We could write an entire book on how the damnable heresy of cessationism perverts every doctrine of the Christian faith. It would occupy another volume to detail the incalculable damage that this demonic teaching has inflicted upon the church throughout history, and indeed on all of humanity.
Here we will do nothing more than briefly consider how it relates to an outline of Christian dogmatics. Since I have established the items below in various places, I will only list them and assume that they are understood. Let us not be spiritual infants, but be quick to recall and apply what we have learned.
Some of these errors are committed not only by cessationists, but by more general categories of those who claim to be Christians, whom we call people of no-faith or unbeliefism. Although we refer only to the cessationists for the sake of convenience, all no-faith people are guilty of many of the items below.
Bibliology
When it comes to the inspiration of Scripture, the evangelical formulation places too much emphasis on the apostles, and the cessationist exploits this to make his case. I have explained how the formulation is defective and forces the evangelical himself into a corner as it requires him to invent one theory after another to address the problems generated. God is the author of Scripture, and this does not help cessationism, because God still lives.
Then it is said that cessationism follows from the sufficiency of Scripture, but Paul told Timothy that the Scripture he had — the Old Testament — was already sufficient. Thus the complete Bible is not only sufficient, but more than sufficient — this uncovers another flaw in the evangelical formulation. In any case, since the Old Testament was already sufficient, if cessationism follows from the sufficiency of Scripture, then cessationism must declare that the entire New Testament is unnecessary and fraudulent. The Bible is sufficient to build faith for miracles. And it is sufficient to condemn the cessationist.
And then it is said that cessationism follows from the finality of Scripture, or the completion of Scripture. However, the gifts of the Spirit did not write Scripture, but God wrote it — Scripture came from his very breath — and he still lives. If the completion of Scripture caused the ability to write Scripture to cease, then it must mean that the completion of Scripture destroyed God himself, since he is the sole ability to write Scripture. Therefore, the cessationist cannot even be a theist, let alone a Christian. The Bible is the final word on the subject, that God promises supernatural blessings and mandates the ministry of miracles.
The cessationist also subverts the clarity of Scripture, since he forbids straightforward faith in the words of the Bible. Rather, he imposes an artificial framework on Scripture, along with various fancy words and strange theories about the purposes of God, in order to twist the words of God beyond all recognition, so that he may justify his unbelief and lack of power.
The cessationist claims to defend the doctrine that Scripture is sufficient and final, but he rejects what this sufficient and final Scripture says. As Jesus said, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?” Beware! This same Scripture is also sufficient to declare the final damnation of those who persist in unbelief. This has been made clear in the letter to the Hebrews, among other places. What good is it to declare the sufficiency of Scripture, if you do not believe it? What profit is there to declare the finality of the Bible, if you do not obey it? Why do you declare the clarity of Scripture, if you distort what it says? The only effect is self-damnation.
Theology
The nature of God is to work miracles. This is evident throughout the Bible. As it is written, “Who among the gods is like you, O LORD? Who is like you — majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?” It would be ridiculous to affirm that God is still majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, but that he is no longer working wonders. It has nothing to do with the history of redemption or the completion of Scripture — it is his nature to work miracles. The issue is not when it is, but what he is.
God performs miracles often not to prove himself or to reveal himself, or to authenticate new revelations, but to fulfill his old promises and ancient revelations. He performs miracles because he is true to his word. In fact, most miracles are performed on this basis. The cessationist distorts both the nature of Scripture and the nature of God.
God is sovereign. He sovereignly makes promises, and then he always sovereignly keeps his promises. However, to the cessationist, even when God has promised something, he might not do it, because “God is sovereign.” This is what they tell Christians who pray according to the words of Scripture. “God is sovereign,” so regardless of what the Bible says, each prayer is still decided on a case-by-case basis. In other words, every promise in the Bible becomes entirely meaningless. Thus the cessationist makes God into a sovereign liar, a sovereign covenant-breaker. This is blasphemy. It is one of the many excommunicable offenses committed by every cessationist.
The Bible tells us not to forget his benefits, and declares that God is one who forgives all our sins and heals all our diseases. If we have faith for him to forgive us, then of course he forgives us. Although forgiveness and healing are provided on the same basis, the cessationist would say that even when we have faith for God to heal us, he still might not heal us. Thus the cessationist introduces a contradiction within the biblical account of the nature of God and the nature of redemption, and he has no basis to claim that God will always forgive someone who has faith, so that his own basis for salvation is destroyed.
