Truth really can be stranger than fiction.
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La verdad puede ser más extraña que la ficción.
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The Beauty of Staying Together (Former Title: DETOUR
Calvina, the young battered wife of Duane, is in desperate need of a new start in life. Will her jealous husband, the mad man with whom she had been unequally yoked, prove too much to ever hope for a chance of staying together--a chance to fix her troubled marriage?
We encourage you to read the two main character profiles before reading the first chapter. We can be so wrong in the strong initial opinions we form of people, which we see in The Beauty Of Staying Together (originally published under the title: Detour), a story based on true events.
¿Qué tiene que ver conmigo? por Teófila Gottfried
Lo que leemos en la Biblia tiene que ver con todos los seres humanos, sean cristianos o judíos, ateos o agnósticos, budistas, musulmanes o adherentes a alguna de las filosofías o nuevas religiones que surgen en el mundo. ¿Por qué? Ver mayor información sobre este interesante libro.
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Cessationists, If Spiritual Gifts Have Ceased, How Do You Answer These Questions?
Some claim the Bible clearly shows that the nine spiritual gifts of which the apostle Paul speaks in 1 Corinthians 12:7-11 are not meant to be in operation today, and/or that they were meant only for the Jews. Of course they provide biblical passages to support their teachings. However, virtually any belief, behavior and lifestyle can be "supported" by the Bible if we're clever enough in the twisting of scripture. To simplify things with the subject of whether the spiritual gifts are for today or not, we will follow a statement-question format. First, we will provide the statement in SUPPORT of cessationism, which is the belief that the spiritual gifts have ceased. Each statement is followed by at least one question. What we're going to clearly see is that it is absolutely impossible to answer the question/s without acknowledging that the Bible does NOT say that spiritual gifts have ceased.
Statement:
"The nine spiritual gifts had only two purposes: 1. To confirm the Word of God. 2. To edify the new and emerging church."
Questions:
If that is true, why do we read, "But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort" (1 Cor. 14:3)?
Prophesy is one of the nine spiritual gifts. Have we not just read that it is not just for edification, but also for exhortation and comfort?
Why would only the early church need edification, exhortation and comfort, but not believers today of all nations? Are not today's followers of Christ, from all nations, at war with the same evil spirits that operated against the early church?
If confirmation of God's Word was the only purpose--outside of edification--for the spiritual gifts, why do we read, "And he could there do no mighty work."? (Mark 6:5)
The "he" refers to Christ, the living Word of God. So, did Christ fail to confirm Himself in not doing any mighty work there?
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Statement:
"Only the twelve apostles and those on whom they laid hands had spiritual gifts."
Questions:
The apostle Paul said, "Desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy" (1 Cor. 14:1). He also said, "Covet to prophecy" (1 Cor. 14:39). Prophecy is one of the spiritual gifts. Why does an apostle say to desire, and even covet, spiritual gifts, if all he had to do was lay hands on believers for them to receive spiritual gifts? And how can we say the gifts were only for Israel when Paul is writing to a Gentile church?
In Mark 9:38-39, we read, "John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us. And we forbad him, because he followeth not us. But Jesus said, Forbid him not, for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me."
If only the twelve apostles and the believers on whom they laid hands could have spiritual gifts, why does the man in the scripture we just read have the power to cast out devils in Jesus' name? We are plainly told that that man was NOT one of the twelve. If even one of the twelve had transferred spiritual gifts to him through the laying on of hands, they would not have forbidden him. The fact is that Jesus corrects His apostles, telling them not to forbid anyone from doing a miracle in His name. From where then did such an erroneous teaching come?
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Statement
"The spiritual gifts ceased around 100 AD, about the time we had the completed Bible (Old and New Testaments)."
Questions:
If the above is true, how is it that we read, "It shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh. And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy... And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth... The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come."? (Joel 2:28-31)
The passage we've just read speaks of "those days"... a time period in which God will pour out His Spirit, causing ordinary people to prophesy. But what's interesting is that in "those days", the sun will be darkened, and the moon turned into blood. That clearly speaks of end times. Again, prophesy is one of the spiritual gifts. If the gifts ceased after the death of all the apostles, how is it that we read that the spiritual gift of prophesy and end-time events are taking place in the SAME time period?
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Statement:
"When Jesus spoke of people doing the works He did, He was speaking to His twelve apostles, not to ordinary believers."
Questions:
If Jesus' words about doing the works He did were meant only for the twelve apostles, why does He say, "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also..."? (St. John 14:12)
Jesus did NOT say, "he that is an apostle", nor did He say, "he on whom an apostle has laid hands". His word are "he that believeth on me". Are there not believers on Him today?
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Statement:
"God made an exception in not requiring the laying on of hands in the case of Cornelius and his family receiving the Holy Ghost to teach Peter that salvation was for the Gentiles too."
Question:
How can we say God made an exception when no part of the Bible says laying hands on someone for him or her to receive spiritual gifts was the rule? To have an exception, there must be a rule. Now, earlier in this article, we learned that the man who was casting demons out of people was not someone on whom the apostles had laid their hands. So, why call the example of Cornelius an exception to a rule that does not exist? And why would we say that this was the only way Peter could learn that salvation was for Gentiles also? Had God told him to lay hands on all of them, he still would have understood that salvation is also for the Gentiles. And if tongues were only for Israel, why did the Gentile Cornelius and his Gentile gathering speak in tongues?
