Arguments for
Prophecies and Tongues will cease when Jesus returns
"Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but
when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known." (1 Corinthians 13:8-12 ESV)
Paul tells us that the gift of speaking in tongues will cease when "the perfect comes", when he "shall know fully" even as he has "been fully known". Cessationists interpret that time as the time when all of the scriptures is written, but Paul's readers could not have understood Paul that way; they have no concept of a N.T.
canon (to be recognized half a millennium later). They could not have understood Paul to mean that at the completion of scripture, all prophecies and tongues and knowledge will pass away. In fact, Paul expects that all the gifts are operational
when Jesus comes back, he says so in the same epistle...
"I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge— even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you— so that you are
not lacking in any spiritual gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Cor.1:4-8 ESV)...therefore he could not have meant that passage that way since he cannot instruct something he does not believe (or know about).
Furthermore Paul is using himself as an example when he says that "he" shall know just as "he" has been fully known, and that hardly seems to be a fitting description of the time when he would be dead. His readers would very more likely interpret that time to be when Jesus returns, just as cessationists would have no problem interpreting 1 John 3:2...
"Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is." (ESV)...to refer to the time when we meet Jesus face to face at his return.
Some cessationists who agree with the logic above, on the other hand interpret the different description for tongues "will cease" as oppose to prophecy and knowledge "will pass away", to mean that the gift of tongues will cease earlier than prophecy and knowledge. That is, prophecy and knowledge would pass away when Jesus returns, but the gift of tongues would cease earlier. But that is irrelevant, because what is important is the context and the context of the entire chapter shows that Paul is referring to one event in the future not two...
"...When I was a child, I
spoke [gift of tongues] like a child, I
thought [knowledge/prophecy] like a child, I
reasoned [knowledge/prophecy] like a child.
When I became a man [one event], I gave up
childish ways [tongues, knowledge, prophecy]" (v.11)And besides, Paul already says in the same book that he expects all the gift to be present at Jesus' return (see 1 Cor.1:4-8 above), so he can't mean that tongues will cease earlier than Jesus' return.
If knowledge, prophecy, tongues will pass away/ cease when Jesus returns, then it follows that they are still available today.
Jesus promises power to complete the Great Commission
"But
you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon
you , and
you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)The "you" in the verse could not have referred to the early church alone, as the early church did not become Jesus' witnesses to the end of the earth (all peoples).
"when the Holy Spirit has come upon you" does not refer to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in all believers (
Ephesians 1:13) as disciples Jesus was talking to were already genuine believers (
John 15:15-16,
John 13:8-11) and already had the Holy Spirit (
John 20:22,
John 3:3).
In other words, they were not waiting for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (which they had), they were not even waiting for the power of the Holy Spirit on certain individuals (which was already at worked in the O.T. Prophets and the Apostles). But they were waiting for thus outpouring of the Holy Spirit in power over the whole Church. And this is exactly what happened at
Pentecost.
"And they were
all (not just the apostles) filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance." (Acts 2:4 ESV, comments added)Therefore "you will receive power" in Acts 1:8 is a promise by Jesus available and needed by the Church today to complete the
great commission.
"And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:9-13 ESV) (Note that those who ask are children, in fact only children can ask.)"Nevertheless, I tell you the truth:
it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes,
he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment" (John 16:7-8 ESV) (Note again that the coming of the Helper is different from the indwelling of the Holy Spirit which they already have. And if the purpose of the Helper is
only to inspire the N.T. to a few N.T. writers, how could that possibly be an advantage over having Jesus, the LIVING WORD present ?)"Does he who supplies the Spirit to
you and
works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith" (Gal.3:5 ESV) (Note that
you is referring to the Galatian church not specific apostles.)
Outpouring of Spiritual Gifts is characteristic of the New Covenant age
"But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But
this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: “‘
And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood,
before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’"(Acts 2:14-21 ESV)Peter says what happened at Pentecost was the fulfillment of the prophecy in Joel 2:28-32a. Peter interprets "in the last days" to be their current time, and since we are in the "last days" this is still being fulfilled today, and it will continue to be fulfilled until Jesus returns ("before the day of the Lord comes").
Cessationists would argue though that verse 19-20a...
"...And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood..."...was not fulfilled at Pentecost, and therefore it was only a taste of the fulfillment and not permanent, and it will be completely fulfilled in the millennium/future. This interpretation though has problems in reconciling a cessationist interpretation of
1 Corinthians 13:8-12where they say spiritual gifts have ceased because they are no longer needed, now they say spiritual gifts would be available in the future. In contrast a continuationist interpretation has more consistency:
- Promise of the [outpouring of the] Holy Spirit fulfilled at Pentecost (Acts 2:15).
- Is available to the church as they witness to the end of the earth (Acts 1:8).
- Jesus' return is associated with the completion of the great commission (Matthew 24:14).
- Spiritual gifts will cease at Jesus return (1 Corinthians 13:8-12) because of perfect resurrection bodies (1 Corinthians 15:50-53) and intimate fellowship with Jesus(1 John 3:2).
