Asking The Wrong Question Regarding Miraculous Gifts and Tongue-Speaking

Today I want to take a preemptive strike at a line of thinking that will be an obstacle for biblical thinking. Our church will soon be into 1 Corinthians chapters 12, 13 and 14. This is Paul’s fullest treatment on spiritual gifts. As we go through these chapters, we will be forced to deal with issues such as miracles and speaking in tongues.

Miraculous gifts have been a hot spot for the church for a long time. This issue is so consequential that it creates new churches and denominations that align on these matters. This means it is what we call a 2nd tier issue. 1st tier issues deal with the essential matters of the gospel and are not generally at play in charismatic issues. 2nd tier means the issues are still so important that it necessarily divides God’s people into different churches. Brothers on different sides of this issue can generally do gospel ministry together because they both hold to Christ and him crucified. But those same brothers simply can’t do shepherding ministry together because following Christ will be radically altered by if you believe you are to hear from modern prophets or not, if you speak in tongues or not, and if you expect natural-law-breaking miracles or not.

So this is important and worth our effort. I want to address one line of thinking that is commonly found in these discussions. Usually this reasoning is found in those who are hesitant about the charismatic movement, yet they are not willing to close the door on the whole thing. They have an openness to God’s surprising works. It is usually expressed like this: “I am open to God using miraculous gifts because I don’t want to limit what God can do.” This is the “putting-God-in-a-box” issue. Christians believe that if they say that miraculous gifts have ceased then they have put God into a box. They know they can’t limit what God can do so why have a doctrinal position that seems to do that? This is usually when they will tell you of a stunning story they heard from a missionary about a friend’s cousin’s girlfriend’s brother who saw a miraculous event.

Do Cessationists limit what God can do? Is it putting God in a box?

The question about speaking in tongues and miracles is never about what God can do. There is no Cessationist who questions whether or not God could have someone speak in another language or undo the laws of nature to perform some miracle. The true question is always this: what has God revealed about what he has done, is doing and will do?

To further explain the nature of this poor question, let us consider the creation account in Genesis 1-2. No one questions if God could have made the whole creation in one day or in one second. Are people afraid to hold to a 6-day creation position because to do so would be limiting his power? No one does that. No one is nervous to hold a 6-day creation position because of fear that it is limiting God’s creation power. There are other reasons people question 6-day creation, but that is for another blog.

So why did God take a whole 6 days? It is because God was doing more than just creating. God was showing orderly progression, revealing the difference between animals and humans, displaying Adam’s need for Eve and their respective roles, and displaying the blessing of the seventh day. God had purposes for doing things in a certain way. This issue of limiting God’s power has no place in the whole issue.

In the same way, saying tongues and miracles have ceased is not about God’s power. God’s power is fully at work in every second of every day. He is sustaining all things (Colossians 1:17) by the word of his power (Hebrews 1:3), and he is orchestrating every atom of it to accomplish his good purposes (Ephesians 1:11). To say God is not giving the gift of tongues is not about what God can or could do, it is about what he has revealed concerning what he is doing. What has God told us he was doing and about what he is currently doing regarding miraculous gifts?

So the real issue is hermeneutics. How do we read and interpret the Scripture? The great need is not another story about your experience or what a missionary saw. The great need is to go back to the Bible. We need to handle the whole word of God in a way that consistent and faithful. We need to know what God wants us to think about the church, the purpose of gifts, and the role of the miraculous and revelatory gifts.

Therefore, the plan is to come back with a follow up blog to answer that question, the question of biblical testimony not divine ability, in a clear and succinct way.