The Great Expansion

Long ago, God spoke by the prophets that the Spirit of God would be given to all of his people for signs and wonders, visions and dreams, prophecies and miracles. Then the Son of God himself appeared and declared that the time had arrived. He said that all his followers would perform miracles in his name by faith, and that they would receive another dimension of power when the Holy Spirit would come upon them. After that, God further affirmed by his apostles this promise and command for prophecies and miracles, confirming this by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit. The completion of Scripture became the guarantee that this mandate to live in the supernatural will never change. This is the final word from God on the subject, and thus it is also the final verdict concerning those who oppose. The ones who disobey it can never be honored as faithful disciples by the standard of the gospel. They might anoint themselves as champions of orthodoxy before men, but they are heralds of heresy in the eyes of God. As the Scripture says, “How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?” Religious charlatans not only neglect this salvation, but they condemn it, and they teach others to condemn it, and they persecute those who receive it.

The supernatural powers of God are available to every Christian by faith, and especially one who has received the fullness of the Spirit. These miraculous powers are supposed to keep expanding in strength and in scope until we meet God face to face. At that time the powers of God shall increase in us to such extreme degrees that what is supernatural to us now will become our natural everyday abilities. Only then will the miraculous “cease,” because the miraculous would increase to such an extent and because we would be so transformed that what we have accepted as human limitations since the time of creation would no longer apply. What we can do by God’s miraculous endowments now would be dwarfed by what we can do by our natural abilities when that time comes. Only in this sense will prophecies and miracles ever cease, because by that time prophecies and miracles shall be too weak.

When our natural abilities far surpass what prophecies and miracles can do – and not until that happens – then they will become as the things of children to us. If right now you can lift a hundred pounds, and with a machine you can lift a thousand pounds, your need for that machine will cease when you become so strong that you can lift a trillion tons with your little finger. Right now we can receive healing and immunity by faith, but healing will cease when we become immortal and indestructible. Right now there is the discerning of spirits, but that ability would be a step down once we can seize a demon by the throat with our bare hands or play tag with an angel, and win. Until then, prophecy, healing, and all kinds of signs and wonders will never cease, but they are meant to increase, expand, and multiply as God’s people transition toward that state of transformation and glorification in Christ. Anyone who dares to suggest that these things should wane even a little is a false teacher. He is an enemy of Christ, of the church, and of humanity. He is a wolf in wolf’s clothing – he is obviously an intruder, but people choose not to see when they have itching ears for doctrines that assure them in their unbelief.

 
The Three-by-Nine Prison

As Paul discusses the operation of spiritual things in 1 Corinthians 12, he lists some examples of the manifestations of the Spirit (v. 7-11). Charismatics often label all of these items as “gifts” and organize them into three categories: the gifts of revelation, the gifts of inspiration, and the gifts of power. The gifts of revelation would include wisdom, knowledge, and discerning of spirits. The gifts of inspiration would include, prophecy, tongues, and the interpretation of tongues. The gifts of power would include faith, healing, and the working of miracles. They are said to be gifts that know something, gifts that say something, and gifts that do something. (For our purpose, when we refer to the charismatics, we are also including the Pentecostals.)

This scheme is false. The charismatics have not only misdefined the items and invented the categories, but the act of defining and categorizing them has been a mistake. The errors involved are so numerous and the implications so far-reaching that a series of books can be written about this. It would require a long and tedious effort to trace out the damage that this false teaching has caused. However, the errors are so silly that I lack the interest to pursue a detailed discussion about them. Since not all charismatics say exactly the same things, we might also consider the need to address every little nuance and variation to cover our bases, but that would get boring fast as well. It is not worth the frustration. If you have not perceived the foolishness of this charismatic scheme before, it will become obvious once I point it out. So instead of attempting a careful dissection, I will perform a rapid-fire rant. Putting the axe to the root of the issue ought to be sufficient.

Paul’s purpose is to affirm unity in diversity. He writes that there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit, and that there are varieties of service, but the same Lord. His intention is not to establish a definitive list of possible spiritual powers and manifestations, but to rattle off a number of them to produce the effect of variety. It would work against his purpose to force them into a neat package. The variety is supposed to be a mess only to be resolved in the fact that all the powers and manifestations come from the same Spirit. The order is not supposed to be inherent in the list itself. If the list can be organized and resolved into a unity apart from the Spirit, then Paul has not successfully listed a variety of manifestations as he intends in the passage. Thus the list cannot be arranged and the items cannot be organized in the way charismatic tradition has done.

Many charismatics attempt to categorize every spiritual manifestation under one of the nine items. This is good only if Paul intends for the nine items to encompass all the possibilities, and if the charismatics have correctly defined these items, and if the only way miracles can happen is by the gifts. However, the context suggests that Paul is only listing various things that come to mind for the sake of producing a sense of variety. If Paul does not intend to produce a complete list in the first place, and if the gifts have been misdefined by the charismatics, and if there are a number of ways miracles can happen other than by the gifts, then to place every miracle or manifestation under the nine items can only produce destructive effects. What if there are in fact ten items? A large number of spiritual abilities and manifestations, even entire ministries, would be placed under wrong categories. But what if there are twelve? What if there are fifty trillion possibilities? And we force all miracles, all manifestations, all supernatural ministries into nine misdefined labels? And then stuff them into three categories that we invented? Perhaps many of the gifts overlap in powers and functions, so that they cannot be numbered. That is, depending on how each item is defined, perhaps the nine can count as seven, or perhaps fifteen can count as six. Or, perhaps the great diversity in how each gift operates is such that a definite number becomes meaningless. That is, depending on how much difference is tolerated before two ways a gift manifests become defined as two different gifts, perhaps one gift can be seen as three, or three trillion. If the text and other parts of Scripture provides no clue, then any decision is arbitrary.

