Comparing The Bible And Spiritual Gifts

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Recommended: The nature and authority of the holy scriptures

Martin Luther believed that the Bible determines what a Christian should believe (sola scriptura). Since “the word of God is God Himself in Scripture,” Luther was wise to rely on the Bible. As Luther put his faith wholly in the Bible, Christians of today should put their faith in the Bible. Concerning pneumatology, Christians should supremely believe in what the Bible says, even if contemporary theologians say otherwise. Sola scriptura authoritatively answers questions regarding spiritual gifts, spiritual fruits, and glossolalia. Several contemporary theologians have defined spiritual gifts. Through studying all the different Greek words that translators translate into spiritual gifts, Towns has describes, “a spiritual gift is spiritual in character (pneumatikon), sovereignly given by God in the Holy Spirit (charismata), to minister to others (diakonia), in the power of God (energema), with an evident manifestation of the Holy Spirit through the Christian as he serves God …show more content…

According to Towns’ “The Gifts of the Spirit” chart, glossolalia was a sign gift. Hence, the early church operated in glossolalia “to conform apostolic revelation” and according to Towns, it is “no longer to be expected today.” Scripturally, there is no distinguishing factor between sign gifts and serving gifts. For instance, I Cor. 12:10 lists gifts without categorizing the gifts, which Towns groups into two different groups. Therefore, since there is no apparent categorization, all the gifts are as available as the first were or they are all unavailable. There cannot be a division because the Bible does not state or imply that there is a division. Biblically, either they are all available, or they are not all available. Thus, if the gift of discernment is presently available (which is “for all believers today,” according to Towns), because of association, glossolalia is also

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