The basis for our faith is the Bible.
No, as I showed in post #375, the basis of our beliefs is conscience (vis a vis the Inward Witness). The church was built on direct revelation, not on exegesis.
For faith comes by hearing and hearing the Word of God.
And Paul teaches by EXAMPLE. Who is Paul's favorite example of saving faith? He appeals to Abraham,in both Romans and Galatians and, in both epistles, he appealed to Gen 15 - it's an appeal to the divine Word, not the written Word:
"The [divine] Word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision [speaking promises]...Abraham believed [the spoken promises], and he credited to him as righteousness" (Gen 15).
The Voice, speaking promises, aroused feelings of certainty (
faith) in Abraham. THAT'S Paul's paradigm for all believers. Hearing the voice is the key. In Galatians, Paul appealed to this passage precisely because the Galatians had fallen into the same error as you - they had become law-centric,they were focusing too heavily on the written Word. Hence Paul said (and it's important to interpret the Greek here literally, like the KJV does)
" Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by the hearing of faith?Are you so foolish?...Does God grant you His Spirit
and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or though the hearing of faith?
Consider Abraham..." (Gal 3).
Verse 6 ('Consider Abraham') is a crucial point. Paul's no fool. He's here defining the paradigm for all believers, all generations. According to Galatians 3, all of us are under the Abrahmic covenenant and not even Mosaic law managed to interrupt it in the slightest. As Calvin noted of that crucial Vers 6, Paul is pointing us back to Abraham's experience at Gen 15 as the proof of his two claims:
(1) His claim that the Spirit is received through the hearing of faith.
(2) His claim that miracles are received through the hearing of faith.
What miracles? Let's go back to Gen 15. Abraham was in a quandary. He wanted a son, but his wife was past the age of child-bearing. He needed a miracle here. There was no other recourse. In that vision, the Voice began speaking promises to him - including the promise of a son. Again, this aroused in him feelings of certainty (faith) regarding the impending blessing, because, 'Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God'. This idea of SPOKEN PROMISES was fundamental to the OT saints' understanding of what it means to 'Inquire of the Lord'.
Since we're already knee deep in Galatians 3, let's continue a bit. In that chapter, Paul defines the Abrahamic covneant as PROMISSORY in nature (spoken promises). The literal rendering of Gal 3:16 is, 'The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed'. Paul realized it can be encapsulated both in terms of a single Promise (Christ as our Provider and our all-in-all) OR in terms of the (potentially) unlimited number of promises (such as a son for his barren wife) available from our Provider. Thus he resorts to both the singular 'promise' (and singular 'covenant') and the plural 'promises' (or plural 'covenants' is valid too). Israel's New Covenant is nothing more than a byproduct (one small promise) of a MUCH larger institution (the Abrahamic covenant).
Precisely how big is the Abrahamic covenant in redemptive economy? It is - EVERYTHING, according to verse 3:16. As considerable scholarship attests, it seems to construe the Abrahamic covenant as the Father-Son covenant. In what sense? When the Father spoke a major covenantal promise to Abraham, He simultaneously spoke that same promise to Christ. "The promises were spoken to Abraham and to [Christ] his seed" (3:16).
Let's see how this Promissory covenant changed YOUR life. When the gospel was preached to you, the Inward Witness began speaking promises to you. Thus your saving faith came from hearing spoken promises. He told you the following:
(1) I will give you eternal pardon of your sins, in Christ.
(2) I will take you to my heavenly city forever.
(3) I will be your Friend and Helper even in this life.
(4) You can pray to me for help at any time, and I will hear you.
Now, admittedly, not being a prophet, you didn't hear the voice as clearly as Abraham heard it at Gen 15. Nonetheless, that's what He told you.
The Bible in my view does not support the idea that the gifts are in full operation today. This, coupled with church history, and life experience today shows us that the gifts are not in full operation, too. People are merely seeing what they want to see.
Gal 3:5 is Paul's recap of the Abrahamic paradigm for all believers, all generations. It's a charismatic paradigm. Either that is indeed what Paul intended or, here again, cessationism is painting God as the most incompetent instructor ever, misleading us in every way.
To recap. The Covenant provides for an unlimited number of promises, both the major ones such as Joel's promise, or the individualistic ones that apply to YOU alone (for example if you were asking the Lord for a job). As Christians, our job is to WAIT UPON THE LORD in prayer, waiting for Him to speak, confirm, and fullfil promises. Example:
"Do not leave Jerusalem, but
wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about" (Acts 1:4).
And so the 120 waited in prayer for the outpouring. The church has been far too preoccupied with things like missions, ministries, evangelism, and politics. We have lost sight of our top priority.