Does God give gifts today?
Email me if you have any comments about the following article. terrypickles@bigpond.com
I’m going to try to keep this as short as possible because too often we try to blind each other with how much we know about the Greek text and Hebrew text and the syntax of sentences etc.. Well I know very little about the Greek text and even less about the Hebrew text and I think that we have enough taxes without taxing sin. Sin is taxing enough anyway.
From my earlier opinions some may have come to the conclusion that I don’t believe in God. Nothing could be further from the truth. I believe in the God of the Bible as do you. I believe that God is Love, that He sent Jesus to die for us, that He is all powerful.
Where I have a differing opinion is on how I interpret the Bible and God's involvement in our lives today. Having said that I would now like to look at:
Does God give gifts today?
I think the first thing we need to determine is:
Which gifts am I talking about?
I am not talking about the gifts that God gave to the Christians in the first century. Those being:
(I’m not going to give individual scriptures)
1 Corinthians 12:
Speaking in tongues, Healings, the ability to Prophesy, interpretation of tongues, the message of wisdom, knowledge, faith, miraculous powers, distinguishing between spirits. Apostles, prophets, teachers, workers of miracles, administrations,
Ephesians 4:
Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors, teachers.
You will probably find some that I have missed but all the above are gifts given by God or by Jesus.
We could probably argue for hours as to whether Apostles, Prophets etc. are gifts but if you accept what the Bible teaches in Ephesians 4. They were gifts given by Jesus for a period of time. That time being clearly noted in Ephesians 4:12-13.
If, as some say, we haven’t reached the requirements of verses 12 –13 then it stands to reason that all those gifts would be still in place but the truth is the Church that I have been associated with since 1972 believes that some of those gifts are not around today. What does the congregation that you meet with believe?
We either have the gifts (All of them) because we haven’t met the requirements set out in Eph 4:12-13 or we don’t have any of them because the requirements have been met.
It is my opinion that we don’t have any of the before mentioned gifts. My reasons being:
1. The reason for their being has been fulfilled. See Eph 4
2. There is no evidence of their existence today.
Answer me honestly. When was the last time you saw, first hand, a seriously ill person made immediately well? When was the last time you experienced a resurrection? When was the last time you saw a person who you knew was suffering from epilepsy, cured? When was the last time you saw a blind person given their sight?
I have watched televangelists knocking people down by waving their hands across a group of people but out of the thousands (this man claimed millions) that were there I didn’t see one person cured. A handful came forward to claim they had been cured. But no one offered proof. Now read your New Testament. When people were healed they were healed instantly and visibly and it was done frequently. It was a common thing to see people being healed.
It is my opinion that those gifts are not available today.
But It’s not those gifts that I’m writing about. It took me a long time to get to the point and I said I would be quick.
I want to talk about those gifts that God is apparently giving to people under the table.
I’m sure you’ve heard them. God has given him/her the gift of door knocking. God has given them the gift of being able to talk to others in pain. God has given them the gift of missionary work. God has given them the gift of singing. God has given them the gift of playing the guitar/piano/violin/spoons/saw etc.
Why would I insist on saying that God would give me the gift of writing, producing and recording music when if it is a gift, I wouldn’t have had to learn how to do it. It took me a long time to learn how to write music and understand it.
Why would God give me the gift of missionary work and not give me the necessary miracles that went along with that work (See Mark 16)
We use “A gift from God” when we should be saying I have an ability…
Did God give me the ability to give Reiki? Some say that it comes from Satan. But where have you read that Satan can give gifts today? I am able to relieve the symptoms and yes, get rid of the source of some illnesses such as migraine, back pain, and on one occasion I was able to reduce the frequency of seizures in a friend of mine. But if it comes from Satan how is it that Satan and the Holy Spirit can co-exist inside me?
It is an ability that anyone can learn to do.
Tell me. If healing is a present day gift from God. Why do Kenneth and Gloria Copeland have a healing school, where you go to learn to heal. If speaking in tongues is a present day gift of God. Why does Benny Hinn have an interpreter when he goes over seas?
If Reiki is a gift from God why did I have to spend $400.00+ to learn how to do it.
If missionary work is from God. Why does one have to go to one of the many schools to learn how to do it?
God no longer gives gifts today because the purpose for them has passed. So don’t you think, that if we claim to have a gift from God, it puts our integrity, honesty and knowledge of God in some doubt.
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