable groups in the world that deny Christ. So what is to differentiate that love? While certainly the preaching of the gospel will give it God’s signature, what will give credibility to the claims of the gospel, when those showing love are not doing anything different than what the world can imitate? First and foremost, the transformation of hearts will give the gospel credibility. “...our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power, in the Holy Spirit, and with great conviction…” (1 Thess 1:5). My Cessationist brothers will strongly advocate this as well. However, we see historically that God has chosen to use outward signs to also manifest the power and credibility of the gospel (I will get into this much more in the next section). Furthermore, we see by the nature of these signs in the New Testament that God cares about the body. While I realize the Cessationists will say that their ministries are empowered supernaturally due to the internal working of the Holy Spirit to give will and volition for both workers and hearers, I would say that is only one leg of a stool, leaving out the other giftings that are meant to provide a fully functional operation to the glory of God. I also realize that Cessationists would agree that the body has importance, which is why there are ministries of mercy; however, I again ask how such physical relief efforts contrast in any way with other worldly enterprises that do not claim Christ?
I would like to exemplify the Western Christian mindset with American business enterprise. American church ministries have, I believe, inadvertently replaced the sense of need and the evidence of the power of God with affluence. By using the money that is in such abundance in America, they don’t feel so greatly their need for God to empower a ministry. For example, we can raise enough money to fund doctors and builders to “fix” those who have been harmed by a natural disaster. But what if we had no money? I have experienced this in a direct way in how God has empowered a ministry he led me into remotely oversees–without giving me any backers of big money–unto the evangelisation of thousands, and ongoing ministry to over a thousand converts, and this in one of the most-impoverished countries in the world, where one meal a day is considered commonplace. I’m convinced that one reason He did this was to wean me off the American business mentality. I don’t need monetary security! The Apostle Paul loathed the idea of asking for money, lest he be accused of pedaling Christ for gain! Yet, most if not all traditional Western church ministries require that one purchase their wares (media, books, conferences, etc.). Most require money! This is a slap in the face of God’s power, where He demonstrated Himself in the early church as accomplishing far more and with far deeper impact (touching souls) through giftings that were otherworldly! Now beyond missions, while Western churches do charitable outreach for evangelism and disaster relief, giftings in the church were Biblically given for the building up of the saints on a day-to-day basis, not just for evangelism and extraordinary relief. “And it was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12to equip the saints for works of ministry and to build up the body of Christ, 13until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, as we mature to the full measure of the stature of Christ” (Eph 4:11-13). Yes, God uses money, but I can attest to more than one ongoing Spirit-filled ministry in the world where money is given out of the overflow of hearts who are pricked by the Spirit to donate to the work, and through that alone, all financial needs are fully supplied! No sales needed! Please tell me what glorifies God more. Please tell me where supernatural agape love is in greater evidence: where money is given out of an overflow of burdened hearts or where it is given due to required purchase prices.
Furthermore, in the area of the edification of the body, healthy internal ministry, in my experience in life, has been practically nonexistent. It is the Holy Spirit who knows the groans of our hearts and the needs we have for encouragement. How is one to know when one with a peculiar sufficiency to meet the need of another member should reach out to that “hidden” member–unless the Holy Spirit guides and inspires that interaction? Yet without the awareness of members to how the Spirit works in these ways through dynamic gifting, there will be a stifling of the Spirit’s prompting. The devil is good at overloading well-meaning Christians with so much need around them, that they will either burn out and shut down, or they will focus on things that are not the immediate priority of God. How are individuals to know what is priority, when we’re looking at things that are all truly needed, and all those things are good to do? This brings me back to the prophetic gifting, but I digress. I wish to go further now into the “why” of miraculous giftings besides prophecy.
The purpose of God’s display of miracles in this post-Apostolic age
To demonstrate the power of the gospel to every generation for the glory of God and the display of His love in a physical world
To demonstrate the vessels He has chosen to carry His love on display
First, miraculous gifts display the glory of God.
Acts 3:6:
“But Peter said, ‘I do not possess silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene—walk!’”
1 Cor 1:26-31:
“For consider your calling, brothers, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble. 27But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, 28and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may abolish the things that are, 29so that no flesh may boast before God. 30But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, 31so that, just as it is written, “LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD’” (capitalization indicates an Old Testament quotation).
I have heard from a number of Cessationists that they cannot deny the miraculous happenings in certain third-world countries among those whom they have verified to be credible churches. They acknowledge miracles such as visions, healings, and prophecies that have helped in the advancement of the gospel. They argue, therefore, that God will sometimes perform these miracles for those who are needing an extra measure of help out of their darkness because of the lack of other means that might be found in less-restrictive places.
I would counter-argue that this is a contradiction and a “bending” of their doctrinal position to explain a circumstance that seems unexplainable to them. Either miracles, signs, and wonders are ONLY for the establishing of foundations in the changing over from one dispensation to another, or they are more than that.
Every single believer needs to be lifted out of our dark and backward state from which we have all originated in Adam by the same miracle of regeneration by the Spirit through the “word of truth, the gospel of our salvation” (Eph 1:13)! However, is this initial spark of conception out of sin into new birth the only time God works a miracle in the majority of Christians? And yet, if that is all that is needed, when would even those in “third-world” countries need more miracles?
