Spiritual Gifts Viewpoints

(It seems that one of the most divisive topic is that of the miraculous spiritual gifts. I found a great book which presented the various sides on that issue (Are Miraculous Gifts For Today?: Four Views, Wayne A. Grudem, ed. Zondervan Publishing House, MI, 1996, pp 10-13). I summarized the viewpoints for easier consumption.)

Various criteria have been used to identify and label the Spiritual Gifts. Here I give my own list, so we know what we're talking about (verse references will be forthcoming), then the summary of the different Viewpoints on whether the miraculous gifts are meant for the church today.

The Spiritual Gifts

Apostleship
Prophecy
Pastoring
Teaching
Evangelism
Exhorting
Giving
Leading
Mercy
Wisdom
Knowledge
Faith
Administration
Service
Helps
Healing
Effecting of Miracles
Distinguishing of Spirits
Various kinds of Tongues
Interpretation of Tongues

Are the miraculous Spiritual Gifts for today?
Cessationism
Pentecostal & Charismatic
Third Wave
Open but Cautious

"The cessationist position argues that there are no miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit today. Gifts such as prophecy, tongues, and healing were confined to the first century, and were used at the time the apostles were establishing the churches and the New Testament was not yet complete." (1)

The basic thesis for cessationists is that the revelatory and miraculous gifts were given as foundational gifts, in order to establish the church of Christ. With the church established, and the inerrant word of God fully revealed, as contained in the (canonical) New Testament, the need for these gifts passed, and with it, the gifts themselves. It should be noted that this the view does not preclude God performing miracles in present times (in answer to prayer, etc.) - it merely states that God no longer gifts individuals with the ability to perform such miracles.

Pentecost belongs to the history of salvation, not the order of salvation. At the heart of Christ's finished work. Not a repeatable paradigm event. Believers do not have a death experience as distinct from a resurrection experience. Spirit is given to all believers (2 Cor 12:13) Resurrected Christ is already active in the church in the resurrection power of the Spirit. Whole of Acts is unique. Written to show the fulfillment of Christ's statement, "You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8). Acts intends to document a completed history, a unique epoch in the history of redemption - the once-for-all, apostolic spread of the gospel "to the ends of the earth." The miraculous events are an integral part of a completed event-complex, complete with the finished apostolic program. In this context the apostles exercised spiritual gifts, and others exercised such gifts under an "apostolic umbrella," so to speak. Of prime concern is the continuation of the revelatory, or word, gifts. These are prophecy and its assessment, tongues and their interpretation, the word of wisdom, and the word of knowledge. Apostles and prophets are described as foundational, and so would be expected to pass away with the establishment of the foundation (Eph. 2:11-21). With the establishment of the church, the new revelation is established, and so the apostles, and also prophets and other associated revelatory word gifts, pass from the life of the church. To maintain the continuation of revelatory gifts maintains the introduction of fresh, inerrant, revelation of God. This stands in contradiction to the concept of the closed canon (of the New Testament). Thus, one would have to hold that the canon is not closed, and that God continues to reveal inerrant and authoritative teaching today.

"Pentecostal refers to any denomination or group that traces it historical origin back to the Pentecostal revival that began in the United States in 1901, and that holds the following doctrines: (1) All the gifts of the Holy Spirit mentioned in the New Testament are intended for today; (2) baptism in the Holy Spirit is a n empowering experience subsequent to conversion and should be sought by Christians today; and (3) when baptism in the Holy Spirit occurs, people will speak in tongues as a "sign" that they have received this experience. Pentecostal groups usually have their own distinct denomination structures, among which are the Assemblies of God, the Church of God in Christ, and many others." (1)

"Charismatic, on the other hand, refers to any groups (or people) that trace their historical origin to the charismatic renewal effort of the 1960s and 1970s and the seek to practice all the spiritual gifts mentioned in the New Testament (including prophecy, healing, miracles, tongues, interpretation, and distinguishing between spirits). Among charismatics there are differing viewpoints on whether baptism in the Holy Spirit is subsequent to conversion and whether speaking in tongues is a sign of baptism in the Spirit. Charismatics by and large have refrained from forming their own denominations, but view themselves as a force for renewal within existing Protestant and Roman Catholic churches." (1)

"In the 1980s a third renewal movement arose, a movement called The Third Wave by missions professor C. Peter Wagner at Fuller Seminary (he referred to the Pentecostal renewal as the first wave of the Holy Spirit's renewing work in the modern church, and the charismatic movement as the second wave). Third Wave people encourage the equipping of all believers to use New Testament spiritual gifts today and say that the proclamation of the gospel should ordinarily be accompanied by "signs, wonder, and miracles," according to the new Testament pattern. They teach, however, that baptism in the Holy Spirit happens to all Christians at conversion and that subsequent experiences are better called "fillings" or "empowerings" with the Holy Spirit. Though the believe the gift of tongues exists today, they do not emphasize it to the extent that Pentecostals and charismatics do." (1)

"Apostleship" is not a spiritual gift, as it is never labeled specifically as a gift. Thus, though the office of apostleship passed from the church, it is no evidence of a gift passing from the church. Nothing inherent in any of the gifts that suggests that they were temporary. Though miracles may be clustered in history and for a "sign" purpose, the gifts given in 1 Cor 12:7-10 are designed by God for the church in every age.

"There is yet another position, held by a vast number of evangelicals who think of themselves as belonging to none of these groups. These people have not been convinced by the cessationist arguments that relegate certain gifts to the first century, but they are not really convinced by the doctrine or practice of those who emphasize such gifts today either. They are open to the possibility of miraculous gifts today, but they are concerned about the possibility of abuses that they have seen in groups that practice these gifts. They do not think speaking in tongues is ruled out by Scripture, but they see many modern examples as not conforming to scriptural guidelines; some also are concerned that it often leads to divisiveness and negative results in churches today. They think churches should emphasize evangelism, Bible study, and faithful obedience as keys to personal and church growth, rather than miraculous gifts. Yet they appreciate some of the benefits that Pentecostal, charismatic, and Third Wave churches have brought to the evangelical world, especially a refreshing contemporary tone in worship and a challenge to renewal in faith and prayer." (1)

Briefly put, the Bible neither explicitly states that any gifts will pass away, nor that they will continue. Therefore, the issue of cessationism is not whether God still works miracles, but whether all of the same phenomena of miraculous spiritual gifts seen in the early church of the New Testament are normal for the entire church age. Miracles are unevenly distributed throughout the Biblical history. Three main periods: that of Moses and Exodus, the ministries of Elijah and Elisha, and Christ and the apostles. While miraculous events occur in other times, they were more prominent in these significant periods of the redemptive history of God's people. Furthermore, the miracles had the primary purpose of establishing the validity of the message and its bearer as from God; it also pointed to God Himself. Thus, following Pentecost, the miracles primary purpose was to "testify to" the original proclamation of the new message of salvation. Given the primary purpose of miracles, and clustering mentioned, we would not expect to see the same level of miraculous activity today, and is described in Acts. Furthermore, since apostles and prophets are specifically stated as being foundational, these offices did not continue past the apostolic age. Church history shows a decrease in the frequency of miraculous occurrences. Thus, while the miraculous gifts (prophecy, miracles, healings, tongues, interpretation) may continue today, we do not expect the same magnitude of occurrence as immediately following Pentecost.

(1) Are Miraculous Gifts For Today?: Four Views, Wayne A. Grudem, ed. Zondervan Publishing House, MI, 1996, pp 10-13