Gifts Of The Holy Spirit 2 New Testament Study

Gifts Of The Holy Spirit 2 New Testament Study In this study we will examine the Holy Spirit in the New Testament. PART I Miraculous Gifts I Corinthians 12:8-10 The types of miraculous gifts are specifically laid out here; however some denominations tend to only focus on healing and tongues, but where are the others? What are the gifts mentioned? Let s see: 1) Wisdom 2) Knowledge 3) Faith 4) Healing 5) Miracles 6) Prophecy 7) Distinguishing Spirits 8) Tongues 9) Interpretation I must admit these would be incredible to have. But what was the true purpose for these gifts? Imagine the situation Jews were taught to live by written laws all their lives, and now they are expected to accept a verbal covenant? Unless of course they could validate their claims with miracles. Mark 16:15-20, Hebrews 2:1-4 It is clear that the purpose of miraculous gifts was to reveal and confirm that the messages of the early preachers and teachers themselves were God sent. Some miraculous gifts were: 1) Revelatory revealed God s message 2) Confirmatory confirmed God s message For miraculous gifts to have desired effect, they would have to be obvious even to unbelievers. They were! (Acts 4:15-16, 8:9-13) Further, it the tongues were just ecstatic utterances they would not have convinced anyone of anything, because that was widely practiced in pagan religious long before the church. Now that the word is confirmed and written, the written accounts of miracles can produce the same faith in us that the direct miracles did in the early church. The letter to the Corinthians was one of the first letters written; and is the only one that really focuses on the miraculous gifts. 1

II Timothy 3:16-17 This is one of the last letters written and it says nothing about miraculous gifts; in fact, it says the Scripture completely equips us. Laying On Of Hands This is important basic instructions that the church is expected to understand. (Hebrews 6:1-3). What are the types of laying on of hands? 1) Blessing Acts 13:3 2) Healing Ananias heals Paul s blindness (Acts 9:17-18) Paul heals Publius father on Malta (Acts 28:8) 3) Passing on the gifts Passing On The Gifts hands! Miraculous gifts could only be passed on through the laying on of Apostle s Acts 2:1-15 Only the Apostles spoke in tongues. What are the reasons to believe this: 1) vs 1 they goes back to the nearest antecedent; which is the Apostles (1:26) 2) vs 7 all the speakers were said to be Galileans all the Apostles were chosen in Galilee. The setting is Judea; far away for all 120 to be from Galilee. 3) vs 14 Peter stood up with the eleven. 4) Question was addressed to Peter and the other eleven. 5) After baptism, those early disciples devoted themselves to the Apostles teachings. 6) vs 43 ongoing miracles are performed by only the Apostles. Tongues were understandable languages; not ecstatic utterances. Vs 6 Greek word is for dialect; also found in vs 8. In vs 11, however, the Greek word is glossa; which is the basic word for language. From Acts 1-6 Only the Apostles are recorded as performing miraculous gifts. Acts 6:1-6, 7-8 First mention of anyone besides Apostles (Stephen) doing miracles. When did it happen? After the laying on of Apostles hands. Note: notice these men were picked because they were shown to be full of the Spirit already; and yet did not have the ability to perform miracles. 2

Acts 8:5-7, 14-19 Philip also had the gifts passed to him through the Apostles laying on of hands. Notice that though Philip had the gifts, he could not pass them on to anyone. Simon saw this and therefore asked the Apostles for this ability when they came. Acts 19:1-7 Paul was an Apostle as well; and therefore had the ability to pass on the gifts. He laid his hands on them and then they begin to speak in tongues. Many claim to speak in tongues, but did they have an Apostle lay their hands on them for them to receive this gift? Note: the Apostles were able to perform miracles even during the ministry of Christ (Luke 9:1); this ability was not given at Pentecost. Romans 1:11 Paul wanted to impart gifts to the Roman church. Compare the gifts mentioned between the two letters Romans 12:6-8 vs. I Corinthians 12:8-10. In Romans all the gifts are non-miraculous in nature; except for prophecy. Whereas, in Corinth there are many miraculous gifts. That makes sense: Paul planted the church in Corinth and laid his hands on them; but when this letter was written to Rome, no Apostles had yet been to Rome. Thus once the Apostles had died, the gifts could no longer be passed on. But, I have seen miracles today! What does that mean? The Bible can explain that one! II Thessalonians 2:9-10 Satan can perform miracles today. What is the purpose? Satan s to deceive people about the truth, so they will not be saved. God s to test us if we really love the truth (Word). It was not much different in the O.T. as well. Up to the point of receiving the Law, Moses did many miracles to confirm that his words were from God. But after the Law, he did not perform nearly as many miracles. In fact a command was given to not pay attention to the miracles if it contradicts the written law that had already been confirmed. (Deuteronomy 13:1-5) A thorough study of the miraculous gifts in the O.T. would also help to show the misunderstandings of the gifts that the Charismatics have today. All the same gifts are present in the O.T.; except the gift of tongues and interpretation must mean there is some special purpose for them to appear on the Pentecost; whereas all the other gifts were present before the Pentecost. A question to consider is how long were the gifts to last? How Long Were They To Last Once the message was delivered in written form, there would be no need for miraculous gifts to confirm it. Some claim that miracles are still needed today to confirm the Scriptures. 3