I would argue that it is not a matter of need but of God’s choosing. God chose to use miracles! God wants to encourage His people! He wants to show us that we have been given supernatural tools to fight a supernatural foe and for the display of His glory! And if those in the West don’t feel their need for His supernatural tools, then maybe our human crutches and sense of sufficiency have put us in this category:
“Because you say, ‘I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,’ and you do not know that you are wretched and pitiable and poor and blind and naked. 18I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be manifested; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. 19Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline. Therefore be zealous and repent. 20Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me” (Rev 3:17-20).
I wish to address the argument that miracles are in fact a sign of God’s curse on a people. Consider Jesus’ words in Matt 11:21: “‘Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.’” However, these same miracles were used to confirm to the disciples of Jesus who He really was and the evidence of God’s gospel plan: “Men of Israel, listen to this message: Jesus of Nazareth was a man certified by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs, which God did among you through Him, as you yourselves know” (Acts 2:22). So we see a dual purpose for the miracles, to both confirm the truth to the hearts of believers and to curse the hearts of unbelievers who would never believe no matter what miracle were performed (Luke 16:31). “To you who believe, then, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,
‘The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone,’
8and,
‘A stone of stumbling
and a rock of offense’” (1 Pet 2:7-8).
“Although Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still did not believe in Him. 38This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet:
‘Lord, who has believed our message?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?’
39For this reason they were unable to believe. For again, Isaiah says:
40’He has blinded their eyes
and hardened their hearts,
so that they cannot see with their eyes,
and understand with their hearts,
and turn,
and I would heal them’” (John 12:37-40).
John 8:30-32, 42-45: “As Jesus spoke these things, many believed in Him. 31So He said to the Jews who had believed Him, ‘If you continue in My word, you are truly My disciples. 32Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’...42Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on My own, but He sent Me.
43Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you are unable to accept My message. 44You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out his desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, refusing to uphold the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, because he is a liar and the father of lies. 45But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me!’”
Mark 3:22-30: “And the scribes who had come down from Jerusalem were saying, ‘He is possessed by Beelzebul,’ and, ‘By the prince of the demons He drives out demons.’
23So Jesus called them together and began to speak to them in parables: ‘How can Satan drive out Satan? 24If a kingdom is divided against itself, it cannot stand. 25If a house is divided against itself, it cannot stand. 26And if Satan is divided and rises against himself, he cannot stand; his end has come. 27Indeed, no one can enter a strong man’s house to steal his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can plunder his house.
28Truly I tell you, the sons of men will be forgiven all sins and blasphemies, as many as they utter. 29But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of eternal sin.’
30Jesus made this statement because they were saying, ‘He has an unclean spirit.’”
Matt 15:22-28: “And a Canaanite woman from that region came to Him, crying out, ‘Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is miserably possessed by a demon.’
23But Jesus did not answer a word. So His disciples came and urged Him, ‘Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.’
24He answered, ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.’
25The woman came and knelt before Him. ‘Lord, help me!’ she said.
26But Jesus replied, ‘It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.’
27’Yes, Lord,’ she said, ‘even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.’
28’O woman,’ Jesus answered, ‘your faith is great! Let it be done for you as you desire.’ And her daughter was healed from that very hour.”
Mark 6:4-6: “Then Jesus said to them, ‘Only in his hometown, among his relatives, and in his own household is a prophet without honor.’ 5So He could not perform any miracles there, except to lay His hands on a few of the sick and heal them. 6And He was amazed at their unbelief.”
So we see by these passages that for those who refused to believe the truth and evidence of the truth, the signs of Jesus’ power turned against them as judgments. Yet for those who did believe, they became avenues of rescue.
Finally, God has chosen to display His glory on the earth, and not only in some nebulous fashion like a lightning strike, but through vessels that He has anointed and chosen. (Contrarily to my point, even a lightning strike is a teachable parable of how God works, because the power of heaven must find an object through which it will flow). Historically, the miracles that He has performed have come through anointed vessels, and those have taken those miracles and applied them to the masses to whom they were sent. One example that comes to mind is Noah, whom God warned in advance prophetically of the Great Flood. He not only built an ark in holy fear but also preached righteousness to those who were perishing. Thus, the miracle of the worldwide flood was not sent without explanation. Joseph was also warned prophetically of the famine that was to come upon the earth. God not only used that to save the earth but to demonstrate His power and anointing upon Joseph, whom He had chosen as the display of His glory. It was because of the prophetic gift God gave Joseph that he knew in advance about the famine. David was anointed king by Samuel when he was a lad, and coupled with that physical anointing of oil was the anointing of the Holy Spirit (“So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward.” - 1 Sam 16:13). This pattern continues in the New Testament, first with Jesus anointing His Apostles, and then with His Apostles anointing others to carry the baton (John 20:21-22, Acts 19:6, Acts 8:17, Acts 6:6, Acts 9:17). Those anointed are then given authority to anoint others as the Spirit leads, and this is Scripturally evidenced by the laying on of hands and the giving of the Holy Spirit in power, the sign of which is the speaking of tongues and prophecy.
