2.1 God's Spirit: Definition
As God is a real, personal being who therefore has feelings and emotions, it is to be expected that He will have some way of sharing His desires and feelings with us, His children, and of acting in our lives in a way that will be consistent with His character. God does all of these things by His "spirit". If we wish to know God and have an active relationship with Him, we need to know what this "spirit of God" is, and how it operates.
It isn't easy to define exactly what the word "spirit" means. If you went to a wedding, for example, you might comment, "There was a really good spirit there!" By this you mean that the atmosphere was good, somehow everything about the wedding was good; everyone was smartly dressed, the food was nice, people spoke kindly to each other, the bride looked beautiful, etc. All those various things made up the "spirit" of the wedding. Likewise the spirit of God somehow summarizes everything about Him. The Hebrew word translated "spirit" in the Old Testament strictly means "breath" or "power"; thus God's spirit is His "breathing", the very essence of God, reflecting His mind. We will give examples of how the word "spirit" is used about someone's mind or disposition in Study 4.3 That the spirit does not just refer to the naked power of God is evident from Rom. 15:19: "the power of the spirit of God".
It is a common Bible teaching that how a man thinks is expressed in his actions (Prov. 23:7; Matt.12:34); a little reflection upon our own actions will confirm this. We think of something and then we do it. Our 'spirit' or mind may reflect upon the fact that we are hungry and desire food. We see a banana going spare in the kitchen; that desire of the 'spirit' is then translated into action - we reach out for the banana, peel it and eat. This simple example shows why the Hebrew word for 'spirit' means both the breath or mind, and also power. Our spirit, the essential us, refers to our thoughts and therefore also to the actions which we take to express those thoughts or disposition within us. On a far more glorious scale, God's spirit is the same; it is the power by which He displays His essential being, His disposition and purpose. God thinks and therefore does things: "As I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand" (Is. 14:24).
THE POWER OF GOD
Many passages clearly identify God's spirit with His power. In order to create the universe, "the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light" (Gen. 1:2,3).
God's spirit was the power by which all things, e.g. light, were made. "By His spirit He hath garnished the heavens; His hand hath formed the crooked serpent" (Job 26:13). "By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth" (Ps. 33:6). God's spirit is therefore described as:-
His breath
His word
His hand.
It is therefore His power by which He achieves all things. Thus believers are born again by God's will (Jn. 1:13), which is by His spirit (Jn. 3:3-5). His will is put into operation by the spirit. Speaking of the entire natural creation, we read, "Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and (thereby) thou renewest the face of the earth" (Ps. 104:30). This spirit/power is also the sustainer of all things, as well as the means of their creation. It is easy to think that this tragic life stumbles on without this active input of God's spirit. Job, a man who became weary of this life, was reminded of this by another prophet: "If he (God) gather unto himself his spirit and his breath; all flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust" (Job 34:14,15). When pulling out of a similar trough of depression, David asked God to continue to uphold him with this spirit, i.e. to preserve his life (Ps. 51:12).
We shall see in Study 4.3 that the spirit given to us and all creation is what sustains our life. We have "the breath of the spirit of life" within us (Gen. 7:22 A.V. mg.) given to us by God at birth (Ps. 104:30; Gen. 2:7). This makes Him "the God of the spirits of all flesh" (Num. 27:16 cp. Heb. 12:9). Because God is the life force which sustains all creation, His spirit is present everywhere. David recognized that through His spirit God was constantly present with him wherever he went, and through that spirit/power He was able to know every corner of David's mind and thinking. Thus God's spirit is the means by which He is present everywhere, although He personally is located in heaven.
"Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising,thou understandest my thought afar off...Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I.dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there... thy right hand (i.e. through the spirit) shall hold me" (Ps. 139:2,7,9,10).
A proper understanding of this subject reveals God to us as a powerful, active being. Many people have grown up with a vague 'belief' in God, but in reality 'God' is just a concept in their minds, a black box in part of the brain. An understanding of the true God and His very real presence all around us by His spirit can totally change our concept of life. We are surrounded by the spirit, constantly witnessing its actions, which reveal God to us. David found the encouragement of all this absolutely mind-blowing: "Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it" (Ps. 139:6). Yet responsibilities come with such knowledge; we have to accept that our thinking and actions are totally open to God's view. As we examine our position before Him, especially when thinking about baptism, we need to bear this in mind. God's majestic words to Jeremiah apply to us, too: "Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the Lord. Do not I fill (by the spirit) heaven and earth?" (Jer. 23:24).
The Holy Spirit
We have seen that God's spirit is a vast concept to grasp; it is His mind and disposition, and also the power by which He puts His thoughts into operation. "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he" (Pro. 23:7); and so God is His thoughts, in that sense He is His spirit (Jn. 4:24), although this does not mean that God is not personal (see Digression 1). To help us grapple with this vastness of God's spirit, we sometimes read of His "Holy Spirit".
The term "Holy Spirit" is to be found almost exclusively in the New Testament. In the A.V. the term "Holy Ghost" is often used, but it should always be translated as "Holy Spirit", as modern versions make clear. This is equivalent to the Old Testament phrases "the Spirit of God" or "the Spirit of the Lord". This is clear from passages such as Acts 2, which records the pouring out of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles on the day of Pentecost. Peter explained that this was a fulfilment of the prophecy of Joel, in which it is described as the pouring out of "my (God's) Spirit" (Acts 2:17). Again, Lk.4:1 records that Jesus "being full of the Holy spirit" returned from Jordan; later in the same chapter Jesus speaks of this being a fulfilment of Isaiah 61: "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me". In both cases (and in many others) the Holy Spirit is equated with the Old Testament term "the Spirit of God".
Notice, too, how the Holy spirit is paralleled with the power of God in the following passages:
- "The Holy Ghost (Spirit) shall come upon thee (Mary), and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee" (Lk.1:35)
- "The power of the Holy Spirit...mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God" (Rom.15:13,19)
- "Our gospel (preaching) came...in power, and in the Holy Spirit" (1 Thess. 1:5).
- The promise of the Holy Spirit to the disciples was spoken of as their being "endued with power from on high" (Lk. 24:49).
- Jesus himself had been "anointed...with the Holy Spirit and with power" (Acts 10:38).
- Paul could back up his preaching with undeniable displays of God's power: "My speech and my preaching was...in demonstration of the spirit and of power" (1 Cor. 2:4).
2.2 INSPIRATION
We have defined God's spirit as His power, thoughts and disposition, which He reveals by the actions which His spirit performs. We mentioned in the previous section how God's spirit was seen at work in the creation: "By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens" (Job 26:13) - the spirit of God moving upon the face of the waters to bring about the present creation (Gen. 1:2). Yet we also read that "by the word of the Lord" the world was made (Ps. 33:6), as exemplified by the Genesis narrative recording that "God said" things were to be created, and it happened. God's spirit, therefore, is very much reflected in His word - just as our words express our inner thoughts and desires - the real "us" - very accurately. Jesus wisely pointed out: "Out of the abundance of the heart (the mind) the mouth speaketh" (Matt. 12:34). So if we would control our words, we must firstly work on our thoughts. God's word, then, is a reflection of His spirit, or thoughts. It is such a blessing that in the Bible we have God's words written down so that we might understand God's spirit or mind. God achieved this miracle of expressing His spirit in written words by the process of INSPIRATION. This term is based around the word "spirit":-
IN-SPIRIT-ATION.
"Spirit" meaning "breath" or breathing, "Inspiration" means "in-breathing". This means that the words which men wrote while under "inspiration" from God were the words of God's spirit. Paul encouraged Timothy not to let his familiarity with the Bible lead him to forget the wonder of the fact that it is the words of God's spirit, and therefore provides all that we need in order to have a true knowledge of God:-
"From a child thou hast known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect (complete), throughly furnished ('thoroughly equipped', N.I.V.) unto all good works" (2 Tim. 3:15-17).
If the inspired Scriptures can provide such a totality of knowledge, then there is no need for some 'inner light' to show us the truth about God. But how many times do people speak of their personal feelings and experiences as being the source of their knowledge of God! If an acceptance in faith of God's inspired word is enough to completely equip someone in the Christian life, there is no need for any other power of righteousness in our lives. If there is such a need, then God's word has not completely equipped us, as Paul promises it will. To hold the Bible in our hands and believe that it really is the Word of God's spirit takes quite some faith. The Israelites were reasonably interested in what God's word had to say, as are many "Christians" today. We all need to carefully reflect on Heb. 4:2:-
"Unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them (Israel in the wilderness): but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it".
Instead of rising up to a complete faith in the power of God's spirit/word which is received, it is far more attractive to take a spiritual short-cut: to reason that a power of righteousness suddenly comes upon us, which will make us acceptable to God, rather than having to experience the pain of consciously bringing our lives into obedience to God's word, and thereby letting God's spirit truly influence our hearts.
This unwillingness to accept the huge spiritual power which is in God's word has led many "Christians" to question whether all the Scriptures are fully inspired by God. They have suggested that much of what we read in the Bible was just the personal opinions of wise old men. But Peter effectively disposes of such woolly reasoning:-
"We have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it...above all, you must understand (this is vital!) that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit" (2 Peter 1:19-21 N.I.V.).
We must "above all" believe that the Bible is inspired. For this reason we have made this the foundation clause of the Christadelphian Statement of Faith.
The Writers Of The Bible
A solid belief in the total inspiration of the Scriptures is therefore vital; the men who wrote the Bible were irresistibly carried along by the spirit which inspired them, so that their words were not their own. The Word of God being the truth (Jn. 17:17) and providing rebuke and correction (2 Tim. 3:16,17), it is not surprising that with many people it is unpopular - for truth hurts. The prophet Jeremiah suffered much opposition for speaking forth the words God inspired him with, and so he determined not to record or publicize the words which he was given. But because the writing of God's Word is a result of God's will rather than human desire, he was "carried along by the Holy Spirit" so that he had no choice in the matter. "I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me...Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay" (Jer. 20:7,9).
