Book Review: The Gift of Prophecy in the New Testament and Today by Wayne Grudem

The topic of spiritual gifts has been a heated debate for some time especially in the last few years. There have been articles, books, podcasts, debates, and even documentaries addressing if certain spiritual gifts have ceased or are they still continuing in the church today. 

The gift of prophecy has been one of those gifts that have been debated on. Some of the criticism of those who believe this gift has ceased is they have based it on false teachers who have given false prophecies. Those who believe that the gift of prophecy still continues have drawn their conclusions from Scripture and their personal experience. 

One theologian who believes the gift of prophecy is Wayne Grudem, known for his classic work on Systematic Theology, which has been read and studied by many Christians whether in seminary or small group studies. Grudem has written a book, which was revised in 2000, dealing with prophecy and how it was used in the New Testament era and the church today, titled, The Gift of Prophecy in the New Testament and Today.

In this book, Grudem addresses the difference between prophecies in the Old Testament versus the New Testament. He also addressed the teaching of prophecy in 1 Corinthians which seems to be charismatics go-to when it comes to the continuing of Spiritual gifts such tongues and prophecy. Grudem writes on if all will have the gift of prophecy, which you do not have to be a cessationist to know that not everyone gets the gift of prophecy. He even makes suggestions that the gift of prophecy is a sign of God's blessing on the church and that having prophecy in the church will give people in worship a sense of awe knowing that God is in their midst. 

To be fair, Grudem does defend his positions with scripture which we should not expect anything less from someone who has written a massive theology book. Yet there are times it seemed some of his conclusions were a bit of a stretch when it came to applying his findings to the church today.

When I began reading this book, I knew about Grudem's stance when it came to prophecy so his teachings on this was no surprise. Yet, Grudem seems to be going against the Bible when it comes if a prophet misspeaks. Deuteronomy 18 is clear if a prophet speaks and it does not come to pass; it was not from Yahweh. Grudem would suggest that the New Testament, in particular 1 Corinthians 14, that a prophet can be wrong, he can speak wrongly about he claimed to hear from God, and that be challenged. This is not what prophecy in all of the Bible teaches nor do I see anything that a prophet can be wrong and put words in God's mouth he did not utter.

Grudem is a gifted theologian, and I have benefitted from many of his writings. However, this was not one of them. I am not saying this as a cessationist, I am saying this as one who loves the Bible and knows that God never studders when giving a message to His people.

I received this book from Crossway in exchange for an honest review. 

Q&A Panel Discussion at the 2024 Cessationist Conference

Scott Aniol: The Cessation of the Gift of Tongues

 This message is from the 2024 Cessationist Conference:

Tom Pennington: Cessationism Defined

This message is from the 2024 Cessationist Conference:

Virgil Walker on the Open but Cautious Approach to the Apostolic Gifts

What Changed My Mind About Cessationism - Part 2

In my previous post, I addressed theological reasons why I changed my mind regarding Cessationism. Now, I will give you my practical reasons.

First, I have never been attended a church that did not practice tongues and healing. The Spirit gives to every believer a gift to be used in service to the church. You would think tongues and healing would be used like teaching, mercy, and encouragement, but it did not. With so many in the hospital, surely someone would visit them and heal them. As one who went through cancer, no one in the church offered to heal me. People prayed for to be healed, and God used conventional means to bring about that healing.

In regard to tongues, I did attend an Assembly of God church because the girl I was dating at the time was a member of one, this was a couple of years before I met my wife. Towards the end of the service, I heard one man speak in tongues, but it was not a known language. It was gibberish and there was no interpreter which goes against scripture. The Bible says:

If anyone speaks in a tongue, it should be by two or at the most three, and each in turn, and one must translate; but if there is no translator, he must keep silent in the church, and let him speak to himself and to God (1 Corinthians 14:27-28).

Second, I can think Matt Chandler for this one. Remember when he saw pirate ship? Yep. When I first heard that, I was thinking what in the world is Matt talking about. Having a vision of a pirate ship and a shark. What did he eat before bed that night before? Matt really needs to lay off the sauce. I could not take this vision seriously nor Matt Chandler which I am glad because of Chandler embracing woke ideology.

Third, what really was the start of my progression towards Cessationism was the time I did Henry Blackaby's Experiencing God. This study has been around for 30 plus years and for many it is the go-to place to understand hearing God speak even though I do not recall any instruction on that, yet Blackaby said if you do not hear the voice of God, you are in trouble at the heart of the Christian experience. There are many who claim they cannot hear the voice of God, yet Blackaby said that is a problem. Did Jesus give any instruction on hearing the voice of God? No. John 10:27, which says, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me." This is about effectual call of God on one to come to Christ for salvation, not God telling to wear a certain kind of shirt or where to buy a Thanksgiving Turkey as Charles Stanley once claimed he did.