Charismatics have failed to consider these issues. This is why, once they moved beyond the point of affirming belief in them, their teachings on the gifts of the Spirit have done more harm than good. Of course, the charismatics are still superior to the cessationists, who have invented an anti-Christian religion altogether. It is a religion where God does not do what he said, and where Christ’s followers prove their faithfulness to him by disbelieving what their Master promised and by disobeying what their Master commanded. Cessationists have no right to make any input on this matter, because their doctrine does not even enter the realm of Christian doctrine. They have no place at the table. They damn themselves more and more whenever they mention this subject. Their only right move is repentance in great terror and wailing. It is not a respectable achievement to be merely better than spiritual scum. Christians must be fully engaged with the truth of God and the power of God. The cessationists speak from a theological position that is outside of the Christian faith. That said, the charismatics have issued ludicrous teachings on the gifts of the Spirit. They know very little beyond acknowledging that they happen, and much of what they think they know, they invented and formed into their own tradition. If they would stop pretending to be clever and read the words of the Bible, the truth is there staring them right in the face.

Paul’s intention is to produce a sense of variety, not to produce a complete list with inherent order. He intends to acknowledge the variety to the point of apparent chaos, and then consolidate all things by one Spirit. This is what would address the Corinthian situation. Thus to reintroduce order by an attempt to consolidate the list itself works against Paul’s purpose of listing these items in the first place. This is especially true when it is an artificial order that has no basis in the text, imposed by unthinking individuals that pass on what they have heard elsewhere. There is no indication that the apostle considers the nine items a full representation of the manifestations of the Spirit, but every indication suggests the contrary, and still less does he intend to allow categories that he has not listed to box in the nine items further. What the charismatics have done is against the purpose of the passage and would not make sense to the Corinthians themselves, whose experiences were not so restrictively organized.

There is another list in Romans 12. Some of the items appear to be abilities of a different nature, but we cannot regard it as another kind of list altogether, because Paul includes prophecy there, which also appears here. And that list in Romans 12 also seems to be a list of examples, and not a complete list of a certain kind. Should we combine the list, or keep them separate? We cannot keep them separate thinking that they are two lists concerning totally different kinds of items, because prophecy appears on both lists. But if we add those items to this list in First Corinthians, we end up with more than nine items. Then what happens to the three categories? And would we then have the complete list? If both lists are only examples to illustrate the main point in each passage, which is the correct understanding, then there is no need to overanalyze them. Just allow them to stand on their own as lists of examples. And if they are only examples, then both lists combined would not make a complete catalog.

We cannot say that one list refers to supernatural manifestations and the other list refers to general ministry gifts, since prophecy appears on both lists without distinction. Sometimes the claim is that the list in Romans refers to so-called motivational gifts. But this is yet another invention to organize the items in a way that finds no basis in the text, as well as to harmonize what is done here to what is done elsewhere, so that the product becomes more and more twisted. The theory is contradicted by the passage, because Paul specifies the proper motivation for each gift separately after he mentions the gift. The motivation is not the gift itself, but it is something separate from the gift, and it is the attitude by which one should exercise the gift. In this sense there is no such thing as a motivational gift or ministry. For example, he writes that the one who has the gift of giving should do it with generosity. The gift is the ministry of giving, and the motivation is generosity. Paul says he should exercise the ministry of giving with the proper motivation, which is generosity. The gift is not the motivation of generosity. Likewise, he writes that the one who leads should do it with diligence, and the one who shows mercy should do it with cheerfulness. The gifts are leadership and mercy, not the motivational forces of diligence and cheerfulness.

Then it is sometimes said that these are vocational gifts. If so, then it is even more obvious that this is not a complete list, since there are many more spiritual vocations than the items listed. But if these are vocational gifts, then why not just call them gifts? The gifts listed in First Corinthians also refer to the consistent ministries or “vocations” of those who have those gifts. Thus this is yet another thing people have invented to sound clever, when it is unintelligent and unnecessary. (Some cessationists also refer to the items in Romans 12 as motivational or vocational gifts, but our topic is about the charismatics. The cessationist theology of spiritual gifts and ministries is much worse, because while they do not have more wisdom, they have no faith. Thus their theology not only carries the same problems, but the gifts and ministries are either naturalized or rejected. The result is a non-Christian religion.)

You see, the errors in charismatic tradition regarding a number of these passages are so numerous and far-reaching in their damage that it would take excruciating effort to unravel them. The charismatics also like to teach about the so-called “five-fold ministries” from Ephesians 4:11. The teaching is also false. They have again miscounted the items, and misdefined the items, and made them into a complete list of its kind. In restoring a correct understanding about the gifts and ministries, it would be better to start from zero by observing the correct meanings of the relevant passages instead of addressing the errors in detail. It would be infuriating to wrestle with the combined chaos of three or more misidentified lists of miscounted, misdefined, and miscategorized items. Multiple interlocking matrices of nonsense. The combinations and permutations of errors would become astronomical, as we have witnessed in the charismatic world for many decades. We shall let our focus remain in First Corinthians.

All the nine items are misdefined to various degrees by the charismatics. They would arbitrarily define an item with no basis from the passage or from other parts of Scripture, and then they would find passages from the Bible describing events that seem to fit their definition of that item, and present those as examples of that item. The result satisfies themselves but the procedure is absurd. Suppose I define the gift of healing as the ability to walk from one place to another. This has no basis in this part of the Bible or any other part of the Bible. It even contradicts how the Bible uses the word or idea of healing. In fact, it contradicts what everybody means by healing. But I tell you this is what the gift means anyway. Then I find passages that describe people walking from place to place, and present those as examples of the gift of healing. Moreover, even if there are other ways that a person could walk, such as by the power of his own muscles and bones, when I am teaching about the gifts, all biblical passages that describe walking become examples of this specific way to enable walking. This is how the charismatics teach from 1 Corinthians 12, and it is utter foolishness.

The correct approach is to learn what the Bible means by the word or idea of healing, and acknowledge that this is likely what Paul also means when he uses the word or idea in this passage. Do the same with knowledge, wisdom, prophecy, faith, and the others. As for locating biblical examples, as if this is needed in the first place, it is more difficult. This is because the Bible teaches that healing, prophecy, and such things can happen in a number of ways, and it practically never uses the “gift” language when it describes a healing miracle, or when it describes any miracle, any feat of faith, or any answer to prayer. Thus it is difficult to insist that any miracle in the Bible serves as an illustration of the gift of healing or of any so-called gift. The Bible often credits the miracles to other things, such as faith, prayer, grace, power, God, and so on. It is ridiculous to associate every miracle to a gift just because we happen to be speaking about the gifts of the Spirit. The charismatics have lacked the aptitude to properly move forward from the starting point of acknowledging the gifts or miracles. They credit too many things to the gifts of the Spirit, and fail to acknowledge the other more prominent and frequent ways by which miracles can happen or by which Scripture describes how miracles happen.

