Eagerly Desire Spiritual Gifts
Posted: April 30th, 2008, 1:59 am
HEALING SHELTER MINISTRIES #124b Written 28MAR08 http://groups.msn.com/AHealingShelter/welcome.msnw
Chapter 14: Part Two—Eagerly Desire Spiritual Gifts
by dave c
Pursue love, yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy (1Co 14:1; NASV). As stated in Part One of this series, Paul is in fact telling us to love God and to love others first (Mt 22:37-40), but he then tells us that we should also (in addition to pursuing love), actively seek spiritual gifts. It occurs to me that the Apostle to the Gentiles is telling us that we should pray for the gifts of the Holy Spirit to be manifested throughout our fellowship and the Church universal—not just within our lives. While these verses specifically deal with speaking in tongues and prophecy, there are many references to gifts of the Spirit throughout the New Testament. As prominent examples, Chapter 12 of both Romans and First Corinthians contain lists of gifts that may be broken into two main categories: 1) Gifts of leadership for ministry of the word; and 2) Gifts for equipping the saints for ministries of service.
Interestingly, within these lists are gifts that have come to be regarded as unnecessary and undesirable by large segments of the Church. Among leadership gifts the offices of evangelist, pastor, and teacher (or pastor-teacher) have been embraced throughout the history of Christianity, but the offices of apostle and prophet [and I regard ‘worker of miracles’ (1Co 12:28) as a separate office] have come under suspicion, if not downright refutation. Gifts of helps, sympathy, giving, mercy, and service have been generally encouraged in every fellowship with which I am familiar; but gifts of healing, prophecy, knowledge, tongues, interpretation, the discerning of spirits, etcetera, are held in contempt by a majority of Protestant and Evangelical denominations. For some strange reason, I have never witnessed charismatic, or non-charismatic, congregations being encouraged to pray for the gift of martyrdom—hhhhmmmmmm.
While I have not heard a pastor-teacher deny the fact that the first century Church experienced all of the gifts of the Spirit in their lifetimes, I have encountered many, many teachings that state emphatically that the miraculous gifts either ended with the death of the Apostle John, or ceased by the fourth century with the closing of the canon and the formalization of liturgical theology. Please consider the following quote from the ever restrained New Bible Dictionary; Second Edition (J. D. Douglas, Managing Editor; Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.; Wheaton, Illinois, USA; 1988; pp 1141 & 1142): “The once popular view that the charismata were given for the founding of the church and ceased during the 4th century when it became strong enough to continue without their assistance is contrary to historical evidence. ...On the other hand, strong evidence for the permanence of charismata in the church is found in 1Cor. 13:8-12, where Paul envisages them as continuing to be manifest until the parousia. In that case their intermittent appearance in later history may have been affected by the fluctuating faith and spirituality of the church and by the sovereign purpose of the Spirit himself who distributes the gifts ‘as he wills’ 1 Cor. 12:11).”
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12 Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known (1Co 13; NIV). Surprisingly, the New Bible Dictionary supports the continuing practice of all the gifts of the Spirit based on First Corinthians 13:8–12, but again, many sources use these same verses to “prove” that the more obvious gifts ceased in the 4th Century. Their argument is as follows: “In verse 10 Paul is saying that once the New Testament was completed (perfected) by the closing of the Canon of Scripture, then the imperfection of spiritual gifts such as prophecy, tongues, and knowledge will die out. Since the Canon was closed in 367 (or 397) AD (that is, ‘perfected’), then those gifts (and others like them) were no longer needed for proof of God given authority to Church leadership (where ‘we know’ and ‘we prophesy’ in verse 9 and ‘we see’ in 12 is referring only to the 1st century Apostles).”
Is it just me, or are some commentators really, really stretching their interpretation of these verses to fit an established doctrinal position, rather than letting the words speak for themselves? Firstly, I believe that when Paul says, “we”, in these verses he is referring inclusively to all of the believers of his day (and by extension, to believers in our day). Secondly, they are implying that some of God’s gifts are imperfect and so they passed from use, but James 1:16&17 tells us Don't be deceived, my dear brothers. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows (NIV). Thirdly, “but when perfection comes” is referring to the parousia (that is, the return of Christ at some undisclosed point in the future), not to the closing of the Canon of Scripture in the 4th Century. The whole point of Chapters 12, 13, and 14 of First Corinthians is to establish love (the chief fruit of the Spirit) as superior to gifts of the Spirit in the daily life of a Christian—to encourage the desire for, and the use of any and all of the gifts of the Spirit—and to insist that all things be done in good order so that the Body of Christ might be edified.
