Truth
On
Tough
Texts
ISSUE 3 –
October/2005
Temporary Spiritual
Gifts (1)
(I Cor. 12:8–11;
13:8-13)
FOR
TO ONE IS GIVEN BY THE SPIRIT THE word of
wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same
Spirit; To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the
same Spirit; To another the working of miracles; to
another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to
another divers kinds of tongues; to another the
interpretation of tongues: But all these worketh that
one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man
severally as he will. (I Cor.
12:8–11)
When we
study spiritual gifts thoroughly, we see that they
fulfill two major purposes.
First,
permanent gifts edify the
church. Paul lists these in his letter to the Romans
(12:6-8): prophecy, ministry (serving), teaching,
exhortation, ruling, and mercy. God will continue to
give these gifts to believers for the duration of the
church age, and these are to be ministered by His people
at all times in the life of the
church.
Second, the
temporary gifts were signs to
authenticate the apostolic message as being the very
Word of God until the time when the Scriptures, His
written Word, were completed and became
self-authenticating.
After years of
studying the Scriptures and the issue of spiritual
gifts, I am convinced that the present passage is one of
the most misunderstood in all the Bible. Most
commentators insist that all the gifts spoken of here
are still with us today.[i] If this is
true, however, we are not only left with some
inconsistencies in the list, but more seriously a very
real weakening of the Word of God Itself.
To study
this fine point of doctrine adequately, we’ll also need
to examine another passage in I Corinthians (13:9-13).
Let’s look at five principles, the first one of which is
overlooked by many teachers on the issue of temporary
spiritual gifts.
I. The Finality of
Inspiration
As II
Timothy 3:16 declares, “All Scripture is given by
inspiration of God.” The Greek word for “inspiration”
(theopneustos) is
derived from two Greek words: theos, “God,”
and pnein,
“to breath out, or to blow.” The best way to understand
these Greek words is to contrast them with two other
words. One is psuchin, “to
breath gently.” In contrast, pnein speaks of
a forceful expiration of air. Another word is the Hebrew
ah-ayrh, “to
breath unconsciously,” but to contrast again, pnein speaks of
a conscious breathing. All this provides a clear
definition of Inspiration: Inspiration is the
forceful and conscious exhaling of God into the
Scripture writers. That
definition reflects what is meant when we say the
Scriptures are
“God-breathed.”
We also read in II Peter
1:20-21, “No prophecy of the scripture is of any private
interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by
the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were
moved by the Holy Ghost.” Scripture didn’t come
by anyone’s experience. It didn’t come from anyone’s
private interpretation. It didn’t even come from the men
who wrote it. From whence did it come? Holy men of
God were moved by the Holy Spirit of God.
“Moved”
translates pheromenoi, which means to be “carried along.” Luke used
this word to describe how a ship is carried along by the
wind (Acts 27:15, 17). It’s also interesting to note
that Peter evidently loved this word, for he uses it six
times in his two Epistles. Being an outdoorsman, he
wanted to paint us a picture, and what a picture it is!
Men today are moved, motivated, and mastered by many
things, but the men God used were driven by only one
thing, the Holy
Spirit.
So, the Biblical view of
inspiration is stated theologically as “Verbal, Plenary
Inspiration.” The term “verbal” means that the Holy
Spirit guided the choice of the words. “Plenary” simply
means full or complete and, therefore, describes the
Bible as being the full, complete revelation of God. All
this gives us a complete and conclusive definition of
inspiration:
Inspiration is the
activity of God by which He superintended the reception
and the communication of His message, even in the specific words
used, while still
allowing for the style and personality of each
writer, with the results being
the Word of
God.
Now,
the point of all this is to ask a question. Is inspiration still going on today in any
way, shape, or form? Is man getting any “flashes of
insight,” any wisdom, any knowledge, or any discernment
whatsoever from any other source except the Scriptures? If we say “yes” at any
point, then we have just violated the doctrine of Verbal
Plenary Inspiration.
With the
words “but holy men of God spake as they were moved by
the Holy Ghost,” our text declares that the Scriptures,
as They stand today, are the complete record. No new
revelation is being given, no matter who claims
otherwise. There is no other wisdom, no other tool for
discernment, no other spiritual knowledge, no “flashes
of insight,” or anything else. This is proven by the
tense of the verb translated “spake.” The Greek verb (elalesan) is in
the Aorist tense, indicating punctiliar action that
occurred then
not now.
This leads us to a
second principle.
II. The Reason That Some
Spiritual Gifts Were
Temporary
While we
will deal with the passage again, it is essential that
we here mention I Corinthians
13:8-13:
Charity never faileth:
but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail;
whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether
there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in
part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is
perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be
done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I
understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I
became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see
through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I
know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am
known. And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these
three; but the greatest of these is
charity.
