What Changed My Mind About Cessationism

It was nearly 11 years ago that I reviewed John MacArthur's, Strange Fire, which addresses the issue of spiritual gifts in particular the sign gifts. The issue is whether or not these gifts have ceased or if they are still in continuation in the church today. When I wrote the review, I wrote it as a charismatic with seat belt meaning that I believe the gifts were in operation today, but we have to be cautious when using them and being allow them being used in the church. 

I also want to confess that I misunderstood what MacArthur was saying the book wasn't about the gifts of teaching and exhortation, but dealt with the sign gifts of healing, tongues, and prophecy. Thankfully I already knew there were no Apostles today because of what was said in the books of Acts:

Therefore it is necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us—beginning with the baptism of John until the day that He was taken up from us—one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection (Acts 1:21-22).

It was not until a few years later that I had a shift in my theology regarding the sign gifts. I want to take the time to express what changed by mind about being a cessationist. In this post, I want to briefly share my theological reasons, and then dive into the practical reasons in the next post.

First, when you take a look at the list of the gifts in 1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12, Ephesians 4, and 1 Peter 4, prophecy, miracles and healings were only mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12 but not the other chapters. 1 Corinthians were written before the other three letters so during the early church age it appears that the sign gifts were dwindling away for the number of Apostles was not getting any greater for there were no other Apostles after Paul who saw the resurrected Christ on the road to Damascus in Acts 9,

Second, 1 Corinthians 12 says the Spirit is the one who gives the gifts. The Spirit of God gives the gifts as He sees fit. Many charismatics are trying to get people to force them to heal and/or speak in tongues when it is not given them as a gift. I should know. I tried it. After listening to a sermon from John Osteen, the father of Joel Osteen, he mentioned saying a prayer and let the Spirit utter words from your mouth. I did that and nothing happened because the Spirit did not give me the gift of tongues.

Third, there is no instruction on how to speak in tongues in the Bible. Jesus taught us to pray, but He did not teach the disciples to speak in tongues nor did any of the Apostles especially Paul, John, and Peter.

Fourth, regarding tongues, they were known languages. In Acts 2, when the Holy Spirit came on the Apostles, they were speaking the languages of the people gathered in the day of Pentecost. The gifts of tongues were not this gibberish nonsense that makes one sound like they should be a Klingon on Star Trek. 

Regarding prophecy, there have been men and women who have claimed to speak for God, but nothing ever came to pass or was ever proven true. The Bible says:

Now you may say in your heart, ‘How will we know the word which Yahweh has not spoken?’ When a prophet speaks in the name of Yahweh, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which Yahweh has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him (Deuteronomy 18:21-22).

Finally, the Bible is sufficient. God has given us that we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3), which comes from His Word. The Bible says:

And we have as more sure the prophetic word, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. Know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes by one’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever made by the will of man, but men being moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God (2 Peter 1:19-21).

God's Word is enough. We do not need a fresh word from Him. We do not need a new revelation from Him. To paraphrase the late David Miller, I don't need new revelation when I having trouble obeying the revelation I already have. 

These are my theological reasons why I changed my mind about cessationism. As I mentioned above, I will focus on the practical reasons in the next post.