Charismatic Gift Debates - Essay Example

? THE CHARISMATIC GIFTS DEBATE Charismatic Gift Debates Sign gifts are gifts that God gave to certain people to enable them make people believe in his message for all humankind. These gifts played a role in confirming that the message of God was true and that everyone should follow it. Adeyemi noted that the gifts helped so many people to believe in God and stick to his word1. They were truly essential in the times when Jesus came to the world and gave them new laws and teachings. They were also useful when the apostles were telling people about God all over the world. Some people believe that the sign gifts exist in the present day. They believe miracles and signs that used to happen in the past are still the same miracles that happen in the present day2. The people that hold this view believe that since the miracles also happened after the coming of Jesus they exist to the present day. An example is; the signs God gave to Moses to show the Israelites that God exists, resemble those that happened in the New Testament. The signs the disciples received in the form of gifts that appeared like fire flames were also found in the New Testament. Therefore, people who believe in the existence of the signs believe this because God still showed his power and presence in the New Testament. They believe that the sign gifts were in the world all the time even during the times when the disciples of God preached the word of God throughout the nation. They believe that the people who do not experience these miracles and the sign gifts are people who do not believe3. 1. Adeyemi Remi, Gifts of the Holy Spirit: Receiving the Content of God's Heart (Atlantic: Airleaf, 2006), 43. 2. Robinson Darrell, Incredibly Gifted: A Fresh, Biblical Look at Spiritual Gifts (Hannibal: Hannibal books, 2003), 12-23. 3. Stamp John, The signs of an apostle, and the evidence for the cessation of miraculous signs (New York: Cengage Publisher. 2006), 78-92. There are also people who believe that the sign gifts are things that God used to reach people in the past, but they do not exist in the present world. They concluded this by studying the nature and purpose of these gifts. They believe that the signs used by God in the past were for people to understand and realize the new things that God was doing. This is because God used the signs to show the people that he was instructing them. Therefore, remove any doubts that they might have that it was not him. Some of the things that God wanted man to do were things that they had not done because it was unlawful. An example is like when Jesus allowed the uncircumcised Gentiles to be among the people of God. If God had not used exceptional signs to show that he was the one that had accepted the Gentiles, the people could never believe. They could never allow them to join their religion. Jesus went ahead and swept everyone from the temple as traders used the house of prayer as a place to sell their merchandise. If God had sent a prophet or an ordinary man to come and chase away the traders from the temple, the traders could never have listened. Therefore, in the past, for the people of God to change and do what he required, they had to see a miracle or a sign4. Even the groups that mocked Jesus and never believed, asked Jesus to demonstrate a sign so that they could believe. The biggest sign that God gave to humankind and enabled them believe and spread the good news of God was when Jesus resurrected. When the people who opposed Jesus saw the sign from the resurrection of Jesus, most of them became believers. 4. Eddy Paul and Boyd Gregory, Across the Spectrum: Understanding Issues in Evangelical Theology (New York: Baker Academic, 2009), 34-35. They even preached the word of God to other places of the world, as they knew that it was God who had spoken to them. This was the main sign to make all people believers of God and his teachings. God gave the apostles sign gifts to facilitate the spread of the word of God5. There are people who believe that the discontinuity argument is not correct. This is because they argue that the prophecy done by the apostle of Jesus Christ ended. However, they believe that prophecy not done by the apostles still continues. They also hold the view that the prophecy done by people and not prophets has defaults. This is because human beings are not perfect; therefore, not comparable to God or the apostolic prophets that were direct messengers of God. This happened when some of the prophets in the current world prophesied about some events that never happened. This people also believe that some prophesies can be seen as not to happen, and this is because they did happen but only to a number of people. They believe that God can make one prophesy and help a minute group of people. However, this does not necessarily mean that the prophecy can apply to everyone6. Therefore, when a prophet says about something that will happen, and it does not happen, it may have happened to an individual, not part of the congregation. They back this up by saying that, there are records of some people named as prophets in the New Testament. However, the bible does not show details of the miracles or the prophecy they did. 5. Baxter Ronald and Jerry Baxter, Gifts of the Spirit (Nebraska: Kregel Publications, 2003). 6. Stanford Lee, The Pentecostal Takeover (Florida: Xulon Press, 2005), 126-132. The people who believe in the continuity of the sign gift contradict themselves. This is because they believe that people currently can prophecy yet they believe that the scriptures are absolute, and it does not require any changes or additions. If they do not want to cause contradiction, they should be ready to confirm whether the things that people prophecy are true. This is because some prophecy that people declare under the influence of the sign gifts does not come true. This can make the people who listen to their erroneous prophecy to think that the scriptures are incomplete and need adjustment. The people that believe in the continuity of the gifts believe that the people who have this gift can speak either the language of men or that of the angel. Therefore, this means that the people who are overwhelmed by prayer can sometimes start speaking in tongues in the language of the angles. Consequently, this explains why other people may not comprehend the person speaking in tongues. I believe that the argument of discontinuity holds more water than that of continuity. This means that I believe that the miracles and signs were things used in the past, and they have no function in the present world. It is clear knowledge that the inspired writers stopped writing the Bible. Those who believe in the continuity of the signs of Gifts and those who believe in its discontinuity agree with this. Therefore, this implies that the authors of the Bible are not receiving any inspiration from God to write the Bible. Therefore, there is a discontinuity because the people who wrote the Bible from the Old Testament to the New Testament had an inspiration from God7. 