Category Archives: Charismata

Spiritual gifts – myths and realities

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In The Complete Handbook of Everyday Christianity, art. ‘Spiritual Gifts’, Fee and Stevens compare popular understandings of spiritual gifts with (what they regard as) the biblical reality:

Myth: spiritual gifts are given at the time of conversion and do not change during one’s lifetime.

Reality: the biblical data affirm that gifts may be temporary or long-term.

Myth: Christian maturation is hampered if we do not know what our gift is.

Reality: being able to identify our gift is not as important as making sure our personal ministry edifies others.…

The gift of prophecy

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While not all Christians are called ‘prophets’ (1 Cor 12:29), all are (potentially, at least) engaged in prophetic ministry.

So argue Fee and Stevens (The Complete Handbook of Everyday Christianity):

‘Outside of Paul’s letters prophecy is mentioned as a crucial endowment of the Day of Pentecost by which Spirit-ministry has been universalized as proof that Joel’s prophecy has been fulfilled (Joel 2:28-32; Acts 2:17-21). Thus prophecy in this present age of the Spirit and these “last days” (Acts 2:17) is a potential ministry for everyone since the Spirit has been poured out “on all people .

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Cross Vision 14 – Misusing Divine Power

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Summarising chapter 15

Power – including God-given power – can be abused.

Jesus – fully human as well as fully God – submitted himself perfectly to his Father’s will.  Like us, he was tempted, but unlike us, he was without sin.  So, when the Father invested him with power, he used it wisely and obediently.  He could have abused that power (Mt 4:2-7; 26:53), but he didn’t.

But, in the case of Moses, Samson, Elijah and Elisha and others, there were times when they did abuse their God-given power. …

On Spiritual Gifts

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Comparison and analysis Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12 reveals that:

  1. No one has all gifts; therefore, there is no room for pride or boasting.
  2. No one is without some gift; therefore, no room for idleness or despair.
  3. Gifts differ; therefore no room for envy, jealousy or interference.
  4. God himself distributes; therefore, no room for complaint or discontent.
  5. All gifts are needful; therefore no room for neglect or indifference.
  6. All gifts derive power from the Giver; therefore, no room for weakness and inefficiency.
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Spiritual gifts – the case for cessationism

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For a long time, I have thought that the biblical case for cessationism (the belief that miraculous gifts ceased at the end of the apostolic age) was rather weak.  B.B. Warfield, whose name is so often associated with this belief, made his case (in Counterfeit Miracles) on historical, not scriptural grounds.

I was interested, then to read this essay by Thomas Schreiner in which he sets out the biblical-theological reasons for thinking that miraculous gifts have ceased.…

Signs and wonders today?

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Does God grant signs and wonders in response to the prayers of Christians today?  Some very readily answer, ‘No’, and every scrap of interest or belief in contemporary miracles is dismissed as ‘strange fire’.  Others reply with a simple, ‘Yes!’, regarding any doubt of qualification as a quenching of the Holy Spirit.

I like John Piper‘s candour, when he tells us how much he has struggled over the question of whether we should pray, as the early Christians prayed (Acts 4:29-30), for such miracles today. …

Incidental references to ‘spiritual gifts’ in Paul’s letters

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It is sometimes thought that because the ‘charismata’ are directly discussed only infrequently in Paul’s writings, they were regarded by the apostle as the marks of an immature church, and needed to be discouraged or actually suppressed.

However, it is at least as plausible to argue that Paul took the exercise of spiritual gifts more or less for granted in the churches, and he felt the need to discuss them in detail only when there were problems (as at Corinth).…

Eph 4:1-16 – Aim high, dig deep, build together – sermon notes

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Ephesians 4:1-16

Ephesians the Switzerland of the NT.

But Switzerland isn’t all mountain peaks, and Ephesians isn’t all lofty doctrine.

We move from belief to behaviour, from principles to practice, from our wealth in Christ to our walk in Christ, from doctrine to duty, from exposition to exhortation, from the indicative to the imperative, from what God has done to what we must do, from the credenda to the agenda

Yet the two parts of Ephesians are closely connected. …

Prophecy and authority

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According to the Network Participant’s Guide, the traits of a prophet are that s/he is discerning, compelling, uncompromising, outspoken, authoritative, convicting, and confronting. Phew! no wonder the gift of prophecy can sometimes seem too hot to handle! Such a set of traits raises important questions about the authority of the prophet, and how this relates to other kinds of authority within the church.  I’m going to argue that that the authority (and therefore the accountability) of the prophet is similar to the authority (and accountability) of the teacher.…

Spiritual gifts – why some people are cautious

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I wrote the following to some Christian friends, a number of whom wished their church to move in a more ‘charismatic’ direction.  It is a plea to listen carefully and patiently to those who are more cautious.

To many Christians, the whole discussion about spiritual gifts is simply debating the Blindingly Obvious: God has promised gifts, and it’s down to us to receive them joyfully and use them effectively.

But there are still people around who are cautious about some of the gifts.…