THE TRUTH AND RIGHTNESS OF AND IN GOD’S
WORD or EXPERIENCE(S) ????
GOD’S
WAY or YOUR WAY ??
“truth” – is that which is reliable, factual, consistent,
valid, complete and real.
“rightness” – is in accordance with fact; correct; appropriate;
sound.
“experience” – is living through an event; personally undergoing
or observing something in general as it occurs.
1 Thes.
[“everything” – prophetic utterances, vs. 20. Prophecy was the
spiritual gift of receiving and communicating direct revelation from God before
the NT was completed in AD 95, 1 Cor. 13:8 – Bible Knowledge Commentary,
p. 709].
Psa. 119:160 What
is truth?
Have you ever meditated on the fact that everything that
(the totality of what) God has said is true and to be trusted?
Why?
Jn.
Is God’s word, the Bible, the basis of what you use to
determine what is real, right/correct, and reliable?
Why (Titus 1:2; 2 Tim.
[“teaching” – instruction in
what’s true and false]. [“reproof” – shows me where I’m wrong].
[“correction” – shows me what’s
right]. [“training
in righteousness” – shows me how to do what’s right].
And is God’s written word, the Bible, your final basis
of authority for what you believe and do? Why?
2 Tim.
Are you handling accurately (interpreting and
teaching correctly) God’s word, the Bible? How
do you know?
2 Tim. 4:3, 4 What
does Paul tell Timothy will happen in time?
[“sound doctrine”- correct teaching]
[Some present day examples of
error/falsehood are: “God is too loving to send anyone
to hell.” “All roads/religions will get
you to the mountain top/heaven.” “Just
trying your best will get you into heaven since God knows you’re human and
aren’t perfect.” “There’s no such thing
as sin, just mistakes.”].
Jas.
Would God ever allow sincere people who want to do right or God’s will
to be deceived (1 Ki. 13:1, 8-24; Gal. 1:6; 3:1; 2 Cor. 11:3)? Have you known of any Christians who have strayed
from the truth of God’s Word, the Bible?
If so, in what area(s) of truth?
How and why do you think a Christian could stray from the
truth of the Bible?
What could help prevent you from straying from the truth?
How or why would that particular way help?
Jn. 4:23, 24 How
must true worshippers worship God the Father?
Why do you think that God places
such a great importance on these two elements in worshipping Him?
[“worship” – to acknowledge or show
by word, action, attitude, motive, and/or thought supreme or excessive respect
for and devotion to].
[“in
spirit” – means in one’s inner being]The opposite of a physical, external place,vs.20, or doing it mechanically,Matt.
15:8
[“in truth” – in accordance
with reality/fact, God’s Word, the Bible; correctly, e.g., Heb. 13:15, 16]. The opposite of how you feel like worshipping,
want to or prefer to worship, or others’ man-made opinions of how you should
worship, Matt. 15:9.
Do you worship God however you feel like, how others are
supposedly doing it, or how (e.g. Heb.
Deut. 13:1-4 Even if a prophet or dreamer of
dreams gives a sign (predicts a future event) or a wonder (a strange
or unusual event supernaturally produced), and it comes to pass or true,
but the prophet tells these Israelites to do something wrong (like, worship
or serve other gods), what were these Israelites not to do, and why?
Do you go where there’s religious excitement even if
it’s accompanied by false teaching, or do you go where the truth is taught even
if it’s not accompanied by thrilling or entertaining experiences, and why?
And what were these Israelites
to do (vs. 4)?
Have you ever
accepted a religious teaching as being biblical or right and true just because
the person who was teaching it was able to do supernatural things?
Or, have you ever
accepted some religious teaching as being biblical just because you had some
experience related to it that was of a supernatural source or nature?
From this Bible
passage, can you conclude that witnessing or having some supernatural experience
means that the religious teaching accompanying it is from God or right? Why?
Can you think of any
religious teachings that are floating around today that are wrong, yet have
supernatural experiences accompanying them? If
so, how did you determine that the religious teaching was false?
Was Eliphaz’s
experience of seeing only the wicked having adversity from God, a correct
conclusion (Job 4:7-9; 42:7)?
Why?
Ex. 7:10-12 What plague or miracle did Pharaoh’s sorcerers (magicians)
duplicate of God’s, as done through Moses and Aaron?
How did the Egyptian magicians
do their miracle?
What does this tell you about the source of some
miracles?
Ex. 7:20-22 What other plague or miracle did the Egyptian magicians (soothsayer priests) duplicate of God’s?
