A Rejection of Cessationism and Continuationism

The Disenchantment of the Spiritual Gifts

Introduction

I was recently listening to a podcast where a guest was talking about the rejection of the notion that the spiritual gifts are for today. I was there for the majority of my ministry as a pastor. I taught cessationism back in around 2017-2018 and even advocated for that position while preaching a series through First Corinthians, which thankfully is not available for listening anywhere. Around the end of 2018 going into 2019, I ended up leaving cessationism behind.

You can go ahead and pick your jaw up off the floor, because I didn’t become charismatic afterwards.

I think for many, this probably will seem odd because in our modern day the conversation around the spiritual gifts is framed as you either believe in the charismatic gifts of the spirit being in operation today or you believe that they were sign gifts that have ceased with the closing of the canon of Scripture. I didn’t end up in either place, rejecting that paradigm entirely. In my estimation this conversation is a modernist conversation, that like other things I write about, suffers from disenchantment.

The modern articulation of the charismatic gifts of the spirit goes back only a couple hundred years with the advent of Pentecostalism and Charles Parham. In other words, the position is modern. And, equally as interesting, the modern articulation of arguments for the cessation of the gifts is a rejection of this modern articulation of the gifts of the Spirit based off of very weak exegesis of 1 Corinthians 13:8-10 which is actually about the beatific vision — seeing Christ face to face, rather than the closing of the canon. So, this position too, is modern.

When examining Scripture, it is crucial to recognize that the gifts of the Spirit are inherently rooted in a pre-modern context, firmly embedded within the narrative of ancient Scripture. To gain a proper understanding of these spiritual gifts, one must delve into the ancient narrative found in the book of Genesis and grasp the progressive nature of covenant that underpins the comprehension of the gifts of the Spirit. Continuationists argue in favor of the persistence of certain gifts, which, to be frank, do are not the same gifts found in the pre-modern narrative of Scripture. On the other hand, cessationists reject the ongoing manifestation of these gifts, but they are not rejecting the biblical concept itself but rather the contemporary interpretation and expression of these gifts.

So, what exactly is going on here? Where did I shake out on all of this? Well, let me say that I think it’s better to understand the spiritual gifts as covenantal gifts, because they’re given to the people of the covenant for the sake of the covenant. Let me explain more.

On Tongues and Prophecy

As I began to dive deeper into the narrative of Scripture, I began to realize pretty quickly that the modern gifts of the Spirit that we see in operation today that cessationists argue have ceased aren’t what we see in Scripture. They’re divorced from its ancient context.

What do I mean by that? Well, let’s just pick up the narrative in Noah onwards.

In Genesis 6-9, we learn that God brought about a catastrophic flood that eliminated everything, save Noah and his household. After the deluge, Noah and his sons were fruitful and multiplied and became the forefathers of the 70 nations found in the Table of Nations in Genesis 10. At this point in the narrative, all of the nation’s spoke one language. In Genesis 11, we have the narrative about the Tower of Babel, where God confuses the languages of the peoples and scatters them across the earth. In Deuteronomy 32:7-8, we find a commentary on the event, and we learn that when God fixed their boundaries according to the number of the sons of God.

These are angelic beings who eventually rebel against Yahweh and become the gods of the nations. They lead the nations astray into further darkness, which perpetuates all kinds of evil and injustice (Ps. 82). We have nations in different geographical regions, with different gods, who speak different languages. This is a barrier that needs overcome.

So, what does God do? Well, He chooses a nation from among the nations to be His portion (Deut. 32:7-8). He sovereignly chooses Abraham who was living in Ur of the Chaldea, and he becomes the forefather of what would be known as the Nation of Israel. This nation was an elect nation among the nations who was supposed to be a light to the other nations was plunged into darkness by their own sins and by the leading of the gods. If Israel was faithful to the covenant given to them through Moses, the nations would look at them and say “for what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the LORD our God whenever we call on Him? Or what great nation has statutes and judgments so righteous (upright, just) as this whole law which I am placing before you today?”

Also, during the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot), which was a fall harvest festival that occurred 15 days after the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) in Ancient Israel. During this festival, Israel would reside in temporary tabernacles or tents. During this festival, 70 bulls were sacrificed with other sin offerings (Num. 29:12-34). Why 70 bulls? They were offered up for the 70 nations in Genesis 10 for atonement, which is why it follows directly after the Day of Atonement. This idea isn’t my own, it’s also present in various Rabbinical texts as well. For example, in Sukkah 55b, Rabbi Elazar noted:

“To what do those seventy bullocks [that were offered during the seven days of the Festival] correspond? To the seventy nations…”

All of these things were meant to overcome the barrier, which would lead to Yahweh re-inheriting the nations (Ps. 82). However, we learn that Israel fails at this mandate. The entire narrative through Samuel and Kings tells us that they end up becoming like the nations, taking their gods, perpetuating injustice and leading to exile towards the east in Babylon. During this era, God raised up prophets who had the spiritual gift of prophesy. This gift was used covenantally to call Israel back to faithfulness to the covenant. If they refused to listen to the prophetic warnings, then the curses of the covenant would come upon them. If they heeded the prophetic warnings, then the blessings of the covenant would flow, and they would be restored to Edenic bliss.