Verses 8 and
9 reveal that what has come before this passage, that
is, the things of chapter 12, are partial knowledge,
only temporary. Verse 10 says that there is something
coming that is “perfect,” that is, mature or complete.
But the question is, “What exactly is coming?” No matter
what the objections may be, this can refer to one thing
only. The Greek for “perfect” is teleio, which
literally means “perfect, full grown, complete.” It is
also important to see that the word appears in the neuter gender.
Therefore, this is referring to a “thing” not a person.
Because of that fact, “perfect” cannot refer to Christ
as some have suggested. Faced with this textual fact,
others have said that it refers to Christ’s Second Coming (a
thing). But that doesn’t fit the context, nor is it
spoken of elsewhere. It is poor exegesis to insist that
Paul here throws a weak and uncertain reference to the
Second Coming into a discussion of something entirely
different. Violating the context is one of the chief
reasons for error. One other view says that “perfect”
refers to eternity, that is, the eternal state, but this falls for
the same reason as the Second Coming View—it just
doesn’t fit. Paul is talking about that which is needed
on earth, not what will be in heaven. Ultimately, this
view, as all the others, weakens the absolute and sole
authority and sufficiency of
Scripture.
There is
only one view that fits the context. The “mature,
full-grown, complete thing” can refer only to the completed New
Testament Scriptures. Throughout
his letter Paul has been emphasizing preaching,
teaching, and knowledge. Right here in verses 11 and 12
he speaks of immature and incomplete knowledge. But when
the New Testament Scriptures were completed, there was
then mature, full-grown, complete knowledge. Instead of
being children, they would then be adults. Greek born
scholar Spiros Zodhiatus makes this
comment:
The phrase “when that
which is perfect is come” refers to the written
revelation of Scripture. When this revelation was
completed, there was no need for the temporary gifts
(e.g., tongues, prophecies, and knowledge) which were
given in order to substantiate the message that the
apostles were preaching.[ii]
Henry Morris
agrees:
Since the previous verse
refers to the incompleteness of the divine revelation at
that time, “that which is perfect [complete]” almost
certainly refers to the completion of Biblical
revelation, as finally announced by John, the last of
the apostles (Revelation 22:18,19). In the Scriptures,
we now have all the prophetic truth needed for the
guidance of the church until Christ comes again. With
few, if any, exceptions, we also have all the
attestation we need to its veracity and power, so there
is little need any more for miraculous signs, even
though many still desire them.[iii]
In his book,
Decisions, Decisions, Dave
Swavely also
concurs:
Some commentators have
suggested that “perfect” or “complete” is the eternal
state, but it seems more likely that it is a reference
to the completed canon of Scripture. Paul knew that when
the Bible was completed, there would be no more need for
any further revelation, and therefore no need for
revelatory gifts.[iv]
Consider
also New Testament scholar Merrill
Unger:
“But
when that which is perfect is come [Greek, to teleion, the completed and final thing,
which means ‘the New Testament Scripture;’ the neuter in
the Greek denotes neither Christ nor His second advent,
both of which thoughts are foreign to the context], then
that which is in part [partial or piecemeal revelation
through the gift of directly inspired prophecy and
knowedge before the New Testament was given] shall be
done away with [katargethestai,
shall be superseded, rendered uncecessary, and
meaningless, because no longed needed and so shall be
cancelled and done away with].”[v]
This view
has been criticized because some say it teaches that we
have “all knowledge,” but this view says no such thing.
The Word of God nowhere says It contains all knowledge.
There are many things about God’s nature and workings
that we know nothing about, things that are not revealed
in His Word. Rather, the Word of God contains all the
knowledge God wants us to have, all the knowledge we
need to live correctly for Him. Indeed, the knowledge
that existed before the completion of the Scriptures was
incomplete, but with the Scriptures came a complete
knowledge, complete in the sense that it is now adequate
for all earthly purposes and absolutely
authoritative.
We should
also interject here that a cross reference to verse 11
is Ephesians 4:14 (a text we will examine in coming
issues of tott), where we
are told to “be no more children, tossed to and fro, and
carried about with every wind of doctrine.” In both of
these texts and contexts Paul is speaking of maturity in
the present, and the only
thing that will bring that about is the Word of God.
Finally,
the “eternity view” says that the “Word of God view” has
a problem explaining the words “face to face” and that
these words are best explained as the believer being
with God in the eternal state. That is a nice thought,
and we all look forward to that reality, but again, it
does not fit the context. Why does Paul throw in
something about eternity when the entire context speaks
of something that is needed now? “Face to
face” simply refers to the comparison that Paul makes
between the Word of God and a “glass” (mirror).