Would you say that that is a lot of power that the
magicians/sorcerers had?
If these magicians would have said that they were from
God, would you have believed them? Why?
Ex. 8:6, 7 What
other plague or miracle did the magicians duplicate?
Would you consider this miraculous?
And does the miraculous
necessarily mean that God’s the source of it? Why?
Num. 11:4-6, 13,
18-23, 31-34 What
desire and request did God answer for the Israelites?
Just because God
answered the Israelites’ request, does that mean it was right for the
Israelites to have or want it (in other words, does the fact that God
answers a prayer mean that it was His perfect will, Psa. 106:13-15)? Why?
Do you ever think
that because God answered some prayer of yours; therefore, it must have been God’s
perfect will or that it was right? Why?
[In His permissive will, God sometimes
allows people to have or do certain things, e.g., Acts 14:16.].
[Another example of God granting a
desire and request that was wrong/sinful on the part of Israel was their
wanting/requesting from God to have a human king over them – 1 Sam. 8:4-7,
18-20; 12:12, 13, 17; Hosea 13:10, 11.].
[Application: As someone who’s trying to
be an obedient/spiritual Christian, you happen to “fall in love” with a
non-Christian or carnal Christian, and you really want
to marry this person. So you pray to God and ask Him that if it’s His will,
He’d give you a “sign”, like: the person is to cross your path today or call
you on the phone or be home when you visit him/her or accept your offer to go
on a date with you or accept your marriage proposal. And it happens. So you
conclude that it’s God’s will to marry her/him. But the Bible already states
that it’s not God’s will for a Christian to marry an unbeliever (2 Cor.
You don’t have to pray about whether
it’s God’s will to get a job as a bartender or bouncer at a strip club or be a
sales person for a product that you’d have to lie about because the Bible says
in Phil. 4:8 to think on things that are pure, and that disqualifies the strip
club job, while Eph. 4:25, which commands us to not lie, disqualifies the sales
job with the faulty product. Even if you get some “answer to prayer” about
acquiring either job, neither of them would be right or God’s perfect will
because they would violate a biblical command or principle.].
Jer.
Since these prophets were prophesying divination (foretelling
future events by the aid of demonic powers) even though it was in God’s
name, what source were their prophesies really coming from?
What were the Israelites not to let happen in
relationship to the prophets who were prophesying falsely in God’s name (29:8,
9)?
Have you ever been deceived into believing as true
something that was actually false, because some religious people said it was a
message or dream from God? If so, what?
How would a person know whether another religious
person’s message, vision, or dream was from God?
[“Visions” were supernatural
presentations of certain circumstances to the mind of a person while awake that
were revelations of God’s will (e.g., Num. 12:6-8; Dan. 4:5, 10, 13; 7:1, 15;
Hosea 12:10; Joel 2:28, 29).
“Dreams” were direct and special
revelations from God to man while the person was asleep (e.g., Gen. 20:3;
31:24) – Unger’s Bible Dictionary.
Visions and dreams as used in the Bible
were actually a part of the gift of prophecy (J. Walvoord and R. Zuck, The Bible Knowledge Commentary, OT, p. 1420, and F.F. Bruce,
The New International Commentary on the New Testament – The Book of Acts,
p. 61.
This can be seen from a careful reading
of Joel 2:28, 29 and Acts 2:17, 18 where visions and dreams are a detailed
description of prophecy or two ways that prophecy were transmitted from God to
man. When the vision or dream doesn’t include some future predictive element,
then the vision or dream could be a part of the spiritual gift of knowledge
(i.e., information directly from God – 1 Cor. 12:8).
Both the spiritual gift of prophecy and knowledge
ended when the Bible, God’s Word and revelation, was completed in AD 95 with
the book of Revelation. 1 Cor.
Matt. 7:21-23 Not
everyone who says what (to Jesus) will enter the kingdom of
heaven (vs. 21)?
But who
will enter the kingdom of heaven?
And what is the will of God the Father (Jn.
Does prophesying in Jesus’ name, casting out demons in Jesus’ name, and
performing many miracles in Jesus’ name mean that you are necessarily a
Christian or that you will get into heaven?
[I never “knew”, Gk. “ginosko” – means “acknowledged, had a personal relationship
with” you.].
What saves people –
the love/acceptance of the truth as contained in the gospel (2 Thes.
Do these verses,
therefore, imply that it’s possible to do miracles even in Jesus’ name and
actually be doing them from another supernatural power other than God?