 
The Random Definitions

According to charismatic tradition, the word of knowledge is a supernatural revelation of information about the present and the past. But the Bible does not refer to knowledge with this meaning or with this restriction. Knowledge is knowledge – it can refer to information of all kinds, such as doctrinal, technological, personal, and to information of all times, whether past, present, or future. Readers of the Bible should know this. Just think about how the Bible uses the word or the idea of knowledge, and the charismatic definition of the word of knowledge does not fit. It is ridiculous to restrict the word to this narrow meaning when the context offers no indication that this is what the word means, and to ignore all the ways that the Bible uses the word.

Then the word of wisdom is said to be knowledge of the future. This is so stupid it defies all wisdom. If the charismatics would receive a word of wisdom about this, they would realize that in the Bible wisdom as such is not knowledge of the future. But we do not need a word of wisdom to know this. Any ordinary reader of the Bible can think about how the Bible uses the word or the idea of wisdom and conclude that the charismatic definition of the word of wisdom does not fit. Wisdom is not just a specific kind of knowledge. In Scripture, wisdom and knowledge are closely related, but they are not distinguished by time. Wisdom can refer to intelligence, to understanding, to philosophical insight, to strategic design, such as the quality that God exhibited in the creation of the world and in the plan of redemption, or in the quality of Scripture as it explains these things to us, and as it teaches us what to think about various matters, about how to relate to God and to people, and so on. What the historic and orthodox theologians regard as impenetrable redemptive mysteries are open revelations to anyone who possesses wisdom. Wisdom can refer to the ability to offer sage advice. Wisdom teaches us how to attain personal and financial success, how to attain health and happiness, and to attain a spiritual and virtuous life. Wisdom refers to a distinct category of things, but the meaning can remain broad. It is outrageous to force an instance of the term to denote information about the future when the context provides zero justification for this. It demonstrates both a lack of wisdom and a lack of knowledge, and almost a lack of literacy.

This is what theological tradition does. This is what man-made religion produces – a bunch of nonsense to confuse and burden people. Someone dreams up a dumb idea and suggests it to others, and then it gets passed on, and on and on. Then it becomes orthodoxy, at least to that circle of people. This is how many of the satanic and damnable doctrines in the historic creeds have developed and survived to this day. One example is cessationism. As Jesus said, “Every plant not planted by my heavenly Father will be uprooted, so ignore them. They are blind guides leading the blind, and if one blind person guides another, they will both fall into a ditch.” Of course, although the charismatic error is destructive, it is not a damnable heresy like cessationism, which opposes Jesus Christ on purpose. Still, there is no reason to perpetuate any false doctrine.

As for the discerning of spirits, how does it operate? If it is an intuitive knowledge about spirits or if it is a verbal revelation about spirits, or something along this line, then why does it not come under knowledge? Does the word of knowledge cover information about the present and the past, except when the information has to do with spirits? And does the word of wisdom refer to information about the future, except when it is about spirits? What if I receive a revelation about what you decided in the past as to what you would do in the future? Suppose God tells me that last week a demon persuaded you to have eggplant for breakfast, lunch, and dinner all through next week. Is that a word of knowledge, because you made that decision in the past, or is that a word of wisdom, because it concerns what you will do in the future? Is it both? Or is it the discerning of spirits because this is an evil diet? Even though it is only knowledge, somehow it becomes all three gifts rolled into one super prophetic revelation. How can we deduce any of this from 1 Corinthians 12 or from other parts of Scripture?

Perhaps the discerning of spirits occurs in the form of a vision, or perhaps it allows us to perceive and interact with the spirit world in the same way that we interact with the physical world. This would distinguish it from how the word of knowledge and the word of wisdom usually operate according to the charismatics. However, if the discerning of spirits either merges our perception of the physical world with the spiritual world, or if it exchanges our perception of the physical world with the spiritual world, does it offer any knowledge or wisdom when it happens? It would seem impossible for no information or insight to take place when something like this happens. But then the discerning of spirits becomes only one manifestation of knowledge and wisdom. Should something like this come under “discerning” of spirits in the first place, or does it come under some other manifestation that is not listed here?

When some people’s cherished traditions are shown to be absurd, they often claim that the criticism is a strawman. The cessationists often use this excuse when our criticism against them is correct and they have no direct answer to it. The truth is they are shocked that their doctrines are so easily destroyed, and they cannot accept that they have been so stupid and misled all along. They resort to this defense when they do not understand their own traditions and the implications of these traditions. If you are acquainted with popular charismatic teachings, you would recognize that what I have been saying is not a strawman. I understand them exactly. Even if some charismatics define these things in different ways, do some thinking on your own and you will see that if they affirm anything like the tradition I am referring to, then it is similarly absurd. If there are those who call themselves charismatics, but if they do not think that Paul intends to list the nine items as a complete list of supernatural abilities, if they do not define the items like the charismatic tradition I am describing, if they do not organize them into the three categories mentioned or into any categories, and if they acknowledge that most miracles do not happen by the gifts but by other means, then the main criticisms might indeed not apply to these individuals. But if they apply, then they apply, and it is futile to make excuses or pretend that they have been misunderstood. Just admit that it has been an obvious and idiotic mistake all along.

Prophecy, in this tradition of the charismatics, is said to be mainly “forthtelling” instead of foretelling. Some would say that there is no revelation in prophecy as such, but that prophecy in its basic form is nothing more than an inspired utterance for “edification, and exhortation, and comfort” (1 Corinthians 14:3). In conjunction with their false definitions of knowledge and wisdom, prophecy that includes revelation would be prophecy plus the word of knowledge or the word of wisdom, or both. Again, the problem is that this is not how the word or the idea of prophecy is used here, or everywhere else in the Bible.

