Love of God Personalities DaveZia
 

Charismatic Gifts for Today

Is God now withholding the charismatic gifts? 

Some mistakenly think God's generosity ceased with completion of the Bible.  

Here's why that's not true.

1. Holy Spirit gifts haven't stopped, the Bible canon did. The core of Christinaity is Christ within us, not primarily the Bible. (One can know the Bible without knowing Christ.) Jesus gets to exercise the gifts anytime we agree with him, as He promised. (And Jesus manifesting within people didn't stop in the 4th century.)

2. Prophecy illuminates the Bible. An objection is that prophecies today add to the already perfect Bible.  However:prophecies today are the same as those within the Bible (e.g., Acts 21:9). Those were valid revelations, though not Biblical additions.

3. Logos vs. rhema. Confusion dissipates when we distinguish two Greek terms which both translate as word: Logos is God's eternal, perfect, unchanging revelation; rhema is God's time-sensitive, relative revelation. Rhema is like the record needle on an album; the Logos is like the album. Neither substitutes for the other.

4. We still see. The verse cited against the gifts is I Cor. 13: "Prophecies they will cease; tongues they will be stilled; knowledge it will pass away...but when perfection comes the imperfect disappears...then we shall see face-to-face." The argument is that perfection arrived when the Bible was completed; however, it obviously refers to seeing God face-to-face. Further, if tongues and prophecy have ceased, then knowledge has ceased as well!  Ironically, since knowledge hasn't left, the verse argues the gifts are still active.

5. Types of tongues.  An accusation is made that the gift of tongues discredits the gifts if not interpretted.  That doesn't negate the gifts, but only cites potential mis-use. Even so, note this accusation doesn't even hold, because there are different kinds of tongues.  One type is intelligible and needs no interpretation (e.g., Pentecost), another is unintelligible and requires interpretation (I Cor 14:13); another is unintelligible and requires no interpretation because he speaks only to God, edifying himself (I Cor 14:2, 4)  See more on Prayer Tongues.

6. The need still exists. Another claim is that charisms aren't needed since we have the Bible, but that's like saying because we have the Bible there's no need for Christ. In addition, 1 Cor. 1:7 says "You do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be fully revealed."  The Greek "revealed" is apokalupsis ("apocalypse"), which ties together spiritual gifts until full return of Christ.  

7. The test of the Spirit. Some say gifts today are demonic, yet the vast majority of charismatic revelations call for surrendering to Christ.  How can that be?

8. The test of good fruit. The experience today of over 600 million Christians worldwide is significant love of Christ and others, power, joy, self-control, generosity, peace, etc. This trend continues to grow.

9. Charisms have been present through history. Though extremely prevalent during certain seasons, the manifestations have occurred throughout church history (e.g., Tertullian, St. Hilary, St. Cyril of Jerusalem, the Quakers).

10. Trans-denominational witnesses. The most influential names in Christianity, from every Christian denomination, encourage the charismatic gifts:

See also:

Cessesationism & Strange Fire by Andrew Wilson

Why Fear Charismatic Experiences? by Peter Kreeft
 



Less Conscious Motiviations

Why reject God giving special gifts? A person might

But ironically those fears are quelled by the Holy Spirit as we experience more of God supernaturally.
 

Self-preservation is neither an aim nor an end.  Its leading causes great consternation to the soul; its fruits are worry, fear, anxiety, selfishness. When you feel the yearning deep inside upon facing a difficult situation, begin to seek the Spirit as to what is going on within you.

Man naturally seeks to protect a mere image, a pretense.  When you trust in My continuous, unending, diligent love for you, you would know I am there in the midst of it all. I ask you to relinquish your supposed control, to clear the way for My Spirit to have dominion in you, producing peace, joy, and hope, wherever this life finds you.

Your job as "controller" is a fantasy, an insidious tool of the enemy to keep you out of union with Me.  Though temporary circumstances will imitate what you deem being peaceful, it is only in your heartfelt surrender, your relinquishing of cares and concerns that you will know the one true source of light: Jesus Christ, your savior, your Lord, your brother, your beginning, your end, your all in all.

To each is given a manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
I Cor 12:7

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