Not everyone thinks so though. Like these fellows.

There are all sorts of problems with this – not least the claims of spiritual immaturity, devaluing the word, and self-superiority, and dismissive attitude they display but let’s leave those things to one side. I also think there’s too tight a focus on sign gifts. Mostly I think though that in order to preserve the Word they end up disobeying it and that can’t be right.

If you were to ask Roger Olsen, who has written a post titled Against Cessationism, then you’d be unsurprised to learn that he disagrees. Strongly.

I will go so far as to say that cessationism is at least heterodox and unbiblical. Nowhere does the Bible point to it. The only passage cessationists can point to is 1 Corinthians 13:8-10 which says that tongues will cease when “the perfect” is come. But it also says “knowledge” (gnosis) will cease. Did Paul mean the whole of scripture, the sixty-six books of the canon, when he prophecies (!) that “the perfect” will come and tongues will cease? That is sheer eisegesis, not exegesis. (Eisegesis is reading things into scripture that are not there.)

Against Cessationism

But the video above is of a group of men essentially trying to uphold the place of the Word. The Word comes above everything. And I suspect they’re rightly wary of all the loose handling of Scripture from many charismatics. I would say though that I am a charismatic not primarily because of experience but because of the Scriptures. It’s Scripture that tells me to pursue these things, as Olsen says:

The irony here is that…most other conservative evangelical and fundamentalist cessationist groups claim to adhere to the doctrine of “biblical inerrancy” but absolutely violate it by forbidding speaking in tongues and other supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit such as prophecy and healing.

I see nowhere in Scripture that suggests to me that I should no longer seek to apply and practice 1 Corinthians 14:1

Pursue love and desire spiritual gifts, and especially that you may prophesy

CSB

When Paul encounters some followers (probably of John the Baptist) in Ephesus (Acts 19:6) and the Holy Spirit comes on them (just as JESUS promised) and they speak in tongues and prophesy there’s no indication in Scripture that Paul thinks this is a temporary thing that will wear off once he’s finished writing a few letters. No, the Spirit is the good gift of the Father that comes through the good Son and these good gifts that the Spirit gives are to be received for our benefit and the building up of the church. Pursue them, desire them, use them, encourage them because that’s what it means to honour the Word.

Related Reading

• Once again: On being unapologetically charismatic by Steve Holmes
• Cessationism and Strange Fire by Andrew Wilson
• A Rather Odd Cessationist Argument by Andrew Wilson
• The Gift of Tongues by Lex Loizides (an interesting book review)

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