Cessationist view goes against direct biblical teaching
"So, my brothers,
earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. But all things should be done decently and in order." (1 Cor.14:39 ESV)"
Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil." (
1 Thess. 5:19-22 ESV)"For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us,
let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith;" (Rom.12:4-6 ESV)"Pursue love, and
earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy." (1 Cor.14:1 ESV)"And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? But earnestly
desire the higher gifts." (1 Cor.12:28-31 ESV)"for the gifts [charismata] and the calling of God are
irrevocable" (Rom 11:29 KJV).
[1]Cessationists argue that these passages applied only to the early church and not to the church today (especially on the basis of Eph.2:20). This view, however, violates the
evangelical view of the inspiration of the bible and the accepted view of the canon of scripture which says that the various biblical authors were superintended by God in such a way so that what they wrote to their immediate readers were also God's very own words for us today.
"
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable
for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work." (2 Tim.3:16-17 ESV)While proper interpretation is always an issue, it is an argument in itself why God would include those verses above in His Word to us today if He knew that none of them actually speaks to us today, certainly not in a way that is "profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness". In fact they would outright confuse us today if those spiritual gifts have already ceased, especially "do not forbid speaking in tongues" and "do not despise prophecies".
Some cessationists would argue that the gifts referred above are mis-understood by continuationists. For example, "prophecy" would be said to describe something other than a revelation from God; specifically, "prophecy" is applying/preaching God's words to a situation (or preaching with conviction), and that is to be done using the Bible.
Continuationists would argue though that N.T. understanding of prophecy is not preaching or applying from scriptures but a revelation from God (but is not necessarily scripture as not all prophecies by all genuine prophets was included in scripture). For example...
"Then they spit in his face and struck him. And some slapped him, saying, “
Prophesy to us, you Christ! Who is it that struck you?”" (Matt.26:67-68)"Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “
You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet." (John 4:16-19)In both cases, there was no preaching (or expected preaching), they understood prophecy as a supernatural revelation not preaching from scripture.
In the same way, Cessationists also argue that "speaking in tongues" refers to human languages only...
"And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance. Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the crowd came together, and were bewildered because each one of them was
hearing them speak in his own language. They were amazed and astonished, saying, "Why, are not all these who are speaking
Galileans? And how is it that we each
hear them in our own language to which we were born?
Parthians and
Medes and
Elamites, and residents of
Mesopotamia,
Judea and
Cappadocia,
Pontus and
Asia,
Phrygia and
Pamphylia,
Egypt and the districts of
Libya around Cyrene, and visitors from
Rome, both Jews and proselytes,
Cretans and
Arabs--
we hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God." (Acts 2:4-11 NASB)(which they do not forbid) and does not include what cessationist call
ecstatic speaking (which they do forbid). However, Luke here is not making a theological statement about which tongues are valid but simply narrating the people groups who heard them. Had some Christians spoken in angelic languages, it is not expected that Luke should include "angels" among the people groups who heard. Continuatinists argue that Cessationist are making this passage teach something it is not intending to teach (prooftexting); Luke was not teaching his reader to reject tongues of angels... he was certainly not teaching that persons who speak angelic languages are to be excommunicated, accused of committing apostasy, being possessed by demons or anything like that.
Continuationist argue that Paul does speak of angelic languages as part of the gift of tongues...
"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love... " (1 Cor.13:1a ESV)And N.T. methods for testing the genuineness of spiritual experiences can confirm that a person who speaks in tongues today really does have that gift from the Holy Spirit...
"Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord”
except in the Holy Spirit." (1 Cor.12:3 ESV)And it should also be noted that those who spoke in tongues in Acts 2 were not articulating/preaching the gospel to those who heard (as cessationists argue as the purpose of the gift of tongues), but the Pentecost Christians were speaking
mighty works of God in tongues, Peter still needed to preach the gospel. This is consistent with modern experience of the gift of tongues; whenever they are interpreted they tend to be only phrases or sentenses of praises to God, rarely (if ever) whole articulate sermons. Modern experience of the gift of tongues is also consistent with other descriptions of it in the Bible...
"For one who speaks in a tongue
speaks not to men but to God;
for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit. On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation. The
one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church." (1 Corinthians 14:2-4 ESV)Persons who speak in tongues are edified in the Spirit, abound emotionally in the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Gal.5:22) and have a sense of communication with God though they do not understand what they are saying.
"Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue should pray for the power to interpret. For if I pray in a tongue,
my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful. What am I to do?
I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also;
I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also. Otherwise, if you
give thanks with your spirit, how can anyone in the position of an outsider say “Amen” to your thanksgiving when he does not know what you are saying?
For you may be giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not being built up." (1 Corinthians 14:13-17 ESV)Notice the descriptions of Paul regarding a person who speaks in tongues without the gift of interpretation; such a person
prays with his spirit but is
unfruitful in his mind,
sings praise in his spirit,
give thanks in his spirit (which the apostle approves) - all of these are consistent with the modern experience of the gift of tongues.