It is true that prophecy does not need to overtly contain unknown or hidden information. For example, it can inspire a person to utter a song of praise to God that rephrases what has been previously revealed or a message that happens to address the precise needs and thoughts of the audience. The error is in the claim that prophecy in itself does not include revelation, and that revelation comes under the word of wisdom and the word of knowledge. In fact, 1 Corinthians 14 itself would make this limitation on prophecy impossible. Verse 3 is often the only evidence presented to show that so-called simple prophecy does not contain any revelation. However, the verse only says that prophecy is able to effect edification in others. It does not limit the content of the prophecy that would produce this edification. If God speaks to me by the Scriptures, I am edified. And if God speaks to me by a voice from heaven, I am also edified. If a prophecy says, “God loves you,” I am edified. And if a prophecy says, “The man called John Smith that you met in Texas in March 2003 is now married to Mary Jane with three sons, two daughters, and five turtles. When you travel to Toronto next month, his second son Peter will bump into you in front of the Japanese bakery on Main Street, at which time he will drop two coins on the floor. Pick up one of those coins and throw it into the dirty water fountain on your left, but be careful not to hit the white stray cat,” I am also edified.

Edification, exhortation, and comfort state the purposes or the effects, and not the means used to carry out these purposes and effects. They are general terms that place no restriction on how they are produced. God can use an inspired word spoken at the right time to edify someone, without adding revelation to it. Although there is no revelation, the content of the message would seem too fitting to be dismissed as coincidence. But God can also unleash a torrent of revelations to exhort and comfort someone. Edification can come from a mere reminder of God’s care, but it can also come from detailed direction and information. Paul says that if one comes into a congregation where the believers exercise prophecy, then he would be convinced and judged, and “the secrets of his heart will be exposed” (v. 25).

We are offered sufficient context to come to this conclusion earlier in the text, even as soon as verse 2. There Paul explains that when a person speaks in tongues, he edifies himself, since “in the spirit he speaks mysteries.” This sounds like more than mere “forthtelling,” and prophecy is the equivalent of tongues in a language understood (v. 5). Prophecy can indeed contain revelation, even the deep things of God. And the word can refer to this without specific reference to the word of knowledge and the word of wisdom. Thus the charismatic definitions for the word of knowledge and the word of wisdom are redundant, which is possibly additional evidence that their definitions are false. If they claim that the knowledge and wisdom consist only of the revelations, and the prophecy is the means by which to speak them out, this is also contradicted by the terms “word of knowledge” and “word of wisdom,” since the “word” refers to a “message,” so that some translations reads “message of knowledge” and “message of wisdom.” All three items are misdefined and robbed of their proper definitions.

Prophecy as mere “forthtelling” becomes a liability in the church. Everything can be a prophecy – you just need to say it a bit religiously. The definition provides an excuse for cringey gibberish posing as inspired utterances from God. Many of the prophecies from even the most prominent charismatic leaders are nonsense stream of consciousness poems with poorly conceived rhymes. We see true prophecies in the words of Jesus, the words of Paul, the words of Agabus and others. They included much direction and insight, and they addressed things past, present, and future, in the program of God, in the hearts of men, and in the conditions of the world. Prophecy can also provide the context to confer spiritual gifts and ministries (1 Timothy 4:14). All without any reference to the word of knowledge and the word of wisdom. How likely is it, that when Paul refers to prophecy in 1 Corinthians 12, the meaning would change to something different? Something neutered? And then it changes back again in 1 Corinthian 14. The silliness carries over to tongues and interpretation. One person speaks in tongues at church, and then another stands up and makes a bunch of bad rhymes as interpretation. It is nothing more than a lousy spontaneous poem. Nobody’s secrets are exposed, but everybody is cringing. The visitors are confused and embarrassed. So…God speaks like this? Then the social pressure compels all the people to clap and cheer. The cessationists take this as validation and harden their hearts.

All of this does not deny that there are genuine manifestations of the Spirit. And it does not deny that there are genuine manifestations of the Spirit even among these same charismatics that are so confused about everything. There are indeed thousands of authentic prophecies among them. They are accurate, detailed, and supernatural, impossible to counterfeit by human ability. The same is true with tongues and interpretation. There are documented cases in which the tongues are verified to be human languages never learned by the speakers, at times elevated or rare dialects. Then the interpretations would come from those who had also never learned the languages, and they would offer either exact translations of the messages, or an accurate interpretation or summary of what was said. Genuine miracles of healing also happen among them. My criticisms do not undermine the fact that there are such operations of the Spirit, or that these things happen among the people. If they are followers of Jesus Christ who have faith, and especially if they have also received the fullness of the Spirit of God, then they can function in these things.

However, this does not mean that they are capable students of the Bible, or that they understand the spiritual gifts and know how to teach about them. You can know how to do something really well and still be unable to teach it, just as not every player can be a coach, and a coach is not better than every player. One does not even need to be literate to operate in the supernatural, but he needs to have faith in Jesus and obey what he taught. Nevertheless, if a person believes the wrong things, this will more or less limit the ways he can operate in the things of the Spirit, and this is indeed what happens among the charismatics. There is a mixture of the genuine and the counterfeit, a mixture of spectacular miracles and embarrassing displays. The false scheme is partly responsible for this. Accurate teachings on the gifts of the Spirit and the ministry of miracles would reduce the mixture and release believers from the artificial limits. The three-by-nine prison distorts what Scripture teaches about the things of the Spirit. It is a self-imposed cage that forces them to put everything under a restrictive matrix. Read all the texts in the Bible related to spiritual gifts and ministries. The scheme we are talking about can never naturally develop from any of them, but it is contradicted by the biblical texts.

There are so many things wrong with what the charismatics think about the gifts of healing that we can only consider several of them. (Although it is often pointed out that healing is in the plural in 1 Corinthians 12:9, we will refer to it in either the plural or the singular since the issue does not affect our point.) The errors are so numerous and varied that not all charismatics can commit all of them at the same time. We must make generalizations that do not apply to everyone, but you will likely see most charismatic teachers and believers commit many of the errors mentioned throughout this discussion about the gifts, as well as others that we cannot take time to discuss.

In one sense, it would be correct to say that believers have specialized ministries, because the text says that the body has many parts, and God is the one who decides where each one belongs in the body. Although all believers can preach the gospel, some are more gifted at preaching, or at least God arranges some to devote more time and effort to preaching. And although all believers must handle their own finances, only some are called and gifted to oversee the accounting of churches and ministries. All believers can heal the sick by faith, but some are more gifted at healing the sick, and called to devote their lives to it in a more significant way. That said, among charismatics there is the teaching that the gifts of healing themselves are specialized, that individuals who operate in the gifts of healing are more effective with different diseases and conditions. This is inferred from circumstantial and anecdotal evidence, and then it is imposed upon biblical passages that they cite as examples.

