No, those who stand should not stumble. Therefore this article’s intention is to eliminate any such confusion regarding the gifts of the Holy Spirit so that not even an iota of doubt remains.
(2) To start off, let us familiarize ourselves with what the gifts of the Holy Spirit are. Apostle Paul has listed the following nine as the gifts of the Holy Spirit: (1) wisdom, (2) knowledge, (3) faith, (4) gifts of healing, (5) miraculous powers, (6) prophecy, (7) distinguishing between spirits, (8) speaking in different kinds of tongues, and (9) the interpretation of tongues (1 Corinthians 12:8-10). We first need to properly comprehend the nature of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The Greek root word used here for ‘gift’ is ‘charisma’ (Strong No. 5486). It means ‘a gift attained freely’. Yes, a gift attained with absolutely no effort. Eastern mythologies have stories about ancient sages who acquire powers through hard work and rigorous penance. But the powerful gifts of the Holy Spirit are rather given to us freely with no effort on our part whatsoever.
(3) Therefore, we should never confuse the wisdom, knowledge and faith bestowed upon us by these gifts with the wisdom, knowledge and faith that we acquire by our own efforts. Of course, when we walk in the way of the Lord and make efforts to study the Bible, we would certainly acquire wisdom, knowledge, faith and discernment. But the wisdom, knowledge, faith and discernment that someone attains as gifts from the Holy Spirit are rather gained effortlessly and miraculously in an instant. Let us consider some examples. We very well know that the ‘other tongues’ mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles refer to many different human languages rather than some strange tongues (Acts 2:1-8). Even today, we can gain command over many a language if spend considerable time and effort. But if the Holy Spirit bestows the gift of the tongues on us, we would be able to speak new languages in an instant. Today a doctor can cure a person using medicines. But the gift of healing given by the Holy Spirit is an instant healing that happens without the use of any medicines.
(4) So, why did God provide such gifts at that point of time to the early church? The Bible gives us two reasons. First of all, they were given to serve as signs for the gospel work. Take a moment to read the following verses that substantiate this reason: Mark 16:20, John 3:2; 20:30,31; Acts 4:16; 13:8-12; 14:3, 2 Corinthians 12:12. What we need to understand is that none of these gifts were provided to personally benefit any particular human beings. Rather, they served as testimonies for the gospel work, thus helping the church grow. For example, the gifts of healing were provided not with the purpose of curing everybody from all diseases. We clearly see in the scriptures that Apostle Paul did not cure many Christians who were ill (1 Timothy 5:23, 2 Timothy 4:20, Philippians 2:25-27). If the purpose of the gift of healing was indeed a disease-free life, shouldn’t Paul have healed them all? But he did not do so. These people were already followers of Christ. Since they were believers already, they did not need any more miraculous signs to start believing. So, Paul did not need to heal them. The other reason for the manifestation of the Spirit was to nourish the Church and increase her faith (See 1 Corinthians 12:7; 14:3,12,26). Today, we have the New Testament, and hence we are better able to understand the Old Testament by means of that. But during the early church period, the New Testament had not yet been written, and so they really needed the miraculous gifts of wisdom, knowledge and faith. They did not have the Book of Revelation in hand, and therefore needed the gift of prophecy. Thus, the early church needed these gifts of the Holy Spirit for the edification of her faith.
(5) Next, let us find out how the members of the church acquired these gifts. What does the Bible tell us on this matter? It says that the Apostles were the only ones with the ability to bestow these gifts upon others. We can point out many verses to substantiate this: See Acts 8:14-18; 10:44; 19:2-6, 2 Timothy 1:6. Especially Romans 1:10-11 makes this crystal clear to us:
“I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong— that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.”
We are well aware of how much tribulations that Apostle Paul went through for the spiritual growth of the churches. In the aforementioned verses to the Romans, he says he prepares to personally visit Rome, as he has realized that the Church in Rome is in need of the gifts of the Holy Spirit to strengthen her. Let us think about this for a moment. If there had been any swifter way other than paying a personal visit to empower them with the gifts, Apostle Paul would have immediately done so. Wouldn’t he have preferred a speedy strengthening of the church? But no, the only possible way to impart the gifts was to do it personally. That’s why he says he wants to undertake a journey to visit in person. Furthermore, the gifts were not transferable. That is, even those who had received the gifts directly from the Apostles were incapable of imparting it to others. If that had been possible, wouldn’t Paul have sent one of his disciples immediately to Rome? Wherefore, it’s obvious from this illustration that the gifts of the Holy Spirit could be bestowed upon others only by the Apostles. What becomes apparent is that towards the end of the early church, with the death of all the Apostles, there remained no one anymore to impart the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Also, in a few years, even those who had acquired the gifts from the Apostles would have died. So around 150 – 200 A.D., the gifts of the Holy Spirit must have totally ceased to operate. Church history confirms this fact. Yes, there is no proof in the history of the church that the gifts of the Holy Spirit manifested after the second century.