If you saw religious
people doing miraculous things in Jesus’ name today, would that mean that they
are doing them from God’s power or that they were right in doing them? Why?
And if they were
teaching religious doctrines as well as doing these miracles in Jesus’ name,
would you think that their teachings were automatically correct or from God? Why?
Rev. 16:13, 14 What did John see coming out
of the mouths of the dragon (Satan, 12:9), beast (world, political
ruler, 18:1-7), and false prophet?
What were these demons
performing?
[“signs”, Gk. “semeion”
– means “miracle”, e.g., Acts
Does the fact that
demons can perform signs (miracles) cause you to wonder whether a lot of
the miracles that certain religious people do, who claim to be Christian, come
from demonic sources rather than from God?
Rev. 13:11-15;
And what effect does the false prophet have on the
people of the earth because of these signs?
Do you think that a
religious person who had the ability to make fire come down from heaven would
deceive you into thinking that he was a prophet from God? Why?
[False, demonic religionists like to deceive people by
duplicating some of the miracles that God once did, e.g., fire from heaven – 2
Ki. 1:3, 10, 12, 15; 1 Ki. 18:38].
Matt. 24:24, 25; Mk.
For what reason?
Do you think that you
could be misled by religious people who claim to be prophets of God and who do
great signs and wonders (miracles)? Why?
Matt.
But what did Jesus say to them?
And what did the Jews in general
want to see from those who claim to be from God (1 Cor.
But what does Paul do instead (1 Cor. 2:1, 2),
and why (Rom.
Do you ever crave for
the miraculous to happen from Christian leaders that you know, or even for them
to happen in your own experience? Why?
Should you (Jn.
Jn. 10:41, 42 What were the Jews who came to Jesus surprised about
regarding John?
Do you have to have miracles (signs) or supernatural experiences
in order to believe a certain biblical doctrine, or can you simply believe what
the Bible states without having miraculous experiences to support it?
Is truth to you based
on your experiences or on God’s word correctly interpreted?
Gal. 1:6-9 What
were these Galatians (Christians) deserting Christ for?
Who does Paul say should be accursed if they preach a gospel to these
Christians that is contrary to the one they had
already received through apostolic authorities like Paul?
If an angel or some
famous religious teacher who claims to be a Christian told you something that
was contrary to what the Bible says, would you believe him or the Bible, and
why?
How do some religious
groups, who claim to be Christian, distort the gospel today? In other words,
what do they add to simple faith in Christ’s death for forgiveness of sins and
salvation, in order to go to heaven and have eternal life?
Have you ever been
tempted to believe these distortions? Why?
2 Cor. 11:3, 4 What
was Paul afraid of regarding these Corinthian Christians?
How were these Christians being led astray (over what
issue)?
When you hear someone
teaching that other religious people besides Jesus (i.e., Muhammed, Buddha,
etc.) are just as good as Jesus (or qualified to be a Savior also),
do you accept their idea? Why
(Acts
Or, if you hear a preacher say that believing Jesus died for the
forgiveness of all your sins is not enough to save you and get you into heaven,
do you accept it?
Or, if a preacher
says that you have to speak in tongues in order to receive or be filled or
baptized with the Holy Spirit, do you accept their teaching? Why?
What are some other
teachings that are being taught today that are leading some Christian’s minds
astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ?
What are you doing to
prevent your being led astray?
2 Cor. 11:12-15 How does Paul describe those religious people (in verse
13) who were trying to be recognized as apostles but were not (yet were
making money off of people because they went about claiming to be apostles)?
Why is it no wonder that this
happens?
Have you ever met any
nice, religious people or leaders who were actually deceitful and were
servants of Satan in that they taught false or wrong doctrine but tried to pass
it off as being biblical?
What made them appear
like angels of light?
But how could you
tell that they were servants of Satan?
Have you ever thought
that some of the teachings you’ve been taught by nice, religious leaders could
actually be false?
How can you be sure?
What world religions
or cults were started because of a supposed appearance from an angel?
Acts 8:9-12, 18-23 What was Simon involved in before he believed the good news
about Christ?
What corrupt desire and request (vss. 18, 19) did
Simon have after he believed the gospel?
Why do you think that this desire is labeled as
“wickedness” (vs. 22)?
Do some believers
still try to buy or obtain wrongfully spiritual authority or spirituality, and
thereby people’s attention, by performing or having some spectacular, religious
experience?
What are some
examples of these spectacular, religious experiences certain religious people
are seeking after today?
Have you ever sought
after a spectacular, religious experience? Why?
