Big Healing Book - Earlier Lists of Spiritual Gifts Contain Miraculous Gifts

Objection: Earlier Lists of Spiritual Gifts Contain Miraculous Gifts, While the Later Ones Do Not

This argument even comes with a chart showing that First Corinthians (supposed to be have been written in AD 55) has many references to miraculous spiritual gifts, while Romans 12:6-8 (AD 56) mentions only prophecy along with the non-miraculous gifts of service, teaching, exhorting, giving, leading and mercy, Ephesians 4:11 (AD 61) mentions only the miraculous gift of prophets along with apostles, evangelists and shepherds/teachers, and 1 Peter 4:10-11 (AD 64) mentions only the non-miraculous gifts of speaking and serving. (I am humoring the parts I don’t agree with so that I can state the objection in its original form.)

There is so much wrong here that it’s hard to know where to start, but we’ll start somewhere.

Apples and Oranges

The first problem is assuming that these are lists of the same thing, which they aren’t. The list in 1 Corinthians involves manifestations of the Holy Spirit in a corporate setting. (They can be used elsewhere, but most of Paul’s teaching concerns the user of gifts in church gatherings.) The list in Romans does not match that. For example, if you are a leader, you don’t only lead “as the Spirit wills!” Your giving, to be consistent with Jesus’ teaching, will be done in a way that others might not even know about. Some people refer to the Romans list as “motivational gifts” to clarify that they are NOT the same thing as the nine spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12:8-11.

Ministry Offices

The second problem is that the list in Ephesians 4:11 describes ministry offices, not ministry manifestations. So now the objector is comparing apples and oranges to rechargeable batteries. While people in some offices flow in certain spiritual gifts more frequently, these are two different lists, so there is no way that one could replace the other.

The third problem is that the objector mistakenly shows the offices of apostle and evangelist as non-miraculous gifts. If someone is really an apostle (not to be confused with someone who merely has a business card saying he's one), he will have “the signs of an apostle” following him, and these are definitely miraculous (2 Corinthians 12:12). Philip was called an evangelist (Acts 21:8) and he flowed in signs and wonders too (Acts 6:8). Extra “nit-pick” here: I understand why people lump pastors and teachers into one gift because there are only four instances of the word “some” in Ephesians 4:11, the last one being before “pastors and teachers." However, the office of teacher is recognized separately in Acts 13:1.

Supernatural Speaking and Serving

The fourth problem is declaring that the two things Peter mentioned in the latest list (speaking and serving) are not supernatural. When they are done God’s way, they are! Peter said that if any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God, i.e., prophetically. If any man ministers, he is to do it in God’s ability, not his own, and doing that is supernatural as well.

No More Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors, Teachers, Exhorters, Givers, Leaders and Demonstrators of Mercy?

The fifth problem is the idea that a later list replaces any earlier list. The objector is willing to throw out the “miraculous” manifestations because they are not in later lists. If we follow the objector’s own chart and logic, this means that the only “gifts” in effect today are the last ones – speaking and serving. Thus, the objector makes the case that there should be no more apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers, exhorters, givers, leaders, and demonstrators of mercy. You can’t have it both ways. If those ministries are still in effect today, despite not being in the last list, it is inconsistent to throw out the spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians because they aren’t in the last list either.

Conclusion

These lists do not force us to choose one or the other – they complement each other. Thus, they cannot be used to prove that anything on any of these lists is not for today. Actually, they all are. The time of the cessation of spiritual gifts is when the perfect comes. If you’ve been misled into thinking that this refers to the completion of the New Testament, please click on the link below and learn otherwise.