Likewise when Balaam was determined to curse Israel, the spirit of God made him speak out a blessing on them instead (Num. 24:1-13 cp. Deut. 23:5).
A surprising number of the men whom God inspired to speak His word went through periods of reluctance to do so. The list is impressive:-
Moses (Ex. 4:10)
Ezekiel (Ez. 3:14)
Jonah (Jonah 1:2,3)
Paul (Acts 18:9)
Timothy (1 Tim. 4:6-14)
Balaam (Num. 22-24)
This all confirms what we learnt in 2 Pet. 1:19-21 - that God's word is not the personal opinion of men, but the result of men being inspired to write down what was revealed to them. The prophet Amos reflected: "The Lord God hath spoken, who can but prophecy?" (Amos 3:8). At times Moses lost the sense of his own personality, so strong was his inspiration by God: "All these commandments, which the Lord hath spoken unto Moses.." (Num. 15:22,23); these words were actually said by Moses (v. 17).
Another strand of evidence for this is that the writers of the Bible realized that they did not fully understand the things which they were writing. They "searched" for the correct interpretation - "unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things" which they wrote (1 Peter 1:9-12). The actual words they recorded were not their own interpretation, seeing it was that which they searched for. The following provide obvious examples: Daniel (Dan. 12:8-10); Zechariah (Zech. 4:4-13); Peter (Acts 10:17).
If these men were only partly inspired, we do not have access to the true Word or spirit of God. If what they wrote really was the Word of God,then it follows that they had to be completely taken over by God's spirit during the period of inspiration - otherwise the product would not have been God's Word in purity. An acceptance that God's Word is completely His, provides us with more motivation to read and obey it. "Thy word is very pure: therefore thy servant loveth it" (Ps. 119:140).
Thus the books of the Bible are the work of God through His spirit, rather than the literature of men. The truth of this is shown by considering how the New Testament refers to the Old Testament writings:-
- Matt. 2:5 (R.V. mg.) speaks of how it was "written through the prophets" - God was writing through them. The R.V. margin always uses the word "through" when describing how God wrote by the prophets.
- "The Holy Spirit by the mouth of David spake..." (Acts 1:16.
This is how Peter quoted from the Psalms: cp. Heb. 3:7).
- "Well spake the Holy Spirit by Esaias" (Acts 28:25 - this was how Paul quoted Isaiah). Lk.3:4 speaks of "the book of the words of Esaias"
rather than just, 'the book of Isaiah'.
The human authors of the Bible were therefore relatively unimportant to the early Christians; it was the fact that their words had been inspired with the Spirit of God which was important.
We will conclude this section with a list of verses which show that God's Spirit is revealed to us through His written word:-
- Jesus plainly stated, "The words that I speak...are spirit" (Jn. 6:63); He spoke under inspiration from God (Jn. 17:8; 14:10).
- We are described as being re-born by both the spirit (Jn. 3:3-5) and the word of God (1 Pet. 1:23).
- "The words which the Lord of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the...prophets" (Zech. 7:12).
- "I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you" (Prov. 1:23) associates a true understanding of God's word with the action of His spirit upon us - reading the Book without understanding is of no avail, seeing that the spirit/mind of God is not being revealed to us.
- There are parallels between God's Spirit and His word in many passages: "My Spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth..." (Isa. 59:21); "For Thy word's sake, and according to thine own heart (spirit)" (2 Sam. 7:21); "I will put my spirit within you (your heart - see context)..."; "I will put my law... in their hearts" (Eze. 36:27; Jer. 31:33).
The Power Of God's Word
God's spirit referring not only to His mind/disposition but also to the power by which He expresses those thoughts, it is to be expected that His spirit-word is not just a statement of His mind; there is also a dynamic power in that word.
A true appreciation of that power should make us eager to make use of it; any feelings of embarrassment associated with doing so should be overcome by our knowledge that obedience to God's word will give us the power which we need to accelerate out of the small things of this life, towards salvation. Out of much experience of this, Paul wrote:-
"I am not ashamed of the Gospel (the word) of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation" (Rom. 1:16).
Luke 1:37 (R.V.) harps on the same theme: "No word of God shall be void of power (spirit)".
Bible study and applying it to our lives is therefore a dynamic process. It is quite unrelated to the cold, academic approach of theologians and also to the 'feel-good' Christianity of many churches, whereby a few passages are briefly quoted,but no effort made to understand or apply them. "The word of God is quick (living) and powerful"; "the word of His (God's) power" (Heb. 4:12; 1:3). "The word of God...effectually worketh also in you that believe" (1 Thess. 2:13). Through the Word, God is actively at work in the minds of true believers, every hour of the day.
The basic message of the Gospel which you are learning is therefore the true power of God; if you allow it to do so, it can work in your life to change you into a child of God, showing the spirit/mind of God to some degree in this life, preparing you for the change to God's spiritual nature which will come at Christ's return (2 Pet.1:4). Paul's preaching was "in demonstration of the spirit and of power" (1 Cor. 2:4).
We are surrounded by those who have a semi-faith in the Bible as God's word, despite their claims of commitment to Christ. Similarly they claim to believe in God, and yet fail to accept that He is a real person. By denying the total inspiration of Scripture and its supremacy over our personal feelings and convictions, they are denying God's power. The words of 2 Tim. 3:5 come to mind: "having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof", i.e. the power of the word of the Gospel.
Our fundamentalism is mocked by the world ("You don't believe it like that, do you?!"), and so was that of Paul and his band of preachers: "The preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved, it is the power of God" (1 Cor. 1:18).
Bearing all this in mind, can't we each hold the Bible in our hands with an ever greater measure of respect, and read it with ever more eagerness to understand and obey?
The Attitude of God's People to His Word
A sensitive reading of the Biblical record indicates that the Bible writers not only recognized that they were inspired, but they also treated other Bible writers as inspired. The Lord Jesus is preeminent in this. When Jesus quoted from the Psalms of David, he prefaced this with the words, "David in spirit..." (Mt. 22:43), showing his recognition of the fact that David's words were inspired. Jesus also spoke of Moses' "writings" (Jn. 5:45-47), showing that he believed Moses to have literally written the Pentateuch. The so-called 'higher critical' Christians have doubted whether Moses could write, but the attitude of Christ clearly contradicts their approach. He called Moses' writings "the commandment of God" (Mark 7:8,9). The same group of dishonest doubters claims that much of the Old Testament is myth, but never do Jesus or Paul treat them like that. Jesus spoke of the Queen of Sheba as an accepted historical fact (Mt. 12:42); he did not say, 'As the story goes about the Queen of Sheba...'.
The attitude of the Apostles was identical to that of their Lord. It is epitomized by Peter who said that his personal experience of hearing Christ's words with his own ears was eclipsed by the "more sure word of prophecy" (2 Pet. 1:19-21). Peter believed that Paul's letters were "Scripture" as much as the "other Scriptures", a phrase normally used about the Old Testament writings.. Thus Peter saw Paul's letters as being as authoritative as the Old Testament.
There are many allusions in Acts, the Epistles and Revelation to the Gospels (e.g. cp. Acts 13:51; Mt. 10:14), indicating not only that they were all inspired by the same Spirit, but that the Gospel records were treated as inspired by the New Testament writers. Paul in 1 Tim. 5:18 quotes both Dt. 25:4 (in the Old Testament) and Lk. 10:7 as "Scripture". Paul hammers home the point that his message was from Christ, not himself (Gal. 1:11,12; 1 Cor. 2:13; 11:23; 15:3). This was recognized by the other apostles; thus James 4:5 quotes Paul's words of Gal. 5:17 as "Scripture".
God "has spoken" to us in Christ; there is therefore no need for any further revelation (Heb. 1:2). It can be observed that the Bible alludes to other inspired writings which are now not available (e.g. the book of Jasher, the writings of Nathan, Elijah, Paul to Corinth, and John's third Epistle implies that John had written an unpreserved letter to the church which Diotrephes had refused to obey). Why have these writings not been preserved for us? Evidently because they were not relevant to us. We can therefore rest assured that God has preserved all that is relevant for us.
It is sometimes claimed that the New Testament books were gradually accepted as being inspired, but the fact that the Apostles treated each other's writings as inspired surely disproves this. There was a miraculous Spirit gift available to test whether letters and words which claimed to be inspired really were so (1 Cor. 14:37; 1Jn. 4:1; Rev. 2:2). This means that the inspired letters were immediately accepted as inspired. If there was any unguided human selection of what went into our Bible, then the book would have no authority.
2.3 GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
At various times in His dealings with men, God has delegated the use of His power ("Holy Spirit") to men. However, this has never been in the form of a "blank cheque", as it were, enabling them to do what they wished; always the use of this Holy Spirit has been for a specific purpose. When it was accomplished, the gift of the Holy Spirit was withdrawn. We must remember that God's spirit acts in a way which forwards the purpose which is in His mind. His purpose often allows short-term suffering in the lives of men in order to bring about His long-term purpose (see Study 6.1), so it is to be expected that His Holy Spirit would not necessarily be used to alleviate human suffering in this life. Any such relief it does achieve will be for a higher purpose of expressing God's mind to us.
This is in marked contrast to popular Christian attitudes to the Holy Spirit today; the impression is given that belief in Christ is worth it because of the physical benefit, e.g. healing from illness, which the Holy Spirit will supposedly give. This would explain why in strife-torn countries like Uganda there has been a marked outbreak of people claiming to possess the spirit gifts of healing and, historically, such claims have often coincided with times of great human need. This in itself places present claims of spirit possession under some suspicion; if someone is looking for experience which transcends the present human plight, it is easy to claim to have found something which fills the bill.
Many 'Christians' today claim to possess miraculous spirit gifts, yet when questioned about what their exact purpose is, there is a significant uncertainty. God has always given His spirit to achieve specific, defined objectives. Because of this, those who truly possessed the gifts of the spirit knew exactly what they were to use them for, and therefore did not achieve only partial success in their use of them. This contrasts with the many failures and partial cures experienced by those who claim to have spirit gifts of healing today.