(6) Does the Bible explicitly declare that the gifts of the Holy Spirit would cease around this time period? Yes, it does! Paul explains this very clearly in his first epistle to the Corinthians. We know that the church of Corinth was not only plagued by quarrels and disagreements, but also with jealousies regarding the gifts of the Holy Spirit. It is to rebuke them that Paul writes about the gifts of the Holy Spirit in 1 Corinthians Chapter 12. First he censures them stating that all the nine gifts are of the same Spirit, and therefore there is none greater or lesser because of one gift or the other. Then he educates them that since each person has a different role to fulfill in the church, gifts are distributed accordingly. He informs them that it’s not possible to possess all the gifts because of that, and hence all are equal in the church (1 Corinthians 12). Furthermore, he says that love is more important than any of the other gifts, and God will judge us based on this love (1 Corinthians 13:1-7).
(7) After this, he says something that must have shaken the then church to the core:
“Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away” (1 Corinthians 13:8).
The church of Corinth that had been saturated with all these gifts must have received this news about the impending cessation with shock. Paul does not stop with that, but proceeds to informs them when they would cease:
“For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.” (1 Corinthians 13:9-10).
Most people misunderstand this completeness as something that happens during the second coming of Christ. But what we need to ask in this context is what needed to be completed? What was incomplete then? Doesn’t Paul answer that question right there? Yes, knowledge and prophecies are the incomplete things. Yes, the New Testament was not in their hands then. Therefore, they were short of knowledge. The Book of Revelation had not been written yet. So their understanding of prophecies was much less indeed. So, they very much needed the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit such as wisdom, understanding of prophecy and knowledge. But Paul says that when knowledge and prophecies achieved completeness, the partial gifts of the Holy Spirit would be taken away and they would cease to exist. And this completeness came when the New Testament was completed. The Book of Revelation was written in the A.D. 90’s. From then on, in about 50-70 years the church had the completed New Testament in her hands. Now that the completeness had come, the gifts of the Holy Spirit ceased to exist around the same time.
(8) So, why did God put an end to these gifts of the Holy Spirit? Paul illustrates the reasons with a couple of examples. Firstly, he says that the gifts are childish/immature in nature:
“When I was a child, I talked like a child; I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me” (1Corinthians 13:11).
Just as toys are required to attract a child’s attention, the gifts of the Holy Spirit were necessary to draw the child-like church towards the gospel. As we saw earlier, these gifts testified to the gospel and hence were helpful in the establishment and stabilization of the early church. But God did not want the church’s faith to be a faith that’s always dependent on these gifts. Therefore when the church was established to some extent i.e. grew to be a man, He put an end to those gifts.
(9) Secondly, Paul talks about what they saw as a reflection in the mirror then, but hoped to see in reality when completeness comes:
“Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face” (1Corinthians 13:12).
This too is misinterpreted by many. They think Paul is talking about meeting Christ face to face. This is a mistake that usually happens when an example is taken literally. If we take it literally, then Paul should be staring at an actual mirror for a long time until the coming of Christ! Isn’t that absurd? So what does he actually mean? Paul explains himself in the second part of the same verse:
“Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known” (1Corinthians 13:12).
The phrase Paul uses here – ‘as I am fully known’- could be confusing to some of us. What does it mean? In the early part of the same epistle, Paul reveals to the Corinthians that God completely knows the heart of the man who loves him.
“But the man who loves God is known by God” (1 Corinthians 8:3).
