Praying in the Spirit: That Glorious Day When Tongues are Not Needed: Until Then … Part 1

The next passage that is claimed to deny apostleship beyond the first century is 1 Corinthians 15:8-9: “And last of all he [Christ] appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.” These verses, it is argued, suggest that Paul was the last apostle (Gaffin, p.90; C. R. Smith, p. 72). But is the context of these verses concerned with the length or limit of the office of apostle? Not at all! These verses are from a passage that is an apologetic for the resurrection of Jesus. Here, as in all of the passages that are supposed to prove the end of apostleship and therefore the special manifestations of the Spirit, any conclusions are incidental and tenuous (assuming they are even related). Paul is not calling himself the last apostle; rather, he is saying that he was the last of all those listed to see the resurrected Jesus.

The final passage used by cessationists is Hebrews 2:34, “How shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.” This passage, writes cessationist Donald Burdick, “speaks of the evidential purpose of tongues,” which confirmed the “eyewitnesses who passed on the facts of this great salvation, … for the most part, the apostles of Christ” (p.27). Cessationist George Zeller agrees; these special “sign-gifts were given to authenticate and confirm the word of the apostles” (p. 115). Having asserted this, it still must be shown that this passage also proves that these spiritual manifestations have ceased. Cessationist Joseph Dillow writes that when the author of Hebrews penned this book he “seemed to be unaware of the existence of the miraculous gifts in the church” (p.107). The author “had not seen the confirmation of ‘signs and wonders and divers miracles,’” writes Criswell, which proves that “these signs had died out” by the second generation (Baptism, p. 80; see Ryrie, p. 84). Burdick, using his knowledge of the Greek language, asserts that the “verb tenses do not indicate that these things were still in the process of occurring” (p.38). Though some cessationists are cautious about their use of these verses, others use them with thoughtless abandon. Vander Lugt says that these verses “definitely” and “positively” prove that tongues have ceased (pp. 70-7l).

The intent of the writer of these verses, as is seen from the context, is to warn readers to pay attention to what they had heard from those who had heard Jesus firsthand. The words of eyewitnesses, he adds, were attested to by signs, wonders, miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit. There is no mention here of apostles, much less the Twelve. For the sake of argument, however, we might assume that the writer had apostles in mind. What that means for us today is that the Gospel of Christ, delivered by his apostles, may be attested to by signs, wonders, miracles, and spiritual gifts! If anyone wishes to do away with apostles, signs, wonders, and miracles, he must be consistent and abolish other spiritual gifts, for they too are in this verse. (Most cessationists realize this and divide spiritual gifts into temporary and permanent.)

Tags: day, glorious, needed, part, praying, spirit, tongues

Category: Spirit, Spring 2000