Healing comes from God, not from the gifts of healing as such, and God is not specialized or limited. The gifts might offer you a start, but to allow your initial success to become your specialization is also to allow it to become your limitation. It is a limitation that you have no reason to accept, but if you accept it, and even boast about it as your specialization, then it becomes a self-fulfilling belief that imprisons your ministry to the initial boost that God gives you. It is a trap. You have allowed a gift to become a curse. You have allowed a key to become a lock. The doctrine is not true, unless you make it true for yourself. Regardless of why you started to think this way, if you are more effective with certain diseases and conditions, it is because you believe you ought to be more effective with those diseases and conditions. And if you are less effective with others, it is because you believe you ought to be less effective. The more you brag about it, the more this limitation becomes permanent. And it is not something to brag about, because it is a weakness and not a strength. An arm is not a leg or an eye, and in this sense it is specialized. But if the arm is so specialized that it only lifts donuts, it is because that is the only thing it wants to feed the mouth. It can just as easily lift eggplants, if only to throw them into the trash.

Just because you have a gift does not mean that you should start to depend on it instead of God, and it does not mean you should start to preach on your gift instead of God’s word. God can do all things, and he is not specialized or limited. And God’s word is not specialized or limited. Any Christian who depends on God and who teaches his word can expect to see all kinds of diseases and conditions healed. And if God has ordained you to operate in a ministry of healing, you should expect even more results in ministering to people with all kinds of diseases and conditions. It would be stupid to conclude that you are less effective with most diseases and conditions because you have a gift! Moreover, it would be impossible that a person who has the faith to receive healing somehow cannot receive from your ministry because you do not have the gift for his particular disease or condition. If he has the faith, he can receive from God and he does not truly need you at all, let alone your gift. Never suggest that a person might be less likely to receive healing under your ministry because his need does not match what your gift does. His need always matches what my God does! If you allow the way you think about your gift to limit yourself, then it would be better to stop thinking about your gift and start talking about faith in God. If you notice narrow and specific results in your healing ministry, rather than specialize, you should expand.

When the charismatics teach about spiritual gifts, they often place every miracle under one of the nine items on the list. They do not always do this when they are referring to miracles outside of this context, as if they understand that miracles usually happen without the gifts, but when they are talking about the gifts, they often do it, as if all miracles occur because of the gifts. Certain charismatics somehow place casting out demons under the working of miracles or the “gift” of faith. This is partly due to the fact that their vision of the ministry of miracles is so limited that they make no room for miracles other than healing. Thus the ones they call power gifts — faith, healing, and miracles — at times become only variations of healing gifts. They leave no room for miracles of nature and judgment, and other kinds of miracles, as if it never crossed their minds that these miracles are possible for them. In any case, the Bible suggests that casting out demons can fall under the ministry of healing (Matthew 8:16-17). It would be wrong to place it under a separate category without basis. It seems that the reason to place casting out demons under the working of miracles is to make the working of miracles serve a purpose, once the other kinds of miracles are assumed to be impossible under the ministry of believers. Of course, there is no need for a special gift for us to do what every believer can do by faith apart from any gift. Casting out demons is a routine ability that belongs to any follower of Jesus.

Another claim is that cases that demand the power of creation should not come under the gifts of healing, but the working of miracles. Suppose an amputated limb needs to be restored or a missing or destroyed organ needs to be replaced, then the healing would involve a creative miracle. And it is said that in a case like this, the gifts of healing would be unable to accomplish the task because “there is nothing to heal.” If there is an example of how stupid people should not play with semantics, this would be it. Healing refers to the restoration of the body to its proper condition, whatever it takes. You do not need to know if there is a missing part that needs to be replaced or created, and you do not need to care. If the person is sick or disabled because of this missing part of the body, then to heal that person would involve recreating that missing part. This is healing. There is no need to reserve another category for this. Now if God creates something for the body that is not in the original design or that is not required to restore the body’s proper condition, then we can say that it goes beyond healing. Suppose God creates a laser cannon on your shoulder that becomes part of your body, then it would be fair to say that it is not a case of healing. You are not sick or disabled without the laser cannon. Otherwise, healing is healing, whether or not it entails a creative miracle.

Moreover, we might wonder at what point a miracle constitutes creation in the first place. Healing that mends a paper cut causes tissues to grow back on the body, and something like this is not considered creation. But a person with an amputated limb still has a body from which to grow back the limb. Is it not only a matter of degree from our perspective? How is that creation then? If the materials and the energy to restore the limb do not come from the body itself but from God, especially if the limb is restored in an instant instead of over a period of time, we can say the same thing about the materials and the energy that mend the paper cut. There is still no necessary categorical difference. To restore a limb might seem like more difficult to us when we walk by sight and not by faith, but a miracle is a miracle, and it makes no difference to God. If one does not involve creation, it is unreasonable to insist that the other one does.

If healing is strictly restoration, then it would require a different gift even when there is the need to remove diseased tissues from the body. According to this way of thinking about the gift of healing, if there is a cancer in the body, the removal of the cancer or cancerous tissues in the body would require something like the gift of faith, since Jesus said faith can destroy a tree and remove a mountain, and then the gifts of healing could restore the damaged areas. And if the cancer has destroyed any tissues or organs, these would have to be recreated by the working of miracles. Consider the hundreds of situations in which certain issues or substances must be removed in order for the body to recover, and in which diseases so ravage the bodies that certain organs are destroyed. In all these cases, we would need a person with the gift of healing plus the gift of faith or the working of miracles, or even all three gifts. Otherwise we would need two or three people to make one healing miracle happen. Can the gifts of healing do anything much at all? When it comes to some of these situations, such as cancer, or where the need for creative power is not as obvious, the charismatics forget about the limitations that they impose upon the gift of healing and assume that it can accomplish the task.