Romans 1:4 Jesus was confirmed to be God s son by the resurrection. If miracles are needed in each generation to confirm the Scriptures; then every generation would also need another resurrection to confirm Jesus as the son of God! A few denominations have some strong claims only based on the one letter of Corinthians. They can in no way prove their claims with the whole Bible. They claim that the letter of Corinthians is directives for us as the church today: we must all speak in tongues and that the gifts are present today through the baptism of the Holy Spirit. But the letter of Corinthians was not directives about tongues, but rather correctives. They are broken up in three chapters: Chapter 12 Enumeration (list of gifts) Chapter 13 Duration Chapter 14 Regulations First of all, there needs to be an understanding that the presence of gifts (even in abundance, as is the case in Corinth) does not guarantee that the Christians would be spiritual; the Corinthian church was one that had some major division, criticalness, and allowing sin to continue in people s lives. Truly not the best spiritual example of all the churches mentioned in the New Testament. Such is the case with the Charismatic movement, though there may be an appearance of great spirituality, a deeper look at member s individual daily lives would reveal the presence of continual sin; which shows there is a lack of true repentance necessary for salvation! The greatest mistake of some denominations is their wrong understanding of chapter 13, concerning the duration of the gifts. We already know that once the Apostles died the gifts could not be passed on! Thus even before we explain this chapter, it is clear the gifts would not last forever. These denominations would have to say that this chapter contradicts the rest of the Scriptures! But in fact, it does not, but confirms them instead! I Corinthians 13:8-13 This clearly says that the gifts would pass when perfection comes! That is true! But a few denominations wrongly assume that perfection is referring to Jesus returning to earth. Perfection here could NOT mean the coming of Jesus, because it is in the neuter gender in the Greek, not the masculine gender. Love is always in the feminine gender, as is kingdom ; and Christ is always in the masculine gender. What the word actually means is completed which in this case could mean the written and completed message of the Scriptures. The same word found in I Corinthians 13:10 is also found in James 1:25 which in context is only referring to the written Word! As the Apostles began to die, they also began to write down the words God had revealed to them. The Apostles left us the completed Word, after their deaths. 4

Once the Apostles died, the ability to pass on the gifts would cease to exist. Thus perfection could be the completed revelations! This idea in no way contradicts I Corinthians 13, but in fact confirms it. Note: there are very few words in Greek that are in the neuter gender; however the Law is one of them. The N.T. is the second Law or covenant God has given us. When we got the completed Word, the miraculous gifts were already beginning to cease as most of the Apostles had already been killed as well as those disciples who had received the gifts. And let s not forget the purpose of the gifts in the first place to confirm the Word! Regulations Of The Gifts We need to also explain chapter 14, which talks about the regulations of how to use the gifts, particularly the gifts of tongues and interpretation. I Corinthians 14:1-25 A few denominations use vs 2 as a basis for ecstatic utterances; but it could also mean that there is a situation where a person was speaking a real language that neither he nor anyone in the audience could understand. It also clearly shows that prophecy is more important than tongues. To reveal God s message with tongues, translation was absolutely necessary (vs 5, 13, 27, & 28). First of all, these denominations claim that all Christians need to speak in tongues, and even look down on those who can t. This contradicts the Scriptures, because it is clear in I Corinthians 12:28-30 not everyone had received the gifts of tongues. Pentecostal practice of tongues also contradicts the commands of chapter 14. I Corinthians 14:26-28 The commands are very specific. No one could speak in tongues unless an interpreter was present, and even then, no more than tree could speak in any service, one at a time. It s not hard to see that these denominations are disobeying this command all the time. Not to mention the tongues we here from these denominations today truly is just ecstatic utterances (emotional sounds) rather than bonafide languages. This should not surprise us, speaking in tongues is common in many religions (Mormons, Catholic, Islam, etc...) because religion gets boring and lonely. Though they contradicting scriptures with this practice today, we have got to admit that some of these denominational services can be a lot more exciting and entertaining than most of the traditional and dead churches that exist today. Vs 20-22 shows the purpose of the miraculous gifts at this time: 1) To get non-believers to believe. 2) To edify the Christians and strengthen their faith. 5