Jesus declared that those who believe in him would perform the same works that he did and even greater works than he did. He explained that God would be the one who performs these works, so that he may be glorified. The cessationist does not allow this, and therefore insists on a fundamentally different version of God how operates.
Christology
The Bible says that Jesus took our infirmities and carried our sicknesses. Anyone who has faith should be delivered from sickness, just as anyone who has faith should be delivered from sin. If we experience any difficulty, we ought to examine ourselves and not change the doctrine. The two blessings are secured and provided on the same basis, so that to affirm one requires a person to affirm the other, and to deny one requires a person to deny the other as well. The cessationist thus rejects the atonement, and overturns his own claim to salvation.
The Bible says that the disciples healed the sick and cast out demons in the name of Jesus. The gospel doctrine is that God raised Jesus from the dead and seated him at the right hand of the Most High, so that every being in heaven, on earth, and under the earth must bow to that name. In fact, that name was effective in performing miracles even before the resurrection of Christ. Thus the cessationist rejects the authority of the name of Jesus, and regards it as below what it was even before the resurrection of Christ.
Peter said that the crippled man was healed “by faith in the name of Jesus,” but then he also said that “there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” The apostle preached the same name for salvation in the same way and in the same context that he preached it and wielded it for a miracle of healing. If the name of Jesus can save today, then the name of Jesus can heal today. If the name of Jesus does not heal today, then on what basis can we believe that it saves today? It is the same name. Thus the cessationist rejects the only name by which he must be saved. There is no other way, but he rejects the only way.
When Jesus declared that those who believe in him would perform the same works that he did and even greater works than he did, he also said that he would be the one who performs them. He said, “Anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these…You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” Since the cessationist denies the ministry of miracles, he also overthrows an entire aspect of the post-resurrection and present-day ministry of Jesus Christ.
The Bible says that Jesus is the one who performs the baptism in the Holy Spirit, and that this baptism endows his disciples with “power from on high,” the same power that Jesus had when he walked the earth and performed miracles. Since the cessationist denies that Jesus now grants miracle-working power to those disciples who receive by faith, he rejects the ministry of Jesus as the baptizer.
Thus the cessationist makes a thorough assault on the doctrine of Christ, from his pre-resurrection authority, to his post-resurrection authority, and from his work of atonement, to his work of mediator, miracle-worker, and baptizer. This last item, of course, also becomes an attack on the doctrine of the Holy Spirit.
Pneumatology
Cessationism rejects the Bible’s teaching that the baptism in the Holy Spirit is distinguishable from the Spirit’s work in regeneration. And cessationism rejects the Bible’s teaching on what this baptism in the Holy Spirit is supposed to produce. In the Bible, when the Holy Spirit comes upon a person, it results in miracles and prophecies. The Bible repeatedly and explicitly states that this is what the baptism in the Holy Spirit intends to produce. The cessationist rejects this, but reduces the operation of the Spirit in the believer into a mere moral power, perhaps resulting in holiness, endurance, and such things.
Peter preached this baptism of miracle power as the gospel, sounding as if to receive forgiveness of sin is itself a means to an end — to receive the Holy Spirit for power. He said, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” He did not say, “Believe in Jesus for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of eternal life.” But he said, “Believe in Jesus for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
What did he mean by the gift of the Holy Spirit? He specified that he referred to what Joel said: “In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.” In other words, Peter said, “Believe in Jesus for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive prophecies, visions, dreams, and so on.” Thus the cessationist overthrows not only a major aspect of the work of the Holy Spirit, but he overthrows the apostolic gospel itself.
The cessationist rejects the gifts of the Spirit. However, the Bible promises and mandates the increase and expansion of miraculous powers, including the gifts of the Spirit (the gifts represent only one among several ways to perform or receive miracles). Therefore, the cessationist further rejects the work of the Spirit, and also what it means to be a Christian. Often, the Spirit has been practically reduced to a moral influence, but he is much more than that. The cessationist suppresses the Spirit in wickedness, and reaps within his own spirit and body and society the results of his unbelief.
Jesus said, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and then you will be my witnesses.” Since the cessationist rejects this power, he not only defies biblical pneumatology, but also biblical missiology. The cessationist makes it his official doctrine and creed, often even a test of orthodoxy, to reject the Great Commission as Jesus designed it.