The following examples all indicate specific reasons and objectives being behind the granting of spirit gifts. In none of these cases was there any subjective element associated with possessing the gifts, nor were the possessors of the gifts able to use them just as they saw fit. Because we are talking of God's spirit, it is inconceivable that men could direct the use of it, seeing that it was given to them in order to perform certain specific desires of God, rather than those of the men who had the temporary use of it (cp. Isa. 40:13).
- Early in Israel's history, they were commanded to make an elaborate tent ("tabernacle") in which the altar and other holy items could be kept; detailed instructions were given concerning how to make all the items which would be necessary for the worship of God. To accomplish this, God gave His spirit to certain men. They were, "filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron's garments..." etc. (Ex. 28:3).
- One of these men, Bezaleel, was "filled with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, to...work in gold and...in cutting of stones...in all manner of workmanship" (Ex. 31: 3-5).
Num. 11:14-17 records how some of the spirit/power delegated to Moses was taken from him and given to the elders of Israel, for the purpose of enabling them to correctly judge the people's grievances so that there was less pressure on Moses. Just before Moses' death, the spirit gift was transferred from him to Joshua so that he, too, could properly lead God's people (Deut. 34:9).
- From the time that the people of Israel entered their land until their first king (Saul) they were governed by men called judges. During this period they were often oppressed by their enemies, but the book of Judges records how the spirit of God came upon some of the judges in order to miraculously deliver Israel from their invaders - Othniel (Jud. 3:10), Gideon (Jud. 6:34) and Jephthah (Jud.11:29) exemplify this.
- Another judge, Samson, was given the spirit in order to kill a lion (Jud. 14:5,6); to kill 30 men (Jud. 14:19) and to break apart cords with which he had been tied up (Jud. 15: 14). Such "Holy Spirit" was therefore not possessed by Samson continually - it came upon him to achieve specific things and was then withdrawn.
- When God had a special message for His people, the spirit would inspire someone to speak forth God's word. When the message was ended, the spirit gift of speaking directly on God's behalf was withdrawn, and that person's words would again be his own personal ones, rather than those of God. One of many examples:-
"The Spirit of God came upon Zechariah...and said unto them (the people), Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of the Lord...?" (2 Chron. 24:20)
See 2 Chron. 15:1,2 and Lk.4:18,19 for other examples.
From this it should be evident that receiving the gift of the use of God's spirit for a particular purpose was not
- A guarantee of salvation
- Something which endured all a person's life
- A mystical force within them
- Something gained by an ecstatic 'personal experience'.
It has to be said that there is much hazy reasoning about gifts of the Holy Spirit. People claim to have 'received the Holy Spirit', and in many a Gospel Hall the preacher dangles the carrot of 'receiving spirit gifts' before those considering 'accepting Jesus'. But the question must be pressed, Which gifts? It is inconceivable that men do not know exactly which gift they possess. Samson was given a spirit gift to kill a lion (Jud. 14:5,6); as he faced the roaring animal he would have known exactly what the spirit had been given him for. There could have been no doubt in his mind. This stands in stark contrast to those today who claim to have received the Holy Spirit, but cannot perform any specific act; nor do they know which gift(s) they are supposed to have.
There is surely no alternative but to conclude that such people have had a dramatic emotional experience connected with Christianity, and the subsequent U-turn in their attitude to life has left them with a strange feeling of newness within themselves. Being aware of this, they have seized on the Bible passages concerning Holy Spirit gifts, and concluded, 'This must be what I'm experiencing!' and their gleeful Pastor taps them under the chin and says, 'Dead right! Praise God!' and uses such cases as 'proof' when trying to convince others to receive the Holy Spirit. The root cause of this travesty lies in the lack of Biblical understanding which the person had before their supposed 'conversion'.
As we struggle against the deceptiveness of our own feelings (Jer. 17:9), we must keep our feet on the solid rock of Bible principles. In nothing is this need more apparent than in a study of how God's spirit works. We all like to think that God's power is working with us in our lives. But how and why is He doing so? Do we really possess the spirit gifts as men did in the Bible record? If we wish to truly know God and have a living relationship with Him, we will recognize the urgency of properly understanding these things.
Reasons For The Gifts In The First Century
Remembering the basic principles which we have already learnt about the gifts of God's spirit, we now come to the New Testament record of the spirit gifts which were possessed in the early church (i.e. the groups of believers who lived in the generation after the time of Jesus).
Christ's last command was for the apostles to go throughout the world preaching the Gospel (Mark 16:15,16). This they did, with the theme of Christ's death and resurrection foremost in their message. But remember that then there was no New Testament as we know it. As they stood in market places and synagogues speaking about this man Jesus of Nazareth, their story could have sounded bizarre - a carpenter from Israel who was perfect, who died and was then resurrected in accurate fulfilment of Old Testament prophecy, and who was now asking them to be baptized and follow His example.
In those days, other men were also trying to develop cult followings. There had to be some way of proving to the world that the message preached by the Christians was from God Himself, rather than being the philosophy of a band of fishermen from Northern Israel.
In our day we appeal to the New Testament records of the work and doctrine of Jesus in order to prove that our message is from God; but in those days, before it was written down and available, God allowed the preachers the use of His Holy Spirit in order to underline the truth of what they were saying. This was the specific reason for the use of the gifts in the sight of the world; the absence of the written New Testament would have also made it difficult for the new groups of believers to grow in their faith. The numerous practical problems which arose amongst them would have had no clear solution; there would have been little means of guidance for them to grow in their faith in Christ. So for these reasons the gifts of the Holy Spirit were made available for the guidance of the early believers through inspired messages, until the New Testament record of these messages and the teaching of Jesus was written and circulated.
As ever, these reasons for the granting of the Holy Spirit were made abundantly plain:-
- "When he (Jesus) ascended up on high (to heaven), he...gave (spirit) gifts unto men...for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the (preaching) ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ", i.e. the believers (Eph. 4:8,12).
- So Paul wrote to the believers at Rome, "I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established" (Rom. 1:11).
Concerning the use of the gifts to confirm the preaching of the Gospel, we read:-
- "Our Gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and in much assurance" through the miracles wrought (1 Thess. 1:5 cp. 1 Cor. 1: 5,6).
- Paul could speak of "those things which Christ hath wrought by me, to make the Gentiles obedient by word and (miraculous) deed, through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God" (Rom. 15:18,19)).
- Concerning the preachers of the Gospel, we read, "God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles...gifts of the Holy Spirit" (Heb. 2:4).
- A Gospel preaching campaign in Cyprus was backed up by miracles, so that "the deputy (governor), when he saw what was done, believed, being astonished at the doctrine" (Acts 13:12).
Thus the miracles led him to really respect the doctrines being taught. At Iconium also, "the Lord...gave testimony unto the word of his grace, and granted signs and wonders to be done" (Acts 14:3).
All this is summarized by the comment on the apostles' obedience to the command to preach: "They went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following" (Mark 16:20).
Specific Things At Specific Times
These gifts of the spirit were therefore given in order to perform specific things at specific times. This shows the error of claiming that the miraculous possession of the gift is a permanent experience throughout a person's life. The apostles, including Peter, were "filled with the Holy Spirit" at the feast of Pentecost, soon after Jesus' ascension (Acts 2:4). They were therefore able to speak in foreign languages in order to launch the preaching of the Christian Gospel in a spectacular way. When the authorities tried to clamp down on them, "Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit" was thereby able to convincingly answer them (Acts 4:8). On their release from prison they were enabled by the gifts to go on preaching - "they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spake the word of God with boldness" (Acts 4:31).
The watchful reader will spot that it does not say that "they, being already full of the spirit", did those things. They were filled with spirit to perform certain things, but had to be re-filled to achieve the next objective in God's plan. Paul likewise was "filled with the Holy Spirit" at his baptism, but years later he was to again be "filled with the Holy Spirit" in order to punish a wicked man with blindness (Acts 9:17: 13:9).
In speaking of the miraculous gifts, Paul wrote that the early believers possessed them "according to the measure of the gift of Christ" (Eph. 4:7). The Greek word for "measure" means "a limited portion or degree" (Strong's Concordance). Only Jesus had the gifts without measure, i.e. with total freedom to use them as He wished (John 3:34).
We will now define those spirit gifts which seem to have most mention as being possessed in the first century.
The First Century Spirit Gifts
Prophecy
The Greek word for 'prophet' means someone who forth-tells God's word - i.e. any person inspired to speak God's words, which at times included foretelling of future events (see 2 Pet. 1:19-21). Thus "prophets" - those with the gift of prophecy - came "from Jerusalem unto Antioch. And there stood up one of them named Agabus, and signified by the Spirit that there should be great dearth (famine) throughout all the world: which came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar. Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren" (Acts 11:27-29). This kind of highly specific prophecy, which had a clear fulfilment within a few years, is quite lacking amongst those who now claim to possess the gift of prophecy; indeed, so sure were the early church that this gift really was possessed amongst them, that they gave their time and money to relieving the hardship which had been prophesied. Few examples of this kind of thing can be found in today's so-called 'spirit filled' churches.
Healing
Seeing that the apostles were preaching the good news (Gospel) of God's coming Kingdom of perfection on the earth, it was fitting that they should confirm their message by doing miracles which gave a foretaste of what that time would be like, when "the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap..." (Isa. 35:5,6). For more about conditions in God's Kingdom, see Study 5. When God's Kingdom is established on earth, such promises as these will not be fulfilled in half measure, nor will there be ambiguity over whether the Kingdom is here or not. Therefore God's miraculous confirmation of the message of that Kingdom was in a conclusive, definite form which could not be gainsaid; for this reason many of the miraculous healings performed by the early believers were in the sight of the general public.
A classic example is found in Peter's healing of the lame beggar who was laid each morning at the temple gate. Acts 3:2 mentions that they laid him there daily - so he would have been a familiar sight. Having been healed by Peter's use of the spirit gift, "he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking and leaping...And all the people saw him walking and praising God: and they knew that it was he which sat for alms at the Beautiful gate of the temple: and they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened unto him. And as the lame man which was healed held Peter...all the people ran together unto them in the porch...greatly wondering" (Acts 3:7-11).