Notice that the prophesies were not Nostradamus-like. This is typically how we think about prophesy in our modern day. However, the biblical prophets weren’t just predicting wild, speculative events that would occur at some point in the future. Their prophecies were grounded in covenant. Do this, and covenant blessings will come upon you. Fail to do this, and you’ll be utterly destroyed. Prophesy is a covenantal gift that calls hearers to covenant faithfulness and proclaims the curses and blessings of the covenant.

As the narrative of Scripture progresses, we see that God does indeed overcome these barriers in the atoning work of Jesus. His work purifies us from sin (1 Jn. 1:7-9) and it ransoms us from the kingdom of darkness (Col. 1:13-14; 1 Tim. 2:6). Through this, the gods of the nations — the rulers and the principalities have been disarmed and triumphed over in Him (Col. 2:14-15). Not only does God overcome this barrier, but He also overcomes the language barrier as well.

During the Feast of Pentecost, we see that there were Jewish men scattered from among the nations who were there on pilgrimage for the feast. In Acts 2, when Peter stands up and proclaims the Gospel, through the power of the Spirit of God, the people are able to hear the gospel proclaimed in their own language or tongue. The text explicitly says:

And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. ⁷ And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? ⁸ And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? ⁹ Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, ¹⁰ Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, ¹¹ both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” ¹² And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” — Acts 2:6-12 ESV

There are several things that must be noted here.

The first thing to be noted is that the amazement of the Jewish pilgrims was not that they were hearing some heavenly, angelic language, but that they heard men “who are speaking Galileans” in “his own native language.” This is buttressed by the following part where it mentions “Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” These are Jewish men, who speak different languages, who hear Jewish men speaking in a Galilean dialect in their own native languages.

The second thing to be noted is that the geographical regions in this text are the same places mentioned in the Table of Nations in Genesis 10. Here’s just a few to give you a visual summary showing how they map.

Egypt (Genesis 10:6) → Egypt (Acts 2:10)

Javan (Genesis 10:4) → Greece and its provinces (Cappadocia, Pontius, Asia, Phyrgia, Pamphylia) (Acts 2:8-10)

Babel, Erech, Accad, Calneh, Ninevah, etc. (Genesis 10:9-12) → Parthians, Medes, and Elamites, residents of Mesopotamia (Acts 2:9)

Seba (Sheba) (Gen. 10:7) → Arabia (Acts 2:11)

The point is, the 70 nations we were scattered, whose languages were confused, and who had been disinherited were in the process of being re-inherited and brought back into the covenant. Tongues, which appears to be a gift where someone can speak in their native tongue and another can hear in their native tongue, is a covenantal gift.

This is something that the continuationists and cessationists both miss.

The gifts of prophecy and tongues are covenantal gifts used to call others to covenant faithfulness and to bring others into the covenant. They are not the strange things that we see in continuationist circles today, so I cannot blame cessationists for rejecting them. However, I also believe that cessationists are rejecting something that the Bible never describes and their rejection of the spiritual gifts as a whole is founded upon faulty exegesis. They’re rejecting something very modern, that even has counterparts appearing in pagan circles today. They’re not rejecting what’s found in the pre-modern, ancient context of the Bible.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it's important to acknowledge that while there may be more work and contemplation needed on this topic, I've arrived at a standpoint I'm reasonably confident in. This presentation isn't intended to be an exhaustive treatment of the subject, but I believe I've carefully considered the majority of the issue, providing a basis to defend these viewpoints in the marketplace of ideas.

When we engage with the Bible within its pre-modern and ancient context, we find the tools to navigate these complexities. This approach enables us to sidestep the pitfalls of modernist thinking, such as the extremes of cessationism and continuationism, both of which can veer into modernistic errors. Embracing this perspective allows us to cultivate an enchanted understanding of spiritual gifts, firmly rooted in the concept of covenant, while also safeguarding against potential abuses and excesses in our interpretation and practice.

Perhaps I will write on this topic more and spend more time flushing out the rest of the details at some point, if that’s something my readers would be interested in.