7. Lindsa Stan, Psychotic Entelechy: The Dangers of Spiritual Gifts Theology (New York: University Press of America, 2009), 134-142. This means that when the writing of the Bible ended, the inspiration of people stopped, and the signs stopped. It is also a fact that the Bible ceased the moment the last apostle of Jesus died. This means that the people that God had given the gifts had all died when the bible writing stopped. Therefore, this shows that all the people that had the gifts and signs of God have already left the world. In the twenty first century, the people that had the sign gifts no longer exist as their work cannot help the modern people. Again, prophecy existed in the first century but, after the coming of Jesus, the prophets no longer existed. Therefore, one cannot assume that after Jesus resurrected and ascended to heaven that the prophets returned8. Therefore, it is obvious that after the coming of Jesus, the era of prophets had ended, and thus discontinuity took place. Moreover, no passage in the bible or the teachings of the apostles says that there will be prophets in the modern world who will be able to make errors in their prophecy. Therefore, when they just say that non-apostolic prophets can make mistakes, they do not provide sufficient evidence to prove their statement. Again, when a prophet tells the future or tells someone to stop doing one activity and take up another, he uses the name of the Lord. This is to proclaim that it is the divine word of God working through him. Therefore, it is controversial to say the modern day prophets are allowed to make mistakes. This is because those mistakes seem to be the mistakes of God, which can never be the case9. 8. Akufo Kwabena, Utter Mysteries to God (Florida: Xulon Press, 2006), 228-234. 9. Grudem Wyane, Are Miraculous Gifts for Today?: 4 View (Zondervan: Zondervan, 2011), 24-26. In the New Testament, Paul declares that the church is composed of the prophets and the apostles. Therefore, if the apostles can live the word of God and make prophesies about things that end up happening, why not the prophets? This then shows that the people who believe in the continuity of the sign gift are contradicting the Bible. They are doing this by saying that prophets of the modern day can make mistakes. This is contentious to the Bible, as errors cannot be the building blocks of the church of God. Again, the sign gift of faith healing does not exist today. This is because it stopped after the death of the last apostle. Not all the people who claim are gifted with faith healing have ever been able to prove that. This is because they have never been able to heal all the people that they prayed for and declared to be well again. This is unlike the olden times when the prophets and apostles healed all the people that they prayed for in all instances. There is no record of a person healed by a faith healer because the sign gifts do not exist at the modern age. Sign faith differs from the gift of faith that exists currently. It also differs from the reason that God heals people who believe in Him. However, this should not be confused as a sign gift. This is because, as a sign, the gift should always work at all instances whether the person has faith or not. It is clear that both the people who believe in the argument as discontinuity and continuity have sufficient evidence and thoughts. However, it is also clear from the essay that the discontinuity argument holds more water than the continuity stand. This is because the inspired people by God stopped writing the Bible. Therefore, there is a discontinuity because the inspiration of people to write the Bible no longer exists. Therefore, it is right to say that the signs gifts used in the past are not being used now. Again, it is erroneous to assert that the prophets of the modern day have permission to make errors in prophecy. This is not correct, because they say that prophecy comes from God, and God is not capable of errors. In addition, Paul in the book of Ephesians says that the prophets and the apostles started the church. Therefore, the prophets cannot be erroneous and be the building blocks of the church. Therefore, it is apparent that the sign gifts do not exist in the present world. This is because they cannot be significant today, as they were in the past. Bibliography Adeyemi, Remi. Gifts of the Holy Spirit: Receiving the Content of God's Heart. Atlantic: Airleaf, 2006. Akufo, Kwabena. Utter Mysteries to God. Florida: Xulon Press, 2006. Baxter, Ronald and Jerry Baxter. Gifts of the Spirit. Nebraska: Kregel Publications, 2003. Eddy, Paul and Boyd Gregory. Across the Spectrum: Understanding Issues in Evangelical Theology. New York: Baker Academic, 2009. Grudem, Wyane. Are Miraculous Gifts for Today?: 4 View. Zondervan: Zondervan, 2011. Lindsa, Stan. Psychotic Entelechy: The Dangers of Spiritual Gifts Theology. New York: University Press of America, 2009. Moberg, D and Greer, Joanne. Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion, Volume 11. New York: BRILL, 2000. Robinson, Darrell. Incredibly Gifted: A Fresh, Biblical Look at Spiritual Gifts. Hannibal: Hannibal books, 2003. Stamp, John. The signs of an apostle, and the evidence for the cessation of miraculous signs. New York: Cengage Publisher. 2006. Stanford, Lee. The Pentecostal Takeover. Florida: Xulon Press, 2005. Read More