Chapter 14: Part Two—Eagerly Desire Spiritual Gifts
by dave c
Pursue love, yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy (1Co 14:1; NASV). As stated in Part One of this series, Paul is in fact telling us to love God and to love others first (Mt 22:37-40), but he then tells us that we should also (in addition to pursuing love), actively seek spiritual gifts. It occurs to me that the Apostle to the Gentiles is telling us that we should pray for the gifts of the Holy Spirit to be manifested throughout our fellowship and the Church universal—not just within our lives. While these verses specifically deal with speaking in tongues and prophecy, there are many references to gifts of the Spirit throughout the New Testament. As prominent examples, Chapter 12 of both Romans and First Corinthians contain lists of gifts that may be broken into two main categories: 1) Gifts of leadership for ministry of the word; and 2) Gifts for equipping the saints for ministries of service.
Interestingly, within these lists are gifts that have come to be regarded as unnecessary and undesirable by large segments of the Church. Among leadership gifts the offices of evangelist, pastor, and teacher (or pastor-teacher) have been embraced throughout the history of Christianity, but the offices of apostle and prophet [and I regard ‘worker of miracles’ (1Co 12:28) as a separate office] have come under suspicion, if not downright refutation. Gifts of helps, sympathy, giving, mercy, and service have been generally encouraged in every fellowship with which I am familiar; but gifts of healing, prophecy, knowledge, tongues, interpretation, the discerning of spirits, etcetera, are held in contempt by a majority of Protestant and Evangelical denominations. For some strange reason, I have never witnessed charismatic, or non-charismatic, congregations being encouraged to pray for the gift of martyrdom—hhhhmmmmmm.
While I have not heard a pastor-teacher deny the fact that the first century Church experienced all of the gifts of the Spirit in their lifetimes, I have encountered many, many teachings that state emphatically that the miraculous gifts either ended with the death of the Apostle John, or ceased by the fourth century with the closing of the canon and the formalization of liturgical theology. Please consider the following quote from the ever restrained New Bible Dictionary; Second Edition (J. D. Douglas, Managing Editor; Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.; Wheaton, Illinois, USA; 1988; pp 1141 & 1142): “The once popular view that the charismata were given for the founding of the church and ceased during the 4th century when it became strong enough to continue without their assistance is contrary to historical evidence. ...On the other hand, strong evidence for the permanence of charismata in the church is found in 1Cor. 13:8-12, where Paul envisages them as continuing to be manifest until the parousia. In that case their intermittent appearance in later history may have been affected by the fluctuating faith and spirituality of the church and by the sovereign purpose of the Spirit himself who distributes the gifts ‘as he wills’ 1 Cor. 12:11).”
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12 Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known (1Co 13; NIV). Surprisingly, the New Bible Dictionary supports the continuing practice of all the gifts of the Spirit based on First Corinthians 13:8–12, but again, many sources use these same verses to “prove” that the more obvious gifts ceased in the 4th Century. Their argument is as follows: “In verse 10 Paul is saying that once the New Testament was completed (perfected) by the closing of the Canon of Scripture, then the imperfection of spiritual gifts such as prophecy, tongues, and knowledge will die out. Since the Canon was closed in 367 (or 397) AD (that is, ‘perfected’), then those gifts (and others like them) were no longer needed for proof of God given authority to Church leadership (where ‘we know’ and ‘we prophesy’ in verse 9 and ‘we see’ in 12 is referring only to the 1st century Apostles).”
Is it just me, or are some commentators really, really stretching their interpretation of these verses to fit an established doctrinal position, rather than letting the words speak for themselves? Firstly, I believe that when Paul says, “we”, in these verses he is referring inclusively to all of the believers of his day (and by extension, to believers in our day). Secondly, they are implying that some of God’s gifts are imperfect and so they passed from use, but James 1:16&17 tells us Don't be deceived, my dear brothers. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows (NIV). Thirdly, “but when perfection comes” is referring to the parousia (that is, the return of Christ at some undisclosed point in the future), not to the closing of the Canon of Scripture in the 4th Century. The whole point of Chapters 12, 13, and 14 of First Corinthians is to establish love (the chief fruit of the Spirit) as superior to gifts of the Spirit in the daily life of a Christian—to encourage the desire for, and the use of any and all of the gifts of the Spirit—and to insist that all things be done in good order so that the Body of Christ might be edified.