This is too silly, so let us move on. Whatever the motive, this act of packing miracles of healing into the working of miracles becomes a distraction from what the working of miracles can probably do. In effect, it erases the working of miracles. What about changing water into wine, walking on water, multiplying food to feed thousands, calling down fire from heaven, ripping apart a lion with one’s bare hands, and all the other miraculous feats in Scripture that do not come under the category of healing? I do not assert that these things come under the working of miracles. I am only reminding ourselves that there are other kinds of miracles besides healing the sick. We cannot say that these are examples of working of miracles or of the “gift” of faith, for the reason I mentioned before, that the Bible does not attribute specific instances of miracles to the gifts. Rather, Scripture associates miracles to God, Jesus, the Spirit of God, and to our faith, prayer, and so on. It is best to follow this practice. Thus we cannot say that something like walking on water comes under the working of miracles, or under any spiritual gift, because from what we see in the Bible even ordinary faith can do it. When Peter walked on water, he did it by his own faith in the words of Jesus, and he started to sink when his faith faltered. This suggests that no special gift was involved. To make working of miracles come under healing eliminates entire groups of miracles in our daily thought. This is a devastating mistake.

Faith receives similar treatment from the charismatics. (Paul does not apply the word “gift” directly to faith in our text, but we will use the word sometimes to avoid confusion with the ordinary miracle faith that belongs to every Christian.) Some charismatics make casting out demons come under the gift of faith instead of the working of miracles. But casting out demons is such a routine ability that it should not require any gift like the gift of faith or the working of miracles to perform. Even Christians who have not yet received the baptism of the Spirit — an awkward situation indeed — can cast out demons by faith in the name of Jesus. Thus when a Christian casts out a demon, we cannot reliably attribute it to any gift. It is most likely accomplished by the person’s ordinary faith, or by the faith of the person who seeks help, but if a gift becomes involved, it could still be the gift of healing. To place casting out demons under any special gift, and to replace the actual work that the gift is intended to do, effectively neutralizes the gift. If we must categorize, casting out demons can come under the category of healing, and neither healing the sick nor casting out demons require any special gift to perform. But God is mighty and merciful, and he offers the gifts of healing in addition to other means, so that the work of healing the sick and casting out demons may advance with greater success. (This is not to say that the working of miracles and the gift of faith never have anything to do with miracles of healing, but my purpose is to dispel some basic errors, and so I think we should not add more nuances to burden the discussion.)

In the context of Paul’s list in 1 Corinthians 12, not all Christians have the gift of faith (since the list is a list of variety), yet all Christians have faith (since it takes faith to be a Christian), and this means the “gift” of faith for personal salvation and the “gift” of faith for public ministry cannot be the same. All Christians ought to have faith for miracles as part of the same faith for salvation, but the gift of faith likely enables a person to perform feats beyond his current level of faith. A Christian should have the faith to move a mountain, but if he has not reached that level, his ministry does not need to remain stagnant, and he does not need to be hopeless in the face of insurmountable odds. The Spirit of God can infuse into him a surge of faith for that time to cast a mountain into the sea. A Christian with strong personal faith can regularly do the same thing as a weak Christian who has a temporary gift of faith. And the personal faith is more reliable, because it is the native and consistent quality of the person. This involves very little speculation, since I am referring to what the Bible itself says that faith can do. Both are called faith. The difference is that one is the faith that every Christian has to various degrees, and the other is the faith that comes as a manifestation of the Spirit, usually for public ministry.

Some charismatics make the distinction that the working of miracles performs or “works” a miracle while the gift of faith receives a miracle. (There is no end to how silly and tedious this is, you see?) However, we see all kinds of miracles credited to faith in the Bible, whether they are performed or received, and whether they are creative or restorative. Hebrews 11 illustrates the wide range of feats that come under faith. And Jesus explained the failures to cast out a spirit and to walk on water as failures of faith. Moreover, the difference between working a miracle and receiving a miracle is often unclear. In Mark 11:23, Jesus says that anyone who has faith can command a mountain to move. The miracle is initiated by the man, and the faith is expressed as a command spoken on purpose stating a specific outcome, yet the miracle is not one where the man himself throws the mountain with his bare hands. Is that working a miracle or receiving a miracle? We should not play this game invented by those who are not intelligent enough about these things to dabble with semantics. Either way, even moving a mountain cannot be used exclusively as an illustration of the gift of faith, because Jesus teaches about this kind of faith as part of ordinary discipleship. A miracle like this might or might not be empowered by a gift of faith, depending on the person and the moment (1 Corinthians 13:2). A gift of healing can indeed heal the sick, but it does not require a gift of healing to heal the sick. In the same way, a gift of faith can indeed move a mountain, but it does not require a gift of faith to move a mountain. When a follower of Jesus has faith like a mustard seed, he can command a mountain to move from one place to another, and it would obey him, and nothing shall be impossible to the man (Matthew 17:20). Jesus says, “Have faith in God” (Mark 11:22). The faith is not something that they should wait for or leave up to God, but something that they can decide to have, and commanded to possess. Part of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ is to develop this faith for miracles.

Any miracle or answer to prayer can be linked to faith, so that no instance of miracle can be reliably designated as an example of the gift of faith unless a text provides specific indication. In the teachings of Jesus, there is no concept of special gifts to work miracles, but only a faith that can do all miracles, and the Spirit who endues us with an all-encompassing power, the same power that he possessed to receive prophetic revelations and to perform miracles of all kinds. It is impossible to use Paul’s statements on the gifts to weaken what Jesus has handed down to all his disciples. Therefore, the charismatic scheme on the gifts of healing, the working of miracles, and the gift of faith cannot be true. Charismatics may have some experience in operating in spiritual gifts, and they are much more faithful in this regard than the cessationists, so much so that it is unfair to mention the two at the same time, as if it is meaningful to say that golden retrievers are more friendly than mass murderers. Yet charismatics do not know how to teach about the gifts, or miracles in general. Charismatic scholars are not better in teaching about the gifts either. They commit some of the same errors, avoid some of the other errors, and then commit some different errors of their own, with much less power or experience to show for it, if any at all. Most people should not be teachers, but they can be exhorters to encourage faith and obedience in the things of God. Preachers ought to encourage people to seek the manifestations of the Spirit and to pursue the ministry of miracles by faith, without making restrictive pronouncements regarding definitions and categories.