Likewise Paul was fully known to God. Just as God knew Paul completely, so will man know complete knowledge when completeness comes. In this imperfect world, any example we quote for completeness would never be hundred percent complete whatever that might be. Therefore Paul quotes God as an example for completeness. He says that that is the kind of hundred percent perfection men will achieve in knowledge. Isn’t it true that the Old Testament and the New Testament together make for a hundred percent completeness? Since the New Testament hadn’t been written then, they were able to understand the truth only through the gifts of the Holy Spirit as though they were seeing a reflection in the mirror. Whatever that was lacking due to the absence of the New Testament, the gifts of the Holy Spirit filled to some extent and helped with the edification of the early church. But when the New Testament was completed, they were able to understand truth clearly as though they were seeing face to face. This is what Paul means here. Instead, if we were to interpret that completeness as something that’s achieved at the second coming of Christ, then that would imply that the church would remain childish in her knowledge until that happens. It would also mean that until that time the church would have seen the truth only as a reflection instead of face to face. That’s plain wrong, for the Bible says that the church will mature and be led to many truths (John 16:13).
(10) We need to pay attention to what Paul says next:
“But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13 NASB).
Having said that most of the gifts of the Holy Spirit would soon cease, Paul lists three that would still remain active – faith, hope, and love. If we were to believe that the gifts were to disappear only after the coming of Christ, then what is the use of faith and hope after his arrival? The Bible asserts that faith is the confidence in what we do not see (Hebrews 11:1). Therefore once we have seen Christ there is no use for faith and hope. So the argument that the gifts would cease only after the second coming of Christ doesn’t seem to fit what Paul is saying here. Close to 150 A.D. when the New Testament was getting completed the incomplete gifts of the Holy Spirit began to cease. After which the only things that remain with the church are faith, hope and love, and this is what Paul is trying to say here. Among these, faith and hope are not required when we resurrect and enter our heavenly abode. But we need love through all ages. And that’s why Paul declares that the greatest among the three is love.
(11) Based on evidences from the Bible, we saw that the gifts of the Holy Spirit ceased sometime during the middle of the second century itself. Therefore, instead of stumbling over such childish things, we rather need to be like men lasting until the end. The only things that remain are faith, hope and love. Let us pray to God that we grow in them.
1. In today’s world, the fastest growing churches are those of the Pentecostal denomination. They attribute this phenomenal growth to the miracles that abound in these churches, and they claim that these miracles are manifestations of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. But aren’t we as students of the Bible aware that not all the gifts of the Holy Spirit are supposed to be active in today’s churches? Yet some of us do tend to get confused when we see the abundance of the various miracles happening around us. No, those who stand should not stumble. Therefore this article’s intention is to eliminate any such confusion regarding the gifts of the Holy Spirit so that not even an iota of doubt remains.
2. To start off, let us familiarize ourselves with what the gifts of the Holy Spirit are. Apostle Paul has listed the following nine as the gifts of the Holy Spirit: (1) wisdom, (2) knowledge, (3) faith, (4) gifts of healing, (5) miraculous powers, (6) prophecy, (7) distinguishing between spirits, (8) speaking in different kinds of tongues, and (9) the interpretation of tongues (1 Corinthians 12:8-10). We first need to properly comprehend the nature of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The Greek root word used here for ‘gift’ is ‘charisma’ (Strong No. 5486). It means ‘a gift attained freely’. Yes, a gift attained with absolutely no effort. Eastern mythologies have stories about ancient sages who acquire powers through hard work and rigorous penance. But the powerful gifts of the Holy Spirit are rather given to us freely with no effort on our part whatsoever.
3. Therefore, we should never confuse the wisdom, knowledge and faith bestowed upon us by these gifts with the wisdom, knowledge and faith that we acquire by our own efforts. Of course, when we walk in the way of the Lord and make efforts to study the Bible, we would certainly acquire wisdom, knowledge, faith and discernment. But the wisdom, knowledge, faith and discernment that someone attains as gifts from the Holy Spirit are rather gained effortlessly and miraculously in an instant. Let us consider some examples. We very well know that the ‘other tongues’ mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles refer to many different human languages rather than some strange tongues (Acts 2:1-8). Even today, we can gain command over many a language if spend considerable time and effort. But if the Holy Spirit bestows the gift of the tongues on us, we would be able to speak new languages in an instant. Today a doctor can cure a person using medicines. But the gift of healing given by the Holy Spirit is an instant healing that happens without the use of any medicines.