Peter then immediately launched into an open-air talk about the resurrection of Christ. Having the unquestionable, irrefutable evidence before them in the form of that healed beggar, we can be sure that they would have taken Peter's words to be those of God. The temple gate at "the hour of prayer" (Acts 3:1) would have been thronged with people, like a shopping mall on a Saturday morning. It was in a place like this that God chose to confirm the preaching of His word by such a clear miracle. Likewise in Acts 5:12 we read that "by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people". The usual claims made by 'Pentecostal' healers and the like revolve around things which have happened in back-street churches rather than on the streets, and in the audience of 'believers' hyped up into a spirit of expectancy for a 'miracle' to occur, rather than before the hard-hearted general public.
Let it be said that the present writer has had considerable experience of discussing these issues with present claimants of spirit possession, and also of witnessing many claims of spirit possession. Yet my 'personal testimony' of seeing many inconclusive 'healings', and at best partial cures, need not be specifically elaborated; any honest member of these churches will admit that a lot of this goes on. On many occasions I have put it to my well-meaning Pentecostal friends, "I'm not unwilling to believe that you might have these great powers. But God has always clearly shown who has His power and who hasn't; so it isn't unreasonable for me to ask you to demonstrate the fact to me - and then I might be more inclined to accept your doctrinal position, which at present I just can't reconcile with Scripture". Never has a clear "demonstration of the spirit and of power" been given me.
By contrast to my attitude, the orthodox Jews of the first century had closed minds to the possibility that Christians possessed God's miraculous spirit gifts. Yet even they had to admit, "This man doeth many miracles" (Jn. 11:47) and, "For that indeed a notable miracle hath been done...is manifest to all them that dwell in Jerusalem; and we cannot deny it" (Acts 4:16). Likewise those who heard the Apostles speaking in tongues were "confounded" (Acts 2:6). The same does not occur today in response to Pentecostal blabbering. The fact that people more kindly disposed to modern 'Pentecostals' can reasonably deny that they really achieve miracles, is surely a significant point in this debate. If just one miracle hit the headlines throughout Jerusalem, is it not reasonable to suggest that if a true miracle were done in London's Trafalgar Square or Nairobi's Nyaharuru Park, there would then be world-wide recognition that God's miraculous spirit gifts are possessed today? Instead, Pentecostals expect the world to seize upon the following sorts of 'evidence' as reasons for their faith in this:-
- Being cured (eventually) of stomach ulcers; the process of curing is supposed to have begun after a prayer meeting.
- Deformed limbs growing straight.
- Sight or hearing being improved, although frequently returning to its previous state.
- Depression being lifted.
To these examples must be added the fact that ambulances brought hospital patients to the T.O. Osborn healing crusades in Nairobi, Kenya; the drivers, faced with the ethical dilemma of whether to stay or return, remained - and just as well, for the sufferers received no cure.
Yet the challenge calls out from many publicity posters for such meetings: "Come expecting a miracle!" Psychologically the stage is set for all manner of auto-suggestion and the like. Nowhere in the New Testament is there the slightest hint that such a massive psychological softening-up was needed before a miracle occurred. It is evident that some of those healed in the first century did not have faith - one did not know who Jesus was (Jn. 5:13; 9:36).
A similar bombardment of the psyche is achieved by the mind-warping of repetitious prayers, the rhythm of drums and rousing music. There can be no doubt that any rational awareness of God - and anything else - is blanked out by all this. The writer can recall attending several such meetings in various places, and each time experiencing a cracking headache from the struggle to retain a rational, balanced, Biblical awareness in the face of the temptation to get lost in the rhythm of drums and hand-clapping. That all of this appears to be the necessary prelude for a Pentecostal 'miracle' is proof enough that the 'healings' are a result of emotional and psychological conditioning, rather than the direct operation of God's spirit. By contrast, Peter was able to use the true gift of miracles to heal people as they lay in the streets (Acts 5:15); Paul's use of the miraculous gifts was personally witnessed by an unbelieving Government minister (Acts 13:12,13), as well as by many of the pagans living in the city of Lystra (Acts 14:8-13). As was required by the very purpose and nature of the spirit gifts, these things were done publicly, and could in no way be shrugged off with any other explanation than to admit that here was God's power being openly displayed by His servants.
The effect of one of Christ's healing miracles was similar: "They were all amazed (those who saw it), and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion" (Mk. 2:12).
Tongues
The apostles, rough fishermen that some of them were, received the great commission to go out into all the world, preaching the Gospel (Mk. 16:15,16). Perhaps their very first reaction was, "But I don't know the languages!" For them it wasn't even a case of, "I was no good at languages at school", for they had had no schooling. It was written all over them "that they were unlearned and ignorant men" (Acts 4:13) when it came to that kind of thing. And even for the more educated preachers (e.g. Paul), the language barrier was still formidable. When converts were made, the reliance which they would need to have on each other for edification (in the absence of the written New Testament) meant that not understanding each other's language was a sizeable problem.
To overcome this, the gift of speaking in foreign languages ("tongues") and being able to understand them, was granted. The N.I.V margin renders "tongues" as "languages". Obviously there is stark opposition between this view of "tongues" and that of many 'born again' Christians, who describe their ecstatic utterances of unintelligible sounds as ''tongues'. This confusion can be cleared up by showing that the Biblical definition of "tongues" is "foreign languages".
On the Jewish feast of Pentecost, soon after Christ's ascension to heaven, the apostles "were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues...The multitudes came together (again, a public display of the gifts!) and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue (the same Greek word translated 'languages') wherein we were born? Parthians and Medes...we do hear them speak in our tongues...And they were all amazed" (Acts 2:4-12). It is unlikely that the double emphasis on the people's amazement and their marvelling would have been necessary if they had heard only the mumbo-jumbo spoken by those who claim to have the gift today; that gives rise to petty sarcasm or indifference, rather than the amazement and conviction from understanding the words being spoken, which was experienced in Acts 2.
Apart from the clear parallel between "tongues" and "languages" in Acts 2:4-11, "tongues" is very evidently used to mean "languages" in other parts of the New Testament; the phrase "peoples, and nations, and tongues" is used five times in Revelation to speak of all the peoples of planet earth (Rev. 7:9; 10:11; 11:9; 13:7; 17:15). The Greek word for "tongues" occurs in the Greek version of the Old Testament (called the 'Septuagint') in the sense of languages (see Gen. 10:5; Deut. 28:49; Dan. 1:4).
1 Cor. 14 is a list of commands concerning the use of the gift of tongues; v. 21 quotes Is. 28:11 concerning how this gift would be used to witness against the Jews: "In the law it is written, With men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people...". Is. 28:11 primarily refers to Israel's invaders speaking to the Jews in languages ("tongues") they would not have known. The parallel between "tongues" and "lips" indicates that "tongues" were foreign languages. There are many other indications in 1 Cor. 14 that "tongues" refers to foreign languages. This chapter is Paul's inspired criticism of the abuses of the gifts which were taking place in the early church, and as such it gives many insights into the nature of the gifts of tongues and prophecy. We will now attempt a brief commentary upon it. Verse 37 is a key verse:-
"If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord."
If anyone claims to be spiritually gifted, he must therefore accept that the preceding commands about the use of the gifts are inspired by God. Any who today disobey those commands are therefore openly admitting that they see fit to despise God's inspired words. Verses 11-17:-
"Therefore if I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh shall be a barbarian unto me.
Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church.
Wherefore let him that speaketh in an unknown tongue pray that he may interpret.
For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful.
What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.
Else when thou shalt bless with the spirit, how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest?
For thou verily givest thanks well, but the other is not edified."
To speak in a language which those present at the service do not understand is therefore pointless. The use of 'mumbo-jumbo' speaking is ruled out - for how can a truthful "Amen" be said at the end of a "prayer" composed of gibberish which cannot be understood? Remember that "Amen" means ''So be it', i.e. 'I totally agree with what has been said in this prayer'. Speaking in language which is not understood by your brethren does not edify them, Paul says.
I remember distributing tracts outside a Billy Graham crusade, appealing for people to get back to a more Bible-based approach to Christianity. An excited woman tried to persuade me that my Christadelphian doctrine was "devil-led" - by jabbering away in "tongues" for 10 minutes. In no way could I be "edified" by that; surely this is exactly what Paul is commanding not to do.
Verse 18:-
"I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all."
Because of his wide travels in the preaching of Christ, Paul needed the gift of languages ("tongues") more than most.
Verse 19:-
"Yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue."
This is quite plain. A brief sentence about Christ in English will do me more good than hours of preaching to me in a foreign language - or 'mumbo-jumbo'.
Verse 22:-
"Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not: but prophesying serveth not for them that believe not, but for them which believe."
The use of tongues was therefore mainly to be used for outgoing preaching of the Gospel. Yet today most claims of 'tongues' possession occur among groups of 'believers' or (apparently) in their individual, personal experience, while alone. There is a chronic dearth of examples of such people being able to speak miraculously in foreign languages in order to spread the Gospel. In the early 1990s the door of opportunity opened to preach Christ in Eastern Europe, but the (so-called) 'evangelical' churches had to distribute their literature in English because of the language barriers! Surely the gift of tongues should have been used if it were possessed? And the great mass evangelist Reinhardt Seiber, whilst claiming phenomenal possession of the Spirit, still had to speak to the crowds in Kampala, Uganda, through a translator.
Verse 23:-
"If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad?"
This is exactly what has happened. Muslims and pagans alike have mocked the bizarre behaviour of those claiming the gift of tongues throughout West Africa. Even a level-headed Christian putting his head round the corner of a Pentecostal meeting would be tempted to think that the members were mad.
Verse 27:-
"If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret."
Only two or three people were needed to speak in tongues during any service. It is unlikely that there would be more than three different languages spoken by any audience. A service would soon lose all coherence if each sentence of the speaker had to be translated more than twice. If the gift of tongues were possessed at a meeting in Central London, attended by English people, with some French and German tourists present, the speakers might begin:-
Pastor: Good evening.