My final practical reason, sticking with Blackaby's study, there one part of his teaching that caused to me rethink this doctrine, was when Blackaby stated that God will explain to you the reason for your trial. In other words, he is going to give the info to your suffering. As I stated earlier, I went through cancer. For those who do not know, I was diagnosed with stage 2 Hodgkins Lymphoma. I was on chemotherapy for six months and by God's kindness was healed of cancer. I was youth pastor at a local church at the time when my pastor asked why I was given, and I could not give him a direct answer. 

Blackaby teaching says that God should give me a reason for my cancer, He has not, and I am not expecting one either. Job was never told why he went through his trial. We who have read the Bible knows that Satan was the one who afflicted him, but we are not sure why God allowed all that happened to Job. One point Jerry Bridges pointed out is neither did the inspired writer tell the reader why Job went through his suffering. I have been healed of cancer since 2008 and still am grateful to God for healing me. I will never call it a miracle because I was not dying, but he did take a dark time and used it for His glory and my good to conform me to the likeness of Christ (see Romans 8:28-30). 

Cessationism was something I did not take lightly. I looked into it carefully biblically and even through my time in various churches. You may not all agree with my conclusions and that's fine. I do hope you understand why I changed my mind about Cessationism and it wasn't because I support Grace to You, G3 and other minstries that believe in it as well.

God Bless.

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. 

The Roundtable Discussion with Osman, Peters, Storms, and Brown

This roundtable discussion with Jim Osman, Justin Peters, Sam Storms, and Michael Brown is in regards to what makes one a false teacher and the continuation of the sign gifts of the Spirit:

Justin Peters and Tom Pennington Discuss Cessationism

Recommended Resources:

A Biblical Case for Cessationism: Why the Miraculous Gifts of the Spirit Have Ended by Tom Pennington, which is based on his sermon from the Strange Fire Conference

The Final Word: A Biblical Response to the Case for Tongues and Prophecy Today by Palmer Robertson

The Cessationist documentary, which feature Pennington along with Justin Peters, Steve Lawson, Josh Buice, and more

To Be Continued?: Are the Miraculous Gifts for Today? by Sam Waldron

A Case for Cessationism

Cessationism is the belief that the Apostolic sign gifts as seen through the Apostles in the New Testament have ceased. There has been a lot of discussions on this topic and a lot of disagreements. Ten ago, John MacArthur hosted the Strange Fire conference which addresses this very topic. Tom Pennington preached a sermon during that conference giving us a good case to cessationism:

Recommended Resources:

A Biblical Case for Cessationism: Why the Miraculous Gifts of the Spirit Have Ended by Tom Pennington, which is based on his sermon from the Strange Fire Conference

The Final Word: A Biblical Response to the Case for Tongues and Prophecy Today by Palmer Robertson

The Cessationist documentary, which feature Pennington along with Justin Peters, Steve Lawson, Josh Buice, and more

To Be Continued?: Are the Miraculous Gifts for Today? by Sam Waldron

A Discussion About Cessationism with Sam Waldron and Covenant Podcast

Recently the Covenant Podcast had a discussion with Sam Waldron about Cessationism. Sam is the president of Coveant Baptist Theological Seminary. This discussion is in two parts:

Cascading into Cessationism: A Discussion on the Miraculous Gifts with Dr. Sam Waldron (Part 1)

Cascading into Cessationism: A Discussion on the Miraculous Gifts with Dr. Sam Waldron (Part 2)

Recommended Reading:

The Final Word: A Biblical Response to the Case for Tongues and Prophecy Today by Palmer Robertson

Do the Modern Gifts Meet the Biblical Standard?

In this video, Nathan Busenitz address spiritual gifts as defined by the modern Charismatic Movement:

Tom Pennington on the Biblical Case for Cesstionism

A Case for the Cessation Of Special Revelation

Cessationism is the belief that the Apostolic gifts such as healing and speaking in tongues has ceased. Cessationists are believe that special revelation has ceased. Special revelation is, as defined at Ligonier, "that revelation from God that tells us the way of salvation and what it means to live in a manner that pleases Him."

Chapter 1 in the first paragraph of the 1689 Baptist Confession says:

The Holy Scripture is the only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience, although the light of nature, and the works of creation and providence do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God, as to leave men inexcusable; yet are they not sufficient to give that knowledge of God and his will which is necessary unto salvation. Therefore it pleased the Lord at sundry times and in divers manners to reveal himself, and to declare that his will unto his church; and afterward for the better preserving and propagating of the truth, and for the more sure establishment and comfort of the church against the corruption of the flesh, and the malice of Satan, and of the world, to commit the same wholly unto writing; which maketh the Holy Scriptures to be most necessary, those former ways of God's revealing his will unto his people being now ceased.