The cessationist also rejects what Jesus meant by the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Some cessationists have indeed committed this unpardonable sin, and since they have altered and relaxed its meaning, they also increase the probability that other people would commit the sin. Thus they are accountable not only for their own unpardonable blasphemy, but also for other people’s blasphemy and damnation.
Anthropology, Harmartiology, Soteriology
The nature of man as a spirit, and made in the image of God, especially one that has been reborn, carries certain implications for spiritual and miraculous operations. The cessationist does not know or does not accept what the Bible teaches about the spiritual nature of man. Then James, in the context of faith and prayer, wrote that Elijah was a man like us, and by faith and prayer he performed miracles that controlled nature. The Bible does not say that I need to be like a prophet to work miracles, because it says that a prophet who worked miracles was like me. The cessationist does not know what it means to be a human being, or what it means when a human being has faith.
Jesus is the vine, I am the branch, and without him I can do nothing. But I am not without him. I am connected to him, and draw life and power from him. I am not Jesus, but the fact that I am not Jesus guarantees that I can do the same works that he did and even greater works than he did, because he said that “anyone who has faith” in him could do these things — not him, but anyone who has faith in him. And of course, then he would be the one who does these things through the one who has faith. I do not need to be a God, or an apostle, or a prophet, to work miracles. I only need to be human — a man who has faith in Jesus Christ.
When it comes to the doctrine of sin, the cessationist often speaks of repentance, sin, and unworthiness, but he refuses to repent of his own unbelief. He does not warn people about unbelief toward the miraculous, the gifts of the Spirit, and the benefits of the gospel; rather, he promotes unbelief toward these things. Thus the cessationist shows that he has an awareness of sin, but he does not allow the Bible to define sin. He embraces the chief sin of unbelief for himself, and he promotes the sin of unbelief to others. He still has not learned the first lesson about sin, but he echoes the serpent, the devil, who said, “Did God really say?”
As for soteriology, we have already covered some items that could also come under this doctrine. The cessationist rejects the atonement as it is taught in the Bible, that this work of Christ provides both forgiveness and healing, among other things, and that they are available in the present by faith. He denies that Jesus Christ saves the whole man. Keep in mind that the Holy Spirit is also given on the basis of redemption. In the application of redemption, the cessationist rejects the Bible’s teaching on the baptism of the Holy Spirit, confusing it and merging it with other items by force, so that he may suppress its true purpose and power entirely.
Ecclesiology
Paul wrote that just as the body is one and has many members, so it is with Christ. Then in the context of spiritual gifts, he said that one part of the body cannot say to another, “I have no need of you!” Are the miraculous gifts strong and needed? Then we would expect them to stand. But what if the miraculous gifts seem weak and unnecessary? The apostle replied, “On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable.” Any way we look at it, if healing is a gift of the Spirit, no one can say to this gift or one who uses it, “I have no need of you!” Likewise, if prophecy is a gift of the Spirit, if tongues is a gift of the Spirit, if miracles is a gift of the Spirit, no one can say, “I have no need of you!” However, except for the short period after the resurrection of Christ, the cessationist says of the gifts of the Spirit and those with the ministries of these gifts — for the past, present, and future — “I have no need of you!” He slaps the Spirit across the centuries. Thus the cessationist commits the Corinthian error — in historic proportions.
The apostle said, “earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues,” but the cessationist forbids to prophesy, and earnestly detests speaking in tongues. The apostle said that the believers may all speak up in prophecy one by one, but the cessationist says that the believers may never speak up in prophecy. The apostle said, “Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies.” The cessationist does the opposite. The apostle said, “When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation.” But the cessationist declares that no one can have a revelation, no one can have a tongue, and no one can have an interpretation. Is this even a Christian church? The cessationist church never attains to the apostolic mandate of what a church service ought to be and do. It claims to be a church but does not behave like a church.
The cessationist church does not maintain church order. Proper church order does not mean only stopping the wrong things, but also promoting the right things. We do not suppress false doctrine by removing all preaching from the church. This would not be church order, but apostasy. It would not be protecting the church, but destroying the church. Likewise, church order regulates the operation of the gifts of the Spirit. If it forbids the gifts of the Spirit, it is no longer church order, but apostasy.
