Our expectations for the Christian life matter and those expectations tend to create a gulf in the body of Christ. On the one hand, a major stream of theological thought holds that Jesus came, lived a life of miracles to prove that he was the Son of God, and purchased the forgiveness of our sins through his sacrifice on the cross.  His intent for us is that we come to faith in Him and his completed work on the cross, live a moral life, teach others the tenants of our faith, and do good to the people around us.  The expectations of these believers keep them from ever seeking more.

A second stream of thought is that Jesus came and lived a life of miracles to not only demonstrate that he was the Son of God but also that the Kingdom of God had come with power. His intent is not only that we would come to faith in Him but that we would also continue to demonstrate his reality and the power of the kingdom of heaven by doing the miracles he did as we lead others to Christ while doing good to those around us.

Perhaps, it seems like a small difference but in practice it is not.  The first stream of thought believes in the historic miracles of Jesus and the early church but holds that the historic record is sufficient for belief.  No current miracles are necessary to bring others to Christ and, therefore, the Holy Spirit no longer distributes gifts of prophecy, tongues, healings, miracles, and so forth.  Moral living, loving others, and preaching the gospel are the defining marks of the church.

The second stream of thought would echo moral living, loving others and doing good but would add the element of miracles not only for the purpose of evangelism but also as an ongoing expression of the love and compassion of God for hurting people.  Jesus did public miracles in order to establish who he was but he also did many in private telling the person who was healed to tell no one.  His motivation for healing as much out of compassion as it was to prove that he was the Son of God.  He is still compassionate.

There are all kinds of religions and religious groups who claim to have revelation from God concerning salvation.  They also point people to living a moral life, loving others, and doing good.  They nearly all have some form of historic miracles on which their doctrines and stories stand.  So…how will a Muslim, a Hindu, a Buddhist, a Scientologist, or a Satanist determine that Jesus is the real God versus the one they have been taught to worship since birth?

Moses seems instructive in this matter.  Remember when he had his showdown with Pharaoh and the false gods of Egypt (Ex. 7-12).  Pharaoh called on his magicians to match the miracles of Jehovah….and they did….for a while.  Moses had Aaron throw down his staff and his staff turned into a snake, but so did theirs by “secret arts”.  The snake from Aaron’s rod ate the snakes of the magicians, but both displayed impressive power.

Moses then commanded the waters of Egypt to turn to blood.  Pharaoh’s magicians did the same by their “secret arts”.  Moses called up a plague of frogs. The sorcerers of Egypt matched that as well.  However, Jehovah through his servant Moses continued to display his power and when a plague of gnats was called out, the magicians could not match it nor any of the plagues that followed. Then those same magicians declared to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.”

There came a point when the works of darkness could not compete with the works of God and those who saw the miracles began to believe.    Since our struggle is not against flesh and blood (Eph. 6:12), we need to understand that miracles were not just to impress men, but also to demonstrate the superiority of the Kingdom of Heaven over the kingdom of darkness.  Jehovah declared that his plagues were not just judgments on the men who had enslaved his people but also were judgments on all the gods of Egypt (Ex. 12:12).  In most parts of the world, men still do not need to be convinced that a spiritual realm exists.  Their question is not whether there is a god but only whether the God we serve is more powerful than the god they serve.  That can only be demonstrated by the miraculous hand of God.

Jesus reflected that same reality when he said to the Pharisees,  “But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you” (Luke 11:20). A demonstration of power was always at the center of Christ’s ministry as well as those he sent out.  When he sent out the twelve and the seventy he gave them power and authority to heal and cast out demons. When he gifted the church, he gave gifts that demonstrated the power of the Kingdom of God through prophecy, healing, miracles and so forth.

Throughout the book of Acts we see the supernatural move of God through miracles, angelic activity, and moves of the Holy Spirit.  That is the model of evangelism and church growth that we see in the New Testament. Interestingly, many of the churches that reject the miraculous move of the Holy Spirit today claim to model themselves after the New Testament church and yet omit the very things that demonstrated the reality of Jesus over the demonic spirits that were being worshipped throughout the New Testament world.

Jesus made an interesting comment about John the Baptist in the gospel of Luke.  He declared, “I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he” (Lk.7:28). How could a brand new Christian or even a mature Christian be greater than John the Baptist?  Certainly, he would not be greater than John in character and faith but he would be greater in capacity because the baptism of the Holy Spirit makes a lifestyle available that not even John had access to.

By Old Covenant standards, John was the culmination of the prophets although we have no record of him doing any miracles.  But Jesus said that the least New Covenant follower would be greater than John. He said that because he was going to send the Spirit for all of his followers after he returned to the Father. Why would Jesus give us such capacity for power through the Holy Spirit, but not want us to exercise that power just as he did?  After all, he promised that anyone who had faith in him would do the works he had been doing and even greater things (John 14:12).  That sounds like an expectation for all who have faith and he did not put an expiration date on that promise.

In a world where no one knows who to believe or what to believe, it will take authentic demonstrations of the reality of the Kingdom of Heaven and the finger of God to convince the world that Jesus is who he says he is. Living a moral life and doing good is praiseworthy but it does not set us apart from others who claim to have God’s seal of approval and who live relatively moral lives and do good. Even Satan appears as an angel of light.  It will take miracles that outstrip what others can produce even by their secret arts just as in the days of Moses so that the truth of God’s word and the reality of Jesus become undeniable. My hope then and my prayer is that the church in America and each of us will begin to embrace the power of the Holy Spirit in order to duplicate the ministry of Jesus that will once again turn the world upside down.  The apostle Paul summed it up when he said, “The kingdom of God is not a matter of talk, but of power” (1 Cor. 4:20).  The question for each if us then is, “How is that power being displayed in our lives or our churches?”

