Saturday, January 3, 2009
The gifts have ceased
The sign gifts spoken of in the new testament are done for people who experience them are either deleted and possibly neurotic. Or it's a trick of the devil used to confuse believers and keep unbelievers in the dark. I do not deny the sincerity of many Pentecostals or Charismatics or there salvation. I just believe from scripture that the signs have ceased and for lack of a better word miracles have ceased this is the view of B.B. Warfield and J. Gresham Machen this is my view. God still acts supernaturally in converting the sinner and preserving the earth day to day by His common Grace. But miraculous instentanious healing, speaking in tongues, prophesy those are no more never to return. Seeing that we now have the complete revelation of God in scripture. As concerns healing this is a particularly hard one to debate I believe God can soverginlly heal if He chooses to but this is rare and not comparble to the apostolic healng in any way. As an example show me one case verifiable by medical science where a person born with out a foot miraculously grew one. It cant be done because it has never happened and if one has been mentioned it is practically unprovable as to it's veracity. In fact most "cures" at healing services are nothing more then mass hypnosis in which people all ready in a highly suggestible state can appear healed only to revert back to there sickness after the service has ended. Then to make matters worse if the person is sick or becomes sick again after the service it is there fault because they did not have enough "faith." Faith is not a coin of the realm you can use to get things from God. Name it and claim it is blasphemy and the pentecostal movement even the more sedate denominations like The Assemblies of God and Church of The Four Square Gospel are at root the same as the word faith teacher. Word faith teaching did not develop in a vacuum it came out of streams of pentecostal thought so I feel the ax must be taken to the root. the gifts of the spirit ended when the cannon was complete. The Holy Ghost still works but it is through The Word of God and in the conversion of the sinner which is done by the word and the spirit. Also the indwelling of the Holy Ghost in the church age believer. We have a greater light then the believers did in the early church we have the complete Bible why trade the word of God for a few spiritual trinkets.