First-tongue speaker: Bon soir (French)
Second-tongue speaker: Guten abend (German).
But naturally they must speak "by course", one after another. Confusion would result from them speaking simultaneously; yet, because of the fundamentally emotional nature of present 'speaking in tongues', the phenomena does occur from the mouths of many people simultaneously. I have observed that once one person starts, others are quickly influenced to do likewise.
The gift of tongues would often have been used in conjunction with that of prophecy, so that an inspired message from God could be spoken forth (by the prophecy gift) in a language foreign to the speaker (by the gift of tongues). An example of such use of the two gifts can be found in Acts 19:6. However, if at a meeting in London attended by English people and many French visitors, the speaker spoke in French, the English people present would "not be edified". Therefore the gift of interpreting tongues (or languages) would have to be present, so that everyone could understand - in our example, to translate from French to English. Likewise if a question were asked by one of the French speakers, the speaker would not be able to understand him unaided, even though he had the gift of speaking in French without personally knowing it. The gift of interpretation would therefore be present to help in this.
Without the presence of one with the gift of interpretation when it was needed, the tongue gift would not be used: "...let one interpret. But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church" (1 Cor. 14:27,28). The fact that many modern claimants of 'tongues' speak in 'language' which cannot be understood by anyone, and without an interpreter, is surely a case of flat disobedience to these commands.
Verses 32,33:-
"And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints."
Possession of Holy Spirit gifts is not therefore to be associated with an experience which takes a person out of the realms of normal consciousness; the spirit is subject to the control of the user, rather than a force which takes them over so that they act involuntarily. It is often wrongly claimed that demons or 'evil spirits' possess the 'unsaved' (see Study 6.3), but that the Holy Spirit fills the believers. But the spirit power referred to in 1 Cor. 14:32 was subject to the possessor's control for specific ends; it was not an animating force of good in contrast to the force of evil which is in human nature. Besides, we have shown earlier that these powers of the Holy Spirit came on the apostles at certain times to perform specific things, rather than being present with them permanently.
The plea for possessors of the gifts to use them in a way befitting God's love of peace and hate of disorder (v. 33), seems to fall on deaf ears in the 'Pentecostal' churches of today.
Verse 34
"Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law."
In this context of using the spirit gifts, it is undeniably laid down that a woman should not use them during a church service. The wholesale disregard for this is to be expected if the present phenomena of speaking in 'mumbo-jumbo' is explicable in terms of emotional excitation passing from one person to another in an audience. Woman, children - indeed anyone present with a willing mind - can be affected by such stimulus, and therefore make the ecstatic utterances, which are passed off as 'tongues'.
The prominence of women in alleged 'tongue speaking' and 'prophecy' in modern churches just cannot be reconciled with the clear command of this verse. The ridiculous, desperate argument that Paul was a woman-hater is quashed a few verses later: "If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord" (1 Cor. 14:37) - not Paul personally.
Any believer in an inspired Bible must therefore accept that these commands of 1 Cor. 14 must be taken seriously; to openly flout them can only indicate a lack of belief in the full inspiration of Scripture - or a self-declaration that one is not spiritually gifted, seeing that someone who lacks the gifts will deny that the commands of 1 Cor. 14 are the Lord's commands for us. The logic of this argument is telling, indeed devastating. In the light of it, how can you remain a member of such a church, or be willing to fellowship them?
As a footnote to this section, it is highly significant that those sects which claim to speak in tongues have been scientifically proven to have higher levels of depression compared to people from other backgrounds. Keith Meador, Professor of Psychiatry at Vanderbilt University, U.S.A., undertook a major study analyzing the relationship between depression and religious background. He found that "the rate of serious depression...among Pentecostal Christians was 5.4% compared to 1.7% for the entire survey group". The results of his work are written up in the journal, 'Hospital and Community Psychiatry', Dec., 1992.
An interesting article, reaching the same conclusion, appeared in the International Herald Tribune, Feb. 11, 1993; the title speaks for itself: "Pentecostals top charts when it comes to the blues". Why is this? Surely it must be related to the fact that the 'experience' of spirit-possession, which Pentecostals (and others) claim, is no more than a painful psychological con-trick.
2.4 The Withdrawal of the Gifts
The miraculous gifts of God's spirit will be used again by the believers in order to change this present world into God's Kingdom, after the return of Christ. The gifts are therefore called "the powers of the world (age) to come" (Heb. 6:4,5); and Joel 2:26-29 describes a great outpouring of the spirit gifts after the repentance of Israel. The very fact that these gifts will be given to the believers on Christ's return is proof enough that they are not possessed now - seeing that to any Christian with eyes open to both Scripture and world events, the Lord's return must surely be soon (see Appendix 3).
There are clear Biblical prophecies that at some point in time between the first century, when the gifts were possessed, and the second coming, the gifts were to be withdrawn:-
"Whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be (the gift of) 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" (1 Cor. 13:8-10). The gifts "are temporary" (G.N.B.).
The spirit gifts possessed in the first century were to be withdrawn "when that which is perfect is come". This cannot be the second coming of Christ, seeing that at that time the gifts will be given again. The Greek word translated "perfect" strictly means 'that which is full or complete'; it does not necessarily mean something sinless.
This complete thing would replace the partial knowledge which the early Christians had as a result of the gift of prophecy. Remember that prophecy was the gift of speaking forth the inspired words of God; it is the written record of such words which makes up the Bible.
In the first century, the average believer would only have known a fraction of the New Testament as we know it. He would have heard some words of prophecy from the elders of his church about various practical issues; he would have known the outline of the life of Jesus, and may well have heard one or two of Paul's letters read out. But once the written record of the words of prophecy was completed and circulated, there was no need for the gift of prophecy to still be possessed. That which was complete, and which thereby replaced the ministry of the spirit gifts, was therefore the completed New Testament:-
"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect (complete)" (2 Tim. 3:16,17).
That which makes perfect, or complete, is "all scripture"; so once "all scripture" was inspired and written, "that which was complete" had come, and the miraculous gifts were withdrawn.
Ephesians 4:8-14 now slots into place to nicely complete the jigsaw puzzle:-
"When he (Jesus) ascended up on high (to heaven), he...gave (spirit) gifts unto men...for the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come in (unto) the unity of the faith (i.e. the one faith), and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man...That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine."
The gifts of the first century were to be given until the perfect, or mature, man was reached, and 2 Tim. 3:16,17 says that "the man of God (is) perfect" through accepting the guidance of "all scripture". Col. 1:28 also teaches that 'perfection' comes from response to God's Word. Once all Scripture is possessed, there is no longer any real excuse for being puzzled by the multitude of doctrines offered by various churches. There is only one Bible, and as "thy Word is truth" (Jn. 17:17), through study of its pages we can find the "unity of the faith", the one faith which Eph. 4:13 speaks of. True Christians have therefore reached the possession of that one faith; in that sense they are complete ("perfect") as a result of "that which is perfect" or complete - the written, completed Word of God.
In passing, note how Eph. 4:14 likens being under the ministry of the miraculous gifts, to spiritual childhood; and, in the context of prophesying, how the miraculous gifts were to be taken away. 1 Cor. 13:11 says the same. Making such a fuss about possessing the spirit gifts is therefore not a sign of spiritual maturity. The progress each reader of these words should now make is towards a deeper appreciation of the written Word of God, to rejoice in the completeness of God's basic revelation of Himself to us through it, and to respond to it in humble obedience.
Present Claims Of Spirit Possession
Finally, a number of other points have to be made concerning the repeated claims of those who think they now possess the miraculous gifts:-
- Present "speaking in tongues" tends to repeat the same short syllables over and over again, e.g. "Lala, lala, lala, shama, shama. Jesus, Jesus...". This is not in the syntax associated with any language; when one hears someone speak in a foreign tongue, it is usually possible to discern that they are communicating something by the pattern of words they use, although we may not understand those words. Yet modern tongue-speaking does not feature this, underlining the fact that it is not providing edification, which was the purpose of the first century gifts.
- Some Pentecostals claim that speaking in tongues is a sign of being "saved" and will therefore accompany every true conversion. This claim runs into serious difficulty with the description of the early churches as a body, in which those possessing different gifts were like the different parts. Not everyone was an arm or leg, and so likewise not everyone possessed any one gift, e.g. tongues. 1 Cor. 12:17, 27-30 makes this clear:-
"If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling?...Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles? Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?"
The same point was made earlier in that chapter:-
"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. For as the body is one,and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body; so also is Christ" (1 Cor. 12:8-12).
Such emphasis cannot just be disregarded.
Another problem for the Pentecostal argument is that Philip converted many people in Samaria - i.e. they were baptized in water after understanding the Gospel, but they did not receive the Spirit gifts; because after this, Peter and John came to them: "Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit...then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit...Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Spirit was given" (Acts 8:4-18). It is possible that the passing on of the Spirit gifts was only by this laying on of hands, which is not frequently practiced by modern claimants.
Other Pentecostals say that tongue-speaking is not a proof of having been saved. This highlights the fact that there are major doctrinal differences between those claiming to possess the gifts. Thus some 'charismatics' believe that God's Kingdom will be on earth, while others say it is in heaven. Catholic 'charismatics' claim that the Holy Spirit tells them to worship Mary and the Pope, whilst some Pentecostal 'charismatics' say that their possession of the Holy Spirit orders them to denounce the Pope as antichrist, and to condemn Catholic doctrine. Yet Jesus stated beyond doubt that those possessing the Comforter, "which is the Holy Spirit", would be guided "into all truth...in that day ye shall (need to) ask me nothing...the Comforter...shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you" (Jn. 16:13,23;4:26).
There should not be any split in fundamental doctrine amongst those who possess the Comforter - the fact that there is, indicates that those claiming its possession just cannot be taken seriously. The marked inability of some of these claimants to Biblically justify their beliefs indicates that they have not been guided into all truth and total knowledge by the Comforter.
- The great importance attached by some to speaking in tongues is mismatched with the Biblical record. The list of Spirit gifts in Eph. 4:11 does not even mention it, and it occurs at the bottom of a similar list in 1 Cor. 12:28-30. Indeed, there are only three occasions recorded in the New Testament where the gift was used (Acts 2:4; 10:46; 19:6).