Mirrors of that day were often made of bronze,
and because of the worldwide renown of Corinthian
bronze, the analogy undoubtedl struck the Corinthians
profoundly. Even the best mirrors, however, reflected
images imperfectly, but the Scriptures would remove all
obscurity and distortion. In other words, Paul is simply telling his readers that when they
look at themselves and truth now, they see
things unclearly, but when they look at them then, when they
have the completed Word, the answers will be clear. No
longer will they need the temporary things, for they
will have the exact words that God wants them to have for life on
earth.
III. The List Of Temporary
Gifts
So, 13:9-13
sheds a tremendous amount of light on 12:8-10. As we saw
in 13:9, Paul was referring to things before the
completion of the New Testament Scriptures, even
mentioning one of the gifts by name, knowledge.
Therefore, we must conclude, beyond any question, that
all the
gifts spoken of here were only necessary and were only
in force before
the completion of the New Testament Scriptures. Let
us look at each listed gift and demonstrate that this
must be
true.
Wisdom was the supernatural insight into and
the understanding of spiritual truth. We have all heard
someone say, “Oh, that person is so wise; he just has the gift of wisdom.” But
that is incorrect. A supernatural imparting of wisdom is
no longer needed because wisdom is now found in the Word
of God alone. We often think that just because someone
is older in years or is knowledgeable in the affairs of
the world he is therefore “wise.” Not so! No one is wise
if his words do not come from the Word of
God.
“But James
says,” it is argued, “that ‘If any of you lack wisdom,
let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally,
and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.’ (Jas.
1:5).” Yes, God will give us
wisdom if we ask for it, and the way He will do so is by
illuminating His Word to us.
May we also
add that if wisdom is still a spiritual gift, it is the
only one we are told to ask for, which flatly
contradicts the fact that we are never instructed to ask
for any spiritual
gift.
Knowledge was the supernatural ability to
communicate practical truth from doctrine. Such
supernatural knowledge is no longer needed because the completed
Scriptures alone contain all the knowledge we need to
live.
This gift is
perhaps the best example of why this list is temporary.
One highly respected expositor, for example, writes of
this gift being active today: “The gift of knowledge is
the capability of grasping the meaning of God’s
revelation, which is mystery to the natural mind.” But
may we say that such a gift is totally unnecessary
because of the Biblical doctrine of the Illumination of
the Holy Spirit. The same expositor goes on to
write:
The human writers
of Scripture had the gift of knowledge in a unique way.
God gave them truths directly, which they recorded as
part of His written Word. Since the closing of the canon
of Scripture, however, that gift has not involved the
receiving of new truth but only understanding of truth
previously
revealed.
But that is conjecture.
Nowhere does the Bible say, either here or anywhere
else, that there are two types of this knowledge, one
for the writers and another for us today. The bottom
line is that with the completed Scriptures, we need no
other knowledge and no other understanding than the
illumination of the Spirit. As Unger submits again: “The
completed revelation of Scripture in the canonical books
of the New Testament would eventually make prophecy,
knowledge, and tongues unnecessary and
useless.”[vi]
Faith was the supernatural ability for
unusual reliance upon God. This, too, is misapplied
today. Often we hear someone say, “Oh, that person has such great faith; he has
the gift of faith.” Those who teach that this is a gift
for today cite great men such as Hudson Taylor and George Mueller as
those who had an unusual reliance upon
God.
Once
again, that is not so. Men such as Taylor and
Mueller were simply trusting in the promises of God in
His Word. In fact, no Christian should have either more or less faith
than another Christian. Why? Because our faith is based
only upon what the Word of God says. Absolutely nothing
else is needed. We need only believe what God
says!
Healing was
the supernatural ability to heal sickness and restore
life. There are many today who claim to have this gift,
but there are at least three features of the miraculous
healing of Jesus and the Apostles that disprove those
claims. First, they healed with a word or touch,
without prayer, and sometimes without even being near
the person. Second, they healed any affliction,
even congenital disease, no matter how severe or
long-standing. Third, they
restored life to the dead. This gift was one of the
“sign gifts” that was needed to confirm certain things
to the Jews in the early days of the Church (more about
this later). These “sign gifts” were replaced by the
permanence of the Scriptures; once It was completed, it
was the only confirmation anyone needed. We’ll return to
this in Part 2.
Miracles
was the supernatural ability to perform supernatural
acts. This, too, was a temporary “sign gift.”
John tells us, for example, that Jesus’ turning the water into
wine at the wedding feast was the beginning of the
“signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His
glory, and His disciples believed in Him” (John 2:11).