 
The Infinite Possibilities

When the charismatics teach about spiritual gifts, they make the biblical examples come under the gifts, but when they teach about something else, such as faith or prayer, they make the same examples come under their current topic. When Peter heals the cripple in Acts 3, does he do it by a spiritual gift? Peter explains that it happens by faith in the name of Jesus. Every Christian ought to have faith in the name of Jesus, gift or no gift. When James writes that anyone who is sick could call the elders of the church, so that they may minister to him in the name of Lord, and the prayer of faith will heal the sick, does he mean that it would be done by a gift of healing? If all miracles must come under the gifts, then this would be a gift of healing. And so some charismatics suggest that all elders have the gifts of healing. That is, if all elders can minister to the sick, and if any ministry to the sick requires the gifts of healing, then it follows all elders must have the gifts of healing. But James credits the healing to “the prayer of faith,” not the gifts of healing. And he continues to say that anybody can pray for the sick: “Pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” Any believer can pray for the sick and expect a miracle. Does this mean that every Christian has the gifts of healing? This would contradict what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12 about the diversity of spiritual gifts. James means that any believer can pray “the prayer of faith.” When Paul casts out the demon from the fortune-teller in Acts 16, is he inspired by the discerning of spirits and then empowered by the working of miracles or the gift of faith? But the Bible says Paul does it because he is “greatly annoyed.” If an evil spirit annoys you, just tell it to leave. If a sickness or disability annoys you, get rid of it. And you ought to be annoyed. There is no need for some special gift or inspiration. There is no need to wait for some great unknown “will of God.” Your annoyance with a situation is reason enough for a miracle to change it. If you tolerate something, do not be a sore loser and blame it on God. Just admit you have learned to live with it because you are too weak or lazy to make a change by faith.

This is why it is so pathetic to argue about whether the gifts even happen. The miracles recorded in the Bible cannot be reliably traced to special gifts, because the Bible describes the miracles as only an ordinary part of God’s relation to those who have faith in him and an ordinary part of Christ’s relation to those who follow him and obey him. The Bible does not use the language of gifts to explain particular instances of miracles, but it would refer to God, Jesus, the Spirit, the hand of the Lord, or faith, prayer, and other expressions. Thus we ought to debate about God, Christ, faith, prayer, and such things instead of gifts.

We should discuss whether cessationists believe in God. There is only one God in the Bible, the one who does miracles in response to faith and prayer. Christians believe in this God, but cessationists declare that their God is not like this. The only Christ in the Bible is the one who never refuses to heal the sick when approached by faith and who commands his disciples to perform miracles by faith in his name and the power of his Spirit. Christians follow this Christ and obey his teachings, but cessationists refuse to follow this Christ and refuse to obey his teachings. Their Christ behaves and teaches differently. The faith in the Bible is one that moves mountains, heals the sick, casts out demons, and receives all kinds of miraculous answers to prayer. Christians have this faith, but cessationists confess that their faith is not like this. In the Bible, prayer produces miracles of healing and miracles of nature, and God also answers by visions and dreams and prophecies. Christians believe in this kind of prayer, but cessationists say prayer is not like this. They pretend to believe in prayer, or they pray to some other God who never answers them the way the God in Scripture answers.

Since the Bible speaks about miracles in such terms – God, faith, etc. – we should discuss miracles in such terms. The gifts, if they are mentioned at all, should come up only after we have affirmed the God of miracles, the Christ of miracles, and the faith of miracles. Then the gifts are acknowledged as a minor way by which God speaks to his people and performs miracles through them. Even prophecy does not require a gift, or do you think that King Saul and his soldiers received the gift of prophecy when they were compelled to prophesy by the Spirit of God (1 Samuel 19:18-24)? Speaking in tongues is a native ability to one who has the Spirit of God, by which he talks to God and edifies himself in private, but there is a “gift” of speaking in tongues for public ministry. The same is true with the interpretation of tongues. Spiritual manifestations and miracles happen in a variety of ways. To debate about the gifts is to fight over things that were never needed for miracles to happen in the first place. Such a super massive waste of time. Stop being like children. Grow up in understanding.

If we consider them worthy to talk to us at all, the debate should focus on whether cessationists are Christians. Refuse to discuss the gifts, but press this issue full force whenever cessationists raise the banner of Satan to attack the kingdom of Christ. Who are they really? They reject what the Bible teaches about the God of signs and wonders, as if they worship another. They disobey what the Bible records about the Christ who commanded the ministry of miracles, as if they follow another. They blaspheme what the Bible says about the Spirit who confers revelations and performs miracles, as if they are filled by another spirit. They deny what the Bible says faith can accomplish, as if there is another kind of faith in their hearts. They despise what the Bible says about the purpose and power of prayer, as if their prayer appeals to another deity and expresses a different religion. And then they wish to hijack Christianity as their own, and make themselves the guardians and defenders of our faith? And after this we are still willing to negotiate with them on their terms? Really? I refuse. There is no chance that they can scam me like this.

So what if they claim to affirm a form of the atonement of Christ and justification by faith, or some other foundational doctrine? If God, Christ, the Spirit, faith, prayer, the benefits of redemption, and so on, to them mean things that are contrary to what the Bible describes, then how can the atonement of Christ and justification by faith mean the same to them as what the Bible teaches and as what we believe? Listen to me, I am not claiming that all cessationists are non-Christians, although I am sure that many of them are indeed unsaved and headed to hell. If I truly pursue this there would be no place for them to stand, but this is not my purpose. Here I only wish to point out that people have been distracted in their discussions. I am drawing attention to a number of suspicious differences between the religion of cessationism and the religion of Christ.

If cessationists are Christians, good! But they will need to exert much effort to prove it. Their faith is virtually a kind of liberal theology, rejecting the authority of Christ and the Scripture, and reinventing their own orthodoxy. Why allow them to get away with this and engage them on their own terms before they have answered for their heresies? Why tolerate this kind of liberalism, when we castigate all other schools of liberalism? Refuse to budge from the real issue: “How can you be Christians, when in the Bible I cannot find people like you in the teachings of Christ and the lives of the disciples? How can you be saved, when if we compare you with the people in the Bible, by your attitude and behavior you most resemble the ones who blasphemed the Holy Spirit and murdered the Son of God?” Rather than allowing them to put on trial the gifts and powers of God, put on trial the disciples of unbelief and of cessationism, with their salvation at stake. Keep the pressure on them, and refuse to let them divert our attention to the gifts, especially when that topic is such a minor issue in how miracles happen.

