“… when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away.”
In the early stages of church history, as recorded in the Acts, the ministry of the apostles was accredited by accompanying supernatural demonstrations of power—the dispensing of healing, speaking in tongues, etc.—as the Holy Spirit continued the work that the Lord Jesus had begun in this world. Now, it is evident to most that none of these spectacular manifestations are current in our day, and some have questioned why. Some have said that if we claim to follow apostolic precedent, we should be demonstrating the spectacular powers of the Spirit in support of the gospel that we preach. We intend to show that this thinking is in error and that the supernatural gifts of the early church age have now, by divine intention, disappeared from the scene. We will also identify which gifts are permanent in their nature.
The temporary nature of the sign gifts
The dramatic reduction in gifts The chart shows the three lists of gifts given in the New Testament. It should be noted that the number of gifts reduces significantly within a very short time, as follows:
Corinthian listing in A.D. 56 13 Given by the Holy Spirit.
Romans listing in A.D. 58 7 Given by God.
Ephesians listing in A.D. 60 5 Given by the Lord.
This reduction is highly significant and demonstrates that the apostle’s teaching that the spectacular gifts would pass away (1 Cor. 13:8) had become a historical reality. Indeed it should be noted that the spectacular, supernatural sign gifts are unique to 1 Corinthians 12 and do not appear elsewhere in the New Testament epistles. This indicates that such gifts passed away in the early stages of the church’s history, and we offer comment to that effect as follows.
Evidence from Acts and the epistles
It is noteworthy that the early chapters of Acts show a great deal of spectacular activity under the direction of the Holy Spirit, but, in the latter chapters of the book, these manifestations are notably absent. For example, nothing more is heard about tongues after chapter 19. Also, apart from the listing in 1 Corinthians 12, which belongs to the early phase of church history, there is no mention of the spectacular gifts whatsoever in the epistles. Sick people were healed by the apostles in Acts, but when Paul writes to Timothy, he exhorts him “use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake and for thine oft infirmities.” Writing to the Philippians, the apostle refers to the beloved Epaphroditus and the fact that he had been sick (Php. 2:27). Yes, Epharoditus was “sick nigh unto death,” but there was no instantaneous intervention that made him well. It appears the sickness ran its course and, “in the mercy of God,” he recovered. We think also of the experience of the apostle, standing before some of the greatest men in the world at that time, and what an impact could have been made by some spectacular demonstration of the power of God. But all this is absent, and Paul suffers imprisonment, hardship, and death for the sake of the Gospel.
Evidence from 1 Corinthians 13
“Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part” (1 Cor. 13:8-10).
After identifying the gifts of the Holy Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12, the apostle makes it quite clear that these spectacular manifestations would serve a purpose and then would pass away. He writes, “But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.” Given the context in which this statement is made, it would indicate that the “coming of that which is perfect” refers not to the future eternal state, but to the completion of the canon of Scripture. By way of illustration, the apostle appeals to the natural development from child to manhood. There are things that children enjoy in the early stages of their development, but we would not expect that kind of behavior to continue into manhood. He writes, “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” He is clearly saying that these spectacular sign gifts belonged to the early development stage of the church.
Evidence from Hebrews
The writer to the Hebrews also confirms the temporary nature of these supernatural gifts when he wrote. “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?” (Heb. 2:3-4) It must be noted that the writer speaks of these spectacular gifts in the past tense. He is looking back to the early apostolic age and confirming that these sign gifts were indeed given of God, but that they are not current.
The evidence of our own experience
On the day of Pentecost, the international multitude gathered at Jerusalem heard the apostles speak to every man in his own language. What is our experience today? In our day, missionaries going to foreign countries do not receive the gift of tongues; they must go through the difficult and agonizing task of learning a language. This underlines the folly of what is happening in our day in the so-called tongues and healings movement. Tongues are exercised in a context where the hearers have no ability to understand what is being said and where someone professes to be able to interpret, but to what purpose? It seems that the whole exercise is intended to excite the emotions rather than increase one’s knowledge of the Lord. Also, the gift of healing, which some profess to have, is always exercised in a carefully-staged environment where people are susceptible to the hypnotic charisma of the healer. It is noteworthy that these healers never offer to perform in the reality of some hospital ward, where their claims to healing can be scientifically verified. No, in our times, people who get sick resort to the care of a physician and should not look for some spectacular intervention as being the norm. These are realities that cannot be denied.
The foundational gifts
“According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation” (1 Cor. 3:10). “…and [ye] are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone” (Eph. 2:20). The gifts of apostles and prophets are presented as foundational, meaning that they belonged to the early church age when fundamental church doctrine was being established for future generations. Both of these gifts are mentioned in 1 Corinthians and Ephesians 4. Being foundational, the gifts of apostles and prophets fulfilled a vital role in the establishing of the church. Once the church was founded, these foundational gifts passed away. However, while apostles and prophets are no longer present, their ministry to the church has been given permanency in the completed canon of Scripture.
In our consideration of this subject we offer the following conclusions:
• Spectacular and supernatural manifestations were exercised by the apostles in the Acts.
• These manifestations decrease and eventually end altogether as the book progresses.
• Within the scope of four or five years from the birth of the church, the number of gifts being exercised is dramatically reduced.
• None of the sign gifts mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12 are mentioned elsewhere in the New Testament. This endorses the apostle Paul’s teaching that such things would pass away.
• The indisputable evidence of our experience is that such gifts are not in operation today. Missionaries going to the foreign field must learn languages. The sick must resort to the physicians. The Lord’s servants suffer hardship and privation.
We conclude that spectacular and supernatural sign gifts of the Holy Spirit, as seen in the early days of the church, were only introductory and are not in operation today. We recognize the presence of permanent gifts given to men for the benefit of the church.
One is only too conscious that the treatment of this complex and vital subject has been limited in its scope, and that a much more exhaustive exploration of this subject is merited. We trust that these remarks will at least provide some pointers that can be pursued in further study.