Do you think that God
would have said verses 21-23 to you for wanting a religious experience or power
for yourself?
Why?
Jer. 44:11-18 What did the Jews who entered into the
Why weren’t they going to listen
to God’s message through Jeremiah (vss. 17, 18)?
Which was right to do: follow God’s word or their
religious experiences, and why?
Didn’t the positive
results from their religious experiences (even though idolatrous)
validate the rightness of their experience?
Why?
Just because a
Buddhist says he’s experiencing peace of mind due to his religious beliefs,
does that make his religion right?
Just because a
Christian is not experiencing peace due to persecution for his Christianity,
does that make Christianity wrong?
2 Thes. 2:1-12 What doesn’t Paul want the Christians in Thessalonica to be
quickly shaken or disturbed by (vs. 2)?
[“spirit” – a prophetic
utterance, e.g., 1 Cor.
[“message”
– a verbal report they heard].
[“a letter” – an epistle allegedly from Paul].
If a supposed
prophecy from some supposed Christian who claimed it was from God came to you
today saying that something was right to do or practice, but the Bible stated
the contrary, would you be deceived into doing or practicing it?
Why?
What will accompany
the man of lawlessness (antichrist) when he comes in accord with the
activities of Satan?
[The problem of
believing others, even prophets, rather than the direct word of God can be a
big problem, 1 Kings 13:8-26.].
Is Speaking
in Tongues for Today?
The apostle Paul wrote the book
of 1st Corinthians from the city of
So when Paul writes to the
Corinthian church that they should “not forbid to speak in tongues” (
Only one passage in the New
Testament states what the main purpose for speaking in tongues is, and that is
found in 1 Cor. 14:22. It says, “So then tongues are for a sign…” The word
translated “for” is the Greek preposition “eis” which
here indicates purpose. Thus, Paul is stating not merely that tongues are a
sign, but that they were intended to be such (Drs. H. Dana & J. Mantey, A Manual
Grammar of the Greek New Testament, p. 104).
First Corinthians
Now why will God speak to the
Jews by men of strange or foreign tongues? As a “sign” (indicator), which 1 Cor.
Therefore, since the purpose
for tongues was fulfilled in A.D. 70, tongues ceased. It’s no surprise,
however, that “tongues” are found in the book of 1 Corinthians (since it was written in about A.D. 55)
and the book of Acts (since it was
written in about A.D. 61). Both were written before the A.D. 70 judgment of
However, it is interesting to note that “tongues” are not mentioned in any of the latter N.T. books, tongues are only mentioned in the earliest list of spiritual gifts (1 Cor. 12:8-11) and not in the later lists (e.g., Rom. 12:4-8 or Eph. 4:8-12).
1 Cor. 13:8 clearly says “tongues ... shall
cease”
When? 1 Cor. 13:8 indicates that tongues will cease before prophecies and knowledge shall be done away. But how does the text show this?
The first indication is the change of verbs used in verse 8. The verb used with both prophecy and knowledge is the same. It is the Greek word “katargeo.” This verb is used 4 times in verses 8-11 and is translated “done away” by the NASB (and “fail”, “vanish”, “done away”, & “put away” by the KJV). It can also be translated here as “rendered inoperative” (Dr. C. N. Sellers’ Biblical Conclusions Concerning Tongues, p. 14. Dr. Sellers has been a professor teaching Greek for more than 20 years after graduating from both Dallas and Grace Seminaries).
Tongues, however are not to be “rendered inoperative”, but shall cease/be stilled. A different Greek word is used. The word is “pauo” which means to “stop/cease/be stilled.” Since God chose His words, the change of verb should be of some significance, especially since “tongues” lies between the words prophecy and knowledge.
The second indication that tongues shall cease before prophecy and knowledge shall be done away is the change of voice in verse 8. The passive voice indicates the subject receives the action. The middle voice stresses the personal involvement of the subject in the action of the verb. Since the verb used with both prophecy and knowledge (“done away”) is in the passive voice, then prophecy and knowledge will be abruptly removed by something/someone. Tongues, however, is used with a verb that is in the middle voice, signifying that tongues will die out in and of themselves gradually passing away (W. Bauer’s A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, Zondervan, 1957, p. 23; J. Dillow’s Speaking in Tongues, Zondervan, 1975, p. 113; Dr. Sellers’ Biblical Conclusions Concerning Tongues, p. 14).