Charismatics are often criticized as those who seek signs and wonders and experiences rather than God. Let the charismatics answer for themselves, but I will speak from the perspective of what a follower of Jesus Christ ought to be. Jesus taught his disciples to work miracles, to heal the sick and cast out demons, and to pray in faith and expect God to answer by miracles. As a disciple I am told to have faith that God will perform miracles to benefit me, and I am also told to follow his example and command to perform miracles by his power. This is part of what it means to follow Jesus as the Master.

People often neglect the fact that when Jesus is called master, it often does not refer to the master-servant relationship, but the master-apprentice relationship. Jesus is not only our Lord and our God, but he is our Master, or Sifu. By definition, the relationship is intended to train us to follow his philosophy and his character, and also to develop his abilities and skills. The apprentice lives with his master to learn his craft, and with our Sifu, this means the craft of worship, the craft of doctrine, the craft of character, the craft of prayer, and no less essentially, the craft of miracles. All of these would constitute one craft of faith, or what it means to be “Christian.” We learn to become what he is and to do what he does. This is the meaning of any apprenticeship. In the Bible, this is what we see in the disciples of Jesus. They were instructed to perform miracles as an integral and pervasive part of their training. For the apprenticeship program to change, the master himself has to change. It is more reasonable to say that those who refuse to follow Jesus in his miracles are not his disciples rather than to say that Sifu himself has changed.

In any case, the apprentice of Jesus maintains that signs and wonders and supernatural experiences ought to be part of the ordinary life of the individual and of the church. He is just following Sifu’s teachings when he says this. If someone like this is criticized as a person who seeks signs and wonders, in the sense that he is unspiritual and immature, or some such thing, then the criticism must first apply to Jesus himself. When I am merely repeating Sifu’s teachings, any criticism directed at me goes straight to him first. Out of all the characters in the Bible, he talked the most about receiving and performing miracles on purpose by faith and by the power of the Spirit. He made special effort to teach it and demand it in the people. He would become irritable not only when people fail to have faith in him for miracles, but also when they fail to have faith to perform the miracles by themselves.

He spoke about the power to perform miracles in the most extreme and unrestrained manner, such as to say that anyone who has faith can command a tree to be replanted in the sea or command a mountain to throw itself into the ocean. Referring to miracles, he said that nothing – nothing – is impossible to someone who has faith. And he performed the most miracles, thousands and thousands of them. When he answered John the Baptist, he mentioned healing the sick five times before he mentioned preaching one time. Likewise, when he sent out disciples, he emphasized healing the sick and casting out demons even more than preaching the gospel. And we know how important it is to preach. His final recorded instruction before his ascension was for the disciples to wait for even more power to perform miracles.

Therefore, if anyone seems to be obsessed with signs, miracles, and spiritual experiences, it was Jesus. The criticism reflects the true opinion about Jesus among those who oppose the ministry of miracles. As Jesus said, if the people truly believed Moses, they would have believed in Jesus as well, because Moses talked about Jesus. And if the critics truly follow Jesus, they would support those who follow the teachings of Jesus on faith, prayer, and miracles. The criticism is self-damning. As Jesus said, “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34). He made this statement in a context similar to ours, concerning those who undermined his work in signs and wonders, in healing the sick and casting out demons (Matthew 12:24). The more a person complains about the ministry of miracles in the followers of Jesus, the more he attacks Jesus himself. He is an enemy of Christ, like those who blasphemed the Holy Spirit in Scripture (Matthew 12:31-32).

Nevertheless, charismatics do not know how to teach about spiritual gifts or miracles. How should we proceed once we realize their errors? How can believers recover from this stronghold of false teaching that holds them back from greatness and liberty in the ministry of faith and of the Spirit? Abandon the charismatic matrix. Forget the teaching. Forget about the three categories. Stop thinking about the manifestations of the Spirit as the nine gifts, because there could be many more than nine, and the charismatics define none of them correctly. Stop wasting time and throw away the teaching. The whole thing was made up. Reduce the use of the language of “gifts” when talking about miracles, even abandon it for a time while forming new habits. The Bible almost never uses it compared to other terms and expressions. Covet the miracles and manifestations of the Spirit to the point of obsession and insanity, but there is no need to call them gifts when the Bible does not use the word. Desires these things as from God, from the Spirit, and from faith, not from gifts. Do not think that all miracles come under the gifts. Most miracles do not happen by the gifts, but the Bible attributes them to other factors. Restore the biblical ways of referring to miracles before picking up the language of “gifts” again, and then only use it in the manner and proportion that the Bible uses it, that is, not in specific instances and on rare occasions. Instead of calling every little thing a word of knowledge, which charismatics cannot define correctly, talk about the God who speaks and shows. Instead of talking about the word of wisdom, talk about the Spirit who teaches us and grants us deep insights. Instead of talking about the gifts of healing, and who specializes in this or that, forget this foolishness and talk about Jesus Christ who heals all who come to him by faith. Stop debating people about spiritual gifts. Let all the gifts cease and almost nothing changes. Miracles have always happened because of God, because of Jesus, because of the Spirit, and because of the faith of man and will of man. This is the Bible’s teaching.

Recognize the variety of spiritual abilities and manifestations among God’s people. Resist the urge to label every spiritual event or ministry, or to make it come under some made-up category, when the Bible provides no basis to do this. Do not take every list that the Bible makes as some exhaustive catalog of a category of things that you impose on the text, when the list serves a different purpose. Find out why the writer lists those things and learn that lesson. A list like the one in 1 Corinthians 12 is never intended to limit you. Let the list expand your thinking and your imagination. Perhaps it has never occurred to you that God can make you wiser than Solomon, that he can show you the spirit world like he showed Ezekiel, that he can recreate lost limbs and organs as his power works through your hands, or that you can speak in a language that you have never learned to edify yourself or as a sign to those before you. The Bible will plant these seeds of faith into you. Never become obsessed with a list, but focus on Jesus Christ whose Spirit can perform all kinds of supernatural feats through you. When you come across a list of what God can do with his people, or a list of the various ministries that he has installed, resist the urge to compress it and shove the thing in your pocket. Let the items spark your initiative and fuel your expectation. And God is able to do even more than what we ask or think.