I want to commend my brother in Christ Tag Tuck on his sermon, this past Sunday on spiritual gifts. I personally found some helpful distinctions and useful applications. I would like to continue the discussion on spiritual gifts by addressing the so-called “sign gifts”. It seems to me that the controversy centers primarily around two gifts: tongues and prophecy, which we will discuss again later in 1 Corinthians.
Tongues was the ability to speak in an unknown language. Some people believe that those languages included a “heavenly language” as 1 Corinthians 13 seems to suggest. In Acts 2, tongues were the ability to speak the truth of God in a human language which the speaker had not learned. In that text, when the message was heard, it was the gospel message that was spoken, as many were converted. The speaker did not know the language he was speaking, but the hearer understood it clearly.
Prophecy was a word given in the church setting that was “for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation" (1 Cor. 14:3 ESV). This is analogous to modern preaching, where Scripture is explained and applied. In the early church, it was more of a direct word from God. In the Corinthian church, messages like this could be challenged or discerned. So both translated tongues and prophecy were ways that the Holy Spirit gave messages to the church in the time before the Biblical canon was closed.
For many of us that seems just scary and weird. Thinking a little more carefully, we have a high commitment to the Bible as the finished word of God. We believe there are no new books of the Bible to be added. Many Christian theologians through the years believe that these gifts functioned in the church’s infancy while the New Testament was being finished. There are several places in our own denomination's theological documents where this is stated, which I will address below.
History in Christianity
A look back at church history does seem to indicate that, for the most part, these supernatural gifts of the Spirit ceased to be a regular part of the church's experience. This did seem to be true after the first century. There was a group called the Montanists in the late second century that brought back these practices. However, if you read about them, things got very much out of hand.
The Pentecostal movement of the early 1900’s and the Charismatic movement that began in the 60’s and 70’s claimed to bring these practices back into the church. The differences between the two movements are many, but the main difference is that the Charismatic movement was a renewal movement in Protestant denominations that were mainly theologically liberal, and those churches had never practiced those gifts. That, of course, was very controversial. As the movement evolved, various charismatic denominations emerged to allow freedom of their beliefs and practices to thrive.
The Charismatic movement, and to a lesser degree the Pentecostal movement, has affected the evangelical church extensively. The emphasis on the Holy Spirit caused believers to think more about the third person of the Trinity and His role in our lives as believers. There have been problems brought on by these movements, but we can appreciate how the Lord has used them for good as well.
Here at Grace
Here at Grace, we do not practice tongues in our worship services. We do not practice prophecy, in the sense that "prophecy" is bringing new information (revelation) to the church. We view Scripture alone as the authoritative word of God spoken in the church. We also would have no way of evaluating an “unknown tongue” that wasn’t in a human language we knew.
We are a Presbyterian church, which means that we don’t decide all doctrinal matters on independently, but live in relational connection with other PCA churches. Our denomination, the Presbyterian Church in America, subscribes to the Westminster Confession of Faith as a summary of Biblical theology. The Westminster Confession of Faith says of the supernatural revelations of the past (WCF 1:1 WCS): "…those former ways of God's revealing His will unto His people being now ceased.” Clearly, the brothers in 1650 who wrote these words weren’t expecting any new revelations of the Spirit.
That is not the only thing our denomination has said about these matters. In the early days of the PCA, our denomination addressed these issues in a conciliatory way in this document. In this pastoral letter to all the churches, careful instruction is given, and mysteries are acknowledged.
While our practice is different than Charismatic churches, we do serve a common Lord and Savior, and hold many common beliefs. We pray for the Holy Spirit to work freely and mightily among us however He chooses. We expect Him to do great things, in accordance with His Holy Word. We pray for greater unity with all our brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus.
As always, if you have further questions on this, feel free to contact myself or Tag. We would be happy to talk with you.
In Him,
Don