Now when will prophecy and knowledge be abruptly removed by something? When that which is “perfect” comes. But what is that which is “perfect”? Well, first, the word “perfect” in Greek is “to teleion” which means “complete/mature” (Dr. Sellers, p. 16; V. Budgen’s The Charismatics and the Word of God, Evangel Press, pp. 74, 75). The “perfect/perfection” is in the neuter gender meaning the “completed thing” (V. Budgen, p. 75).
The Apostle Paul, then, is saying, that the partial (prophecy and knowledge) will be replaced by the perfect/completed thing. Since the completed thing should logically be of the same kind as the partial (prophecy & knowledge, in other words God’s revelation/word), therefore the “perfect” refers to the completion of the Word of God, the Bible. Perfect/completed prophecy and knowledge replaced/ended partial prophecy and knowledge. This is exactly what happened when the New Testament was completed by A.D. 96 (Dr. Sellers, p. 16; Budgen, pp. 74, 75; Unger’s Bible Handbook, p. 640).
The important thing to note is that prophecy and knowledge, but not tongues are said to be done away/rendered inoperative by the “perfect”. Tongues shall have already ceased/passed away in and of themselves. This is the only reason tongues could be omitted in the references to those things which are superseded by the perfect/completed thing (Dr. Sellers, p, 14).
Paul illustrates the period of
the church’s infancy, when it had to depend on piecemeal revelation through
special gifts, by the figure of a child growing into adulthood (1 Cor.
The mirror (Gk. “espotron”)
refers to Scripture. The only other time this Greek word is used is in James
1:22-25 where it is used of “Scripture/the perfect law”. When Paul said, “we
see in a mirror dimly,” he meant that before the completion of the Bible we saw
ourselves in a blurred way because they only had the Old Testament, some
apostolic teachings, prophecies, and partial knowledge. And when Paul says,
“but then face to face”, he means that they would be in a position to see and
know themselves fully (the practical
awareness of a situation), even the inner recesses of their heart (Heb.
So, we have seen that man will have been given all the revelation he needs when the collected partial revelations will have grown to a state of completion (which happened by A.D. 96 – Seller, p. 19; Walvoord & Zuck, p. 925; Dunnett, p. 165).
We conclude, then, that the gift of tongues ceased by A.D. 70 and that the gifts of prophecy and knowledge abruptly ended with the completion of the Bible by A.D. 96. – Dr. Sellers, p. 19.
History demonstrates conclusively that
tongues did cease
During the age of the
Apostolic Fathers (early Christian
writers who had direct contact with the apostles) the gift of tongues was
not exercised. There is absolutely no mention of tongues in any of their
writings. Clement of
Ignatius, who was martyred in
A.D. 116, wrote to the Ephesians. (Remember
that the gift of tongues was exercised in
Polycarp wrote to the Philippians, and did not mention tongues. The Epistle of Barnabas, the Shepherd of Hermas, the Epistle to Diognetus, the Didache, the writings of Papias – none of these mention tongues, though they cover all areas of Christian theology. These were all within a lifetime of the New Testament Age.
Justin Martyr, who was
martyred around A.D. 165, traveled extensively throughout the
Beginning about A.D. 200, a few extra-Biblical references to tongues appear. These scattered references all seem to be reports concerning the practices of the Montanists. Montanus and his followers are acknowledged by all to have been heretics. Their heresy was primarily in the field of the study of the Holy Spirit and involved an undue emphasis upon miraculous gifts. The testimony of Chrysostom (about A.D. 390) is very clear and interesting. Remarking on the 1 Corinthian passage, he says that the “whole place is very obscure.” He then adds: “…but the obscurity is produced by our ignorance of the facts referred to and by their cessation being such as then used to occur, but no longer take place” (Homilies on First Corinthians, XXXIX). It is clear that tongues were not a problem in the early church after Paul wrote 1 Corinthians. They had ceased in and of themselves because their purpose had been accomplished.
Most of the so-called “tongues
speaking” today consists of pointless and repetitious jabbering. It is not a
language but is an ecstatic experience furnishing an emotional release and a
boost to the ego. As such, it is dangerous both psychologically and
spiritually. But there is something even more dangerous. That is demonic glossolalia (tongue
speaking). Pagan Greek oracles/priests, Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, etc.
have “spoken in tongues” (The First
Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians, Moffatt’s New
Testament Commentary, pp. 208, 209). Isaiah
The Mormons and Jehovah
Witnesses (cults, not Christians)
claim to be able to speak in tongues also. The Encyclopaedia
Britannica (1968 edition, vol. 22, p.