4. So, why did God provide such gifts at that point of time to the early church? The Bible gives us two reasons. First of all, they were given to serve as signs for the gospel work. Take a moment to read the following verses that substantiate this reason: Mark 16:20, John 3:2; 20:30,31; Acts 4:16; 13:8-12; 14:3, 2 Corinthians 12:12. What we need to understand is that none of these gifts were provided to personally benefit any particular human beings. Rather, they served as testimonies for the gospel work, thus helping the church grow. For example, the gifts of healing were provided not with the purpose of curing everybody from all diseases. We clearly see in the scriptures that Apostle Paul did not cure many Christians who were ill (1 Timothy 5:23, 2 Timothy 4:20, Philippians 2:25-27). If the purpose of the gift of healing was indeed a disease-free life, shouldn’t Paul have healed them all? But he did not do so. These people were already followers of Christ. Since they were believers already, they did not need any more miraculous signs to start believing. So, Paul did not need to heal them. The other reason for the manifestation of the Spirit was to nourish the Church and increase her faith (See 1 Corinthians 12:7; 14:3,12,26). Today, we have the New Testament, and hence we are better able to understand the Old Testament by means of that. But during the early church period, the New Testament had not yet been written, and so they really needed the miraculous gifts of wisdom, knowledge and faith. They did not have the Book of Revelation in hand, and therefore needed the gift of prophecy. Thus, the early church needed these gifts of the Holy Spirit for the edification of her faith.
5. Next, let us find out how the members of the church acquired these gifts. What does the Bible tell us on this matter? It says that the Apostles were the only ones with the ability to bestow these gifts upon others. We can point out many verses to substantiate this: See Acts 8:14-18; 10:44; 19:2-6, 2 Timothy 1:6. Especially Romans 1:10-11 makes this crystal clear to us:
“I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong— that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.”
We are well aware of how much tribulations that Apostle Paul went through for the spiritual growth of the churches. In the aforementioned verses to the Romans, he says he prepares to personally visit Rome, as he has realized that the Church in Rome is in need of the gifts of the Holy Spirit to strengthen her. Let us think about this for a moment. If there had been any swifter way other than paying a personal visit to empower them with the gifts, Apostle Paul would have immediately done so. Wouldn’t he have preferred a speedy strengthening of the church? But no, the only possible way to impart the gifts was to do it personally. That’s why he says he wants to undertake a journey to visit in person. Furthermore, the gifts were not transferable. That is, even those who had received the gifts directly from the Apostles were incapable of imparting it to others. If that had been possible, wouldn’t Paul have sent one of his disciples immediately to Rome? Wherefore, it’s obvious from this illustration that the gifts of the Holy Spirit could be bestowed upon others only by the Apostles. What becomes apparent is that towards the end of the early church, with the death of all the Apostles, there remained no one anymore to impart the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Also, in a few years, even those who had acquired the gifts from the Apostles would have died. So around 150 – 200 A.D., the gifts of the Holy Spirit must have totally ceased to operate. Church history confirms this fact. Yes, there is no proof in the history of the church that the gifts of the Holy Spirit manifested after the second century.
6. Does the Bible explicitly declare that the gifts of the Holy Spirit would cease around this time period? Yes, it does! Paul explains this very clearly in his first epistle to the Corinthians. We know that the church of Corinth was not only plagued by quarrels and disagreements, but also with jealousies regarding the gifts of the Holy Spirit. It is to rebuke them that Paul writes about the gifts of the Holy Spirit in 1 Corinthians Chapter 12. First he censures them stating that all the nine gifts are of the same Spirit, and therefore there is none greater or lesser because of one gift or the other. Then he educates them that since each person has a different role to fulfill in the church, gifts are distributed accordingly. He informs them that it’s not possible to possess all the gifts because of that, and hence all are equal in the church (1 Corinthians 12). Furthermore, he says that love is more important than any of the other gifts, and God will judge us based on this love (1 Corinthians 13:1-7).
7. After this, he says something that must have shaken the then church to the core:
“Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away” (1 Corinthians 13:8).
The church of Corinth that had been saturated with all these gifts must have received this news about the impending cessation with shock. Paul does not stop with that, but proceeds to informs them when they would cease:
“ For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.” (1 Corinthians 13:9-10).
