Rethinking The So-Called Spiritual Gifts Of The Holy Spirit

The Charismatic debate on whether the gifts of the Spirit have ceased or continue to be used in modern times divides the Christian church. There have been some extremes on both sides of the fence. One view believes that, if a person speaks tongues, the person is under some demonic control and the other says that, if a person does not speaks tongues as evidence of receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit, he or she is not saved. Both views use Scripture to defend their positions. The Scripture was not written to divide, but to bring us closer to God. The Apostle Paul states, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16, NIV). He also reminds Christians that, if

The Continuationists believe that the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit are still distributed today, are still presently active, and are still required in the church. James Fowler, author of article Charismata: Rethinking the So-Called Spiritual Gifts explains, “God used the gifts of the Spirit to testify to His message (Heb 2:3-4). His message has not changed. Although Christians have the complete Bible now, the concept of using all of the gifts to testify to the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ remains sound. The words Paul used referring to the supernatural gifts of the Spirit were charismata and pneumatika, translated as "spiritual gifts" and conceived to be "detached entities or abilities distinct from Christ and distributed by the Spirit". The first argument to cessationist viewpoint, what are the signs of an apostle in 2 Corinthians 12:12? “It should be remembered that in the key passage used to establish this point, where Paul talks about the “signs of a true apostle” he is not trying to prove that he is an apostle in distinction from other Christians who are not apostles. He is rather attempting to prove that he is a true representative of Christ in distinction of others who are false apostles, “For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ” (2 Corinthians 2:13).” The second argument referencing laying the foundation for the church in Ephesians 2:20-22, the Apostle Paul does not bring up the charismatic gifts in this Scripture. In verse 20, the church is compared to a building with a foundation built on the twelve apostles and the prophets, Christ himself being the primary foundation. This does not indicate that others will not have the charismatic gifts like speaking in tongues or receiving a word of knowledge have ceased. The third rebuttal continuationist have with the cessationist is on providing divine guidance to early