75) cites many instances of tongues speaking in pagan cults. The fact that
the experience occurs regularly in non-Christian religions argues powerfully
that the tongues phenomenon of the 20th century is not being
produced by the Holy Spirit. People who have no connection at all with true
Christianity speak in tongues. Today, ecstatic speech is found among the
Muslims and Eskimos of Greenland (H. Stolee’s Speaking in Tongues, Augsburg, 1963, p. 9).
D. Graham writes of a girl in
A number of Christian psychiatrists have come to the conclusion that the tongue-speaking phenomenon is completely psychological (Dillow’s Speaking in Tongues, pp. 172-175).
Are There 2 Kinds of Tongues Speaking?
No! Some Pentecostals and Charismatics think there are 2 different kinds of tongues in the Bible, one a language and the other an ecstatic utterance. Though the Greek word “glossa” may be translated “ecstatic utterance,” its consistent usage in the New Testament is as a foreign language (e.g., Rev. 5:9; 7:9; 10:11; Acts 2:2, 3, 4, 11, 26). In fact, the word “glossa” occurs 30 times in the Greek Old Testament, and in every instance it refers to a known language spoken on earth (Gundry’s Journal of Theological Studies, p. 299). Paul specifically states that the tongues of 1 Cor. 12-14 are foreign languages, because he quotes Isaiah 28:11, 12 in 1 Cor. 14:21 (and the tongues of Isa. 28 is the Assyrian language – Isa. 8:7-15).
Misuse of Hebrews 13:8
To say that speaking in
tongues still exists today because “Jesus is the same yesterday and today, yes
and forever” makes as much sense as saying we should still sacrifice animals to
a Jewish priest because they did it in the Old Testament. Heb 13:8 teaches that
Jesus Himself (His nature, character,
essence, attributes) are the same forever, but not necessarily what He says
or does. For example, in Matt. 10:5-7, Jesus commands His disciples to only go
to, preach to, and heal Israelites, but then in Matt. 28:19 and Acts 1:8, Jesus
tells them to go preach to the whole world. In Matt. 15:24, Jesus says He’s
sent to minister only to Israelites, but then in 15:21, 22, 28, we see Him
ministering to non-Israelites, as in John 4:7-10, 25, 26, 39-43 also. In Luke
9:1-3 and 10:1-4, Jesus tells His disciples to not take money or supplies on
their mission, but then in
Prophecy – Knowledge – Apostle
Prophecy was the gift which was exercised by a prophet. Rather, by receiving the gift of prophecy one became a prophet. Peter uses the word in 2 Peter 1:20 when he says, “no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation (held by the author), for the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit”. Frequently it has been said that there were 2 kinds of prophecy – foretelling and forthtelling. But in view of the biblical usage of the word, this is an artificial distinction. The gift of prophecy was simply the gift of receiving a message from God and declaring it to the people. The fact that the message is from God makes it a prophecy.
Jews and Christians generally agree that the Old Testament prophetic gift ceased at the time of Malachi when the Old Testament canon (books) was complete. (Josephus, the famous Jewish historian, was very specific on this point.) In the New Testament age, God again gave the gift of prophecy so that the early believers would have a “Christian” theology (one from God), and not just a human invention. The gift of knowledge was a gift which was not easily recognizable as such. That is probably the reason it is never mentioned in the New Testament except in 1 Corinthians. The gift involved unusual spiritual insight in settling practical problems such as: eating meat offered to idols, attendance at Jewish ceremonies, administrations of widows, ladies’ veils, qualifications for church officers, and many such similar questions that would have been extremely perplexing before the New Testament Scriptures were written – Dr. Sellers, p. 15. Another major passage to be considered with the passing of prophecy is Ephesians 2:20 where Paul says that all believers in Christ are “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the chief cornerstone. In Him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.”
It seems clear that the
prophets referred to here are not O.T. prophets because Paul says apostles,
then prophets. The word order is significant. If he was referring to O.T.
prophets, he probably would have said prophets, then apostles. Also, the
parallel passage in Eph. 4:8, 11 identifies the prophets as those whom the
ascended Christ gave to His church. When Paul lists the spiritual gifts in 1
Cor. 12:28, he follows the same sequence: “And in the church God has appointed
first of all apostles, second prophets…” Note that these are appointed in the
church. Thus, he is speaking of New Testament prophets again using the same
parallel structure as in Eph. 2:20 and
This view is validated by the fact that the gift of
apostleship passed because of the requirements for its possession. For example,
to be an apostle you had to have seen Jesus alive after the resurrection (1 Cor. 9:1; Acts