I agree.
Ephesians is very telling, as those ministry gifts are Spiritual gifts from The Holy Spirit as well. Until the body of Christ reaches that point, none of them will be removed, they are a requirement.
Requirement for what? Why do we need 'gifts' now that we have the full truth in the Word of God?
Heres an explanation from an external source:
Spiritual gifts to the Apostles were for the purpose of:
Revelation: Man needs a revelation from his Creator
"It is not in man to direct his own steps;" therefore God gave the gifts of knowledge and wisdom. (Jeremiah 10:23)
Confirmation: Early Christians did not have the Bible as we do today. They had to prove that the revelation they had received and were proclaiming was from God. How would the audience know they were speaking God's Word without miracles. (Acts 8:6) Therefore God gave the gifts of:
- Faith - I Corinthians 13:2.
- Healing - Acts 3:11.
- Miracles - Acts 13:11.
- Tongues -Acts 2:1-5.
"These signs shall follow them that believe; in my name shall they cast out devils; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them. They shall lay hands on the sick; and they shall recover. So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, He was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. And they went forth, and preached every where the Lord working with them; and confirming the Word with signs following." (Mark 16:17-20)
"How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him." (Hebrews 2:3)
"Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto." (Galatians 3:15)
How long were these miraculous spiritual gifts to last?
To answer this we must look again at their purpose.
Revelation, Proclamation, Confirmation.
A complete revelation from God was given in the first century or during the life time of the apostles. In John 16:13, Jesus promised the apostles that the Holy Spirit would guide them into
ALL TRUTH. That doesn't leave any truth to be revealed. Jesus said in John 17:8,
"I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them." Paul said in Ephesians 3:3-5,
"How that by revelation He made known unto me the mystery as I wrote afore in few words. Whereby, when you read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ, which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit."
Paul said the Holy Spirit
revealed the mystery unto him. He
wrote it down and we can
read it and
understand it. Our faith is to be based upon the written Word (John 20:30-31). It is complete and final (II Timothy 3:16-17). This statement would take into consideration the concluding work of the then living apostles and prophets.
Jude said
"contend for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints" (verse 3). Not over and over again, not even twice but
"ONCE".
Therefore, since we have a complete and final revelation from God, I would conclude that no one has the gift of "wisdom" and "knowledge" (miraculous) today. These gifts served their purpose and terminated in the first century.
Proclamation: There are three gifts of the Spirit that fall into this category.
Discerning of spirits. John said,
"believe not every spirit. But try the spirits whether they are of God: Because many false prophets are gone out into the world." (I John 4:1) We do not need this gift today because we test a man's message by the Bible. (Revelation 22:18, 19)
Interpretation of tongues. Within 29 years after the church was established the gospel was preached in every nation to every creature. (Colossians 1:6, 23) The ability to translate the message of God into a man's own language helped to make this possible. After this was accomplished this gift was no longer needed.
Prophecy. "The speaking forth of the mind and counsel of God . . . it is the declaration of that which cannot be known by natural means." (W.E. Vine, p. 221) With the completion of the canon of scripture prophecy passed away. In his measure the teacher has taken the place of the prophet. (I Corinthians 13:8, 9) Note the significant change in II Peter 2:1. The difference is that, whereas the message of the prophet was a direct revelation of the mind of God for the occasion, the message of the teacher is gathered from the completed revelation contained in the scriptures. (Notes on Thessalonians by Hogg and Vine, pp. 196, 197) Therefore this gift ceased with the completion of scripture in the first century.
Confirmation: Men of God received a revelation from God and the abiltity to proclaim it; but they also needed to confirm it, so God gave the gifts of "FAITH" that could remove mountains (I Corinthians 13:2), the gift of "healing" (Acts 3:11), the ability to perform "miracles" (Acts 13:11), and the ability to speak in other "tongues" (languages) as a sign. (I Corinthians 14:22) All of these "gifts" were to back up or confirm the message they taught. Once the message was revealed, proclaimed, and confirmed, there was no further need for these gifts. The message was revealed, proclaimed, and confirmed in the first century. (Mark 16:17-20; Hebrews 2:3; Galatians 3:15) Unless a man has a new revelation from God there is no need for these gifts today. And if any man preaches a new message he is to be
"accursed;" and he
"hath not God." (Galatians 1:7-8; II John 9)
The Holy Spirit and Miraculous Gifts
As much as folks such as ol mister strangelove likes to rail against GOD and His gifts, it is a fruitless endeavor on his part, GOD keeps handing those gifts out, and handing them out, etc, etc. He will not stop until the bride is spotless.
All we need is scripture. If we follow the truth of the Bible we become spotless by the Grace of God.