That was the purpose. The miracle was not to improve the
party or to show off great power to the curious. Even
with Jesus, the working of miracles, just as the work of
healing, was confirmation of His coming as Messiah, the
carrier of God’s power and message. This was also true
of the Apostles. Paul later wrote the Corinthians, “The
signs of a true apostle were performed among you with
all perseverance, by signs and wonders and miracles” (II
Cor. 12:12). Miraculous signs were a mark of
apostleship, authenticating the apostles’ message and
work as being of the Lord. We’ll also return to this in Part
2.
Prophecy, in this context, was the
supernatural ability to proclaim new revelation from
God. The Greek behind prophecy” (propheteia) has
the literal meaning of speaking forth with
no specific reference to prediction or other
supernatural significance. Some believe (as I once did)
that this was only revelatory and was possessed only by
the apostles. But while it did have revelatory aspects
during Old Testament and apostolic times, it was not
limited to those. It simply refers to the Divine
enablement to speak Divine truth, whether new truth or
previously revealed truth. We find both of these in
Scripture, in fact. Silas, for example, was called a
prophet but gave no prediction or new revelation, rather
he “encouraged and strengthened the brethren with a
lengthy message” (Acts
15:32).
The key,
then, is the context. In the list of spiritual gifts in
Romans 12:6-8, prophecy appears in reference to speaking and
serving gifts. In contrast, in I Corinthians 12, it
appears in the list of sign gifts, which are no longer needed. This
distinction is extremely important. Without it, we are
left with those who say, “God spoke to me in a dream,”
or “God revealed this new truth to me.” This is simply
unbiblical, not to mention outright dangerous. There are
no new revelations. The Word of God is God’s final
authority. We’ll return to this emphasis in our
discussion of tongues in Part
2.
Discerning of
spirits is one of the most important
evidences of the temporary nature of these gifts. It was
the supernatural ability to distinguish true revelation from God from that
which comes from a satanic deceiver. The basic meaning of “discerning” has
to do with separating out for examination and judging in
order to determine what is genuine and what is error.
Here is another common misnomer:
“Oh, that person has the gift of discernment; he can see
right through false doctrine.” No, the only reason
anyone can see through false doctrine or discern any
error is because he knows what Scripture says!
Hebrews 4:12 declares that the Word of God is “the
Discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
With His Word, God has given us all the tools we need to
discern the true from the false. The only way to discern
truth from error is knowledge of the Word of God. Yes,
before that was complete, a special gift was needed to
expose error, but the Word of God does that
now.
We’ll
conclude this study next month by examining the last two
gifts, tongues and interpretation, and then underscoring
why the position we are offering here is absolutely
essential.
Dr. J. D.
Watson
Pastor-Teacher
Grace
Bible
Church
*
* *
“First, my friends, stand over
this volume, and admire its authority. This is no common
book. It is not the sayings of the sages of Greece; here
are not the utterances of past ages. If these words were
written by man, we might reject them; but O let me think
the solemn thought, that this book is God’s handwriting,
that these words are God’s! Let me look at its date; it
is dated from the hills of heaven. Let me read the
chapters; they flash glory on my eye. Let me read the
chapters; they are big with meaning and mysteries
unknown. Let me turn over the prophecies; they are
pregnant with unthought of wonders. Oh, book of books!
And wast thou written by God? Then will I bow before
thee. Thou book of vast authority! Thou art a
proclamation from the Emperor of Heaven; far be it from
me to exercise my reason in contradicting thee. Reason,
thy place is to stand and find what this volume means,
not to tell what this book ought to say. Come thou, my
reason, my intellect, sit thou down and listen, for
these words are the words of God. I do not know how to
enlarge on this thought. Oh! if you could ever remember
that this Bible was actually and really written by God.
Oh! if ye had been let into the secret chambers of
heaven, if ye had beheld God grasping His pen and
writing down these letters, then surely ye would respect
them; but they are just as much God’s handwriting as if
you had seen God write them. This Bible is a book of
authority; it is an authorized book, for God has written
it. Oh tremble, tremble, lest any of you despise it;
mark its authority, for it is the Word of
God.”
Charles
Spurgeon, The
New Park Street Pulpit,
Vol. 1, page 111
NOTES
[i]
Among those who do not (and with whom I agree) are S.
Lewis Johnson in Wycliff Bible
Commentary, and John Walvoord in Lewis Sperry
Chafer, Systematic Theology,
Vol. VI, p.
220.
[ii]
Spiros Zodhiates, Hebrew-Greek
Key Study Bible (Chattanooga: AMG
Publishers, 1984, 1991), p.
1436.
[iii] Henry Morris, The Defender’s Study Bible (Grand
Rapids: World Publishing, Inc.,
1995).
[iv]
Dave Swavely, Decisions,
Decisions (Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R
Publishing; 2003), p.
23]
[v] Merrill F. Unger, New
Testament Teaching on Tongues (Grand Rapids: Kregel
Publications, 1971), pp. 95-96 (brackets are
Unger’s).