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Statement:
"We don't need spiritual gifts today, because we have the Bible. Back then the church saw "darkly", but now we see clearly, thanks to having a completed Bible. (1. Cor. 13:12)"
Questions:
1 Corinthians 13:12 says, "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."
The scripture plainly speaks of seeing face to face. Since when did the completed Bible become a face? And, if the completed Bible allows us to see clearly, why did the apostle Paul include himself in the people who see "darkly"? Paul says, "we see darkly". He did not say, "you guys see darkly". Paul certainly had access to the Old Testament. He had heavenly revelations (Gal. 1:12). What's more is he was inspired by God to author much of the New Testament. Paul was virtually a "walking Bible". Yet, he says he saw "darkly". Why then would we say that a completed Bible means we no longer see "darkly"?
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Statement:
"If the gift of healing is for today, why does James 5:14 tell us to seek out the elders of the church to pray over, and anoint the sick with oil, instead of looking for someone with the spiritual gift of healing?"
Questions:
What part of the Bible says that God only heals through the spiritual gift of healing? Did not even the apostles anoint with oil? We read, "And they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them." (Mark 6:13).
"They" refers to the apostles. The spiritual gifts had not yet been distributed in the church, because Jesus was still on Earth. People were, nevertheless, healed through anointing with oil and prayer. Why then do we attempt to relate all need for healing to the spiritual gift of healing? What is more is that sickness can be related to disobedience in believers. Do we not read in 1 Cor. 11:29-30, "For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep"?
Notice that the passage says MANY are SICKLY, because they ate and drank damnation to themselves. Some even sleep (are dead). Do we really think that the gift of healing would override sickness that was caused by eating and drinking damnation to oneself?
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Statement:
"If the gift of healing extended past the age of the apostles, why do we read that Timothy was told to drink a little wine for his stomach and many infirmities? Why wasn't he healed through the spiritual gift of healing?"
Question:
Cessationists ask this question when the apostle Paul is the one who wrote this to Timothy?! Incredible! Think about who wrote this to Timothy. Paul, an APOSTLE. Cessationists claim that the gifts were for the days of the apostles, yet the most active of the twelve apostles does NOT use the gift of healing in Timothy's case. Why would we expect everyone with ailments today to be healed through the spiritual gift of healing? Changing our diet and lifestyle, avoiding contaminates, exercising regularly, and using herbal medicines is our responsibility, not God's.
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Statement:
"Speaking in tongues should never be gibberish. It should always be a real language, like on the day of Pentecost."
Question:
If that is the case, why do we read in 1 Corinthians 13:1, "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels..."?
While angels might speak English, Spanish, German, French and other earthly languages, men do not speak angelic languages without supernatural intervention, whether holy or unholy. In light of the passage we just read, why do we say that speaking in tongues should always be an earthly language?
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Statement:
"Bottom line is that if spiritual gifts are for today, why do we never see any divine healings, signs and wonders, tongues, prophesy, words of wisdom, incredible faith. The absence of these things proves they are not for our times."
Question:
Does the apparent absence of something prove it is truly absent? Let's look at Romans 11:3-4, which says, "Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars, and I am left alone, and they seek my life. But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace."
It is obvious that Elias saw no real believers in God around him. It was though he were the only one left. All alone. But the truth is that there were seven thousand who had not sold out.
Divine healing, prophesy, tongues, the casting out of demons, astonishing faith, words of wisdom, words of knowledge, etc. all appear to be dead. Nonexistent. But they are not. But why are they so terribly scarce if they're truly supposed to be operational today? First, let's see what the Bible reveals about such scarcity. In doing so, we have to know what causes the spiritual gifts? The answer is found in 1 Corinthians 12:7-10, which says, "But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge... to another faith... to another the gifts of healing... 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."
So, what causes the spiritual gifts? Answer: The manifestation of the Spirit (verse 7).
Now then, when the Spirit manifests Himself, He is present. And what does the Bible say about the presence of the Lord? We read, "Now the Lord is that Spirit. And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty" (2 Cor. 3:17).
Enemies of the power of God--including those who are labeled Christian--will use any tactic possible to prevent the Lord being too near. To prevent the manifestation of His Spirit, which includes the spiritual gifts. What better way to do that than through the falsehood that the gifts--or manifestations--of the Spirit are not for today? But Cessationists are not the only ones promoting an attitude of "keep God's Spirit at bay". Many who believe the truth about spiritual gifts also have a strong preference to discourage the manifestation of the Spirit.
There are many effective ways of hindering chain-breaking and life-changing praise and worship of God in spirit and truth. Among the most effective way is to maintain a mindset that is uninviting to the uninhibited moving of the Holy Spirit. And this is nothing short of quenching the Spirit of God. Yes, He can be quenched, because He does not force His presence on us, if we don't want Him too near. But though we have the free will to keep our distance from God, there's also a heavy price to pay for exercising that free will. With the cessation of belief in the truth that the spiritual gifts are for today comes a cessation of liberty, of healing, of words of wisdom, of words of knowledge, of prophecy, of signs and wonders, of healings, of tongues, of interpretation of tongues, and of faith. Is there any wonder why the Bible says, "Quench NOT the Spirit."? (1 Thess. 5:19)
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