Blessings in Him.

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.  I Corinthians 13:8:13

The passage quoted above comes from 1 Corinthians 13 which is often referred to as the Love Chapter.  Paul’s description of love in this chapter has been read at countless weddings and other settings.  You know…. “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud”…and so forth.  Interestingly, this chapter is sandwiched between two other chapters on the use spiritual gifts such as prophecy, tongues, healings, miracles, administration, and so forth.

The reason the chapter exists is that the believers at Corinth had been given amazing gifts but were exercising those gifts in selfish ways rather than as God intended.  Paul begins his letter by declaring, “So now you aren’t lacking any spiritual gift” (1 Cor. 1:7), which is very impressive, but he goes on to say, “When I was with you, I found it impossible to speak to you as those who are spiritually mature people for you are still dominated by the mind-set of the flesh” (1 Cor. 3:1, Passion Translation).

Paul’s letter to the Corinthian church makes it clear that believers can possess and exercise impressive spiritual gifts while at the same time not having the spiritual character to operate in those gifts as God intended.  The church at Corinth was full of people who were self-promoting, self-focused believers who were using their gifts to exalt themselves and to establish some kind of pecking order for who was “greatest in the kingdom.”

It’s important to notice that Paul did not forbid the use of the gifts because they were being abused, but rather instructed them in how to exercise the gifts with a godly perspective and attitude.  So…he drops an entire chapter in the middle of the conversation telling them that if there use of the gifts was not governed by love, then what they thought was impressive was totally unimpressive to God.  By the way that is true for all things not just the exercise of spiritual gifts.  If preaching, evangelism, giving to the poor, leading worship, etc. is not done with a heart of love towards God and his people, it counts for nothing in the kingdom of heaven.

Paul was essentially saying to God’s people at Corinth that although they thought they were extremely mature, they were extremely immature.  God is love.  Therefore, he cannot do anything without love as his motive. Paul argues that we must reflect that same love in everything we do if what we do is going to be pleasing to the Father and if we want him to increase the anointing and favor in our lives.  It is not about earning his love or favor, because it is all by grace, but it is about demonstrating that we can be good stewards of what he gives us.  Remember the principle…he who is faithful in little will be made faithful in much.  Love seems to be a defining measure of what it means to be faithful.  To be faithful means that we live and use the resources God has given us just as God would use them.

So…in that chapter, Paul states, “Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.”

Much has been made of this text by those who believe that God no longer distributes his miraculous gifts to the church.  They argue that the apostle clearly states that the gifts will cease and they will cease when “perfection” comes.  The word translated as “perfection” is teleion in Greek, which can mean complete.  So those who hold the Cessationist view (the gifts have ceased to operate) argue that perfection is the “completed word of God.”

The idea is that gifts such as prophecy, tongues, and knowledge were needed only until the New Testament canon was completed, and once the complete will of God was made known through the written word, all the gifts would cease in the church. That view holds that the gifts were only temporary and temporarily needed to reveal God’s will to his church because the New Testament was in the process of being revealed. Once all of the N.T. had been penned and compiled in what we think if as the New Testament, the miraculous would cease.

The word teleion can mean complete in the sense of “there is no more to do,” but it also means complete in the sense of full maturity.  Jesus used the word when he said, “Be perfect even as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Mt. 5:48). He was challenging his followers to have the mind and heart of God which is the definition of full spiritual maturity.   In Philippians 3:12, Paul says, “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.”  The word perfect in this verse is teleion again. Paul is simply saying that he his not yet Christ-like in every thing he says or does. In other words, he is not yet motivated by love in everything he does, says, or thinks.

In the context of 1 Corinthians, spiritual maturity is the goal, not a completed New Testament canon.  The idea of perfection is that when we are perfected in Christ, the gifts of prophecy, tongues, and knowledge will no longer be needed.  When we are perfect, complete, and fully mature in our ability to love, then those three gifts (and, perhaps, the rest) will cease. Okay, so if the gifts are needed until we love like Jesus loves…then I think they are still greatly needed.  I believe that we will be perfected in love, only when Jesus returns and when we are with him face-to-face, and so I belief the gifts are for the church until Jesus returns.  Paul is simply highlighting the fact that love is superior to gifts because the time will comes when the gifts will not longer be needed but love is forever.

Paul underlines this emphasis on spiritual maturity when he says that we need to be transformed from children to spiritual adulthood…which is his theme throughout the letter.  His point is that if you want to truly be great in the kingdom, seek love over the gifts. Don’t be mistaken…Paul is big on the gifts and wants them to powerfully work in the church.  However, he insists that they must be motivated and directed by love.  Otherwise, they will do more harm than good.

I think we can conclude from this section, that if we want an increase in gifts and anointing in our own lives and in our churches, we should pray first for the capacity to love as Jesus loves.  Our desire for the gifts must be based on a hunger to bless others rather than to exalt ourselves.  Paul counsels us to “Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy” (1 Cor.14:1).  Notice that he puts love before the gifts in this verse.

Perhaps, our daily prayer then should be, “Lord, I earnestly desire your spiritual gifts and your anointing in greater measure, but more than that, I want to love as Jesus loves. Give me that heart first, and then the gifts I desire because then I will use them as you desire.”

Blessings in Him