Both of these needs can now be fulfilled by the Word of God. Thus the church today does not need Apostles or miraculous gifts; just as the Jews did not need Moses or the miracles once they had the written Law. (II Timothy 3:16-17) Not to mention, Jesus was filled with the Spirit without limit (John 3:34-36); and yet he is never recorded as speaking in tongues (ecstatic utterances). We cannot end here without also explaining what has caused these denominations to stray so far from the scriptures. Almost all these Pentecostal denominations believe that these gifts can be received with the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Some claim this is the same moment as the water baptism, well others don t make that connection necessary. We need to look to the Word to understand this principle the Baptism with the Holy Spirit. PART II Baptism With The Holy Spirit There are three measures of the Holy Spirit that we can find in the Bible. 1) The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit 2) The Baptism With the Holy Spirit 3) The Miraculous Gifts of the Holy Spirit (already explained) Acts 2:38 This is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Which is clearly seen only to take place after repentance, and received at baptism (water immersion). Before the Seven as seen in Acts 6 received the miraculous gifts through the laying on of hands, it was clear they had already been filled with the Spirit. Of course they were baptized disciples, and therefore had the indwelling of the Spirit at baptism. This is the only receiving of the Spirit that is promised to all believers. Also this baptism in the only one commanded by Jesus (Matthew 28:18-20). The Baptism with the Holy Spirit is another issue we need to understand. What are the characteristics of it, as can only be found in two places in the entire N.T. : Acts 2 & Acts 10. 1) It is a promise (not command) Acts 1:4-5 2) Predicted (prophesied) 3) Came without warning (people were not praying for it) 4) Languages 5) Purpose: to usher in the Kingdom with power. What are the accounts of the Baptism with the Holy Spirit? 1) To the Jews In Jerusalem (Acts 2) 2) To the Gentiles Begins with Cornelius (Acts 10) 6

Note: Cornelius and his household were water baptized in vs. 48 Peter explained actions to the Jews (Acts 11:1-18) At the beginning Acts 11:15 Also don t forget that according to the teachings in I Corinthians, tongues were a sign for unbelievers. In this case the unbeliever was actually Peter he didn t believe that salvation was also for the Gentiles until after this situation. The promise of the Spirit was for all people not just the Jews (Acts 2:17; Joel 2:28-30). Thus the promise could not have been completely fulfilled on the day of Pentecost only Jews were present. Thus in order for the scriptures to be fulfilled completely it also had to be poured on the Gentiles. Once it did, then the promise is fulfilled and complete; which makes sense, because there is no other recorded occurrence after the account in Acts 10 & 11. Pouring out is God s view point, whereas baptism of is man s viewpoint. A careful study of the quoted prophecy in Acts 2 will also help make this point clear, that it was not a command but a promise (that once fulfilled will not take place again). Acts 2:17 Quoting Joel, the word pouring is in future tense. Acts 2:33 Pouring is now in the aorist tense which means just occurred (past) Acts 10:45 Now pouring is in perfect tense meaning past action with continuing results. This shows that the Baptism of the Holy Spirit was a promise that had been completely fulfilled after the accounts of Acts 2 & 10 took place; and therefore would never take place again through a pouring out of the Spirit. The gift of tongues could appear again but only through the laying on of the Apostles hands (Acts 19:1-7). Without further explanation we can already see what is not connected with the Baptism of the Holy Spirit: 1) It was not to enable people to do miracles, because they (Apostles) already had the ability previous to Acts 2 (Luke 10:17-20). 2) It was not to inspire people as prophets, for inspiration had been around for hundreds of years in the O.T. prophets. 3) It was not to fill people with the Spirit. John the Baptist was filled with the Spirit from birth, many years before the Holy Spirit Baptism occurred (Luke 1:15). Yet, he did no miracles (John 10:41). 4) It was not to save someone. The Holy Spirit indwells a Christian at the point of conversion (Galatians 4:6; Acts 2:38). This leaves us with a question: does the Baptism of the Holy Spirit still exist today? 7

One Baptism Ephesians 4:4-6 There is ONE baptism which one? (Written about 60-62 A.D.) There are only 3 possible options: 1) John s Baptism Passed when new covenant began (Acts 19:1-5) Note: When Paul realized they did not know about the Spirit, what was the first question he asked? What Baptism did you receive? Paul understood at this point there was only one way to get the Spirit through water baptism. They were then baptized. This was not a Baptism of the Holy Spirit! They only began to speak in tongues after Paul had laid his hands on them. 2) The Baptism of the Holy Spirit This was a promise that was fulfilled. It never was a command. It would no longer be present, once it was fulfilled, which was as can be seen in the Acts 2 & 10 accounts. The Apostles have also all died, so the tongues cannot be present as well today! 3) Baptism with water in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins to receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The third case is the only possible option. It is the only one commanded by Jesus. Also this is the only baptism that is recorded all the way through the entire book of Acts and and the Epistles (Letters). I Peter 3:21 This makes reference to this water baptism of salvation. This letter was also written about 62 A.D. It had to be the one baptism of Ephesians 4:4-6 as it was the only one practiced by 60-62 A.D. when Ephesians was written. Matthew 7:21-29 We need to always go back to Jesus teaching if we want to be sure of our salvations, and to be sure if we are really his disciples. The presence of miraculous gifts in no way guarantees that we are spiritual or for that matter saved. (A study of Saul, who had the gift of prophecy, would clearly show that). In context of this statement, Jesus goes on to share that only those who build on a solid foundation will make it to heaven. That foundation being the the Words of Jesus, not the miracles of Jesus. The miracles of Jesus were simply to confirm that his words were true. The only way to be known by Jesus, is to know his words and practice them everyday as one of the last letters of the N.T. verify: All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. II Timothy 3:16-17 8