Can we make a Biblical case for the cessation of special revelation? Yes, we can. Over at the 1689 Society, they did a series on the cessation of special revelation that I highly recommend you take time to read:

A Biblical Defense Of The Cessation Of Special Revelation Part 1

A Biblical Defense Of The Cessation Of Special Revelation Part 2

A Biblical Defense Of The Cessation Of Special Revelation Part 3

Objections Regarding The Cessation Of Special Revelation

Around The Web-Feburary 1, 2019

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PURITAN: All of Life to the Glory of God’—An Upcoming Documentary from Justin Taylor

The Lord’s Relentless Defense of His People by John MacArthur

The Key To Making the Most Out of Congregational Singing by Tim Challies

Psalm 119:13-16 — Declare and Delight! by Michael Coughlin

Can We Trust the New Testament? by Michael J Kruger

The Bible Belongs to Every Age by Stephen Nichols

The B.A.R. Podcast talks with Thomas R. Schreiner about his book on Spiritual Gifts

Book Review: Spiritual Gifts by Thomas R. Schreiner

Spiritual gifts are one issue that Christians will mostly agree and disagree on. There is one movement that has claimed the Apostolic gifts, such as speaking in tongues and healing, have ceased, which is called cessationism. Then there is the other camp that believes they are still among the believers, which are called continualists. There have been books written from both sides of this argument, two of which I have reviewed. Spiritual Gifts by Thomas Schreiner is another book on the side of cessationism.

Before he dives into spiritual gifts, Schreiner addresses the strengths and weaknesses of the Charismatic movement. I thought it was odd at first to address this issue but Schreiner does indeed mentioned the positives that came out of the Charismatic movement, which most Christians would not deny. He then deals with basic truths about spiritual gifts while addressing the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which is one thing, among others, the Charismatic movement and other Christians, have gotten wrong.

The baptism of the Holy Spirit is not where we ask the Spirit to come on us and gives us tongues to speak or the Spirit comes on a believer who starts speaking in tongues. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is when the Spirit comes into a believer at the moment of conversion. The Spirit also gives us a gift to be used in service in the body of Christ which most believers agree on.

Schreiner answers some basic questions regarding spiritual gifts. Remember he is coming from a cessationalist point of view, so those in the continualist front will disagree with some of Schreiner's conclusions. Speaking of conclusions, Schreiner ends his book with an argument for cessationism which he did say this is what this book was all about. I did appreciate what he said about miracles. Cessationism does not mean that miracles don't happen. Schreiner confesses that he still prays from miracles. It also does not mean that prayers for healing cease as well. The gift of healing is when someone places their hands on someone to be healed. Cessationists believe that gift has ended after the Apostles.

Schreiner is a gifted New Testament scholar is worth the time to read his books and listen to his lectures when you get the chance. This book is another good read for those who want to dive into Spiritual Gifts whether you are a cessationalist or not.

Thanks B&H Publishing Group for letting me review this book.

Book Review: Practicing The Power by Sam Storms

There is a great debate in the church today over spiritual gifts. Some have said that gifts such as speaking in tongues, and healing have ceased. Others proclaim they are still active in the church today. There are a few who believe the spiritual gifts, as shown in the early church, are still here but we must approach them with discernment.

A few years ago, I had the change to review John MacArthur's Strange Fire which is his manifesto on why the Apostolic gifts as show in the book of Acts has ceased. Many Christians agreed with MacArthur while others dismissed his claims. Sam Storms, who is a Calvinist pastor in Oklahoma City, OK, believes that the spiritual gifts as shown in the early church are alive and well, which he has taken the time to write about them in his latest book, Practicing the Power: Welcoming the Gifts of the Holy Spirit in Your Life.

Storms hopes that when people read this book, they will walk away with a better understanding of the spiritual gifts. When it comes to spiritual gifts, we must proceed in studying them with caution because we can either enter into orthodoxy or heresy regarding them. Storms writes that Christians should seek what spiritual gift God has given them, which is something I agree on. Every believer must seek to see what God has for them in the ministry of the church.

He goes on that we must not neglect prayer and fasting in the search of our spiritual gifts. In addition, prayer and fasting are disciplines that Christ himself commanded for us in the gospels. Storms spends three chapters on prophecy. How the church should identify it, how they should practice it, and how to use it in the context on their local church.

The ideal that the Apostolic gifts has stopped is called Cessationalism, which Storms lists 12 reasons why it is a bad idea on being one, while he listed 12 good reasons to be a continuationist, which are those believe those gifts continue in the church today. I must admit, he gives some compelling arguments.

As I read this book, I was on the fence regarding spiritual gifts and whether or not they are still in the church. I still believe they are, but I am cautious about it considering a lot of false "prophecies" I have heard in my early days as a Christian. Just as Strange Fire gave MacArthur a voice in why the Apostolic gifts has ceased, Practicing The Power has given Storm a voice on why they are still in the church.

Thanks Booklook Bloggers for letting me review this book.