According To Your Faith
When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him. And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean." Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed." Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. Matthew 8:1-3
It is extreemly important as to what you believe or don’t believe because God works in direct result of your faith in life with the “according to your faith” principle. Jesus asked the blind men who came to him for healing “Do you believe that I am able to do this?" They said to Him, "Yes, Lord." Then He touched their eyes, saying, "According to your faith let it be to you." And their eyes were opened (Matthew 9:28-30). The bible is full of records of accounts of miracles and healings that Jesus did instantly. And since Jesus Christ is the same yesterday today and forever (Hebrews 13:1) where God encounters real faith, He does real instant miracles and healings. However many foolish ones who have not received instant miracles and healings create their own false theology as to why God doesn’t do things immediately. And those who believe their lies don’t get instant miracles. Their faith is corrupted and pervertted by false ones who failed to get their miracles and healings. God’s word is unchanging:
"For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. Matthew 24:24
For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. 2 Corinthians 11:13-14
But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. 2 Peter 2:1-2
The word of God warns us that there will be no only false prophets but false teachers bring in dectructive heresis such as dispensationalism or cessationists who dispense with things that God has not dispensed with including apostles, prophets and gifts of the Spirit including miracles. And they have pervertted the word of God that states about Jesus, the perfect one:
Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. 1 Corinthians 13:8-10
They that say that if you do speak in tongues, then you are under demonic control and are not saved. On the other hand, some say that if you do not speak in tongues then you are not saved. And both extremes use scripture to support their positions. However when you buy a pair of shoes tongues come with them. If you remove the tongues from the shoes they become useless. The same is true with many Christians. Tongues and the gifts of the Spirit come with Jesus and those who reject them ultimately reject not only the gifts but the power of God. God’s word is true:
having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! 2 Timothy 3:5
Many so called bible believing Christians teach that miraculous gifts were needed for a specific purpose and for a limited time. They were to confirm the Word until the revelation was completed in written form. Then they would vanish from the scene. as Paul proves this in I Corinthians 13:8-13.. "Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail, whether there are tongues, they will cease, whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. For some this passage is a reference to the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit. These gifts would pass away when the perfect which is interpreted to be the canonization of scripture were completed. The early Christians were in the infant stage of their development as the church. The written revelation from God was not complete. Spiritual gifts were needed to guide the church. The word "perfect" means "complete" or "whole." The phrase, "that which," indicates the word "perfect" refers to something, not someone. The perfect refers to the completion of the New Testament.
Why do we need miraculous gifts now that the Bible is complete? We are now in the time Paul, in I Corinthians 13:8-13, predicted would come. The fact that the Holy Spirit is not operating directly and miraculously today does not mean God is not active in the lives of His people. The providence of God is promised in the Scriptures, and it is present with His people today. God answers prayer through His providence. God can and does overrule in matters, through natural means, without the need for a direct miraculous operation of His Holy Spirit. The Spirit influences today by means of the inspired Word!
The Word of God is all-sufficient to produce obedient faith. "And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name" (John 20:30,31). The "perfect" Word provides all we need to know, and the providence of God is promised to us as we make our way toward the eternal home of the soul.
There are many serious flaws about the above teaching on the cessation of the gifts of the Spirit and of Apostles and prophets. The most important flaw is that no where in the bible does it say that the gifts of the Spirit or apostles and prophets have ceased. And everything about faith in God must be checked with the bible and the Holy Spirit. If the bible doesn’t teach something then it is not true and if the Holy Spirit doesn’t confirm things it is not true.The second flaw is found in Paul’s words:
But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues 1 Corinthians 17:7-10
The manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all including the word of wisdom , the word of knowledge, faith, gifts of healings, the working of miracles, prophecy, discerning of spirits, different kinds of tongues, and the interpretation of tongues. People have not changed one bit and they are still as poor and needy when Jesus walked the earth as the Son of God and the Son of man and healed all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics. People need to healed today as much as they needed to be healed yesterday and the gifts of the Spirit are given for this purpose.
As wonderful as doctors and medicine are they are limited in what they can do for people but God is not. He can heal and deliver out of any sickness or problem. And we do have some serious problems in United States where the number of people without health insurance for the year 2002 was 43.6 million. So unless some people are miraculously healed by God they are in serious trouble due to lack of health insurance. But God’s word is unchanging:
And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues. 1 Corinthians 12:28
And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head-Christ- from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. Ephesians 4:11-16
Jesus wasn’t sick and day in life and He is still the same yesterday, today and forever able to heal and deliver sick and needy people.