What about church discipline? In the Bible, the church could gather to hand a sinning member over to Satan “for the destruction of the flesh,” but you need spiritual power to do that. Nowadays, the excommunicated member is likely to become happier and healthier because he no longer has to listen to those depressing sermons about sickness! There is more healing in the world than in the church.
What about ordination? As the Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul.” But now we have only human ambition, human education, and then a human committee. Paul wrote to Timothy, “Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you.” What, the gift? What, by prophecy? But now we have diplomas and certificates. Is any cessationist truly ordained? Perhaps he may be “lawfully” ordained, as the creed says — that is, according to human religious law — but he is not spiritually and powerfully ordained.
Eschatology
The Bible says that the gifts of the Spirit are like a taste of “the powers of the age to come.” Therefore, to say that we have moved beyond the gifts of the Spirit can only mean that we are living in the “age to come.” This is not only false eschatology, but it must also mean that we — including the cessationists, if they are believers — should have powers even stronger than that demonstrated by the gifts of the Spirit. If the gifts of the Spirit are only a taste, and we are now beyond this stage, then we should have the full measure of supernatural powers. We ought to experience a billion times billion times billion the powers demonstrated by the apostles. If we are not in the “age to come,” then we are still living in the time when we can taste “the powers of the age to come,” so that we ought to have the gifts of the Spirit.
In another place, the Bible says that the gifts of the Spirit will cease when the powers that they represent become so magnified and commonplace in our experience that the gifts would be as the things of children. If I see “in a mirror dimly” with the gifts of the Spirit now, I will then see “face to face.” If I know in part now, then “I shall know fully, even as I have been known.” If I can do something as a miracle now by the gifts of the Spirit, then when the gifts of the Spirit cease, I will do this thing and much more as a native and natural ability, and it would no longer be a miracle to me. I would not need the workings of miracles to walk on water if it has become my inherent ability to walk on water.
If the gifts of the Spirit have ceased, then we are already at that stage. But since we are not at that stage, it is false eschatology to say that the gifts of the Spirit have ceased. The cessationist often accuses people of teaching triumphalism. This is usually a false claim, and the cessationist doctrine is worse. From the perspective of biblical eschatology, cessationism is triumphalism without the triumph. It is the doctrine of an ultimate loser.
Conclusion
There are more doctrines and categories to consider, but I already had to rush through the previous ones and had given up on items that I could have discussed, even combining man, sin, and salvation into one section. What more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of how cessationism corrupts apologetics, counseling, ethics, politics, economics, education, work and life, and every aspect of Christian thought and conduct.
For apologetics, the cessationist rejects the Spirit’s role in devising arguments, recalling principles, uncovering secrets, and performing miracles. As I said in our program on Christian Argumentation, “The Holy Spirit is the master theologian, philosopher, cross-examiner, prophetic-partner, miracle-worker…The missing factor in every course of Christian apologetics.”
For counseling, the cessationist denies the Spirit’s help in revealing hearts and producing answers, and healing psychological conditions that are associated with physical ailments, such as some cases of depression. What about casting out demons? Are you joking? That is for the movies. The cessationist sends the devil to the unbelievers, so that they can put him in a straightjacket and pump him full of drugs.
For ethics, the cessationist hinders the Spirit from changing the homosexuals and drug addicts by miraculous powers. Some cases of abortion — or some excuses for abortion — can be eliminated outright by miracles of healing for the unborn, or even just by returning the mere doctrine of healing into the discussion. Calling to mind that we are not only targeting cessationism, but all unbeliefism, something like the ethics of theft and poverty must be addressed not only with bare principles and commandments, but also with the promise of material provision in the gospel.
As for how cessationism has corrupted the church’s engagement with culture, the people used to be scared of Jesus because of the miracles done in his name: “None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem” and “They were all seized with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor.” Now they laugh at him. The church is indignant, and fires back with politics.
Cessationism has redefined how the church relates to the world, even how God relates to the world. Look! The Lord said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” What kind of ambassador bargains with a conquered nation on its terms? Would he not be a traitor to the king? Would he not be someone the people would spit on, beat up, and kick around? But the cessationist has betrayed King Jesus and his edict, the gospel.
Cessationism corrupts the entire Christian system of truth, and the entire Christian way of life. It attacks everything about the Christian faith, leaving nothing untouched. It is a complete apostasy from the Christian faith. It is a comprehensive defection from the gospel of Jesus Christ. The result is a different religion from what the Scripture teaches.