Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine

by Wayne Grudem

4. Gifts May Vary in Strength

Paul says that if we have the gift of prophecy, we should use it “in proportion to our faith” (Rom. 12:6),

In most cases, it seems that the New Testament pictures a permanent possession of spiritual gifts.

Effectiveness in the gift of healing, for example, depends on God’s sovereign will in answering prayer for healing. Similarly, prophecy depends on the giving of a spontaneous “revelation” (1 Cor. 14:30) from God and simply cannot be exercised at will. The same could even be said about the gift of evangelism: it is ultimately the work of the Holy Spirit to bring regeneration and enable someone to believe, so the evangelist may pray and preach, but only God can give the harvest of souls.

Another sense in which a gift may be nonpermanent is if a person neglects his or her gift and perhaps grieves the Holy Spirit or falls into serious doctrinal or moral error (as Samson did in the Old Testament,

we must remember that the Holy Spirit is still sovereign in distributing gifts: he “apportions to each one individually as he wills” (1 Cor. 12:11).

Gifts Are Tools for Ministry and Are Not Necessarily Related to Christian Maturity

HAVE SOME GIFTS CEASED? THE CESSATIONIST DEBATE

Others would say no and would argue that some of the more miraculous gifts (such as prophecy, tongues plus interpretation, and perhaps healing and casting out of demons) were given only during the time of the apostles, as “signs” to authenticate the apostles

Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.

put the entire discussion of gifts in proper perspective. It is not enough simply to “seek the greater gifts” (12:31, NASB, NIV). One must also “pursue love” (14:1), thus coupling proper goals with proper motives. Without love, the gifts are without value

1 Corinthians 13:10 could be paraphrased, “When the perfect is come, prophecy and tongues and other imperfect gifts will pass away.” The only remaining problem is to determine what time is meant by the word when.

This is what is explained by verse 12. Then, at the time the perfect comes, we shall see “face to face” and know “even as we are known.” This means that the time when “the perfect” comes must be the time of Christ’s return.28 Therefore, we can paraphrase verse 10: “But when Christ returns, the partial will pass away.”29

“When the perfect comes” refers to the time when the canon of Scripture will be complete.35 Reymond notes that he is not saying that “the perfect” refers exactly to the canon of Scripture but rather to “the completed revelatory process” that resulted in Scripture.

Therefore, “the perfect” refers to the perfection or completion of Scripture-quality revelation, or the completion of Scripture. In such an argument the initial assumption determines the conclusion.

Would the Continuation of Prophecy Today Challenge the Sufficiency of Scripture?

Are Miraculous Gifts Today the Same As the Miraculous Gifts in Scripture?

in 1 Cor. 7:7 Paul is speaking about everyone in the church, all the married people and all the single people, and he is not using the Greek term charisma to refer to an ability that is empowered by the Holy Spirit and used in the ministry of the church. Rather, he is using the word in a more general sense to refer to something freely given to us from God. The word charisma is used in this more general sense in Romans 5:15; 6:23; 2 Corinthians 1:11

We must realize that unless people understand prophecy as the fallible report of something that God spontaneously brings to mind, it will be very difficult for the church to encourage or even tolerate it. If prophecy is indeed based on something God suddenly brings to mind, it would eventually be very easy for Christian prophets, whether for good or ill motives, to begin to claim not only that they had received a “revelation” from God or Christ but also that they spoke with a divine authority like that of Scripture.

The New Testament Counterparts to Old Testament Prophets Are New Testament Apostles

the problem of successors to the apostles is solved not by encouraging Christians to listen to the prophets (even though there were prophets around) but by pointing to the Scriptures.

The conclusion is that prophecies today are not “the words of God” either.

Prophecy Occurs When a Revelation from God Is Reported in the Prophet’s Own (Merely Human) Words

From beginning to end the Bible tells us of a God who relates individually and personally to his people. And now the cessationist view tells us, contrary to the experience of God’s people throughout all of the Bible, that God seldom or never communicates personally and individually with his people except through the written words in the canon of Scripture.

“teaching” is often an explanation or application of Scripture (Acts 15:35; 18:11, 24–28; Rom. 2:21; 15:4; Col. 3:16; Heb. 5:12) or a repetition and explanation of apostolic instructions (Rom. 16:17; 2 Tim. 2:2; 3:10,

So prophecy has less authority than “teaching,” and prophecies in the church are always to be subject to the authoritative teaching of Scripture.

The church should recognize and encourage the gift of prophecy in ways it has already been functioning in the church—at church prayer meetings, for example, when someone has felt unusually “led” by the Holy Spirit to pray for something,

The gift of teaching in the New Testament is the ability to explain Scripture and apply it to people’s lives.

Since Paul does not define miracles any more specifically than this, we can say that the gift of miracles may include the working of divine power in deliverance from danger, in intervention to meet special needs in the physical world (as in the case of Elijah in 1 Kings 17:1–16), in judgment on those who irrationally and violently oppose the gospel message, in vanquishing the demonic forces that wage war against the church, and in any other way in which God’s power is manifested in an evident way to further God’s purposes in a situation.

when we pray for healing we should remember that we must pray for God to be glorified in the situation, whether he chooses to heal or not.

Telling people that God seldom heals today and that they should expect nothing to happen is not a correct solution either, for it does not provide an atmosphere conducive to faith and is inconsistent with the pattern we see in the ministry of Jesus and the early church in the New Testament.

Telling people that God always heals today if we have enough faith is a cruel teaching not supported by Scripture

When God chooses not to heal, even though we ask him for it, then it is right that we “give thanks in all circumstances” (1 Thess. 5:18) and realize that God can use sickness to draw us closer to himself

if English translations were to use the expression “speaking in languages,” it would not seem nearly as strange and would give the reader a sense much closer to what first century Greek speaking readers would have heard in the phrase when they read it in Acts or 1 Corinthians.

speaking in tongues is prayer or praise spoken in syllables not understood by the speaker.

Paul says that “one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit” (1 Cor. 14:2).

At Pentecost, speech in tongues was in known languages that were understood by those who heard: “each one was hearing them speak in his own language” (Acts 2:6).

Not Ecstatic but Self-Controlled.

Even when the Holy Spirit came with overwhelming power at Pentecost, the disciples were able to stop speaking in tongues so that Peter could give his sermon to the assembled crowd.

But if there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silent in church and speak to himself and to God” (1 Cor. 14:27–28). Here Paul requires that those who speak in tongues take turns, and he limits the number to three, indicating clearly that those who spoke in tongues were aware of what was going on around them and were able to control themselves so as to speak only when it was their turn,

no one known to have the gift of interpretation is present in the assembly, Paul gives a different guideline: “But if there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silent in church and speak to himself and to God” (1 Cor. 14:27–28).

Paul writes, “For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit”

the New Testament already has a term to describe the action of receiving a special revelation from the Holy Spirit and reporting it in the congregation—this is what Paul calls “prophecy.”

it would seem preferable to understand these in a “nonmiraculous” way, simply as the ability to speak with wisdom or with knowledge in various situations.

DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN SPIRITS AND SPIRITUAL WARFARE

distinguishing between spirits is a special ability to recognize the influence of the Holy Spirit or of demonic spirits in a person.

The Doctrine of the Future

The Return of Christ: When and How?

The study of future events is often called “eschatology,” from the Greek word eschatos, which means “last.” The study of eschatology, then, is the study of “the last things.”

the Bible also talks about certain major events that will affect the entire universe.