The claims of tongue-speaking and miracles being achieved by modern charismatic Christians must be weighed against the considerable information which we have presented in this study concerning the work of God's Spirit. The fundamental point to make is that whatever such people claim to achieve, it cannot be as a result of their possession of the Holy Spirit. Whoever argues that they do possess the gifts, has a hefty homework to do in answering the Biblical arguments which we have presented.
However, it is reasonable to expect some explanation of why the phenomena of partial healings and 'tongues' (in the sense of 'mumbo-jumbo' speaking) occur.
It has been realized that human beings only use a fraction of their brain-power - as low as 1%, according to some estimates. It is also recognized that the mind can have an almost 'physical' control over the body; thus through psyching themselves to believe that fire cannot burn, Hindus have walked on fire barefoot without being burnt. In times of stimulus, it is possible for us to use a far greater percentage of our brain-power than usual, and therefore to have the capacity to achieve physical effects with, and upon, our body which are outside of normal experience. Thus, in the excitement of battle, a soldier may be quite unaware that his hand has been blown off until hours afterwards.
In conditions of fervent religious belief and the stimulation of certain music, with the influence of a charismatic leader, it is quite possible that things outside the realm of normal human experience will occur. The 'miracles' claimed by 'Christians' of today are of the same order of exceptionality as the paranormal experiences of other religions; thus voodoo worshippers experience the same phenomena of 'mumbo-jumbo' speaking, and Muslims can also testify to 'miracles' of a similar order to those claimed by modern Christianity. Yet the whole point of the Spirit gifts being possessed in the first century was to show the obvious supremacy of true Christianity over all other religions; the fact that the 'miracles' of present-day Christianity are of a similar order to those of other religions, shows that the Holy Spirit gifts of the first century are not now possessed.
Much significant information in this area is presented in William Campbell's 'Pentecostalism' (The Churches of Christ, 1967). He shows that many pagan religions have this same feature of 'tongue' speaking. Thus in Kawaii, the priests of the god Oro supposedly reveal his will with indistinct sounds which are interpreted by other priests. Exactly the same occurs in Pentecostal meetings.
The continuing triumph of Islam over Christianity in much of Africa would surely not be seen if popular 'Christianity' were doing real miracles of the scale and convicting power of those in the first century. And those who truly possess the "Comforter" of the Holy Spirit gifts will do even "greater works" than those Jesus did (Jn. 14:12,16). The excuse that Christians could do such miracles if they had more faith, meets big problems here. Either they possess the miraculous gifts of the Comforter, or they do not, and if they claim that they do - "greater works than these shall ye do" (Jn. 14:12) - not 'you might do'!
2.5 The Bible The Only Authority
From what we have seen so far in this study, God's spirit refers to His mind and purpose, and to the power by which He puts those things into operation. We have emphasized that that spirit is expressly revealed to us in the pages of God's Word. The many problems of contemporary Christianity all come down to a dire lack of appreciation of this. Because it is hard to believe that such great power is vested in one book, parts of which we find hard to understand, it is tempting to feel that there is some other form of God's revelation to men, other than the Bible. Because our fundamentally faulty human nature (Jer. 17:9) finds the pure truth of God's Word (Jn. 17:17) so hard to stomach, many have given in to this temptation by claiming other forms of revelation which are more attractive to the natural mind. A few examples are now given:-
Religion Other form of Human advantage/ revelation claimed attraction of this
Jehovah's Publications of the No personal effort required to Witnesses Watchtower Society, think out the correct interpretation which are treated as of the Bible; an answer for every-inspired. thing.
Roman The pronouncements No need for personal Bible reading Catholicism by the Pope and - in the past, Catholicism has opinions of priests, discouraged and even forbidden this. which they claim are Trusting in men rather than having to automatically the make the effort to verify things for true reflection of oneself. God's mind.
Mormons The Book of Takes away the need to believe in Mormon Biblical doctrines which are hard to accept - the Book of Mormon offers a chance of universal salvation, whilst the Bible says that there are many people who live and die with no hope through not being called to a knowledge of the Gospel.
Charismatic An 'inner They believe whatever they feel is Christianity light' right as, it is thought, God's Spirit is which is claimed to guiding and inspiring them in ways be the Holy Spirit. unconnected with the Bible
All this underlines the need for a fundamental acceptance of the Bible as God's Word, and to search its pages for the true message. The question, "One Bible, Many Churches - Why?" is largely answered when it is appreciated how each church has, to some degree, claimed another form of revelation of God's Spirit, i.e. His will, doctrine and thinking, in addition to that of the Bible.
If you wish to find the one true church, the one true faith and the one true baptism (Eph. 4:4-6), the call must be coming to you loud and clear - "Back to the Bible!"
Digression 4: Is the Holy Spirit a person?
Study 2.1 and 2.2 have given ample evidence that God's spirit refers to His power, which reflects His "mind" in a very broad way. Because the way God's spirit acts is such an accurate reflector of the essence and personality of God, some have argued that God's spirit is a person who is also God. A careful re-reading of the previous sections will show that God's spirit is His mind and power; if that is so, then there is no way that a mind or power can be a person. Electricity is an unseen power that can produce results for the person controlling it, but it cannot be a person. Love is a part of someone's character, but it cannot be a person. God's spirit includes His love, as part of His character, and also refers to His power, but in no way can it refer to a person who is separate from Him.
Obvious and glaring as this mistaken view (of the spirit being a person) appears to be, it is believed by the majority of 'Christians', seeing that they believe in the doctrine of the 'trinity'. This effectively states that there are three gods who are somehow also the same - God the Father, the Holy Spirit and Jesus. The same people claim that God is not a person, and yet they say that the Holy Spirit is; there is a flat contradiction here. Also, it would make the Holy Spirit the father of Jesus.
There is good reason to believe that the 'trinity' was fundamentally a pagan idea imported into Christianity - hence the word does not occur in the Bible. Having accepted this idea that God is a trinity, Christians are then forced to reach the positively weird conclusion that somehow God's power/spirit is a person, who is also God, although not God. When confronted with the illogicality of their position, the most popular escape route is for such people to claim that God is a mystery, and we should accept such things in faith without requiring a logical explanation.
This pointedly overlooks the references in the New Testament to the mystery of God being revealed through the word and work of Christ:-
"I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery" (Rom. 11:25).
"The preaching of Jesus...the revelation of the mystery" (Rom. 16:25).
"I shew (explain to) you a mystery..." (1 Cor. 15:51).
"Having made known unto us the mystery of his will" (Eph. 1:9; 3:3).
Paul's preaching was "to make known the mystery of the Gospel" (Eph. 6:19; Col. 4:3).
"The mystery...now is made manifest to his saints" (Col. 1: 26,27).
With all this emphasis - and it is that - on there not now being any mystery attached to fundamental doctrines, it will only be someone still in darkness who will claim that there is. And does such a person not worry that the Bible's name for "Babylon", the system of false religion described in Revelation, is "Mystery" (Rev. 17:5)? The obvious implication is that this system proclaims that its beliefs are a mystery; but the true believers understand the mystery of that woman (Rev. 17:7).
Such hazy reasoning is, of course, to be expected from those who base their understanding of God on subjective things like human experience, or the nebulous, undefined activity of some external spiritual force upon their minds. If we are expected to be truly humble to the teaching of God's Word, it follows that we are also required to use basic powers of reasoning and deduction in order to discover its message.
Never did any preacher of the Gospel, recorded in the Bible, resort to saying, 'This is a complete mystery, you cannot begin to understand it'. Instead, we read of them appealing to people through reason and drawing logical conclusions from Scripture.
In his preaching of the type of Gospel fundamentals which we are considering in these Studies, Paul "reasoned with them out of the Scriptures, opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again" (Acts 17:2,3). Here was systematic, logical Bible reasoning par excellence; and the record prefaces this sentence with, "Paul, as his manner was...reasoned...". This was, therefore, his usual style (see also Acts 18:19). In keeping with this, during the great campaign at Corinth, Paul "reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews...(but) when they opposed themselves..." (Acts 18:4-6). Those who were converted went through a process of persuasion by Paul's Bible-based reasoning; here was no 'vision of Jesus in my bedroom', 'an indescribable feeling came on me', 'I just met the Lord one evening'.
Notice, too, that the inspired record makes an appeal to logic and rationality, by pointing out that they "opposed themselves". Likewise at Antioch, Paul and Barnabus "speaking (the word) to them, persuaded them..." (Acts 13:43). Their next stop was Iconium, where they "so spake, that a great multitude...believed" (Acts 14:1).
As he stood trial for his life a while later, the same glorious logic continued to inspire Paul's sure hope for the future: "He reasoned of righteousness, temperance and judgment to come" with such penetrating clarity that even his cynical, laid-back judge "trembled" (Acts 24:25).
Because our conversion should be based on such a process of reasoning, we should be able to give a logical Biblical account of our hope and doctrine:-
"Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you" (1 Pet. 3:15).
To talk in a sober voice about one's personal experiences is not giving a reason of the Gospel hope. The continual reliance on 'personal testimony' as a means of preaching by many 'evangelical' Christians, highlights the lack of "reasoned answer" for their "hope". A whole vocabulary has arisen amongst such Christians to enable them to 'share what the Lord has done in my life' etc. Such personal anecdotes contrast sharply with the words of Paul, "We preach not ourselves, but Christ" (2 Cor. 4:5) - and that from a man who 'had a personal relationship with Jesus' more than most.
The logical, Biblically reasonable manner of our conversion should set the pattern for our wider relationship with God through the rest of our days. Our examples, as always, are the first Christians who used "reason" to figure out the solutions to their problems of administration (Acts 6:2). The New Testament letters also assume their readers' acceptance of using Biblical logic. Thus "by reason of" what the High Priests were like under the Law of Moses, we can understand details about the work of Christ (Heb. 5:3). Having spoken of the surpassing love of God in Christ, Paul urges that it is "your reasonable (Greek 'logikos' - i.e. logical) service" to totally dedicate ourselves to Him in response (Rom. 12:1). The word ''logikos' is derived from the Greek 'logos', which is the word normally translated "the word" with reference to God's Word. Our "logical" response in Biblical terms is therefore one which is derived from God's Word.