The next flaw in the argument that since we have the Bible we do not need spiritual gifts. Is verse 12 says, "...then we shall see face to face." The word "then" refers back to the phrase "when the perfect comes." Since the only infallible interpreter of Scripture is Scripture, a quick examination of the way God uses the term "face to face" should help us understand this passage better. The phrase is used throughout the Bible and always means an encounter with a person. When God uses it in reference to Himself, it means a visual, personal encounter with Him (Gen. 32:30; Ex. 33:11; Num. 12:8; Deut. 5:4; and Jer. 32:4). Likewise in the New Testament it is also used in speaking of personal encounter (2 Cor. 10:1; 2 John 12; 3 John 14, etc.). "When the perfect comes...then we shall see face to face" seems, most logically, to refer a personal encounter; at least, that seems to be how God uses the phrase. If the position is taken that the "perfect" is the completed Bible, how then do we encounter God in the manner as the phrase suggests: an encounter with a person? Seeing Christ face to face occurs when He returns. Another "then" is mentioned in verse 12: "then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known." The word "then" again refers back to the phrase "when the perfect comes." Again, we need to look at how the Bible uses words. This time we'll look at the word "know." Scripture says that eternal life is to know God (John 17:3). Only the believer is known by Jesus (John 10:27; Gal. 4:8-9; Rom. 8:29). The unbeliever is not known by Jesus (Matt. 7:21-23). In every verse except for one, God says He only knows believers.(2) This is a salvific knowing; that is, it is a kind of knowing that God does of the Christians. He knows them and they are saved. The unbelievers are not known and are, therefore, not saved.(3) It would seem most consistent with scripture to say that "...as I am fully known" would refer to a salvation relationship between Jesus and the Christian. At the return of Christ we (the ones known) shall know fully; we shall see face to face the One who is our Savior. Also, we don't "know" Jesus through the Scripture; we know about Him from the Scripture (John 5:39). Instead, we know Him by personal encounter (John 1:12; 1 Cor. 1:9) through the Holy Spirit's indwelling. We don't know in a full sense right now, even though we have the Bible, because we are still corrupted by our sin nature. In our fallen state we can only see Christ through sin-clouded eyes. We see a reflection of Christ in the Word. When Jesus returns the reflection of the truth will pass to clear understanding (the way childish thoughts give way to mature ones) when we receive our resurrected bodies, no longer have to battle sinful flesh, and can see Him face to face because "we shall be like Him" (1 John 3:2) and then, "...we shall know fully." The context of 1 Cor. 13:8-13 seems, in my opinion, to show that the spiritual gifts will cease when Jesus returns.
Interestingly, 1 Cor. 1:7 may be consulted here as well. It says, "so that you are not lacking in any gift, awaiting eagerly the revelation of our lord Jesus Christ." The Greek word here for "revealed" is apokalupsis. It means the apocalypse, the return of Jesus. In both this verse and 1 Cor. 13:8-13 the gifts, which aren't differentiated as to kind, are connected to the return of Christ, not the completion of the Bible. One more thing, the word gift in the Greek is charisma. This is where we get the word 'charismatic.'
But there are those who insist that “The Miracles Were Only Done by The Apostles and Were Done Only to Confirm Their Ministry and Message. After the Apostles, the Miracles Ceased.” The argument is that the only legitimate workers of miracles were the apostles. Hence, since the apostles have all died, there can be no more legitimate miracles. It is true that Paul says the miracles, signs and wonders are evidences of his apostolic authority and calling. He says, "The signs of a true apostle were performed among you in all patience, with signs and wonders and mighty works." 2 Corinthians 12:12, RSV. If we were to limit signs and wonders only to the Twelve, then we might have reason to believe that the signs would have died out with the apostles. However, signs and wonders were not done only by apostles in the NT; Jesus sent out the 70 to heal the sick [Luke 10: 1-9, 17]. The deacons, Philip and Steven, did miracles as well [Acts 6:8; 8:6]. As was noted in the scriptures above[1 Cor. 12:27-28], in Paul's list of ministry functions, the one who does miracles is way down the ladder from the Apostolic office. So Paul is not arguing that signs alone prove apostleship, only that the sign gifts accompany the ministry of the apostle. Nevertheless God’s word is unchanging:
"Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you…"I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. "He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. "All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you. John 16:7-15
Many bible believing Christians would have us believe that Apostle Paul was now our teacher and Spirit of truth as God imparted all knowledge to him through the Holy Spirit and the inspired scriptures. But nothing is further from the truth, Apostle Paul, who stated he was the least of the Apostles, was only an ordinary mortal man used by God and not even a super saint. He had frailties and passions just like every one else and made mistakes like everyone else. Just because we have Apostle Paul and the inspired scriptures doesn’t mean that the work of the Holy Spirit to be our sole teacher and guide and helper is over. On the contrary we are to depend on the Holy Spirit more than ever so we don’t get deceived by no one, not even ourselves never mind men.
In summary the idea of Cessation is no where mentioned specifically in the passages as having already happened. At most, the passage [1 Cor. 13:8-9] says that the gifts will cease, when the perfect comes. The perfect in this case, we know is not the scriptures, but to be either the Second Coming and the Kingdom of God or Eternal Life. The belief, therefore, "that the gifts have passed because the Canon is complete" is a doctrine that has to be assumed, but which can't be found in Scripture itself. The interpretation of this passage is too questionable to become the main pillar for an entire doctrine of Cessation.
Since God is the same, "yesterday, today, and forever," we have a right to expect God to be the same in the Congregation today as he was in the founding of the Church. The Gifts are the manifestation of the Holy Spirit as he reveals himself in the Church. He wants to work within us, the Temple of His Dwelling Place. If we permit him and allow him, we are also to exercise the Gifts in love and for love in the building up of the Body of Christ, to bring Glory to Jesus, and not for self aggrandizement. We are to earnestly covet the gifts, especially to prophesy, but we are to do all things in love, for the sake of Christ. And we are to enjoy God’s word which states:
Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. For "who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?" But we have the mind of Christ. 1 Corinthians 2:12-16
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