Most people misunderstand this completeness as something that happens during the second coming of Christ. But what we need to ask in this context is what needed to be completed? What was incomplete then? Doesn’t Paul answer that question right there? Yes, knowledge and prophecies are the incomplete things. Yes, the New Testament was not in their hands then. Therefore, they were short of knowledge. The Book of Revelation had not been written yet. So their understanding of prophecies was much less indeed. So, they very much needed the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit such as wisdom, understanding of prophecy and knowledge. But Paul says that when knowledge and prophecies achieved completeness, the partial gifts of the Holy Spirit would be taken away and they would cease to exist. And this completeness came when the New Testament was completed. The Book of Revelation was written in the A.D. 90’s. From then on, in about 50-70 years the church had the completed New Testament in her hands. Now that the completeness had come, the gifts of the Holy Spirit ceased to exist around the same time.
8. So, why did God put an end to these gifts of the Holy Spirit? Paul illustrates the reasons with a couple of examples. Firstly, he says that the gifts are childish/immature in nature:
“When I was a child, I talked like a child; I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me” (1Corinthians 13:11).
Just as toys are required to attract a child’s attention, the gifts of the Holy Spirit were necessary to draw the child-like church towards the gospel. As we saw earlier, these gifts testified to the gospel and hence were helpful in the establishment and stabilization of the early church. But God did not want the church’s faith to be a faith that’s always dependent on these gifts. Therefore when the church was established to some extent i.e. grew to be a man, He put an end to those gifts.
9. Secondly, Paul talks about what they saw as a reflection in the mirror then, but hoped to see in reality when completeness comes:
“Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face” (1Corinthians 13:12).
This too is misinterpreted by many. They think Paul is talking about meeting Christ face to face. This is a mistake that usually happens when an example is taken literally. If we take it literally, then Paul should be staring at an actual mirror for a long time until the coming of Christ! Isn’t that absurd? So what does he actually mean? Paul explains himself in the second part of the same verse:
“Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known” (1Corinthians 13:12).
The phrase Paul uses here – ‘as I am fully known’- could be confusing to some of us. What does it mean? In the early part of the same epistle, Paul reveals to the Corinthians that God completely knows the heart of the man who loves him.
“But the man who loves God is known by God” (1 Corinthians 8:3).
Likewise Paul was fully known to God. Just as God knew Paul completely, so will man know complete knowledge when completeness comes. In this imperfect world, any example we quote for completeness would never be hundred percent complete whatever that might be. Therefore Paul quotes God as an example for completeness. He says that that is the kind of hundred percent perfection men will achieve in knowledge. Isn’t it true that the Old Testament and the New Testament together make for a hundred percent completeness? Since the New Testament hadn’t been written then, they were able to understand the truth only through the gifts of the Holy Spirit as though they were seeing a reflection in the mirror. Whatever that was lacking due to the absence of the New Testament, the gifts of the Holy Spirit filled to some extent and helped with the edification of the early church. But when the New Testament was completed, they were able to understand truth clearly as though they were seeing face to face. This is what Paul means here. Instead, if we were to interpret that completeness as something that’s achieved at the second coming of Christ, then that would imply that the church would remain childish in her knowledge until that happens. It would also mean that until that time the church would have seen the truth only as a reflection instead of face to face. That’s plain wrong, for the Bible says that the church will mature and be led to many truths (John 16:13).
10. We need to pay attention to what Paul says next:
“But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13 NASB).
Having said that most of the gifts of the Holy Spirit would soon cease, Paul lists three that would still remain active – faith, hope, and love. If we were to believe that the gifts were to disappear only after the coming of Christ, then what is the use of faith and hope after his arrival? The Bible asserts that faith is the confidence in what we do not see (Hebrews 11:1). Therefore once we have seen Christ there is no use for faith and hope. So the argument that the gifts would cease only after the second coming of Christ doesn’t seem to fit what Paul is saying here. Close to 150 A.D. when the New Testament was getting completed the incomplete gifts of the Holy Spirit began to cease. After which the only things that remain with the church are faith, hope and love, and this is what Paul is trying to say here. Among these, faith and hope are not required when we resurrect and enter our heavenly abode. But we need love through all ages. And that’s why Paul declares that the greatest among the three is love.
11. Based on evidences from the Bible, we saw that the gifts of the Holy Spirit ceased sometime during the middle of the second century itself. Therefore, instead of stumbling over such childish things, we rather need to be like men lasting until the end. The only things that remain are faith, hope and love. Let us pray to God that we grow in them.