In the light of all this, it should be apparent that it is illogical to claim that the spirit of God is a personal being who is not God and yet is God - and that to counter this by saying that the whole thing is mysterious, and that logic is irrelevant, is just not acceptable in Biblical terms. If we cannot draw logical conclusions from the Scriptures, then all Bible study is vain, and there is no need for the Bible, which can be treated just as sweet platitudes or a piece of fascinating literature. This is all it seems to be on many Christians' bookshelves.
However, to their credit, some who believe that the Spirit of God is a person do try to give Biblical reasons. The verses quoted are those which speak of God's spirit in personal language, e.g. as "the comforter" in Jn. 14-16, or reference to the spirit being "grieved".
We demonstrate in Study 4.3 that a man's "spirit" can be stirred up (Acts 17:16), made troubled (Gen. 41:8) or happy (Luke 10:21). His "spirit", i.e. his very essence, his mind and purpose, which gives rise to his actions, is therefore spoken of as a separate person, but, of course, this is not literally so. God's spirit, too, can be spoken of in the same way.
It must also be understood that the Bible often uses the language of personification when talking about abstract things, e.g. wisdom is referred to as a woman in Prov. 9:1. This is to demonstrate to us what a person who has wisdom would be like in practice; 'wisdom' cannot exist except in someone's mind, and so this device of personification is used. For more on this, see Digression 5, "The Principle of Personification".
Digression 5: The Principle Of Personification
Some may find it difficult to accept the explanation of the personification of the devil, because the devil is so often referred to in the Bible as if it were a person and perhaps this confuses some people. This is easily explained by pointing out that it is a recognized feature of the Bible that inanimate or non-living things such as wisdom, riches, sin, the church are personified, but only in the case of the devil is some fantastic theory woven around it. The following examples will illustrate the point:-
WISDOM IS PERSONIFIED.
"Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding. For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her" (Proverbs 3:13-15).
"Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars" (Proverbs 9:1).
These verses, and indeed the rest of the chapters in which they appear, show that wisdom is personified as a woman, but because of this, no-one has the idea that wisdom is a literal beautiful woman who roams around the earth; all recognize that it is a very desirable characteristic which all people should try to acquire.
RICHES ARE PERSONIFIED.
"No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other: or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon" (Matthew 6:24).
Here, riches are likened to a master. Many people strive very hard to gain riches and in this way they become their master. Jesus is here telling us that we cannot do that and serve God acceptably at the same time. The teaching is simple and effective, but no-one assumes from this that riches is a man named Mammon.
SIN IS PERSONIFIED.
"...Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin" (John 8:34). "Sin hath reigned unto death" (Romans 5:21). "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?" (Romans 6:16).
As in the case of riches, sin is likened here to a master and those who commit sin are its servants. No reasonable reading of the passage justifies assuming that Paul is teaching that sin is a person.
THE SPIRIT IS PERSONIFIED.
"When he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself..." (John 16:13).
Jesus is here telling His disciples that they would receive the power of the Holy Spirit, and this was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost, as recorded in Acts 2:3-4, where it is stated that "there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit", which gave them remarkable power to do wonderful things to prove that their authority was from God. The Holy Spirit was not a person, it was a power, but when Jesus was speaking of it He used the personal pronoun "he".
DEATH IS PERSONIFIED
"Behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death" (Rev.6:8).
THE NATION OF ISRAEL IS PERSONIFIED.
"Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel; thou shalt again be adorned with thy tabrets..." (Jeremiah 31:4). "I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the Lord my God" (Jeremiah 31:18).
The context of these passages reveals clearly that the prophet is not referring to a literal virgin or to Ephraim as a person, but to the nation of Israel, which in this instance is personified, in a similar manner as Great Britain is sometimes personified as 'Britannia' or 'John Bull'. There are no such persons as this woman and man, but when they are referred to in books or portrayed in pictures everyone knows that Great Britain is meant.
THE BELIEVERS IN CHRIST ARE PERSONIFIED.
"Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:13). "There is one body" (Ephesians 4:4). "Ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular" (1 Cor. 12:27). "...Christ is the head of the church: and He is the saviour of the body" (Ephesians 5:23). "He (Christ) is the head of the body, the church:...who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church" (Colossians 1:18,24). "I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ" (2 Cor. 11:2). "...the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready" (Rev. 19:7).
All these verses obviously refer to the community of people who were the true believers in Christ, sometimes referred to as "the church", though this must not be confused with any of the present orthodox churches, which have long since ceased to be the true believers in Christ.
The true believers, that is, those who hold and believe the true doctrines taught in the Bible, are referred to as a "chaste virgin", indicating the purity of the lives they should lead, and as a "body", a suitable figure because just as a natural body has many functions, so the true church has many responsibilities and performs various functions. When the church is referred to as a "body", no-one mistakes it for an individual, nor would they mistake the devil or satan for a grotesque monster or fallen angel had the words been properly translated, or if men and women had not acquired wrong ideas derived from the false churches in days gone by.
Adapted from "Christendom Astray" by Robert Roberts.
Digression 6: Calvinism
A few hundred years ago, Calvin taught the idea that there was predestination of our lives, so that our freewill decisions have no effect upon our salvation; we are either predestinated to salvation or to rejection. This notion has resurfaced in several modern ideas:
- That there is no point in making a great effort in Bible study or religion, because if we are to be saved then we will be anyway.
- That there is a being called the devil who forces us to sin and brings problems into our lives regardless of our own will. This false notion is discussed in Study 6.
- That there is no need to ask for God's care in the situations of life, e.g. for safe keeping when travelling, because everything is predestinated anyway. The world has a saying, often overheard in airport departure lounges, 'If your number's going to come up, it will'.
- Evangelical churches teach that it is impossible to believe or understand the Bible without the Holy Spirit making us do so.
There are many sound Biblical reasons for rejecting this kind of philosophy:-
- It makes a nonsense of the whole concept of obedience to God. We are continually told in the Bible that we must keep God's commands, and by doing so we can give Him pleasure or displeasure. This concept of commandments is meaningless if God is forcing us to be obedient. Christ offers salvation "unto all them that obey him" (Heb.5:9).
- Hebrews 11 shows that God's intervention in our lives and ultimate granting of salvation is related to our faith. The many Biblical examples of praying to God for deliverance in time of trouble are meaningless if everything is totally predestinated. Likewise the idea of salvation being the result of our faith in Christ is also made meaningless.
- Baptism is a pre-requisite for salvation (Mark 16:16; John 3:3-5). This is denied by Calvinists. However, salvation was made possible on account of the work of Christ (2 Tim.1:10), not through the abstract concept of predestination. We must consciously choose to associate ourselves with Him, which we do through baptism. Romans 6:15-17 speaks of us changing masters at baptism, from a life of sin to one of obedience. "To whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are". This language of yielding oneself clearly implies freewill as opposed to unconditional predestination. The yielding is through obeying from the heart the doctrines of the Gospel (Rom.6:17).
- There is no point in God speaking forth His word, if we are ultimately predestinated anyway. There is also no point in preaching; yet the Bible, both in command and by recording examples of this, shows that it is through the preaching of the word that men and women come to salvation. "The word of...salvation" (Acts 13:26) has to go forth to men.
- We will be judged according to our works (Rev.22:12). Why, if our freewill actions are unimportant in relation to salvation? Paul said that the Jews judged themselves to be unworthy of eternal life by their rejection of the word of God (Acts 13:46). They were judging themselves - God was not preventing them. If we say that God is predestinating some people to salvation and others to condemnation, then God is effectively forcing people to be sinners, in the same way as He supposedly forces people to be righteous. Because of Adam's sin, "death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned" (Romans 5:12). This is why men die, as a punishment for sin (Rom.6:23), not because God forced them to be sinners at some point in time before Adam's sin.
- 1 Cor.10 and many other passages hold up the example of those in the past who once had a relationship with God, but then fell away, as being warnings to believers. The fact that it is possible to 'fall from grace' (Gal.5:4) means that there cannot be a 'once saved always saved' system of salvation as required by Calvinism. Only by continuing to hold true doctrine can we be saved (1 Tim.4:16).
- Jesus clearly taught that understanding God's word is dependent to some degree upon our freewill effort. "Whoso readeth, let him understand" (Matt.24:15). Thus we let ourselves understand the word - we are not forced to. There is a parallel between this and the oft repeated words of Jesus, "He that hath ears to hear...let him hear", or understand. Having ears to hear therefore equates with reading God's word. Because God's Spirit is so supremely manifested through His word to the extent that Jesus could say that His inspired words "are Spirit" (Jn.6:63), it is impossible that God's Spirit would work on a man, apart from His word, in order to force the man to be obedient to the word.
- "Whosoever will" can "take of the water of life freely" (Rev.22:17), through responding to the word of life found in the Gospel. Here surely is freewill rather than predestination irrespective of our personal desire for salvation. Likewise Acts 2:21 "Whosoever shall call on (himself) the name of the Lord shall be saved" through being baptized into that name.
Digression 7: "Ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38).
Peter addressed the large crowd on Pentecost, concluding with the appeal in v. 38 to repent, be baptized and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This reference to the gift of God's spirit is in the context of the apostles having used those gifts in speaking in tongues to the crowd, explaining that by doing so they were providing a fulfilment of Joel's prophecy about the giving of the miraculous gifts (Acts 2:16-20). It is therefore reasonable to assume that Peter was promising the miraculous gifts of the spirit to that crowd of Jews who were listening to him. The crowd was composed of Jews, not Gentiles (Acts 2:5). Joel's prophecy of the giving of the gifts was primarily concerning the Jews. Thus Peter makes the point to them: "The promise is unto you, and to your children" (Acts 2:39), perhaps referring to Joel's prophecy that the spirit would be given to the Jews and to their children (Acts 2:17 cp. Joel 2:28-32). There may also be a hint here that the promise of these miraculous gifts was only to those two generations - those listening to Peter, and their children.
