Sign Gift Debate

Sign Gift Debate

Sign Gift Debate

By Pastor Richard Helein – 24 October 2011

        

The debate between cessationists and continuationists is largely fought on the battlefield of the charismatic movement and various forms of the Pentecostal churches.  However; there are clearly written truths regarding the Holy Spirit and His gifts throughout the Holy Scriptures.  Every believer possesses the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit from the moment of salvation (Romans 8:9; I Corinthians 3:16), and it is the duty and privilege of all those born of the Spirit to be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18). Furthermore, the Holy Spirit alone administers spiritual gifts to the Church (I Corinthians 12:11), not to glorify Himself or the gifts by ostentatious displays, but to glorify Christ (John 16:14), apply His work of redeeming the lost (Acts 1:8), while building up believers in the faith (II Corinthians 3:18). In this respect; God the Holy Spirit is sovereign in the imparting of all His gifts (I Corinthians 12:11) for the perfecting of the saints today (I Corinthians 14:12). However; the confirming sign gifts (speaking in tongues {intelligible languages}, interpretation, healing, and working of sign miracles) were evangelistic gifts in the beginning days of the Church for the purpose of confirming the Gospel message (I Corinthians 14:22a; II Corinthians 12:12; Hebrews 2:3-4), and were not intended by God to be part of normative church worship and service(Coll 2:18-19).

            The gifts that have ceased did so because the task of authenticating the Apostles and the gospel message ended somewhere in the first century (1 Cor 14:22).  The Apostle Paul corrected the Corinthians of his day, because believers, who had received the gift of tongues, which means that they were given the power to speak in knowable foreign languages without ever having studied those languages, were not using this gift to magnify God and edify the saints. Instead, they were using the gifts to...