Jan 30, 2019
Disciple Up # 93
The Gifts of the Holy Spirit Pt. 4
The Perpetuity of the Spiritual Gifts Pt. 2
By Louie Marsh, 1-30-2019
Disciple Up Tie Into Everyday in the Spirit
Everyday in the Spirit - https://goo.gl/vAkHH5
Where to get Everyday in the Spirit Campaign materials – http://christschurchontheriver.com/spiritual-growth/everyday/
Have the Gifts Passed Away? Part Two
Links to website discussing this issue.
http://www.bible.ca/tongues-ceased-perfect-come-1Cor13-8-13.htm
http://www.middletownbiblechurch.org/doctrine/onecor13.htm
https://www.equip.org/perspectives/spiritual-gifts-the-perpetuity-of-spiritual-gifts/
http://www.jesuswalk.com/1corinthians/12_excursus-meaning-of-perfect-1cor13_10.htm
The Passage in Question:
8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. 13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:8-13 (ESV)
Gifts Have Ceased View:
The Bible teaches 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. Paul proves this in 1 Corinthians 13:8-13
Paul, in verse 10, predicts: But when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away. Whenever that which is perfect came, the miraculous gifts of the Spirit ceased.
We must know what “perfect” refers to in this text. Then we may know whether or not “that which is perfect” has already come. The word “perfect” means “complete” or “whole.” The phrase, “that which,” indicates the word “perfect” refers to something, not someone. Yet, some apply this to Jesus Christ. He said “that which is perfect.” Paul’s words do not fit the context if we apply them to Jesus.
The Word of God is all-sufficient to produce obedient faith.
A Different View:
There are three main interpretations. "That which is perfect" is fulfilled when:
Let's consider each view.
Richard B. Gaffin, Jr., Professor Emeritus at Westminster Theological Seminary, supports the cessation of the gifts at the end of the apostolic period, but has abandoned 1 Corinthians 13:10 as his proof text. Instead builds his doctrine of cessation from deductions based on Ephesians 2:20, "built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets."
One of the chief problems with the concept of the canon being "that which is complete," is that Paul -- and even more, his readers -- would have had no understanding whatsoever of the concept of the New Testament canon. Thus the identity of "that which is perfect" as the canon wouldn't have occurred to his readers. From an exegetical standpoint, I believe the "canon view" is indefensible.
Maturity View. The "maturity" interpretation also is a relatively new, first explained by Roy L. Laurin in his 1950 commentary, 1 Corinthians: Where Life Matures. This view takes teleiosas "a state of maturity" (as it is sometimes used in the New Testament) rather than its core meaning of "perfection, completeness."
Christ's Coming or Eschatological View. Taking "that which is complete" as occurring in the period when Christ returns has been by far the majority view of this passage throughout church history, and there are good reasons why this is the case, in addition to the obvious weaknesses of the canon and maturity views.
Some Notes of Interest:
Christian Research Institute:
THE SPIRITUAL GIFTS- Evidence from the Church
Fathers
I think it’s also noteworthy to point out that history repudiates
the notion that the supernatural gifts ceased with the closing of
the canon of Scripture at the end of the Apostolic age. For
example, Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Irenaeus, Ambrose, and others
actually mention the use of supernatural gifts like tongues and
prophecy long after the first century. And, of course, the
Reformers also believed that the gifts of the Spirit were in
perpetuity, not to mention many church leaders who are still alive
today. To claim that spiritual gifts are no longer operative is, in
my opinion, to fly in the face of both historical and contemporary
evidence.
THE SPIRITUAL GIFTS- “Irrevocable”
Scripture tells us that the “gifts and calling of God are
irrevocable” (Romans 11:29).
Another site adds:
We should note that Paul makes a distinction between the disappearance of the gifts of prophecy and knowledge and that of tongues. This is done using different Greek words and voices. With prophecy and knowledge, he used a word in the passive voice which meant “to be rendered inoperative.” Note also verse 9. But with tongues he used the middle voice and a word that meant “to cease.” The middle voice suggest that this gift would gradually die and disappear on its own. Probably because its primary purpose as a sign to the Jews (see chapter 14:20f) would cease after the fall of Jerusalem. This of course is debated.
Disciple Up Follow Up Follow Up!!
https://www.christianheadlines.com/blog/harvest-bible-chapel-fires-florida-campus-pastor-for-asking-elders-not-to-let-james-macdonald-preach-during-his-sabbatical.html
Excerpts From the Mancow Muller Article:
Where We Go From Here
6th The Gifts and the Filling of the Spirit
13th What is The Anointing?, Q&A?
20th – The Blasphemy of the Spirit, Q&A?