We have shown that by the end of the first century (i.e. about 70 years after Peter's speech), the gifts had died out. This is also confirmed by the record of history. During those two generations the gifts of the spirit would have also been available to Gentiles: "And to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call" (Acts 2:39). Note how the Gentiles are described as "those afar off" in Eph. 2:14-17.
However, there is good reason to believe that what happened in Acts 2 was only a small fulfilment of those words of Joel 2. The major fulfilment will be when Israel has been invaded and the attacking army destroyed (Joel 2:20), and when Israel have repented and are living in happy fellowship with God (2:27). "And it shall come to pass afterward (i.e. after this), that I will pour out my spirit..." (Joel 2:28). Not until those preconditions are seen can we look for any other fulfilment of Joel's words, apart from that smaller fulfilment which was seen on the day of Pentecost as described in Acts 2.
The promise of receiving the gift of the spirit after baptism, can still be read with some reference to us today. There is one Spirit, but it can be manifested in various ways (1 Cor. 12:4-7; Eph. 4:4). In the first century this was through the miraculous gifts; now that they have been withdrawn it is quite legitimate to see a fulfilment of this "gift of the Spirit" promise in another way. The "gift of the Holy Spirit" can refer to 'the gift which is the Holy Spirit', or to 'the gift which the Holy Spirit speaks about' - i.e. the gift of forgiveness and salvation which the Spirit-inspired word of God had promised. There are plenty of other examples of this use of the word "of" (the 'ambiguous genitive', to be technical). "The knowledge of God" (Col.1:10) can mean the knowledge which God has, or the knowledge about God. "The love of God" and "the love of Christ" (1 Jn.4:9; 3:17; 2 Cor.5:14) can mean the love which God and Jesus have for us; or the love which we have to them. "The word of God" can mean the word about God, or the word which came from God. The gift "of" the Holy Spirit can therefore refer to the gift which the Holy Spirit makes possible and speaks about, as well as the gift which consists of the Holy Spirit powers.
The Gift Of The Spirit: Forgiveness?
Rom.5:16 and 6:23 describe salvation as "the gift"- inviting comparison with "the gift" of the Spirit in Acts 2:38. Indeed Acts 2:39 seems to be quoting Joel 2:32 concerning salvation as if this is what the gift of the Spirit was. Peter's reference to the promised gift being to those "afar off" alludes to Is.57:19: "Peace (with God through forgiveness) to him that is far off". Eph.2:8 also describes the gift as being salvation, saying that "by one Spirit (this gift) we all have access to the Father" (2:18). This is further validated by the fact that Eph.2:13-17 is also alluding to Is.57:19: "Ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For He is our peace...(who) came and preached peace to you which were far off". Isaiah 30:1 condemns the Jews for seeking forgiveness their own way rather than by the gift of God's Spirit: they " cover with a covering (atonement), but not of my Spirit, that they may add (rather than subtract) sin to sin". Is.44:3 describes the latter day forgiveness of Israel in similar terms: "I will pour...floods upon the dry ground (spiritually barren -Is.53:2): I will pour My Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring". The blessing of Abraham's seed is in their forgiveness through Christ (Acts 3:25,26) - which is here paralleled with the pouring out of the spirit upon the Jews. This is clearly the language of Joel 2 and Acts 2. Gal.3:4 puts all this in so many words: "That the blessing of Abraham (forgiveness) might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit". Thus 1 Cor.6:11 speaks of being washed from our sins "by the spirit of our God". There is a parallelism in Romans between us receiving "grace...the atonement...the spirit" (1:5; 5:11; 8:15), showing the connection between the gift ("grace") of the Spirit and the forgiveness which leads to the atonement. It is hard to overstate how much the New Testament builds on the language and concepts of the Old Testament, especially in view of the primarily Jewish readership and influence the epistles would have had. Time and again in the Pentateuch and Joshua God promises to give the land to His people - "the land that the Lord thy God giveth thee to possess it", is a common phrase. The counterpart of the land under the new covenant is salvation; that is therefore the gift of God now in prospect, with its associated forgiveness of sins.
Gal. 3:2,5 cp. 3:8-11, parallels the receiving of the spirit with receiving the Abrahamic blessings of salvation and forgiveness. "The promise of the spirit" (Gal. 3:14) is spoken of in the context of the promises to Abraham.
Peter asked the Jews to repent before they could receive the gift; this would have involved personal prayer. There seems reason to believe that the gift of the Spirit is a way of describing answered prayer. The giving of "good things to them that ask" in prayer is the same as the giving (gift) of the Holy Spirit (Matt.7:11 cp. Lk.11:13). Phil.1:19 parallels "Your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ". Similarly, 1 Jn.3:24 says that we are given the Spirit as a result of our obedience to the commands; verse 22 says that obedience to those commands leads to our prayers being answered. Thus our confidence is due to having our prayers heard (1 Jn.5:14) and also due to having the Spirit (1 Jn.3:21,24; 4:13), seeing these are parallel expressions.
A word study of the Greek word 'charis', often translated "grace", will show that it is often used in connection with the gift of the Spirit.
"Through the grace (gift) of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved" (Acts 15:11). Yet the idea of "grace" is often connected with answered prayer (e.g. Ex.33:12; 34:9; Num.32:5; Ps.84:11; 2 Cor.12:9; Heb.4:16; James 4:6 cp. v.3). Zech.12:10 speaks of the last day outpouring of "the spirit of grace and supplications" upon the Jews. This summarizes what we are suggesting - that prayer ("supplications") brings about the gift of the spirit in the sense of forgiveness, and that this giving of the spirit to answer prayer is exemplified in the Jewish repentance of the first century and last days. In the same context Paul speaks of, "The gifts and calling of God" to repentance and forgiveness (Rom.11:29).
The Comforter
The same approach can be applied to the promise of the Comforter in John chs. 14 and 16. Primarily this referred to the miraculous powers given to the disciples, to whom the promise was first made, and can also apply to us in a non-miraculous sense. The gifts were to "bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you" (Jn. 14:26), presumably to enable the writing of the Gospel records. The word "remembrance" in itself limits the miraculous element of the Comforter promise to the disciples, who had lived with Jesus during his ministry. Only they could have the words of Jesus brought back to their memory by the Comforter. The language of the "Comforter" promises is also applicable to the power of the completed Bible. Therefore we can conclude that these and other promises of the spirit were fulfilled in a miraculous form in the first century, but now apply to us in the manifestation of the spirit through the written Word of God in the Bible.
It is, of course, true that God's spirit was revealed through the written word in the past, but this was only a partial revelation compared to the fulness ("perfection") which we now have in the completed Word of God (1 Cor. 13:9-13). It follows from this that there cannot have been any other written revelation from God after the withdrawal of the gifts at the completion of the New Testament. The claims of the Book of Mormon and other similar productions, imply that the Bible is not the full revelation
- which the absence of the Spirit gifts today prove that it is. If we are to make full use of the fullness of God's revelation in the Bible, we must use every part of it, both Old and New Testaments, only then can the man of God start to be as complete as the fullness of God, revealed in the Word.
Digression 8: "These signs shall follow them that believe" (Mark 16:17).
It has been argued from this, that anyone who truly believes will receive the miraculous gifts. However, this proves too much - "they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover" (Mk. 16:18). This is no promise of things which might theoretically happen if the believer had enough faith; these were sure promises of what would definitely be done by believers. Unless miracles of this magnitude are clearly performed, the promise of this verse cannot apply to us at the present time. You may recall how Paul was able to hold a poisonous snake without being bitten (Acts 28:3-7), resulting in the confirmation of his preaching as being from God.
Of all the charismatic Christians who have claimed to possess the gifts during the past one hundred years, there has been no realistic evidence of such powers being exercised. Unless every believer can and does perform signs of such magnitude, this promise cannot apply today. This leaves us with the conclusion which we have already drawn from our survey of Bible teaching about the Spirit: these miraculous gifts were possessed by the early Christian believers in the first century, but they ceased to be possessed after the New Testament Scriptures were completed.
The final verse of Mark 16 suggests that the miracles "following" those who believed were for the specific purpose of confirming the spoken word of the Gospel: "These signs shall follow them that believe...they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following" (Mk.16:17,20). Once that spoken word was written down in completeness, as we now have it in the New Testament, there was no more need for the miraculous signs to follow those who believed.
Footnote: So widespread are the claims of present possession of the Spirit gifts that in 1989 two public debates were held between a Charismatic Christian Pastor, John Liliekas, and two Christadelphians, Mr. John Allfree and the present writer. The motion was: "Are the Miraculous Gifts of the Holy Spirit Possessed Today?" Invitations were sent to many churches throughout the U.K., resulting in a combined audience of over 1,000. It is reasonable to assume that the very best 'evidence' for the current possession of the gifts was presented. A transcript of the proceedings is available from: The Dawn Book Supply, 66 Carlton Road, Nottingham NG3 2AP, England.
STUDY 2: Questions
1. Which of the following are meanings of the word 'Spirit'?
a) Power b) Holy
c) Breath d) Dust.
2. What is the Holy Spirit?
a) A person
b) Power
c) God's power
d) Part of a trinity.
3. How was the Bible written?
a) Men wrote down their own ideas
b) Men wrote what they thought God meant
c) Through the inspiration of men, by God's Spirit
d) Some of it was inspired, other parts were not.
4. Which of the following are reasons why the miraculous gifts of the Spirit were given?
a) To back up the verbal preaching of the Gospel
b) To develop the early church
c) To force people to be righteous
d) To save the apostles from personal difficulties.
5. From where can we learn God's truth?
a) Partly from the Bible, partly from our own thinking
b) From the Holy Spirit telling us things directly, apart from Bible reading
c) From the Bible alone
d) From religious ministers/ priests.
6. Name some of the spirit gifts possessed in the first century.
7. When were they withdrawn? Is it possible to have them now?
8. How can the Holy Spirit work in our lives today?