I will touch on the gift of tongues very briefly, because it would take too much time to do it justice, but I encourage you to watch this for perspective: Dr. Michael Brown debate video. Those speaking in tongues are not claiming to speak gibberish but rather, a true language. In some cases with evangelists, tongues are given in an obviously identifiable language that is specific to the people being evangelized (I have seen documentation of this in this very generation). As clearly documented on the Day of Pentecost, this was how the gift of tongues was first used. In the case of prophecy in the church, tongues are sometimes used when there is an interpreter, as another form of prophecy in order to serve as a secondary sign for the spiritual credibility of the prophecy. Again, I have been given first-hand documentation of such a thing taking place in a modern church, and the tongues speakers were quoting a passage of Scripture that praised the Lord. While debate has been made citing 1 Cor 13:1 whether some tongues are heavenly languages, I think that to debate this misses the point of tongues. Why would the Holy Spirit choose a language, known or unknown, as the sign of the Spirit’s anointing? While I cannot delve into this fully, I can testify to what I personally understand. The Holy Spirit, being a person, and having chosen vessels through which to flow as living tabernacles, wishes to be heard! The Spirit, when filling and taking over the mouth of the speaker is heard through both prophecy and tongues, with tongues being a form of prophecy. When the tongue is not understood in private prayer, what becomes emphasized in the heart of the speaker is the heart of the Spirit. Scripture tells us, “Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep” (Rom 12:5), and if there is any person who we should rejoice with and weep with, it is the Holy Spirit! The Spirit’s presence that is manifested in our spirit during the infilling of tongues enables the vessel to feel the Spirit’s heart–what God would impress on us. Sometimes that is grief, sometimes anger over wickedness, sometimes joy. Paul makes clear that there are two ways God has ordained to give us edification in His presence: in spirit and in truth (Jn 4:24). In other words, true worship involves both a spiritual experience with God that involves the emotions that are moved by the presence of the Spirit in a way induced through tongues that God has not chosen to induce through other means, and a mental experience that involves the understandable words of God. Of course God induces in us complex experiences of Him through all the elements of this world interacting with us, but praying in tongues is a specific way that other means of relationship with God do not imitate and is an intimate time of connection with God. This intimacy is not only spiritual/emotional but touches the intellectual. On many occasions, God has interpreted the tongues for me, even confirming the interpretation for me by enabling me to find the words in Hebrew. One of the first things that I learned when beginning to speak in tongues was to call God “Abba.” This is a Scriptural concept, and yet I had not applied it personally until the Spirit emphasized this word, making it a very intimate application of Scripture to me.
Emotions are not evil (though often greatly repressed and treated as such in Reformed circles). While emotions can certainly be deceptive when not coupled with truth and the presence of the Holy Spirit, this very aspect of our humanness is a big factor in whether we will choose to marry a person. Emotions are a big factor in who we are as human beings. In fact, they are such a big deal that Paul said, “By sinning against your brothers in this way and wounding their weak conscience, you sin against Christ” (1 Cor 8:12). And yet he did not put so much credence on conscience (or feelings/emotions about a matter) as to make it law in and of itself, for he said, “My conscience is clear, but that does not vindicate me. It is the Lord who judges me” (1 Cor 4:4). Our emotions about a matter must be informed and trained by the truth of the Word of God. However, is that to say that emotions should only ever flow out of mental information? If I go to the bedroom with my spouse and am filled with emotions due to that intimacy, am I sinning because the emotions did not come out of a good, mutually edifying conversation? To only mentally embrace God is displeasing to Him, as Jesus said in Matt 15:7-9: “You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you:
8‘These people honor Me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from Me.
9They worship Me in vain;
they teach as doctrine the precepts of men.’”
To conclude, the anointing of the Holy Spirit is a very intimate experience of both calling of God and deep relationship. The gifts of the Spirit flow out of this. Rather surprisingly and seemingly contradictory in my perspective, anointing by the laying on of hands is ironically not a lost concept among Cessationists. They continue to ordain pastors and deacons through the laying on of hands, but they have lost the emphasis God places on all other gifts as anointed of God through the laying on of hands. Granted, the other gifts are not offices, but they still require anointing through the laying on of hands. Through the process of anointing, God clearly establishes who He has taken pleasure in: who He has chosen to be the carrier of the Spirit and His glory. In David’s case, it was in a kingly role. Likewise, all the Judges and prophets were chosen by God and then anointed with power to perform that which God chose them to perform. God chose this means of using individual people to display His power and glory, and who are we to say that it is an inferior means? We could argue that God giving His power to individuals is robbing God of His own glory, yet would you say that of your children, when they succeed in life, that they are robbing you of glory? On the contrary, they are honoring you as parents by their success! “This is to My Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, proving yourselves to be My disciples” (John 15:8). Furthermore, those who are genuinely anointed by the Holy Spirit fall over themselves to give all honor and credit to I AM. Their lives become a living sacrifice, a pleasing aroma, that which is an animated application of Scriptural truths. “Therefore I urge you, brothers, on account of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship” (Rom 12:1).