In the initial article of this two part series, we demonstrated the following relative to the subject of spiritual gifts. Nothing comparable to the signs such as were performed by the apostles of Christ and others of the first century is being accomplished in today's world. Secondly, the purpose of miracles, as explicitly revealed in the Biblical record does not obtain in this age. Finally, the method by which signs were received in the primitive church is not available today. Quite obviously therefore, no genuine miracles are being performed in our time. In this article, we propose to show that the New Testament plainly teaches that supernatural gifts were not to be perpetual.
Miracles to Pass Away
In I Corinthians 13, the inspired apostle discusses the duration of spiritual gifts in the Lord's church. He commences by showing that the gifts must be excercised in love, for miraculous powers without love were worthless. This theme was quite appropriate in view of the spirit of rivalry that threatened the Corinthian church (some exalting certain gifts above others). From this initial instruction, there is a very natural transition into the character and permanency of love in contrast to the transitory function of spiritual gifts.
Of the nine gifts mentioned in chapter 12:8-10, Paul selects three to illustrate his argument and significantly, all three were directly related to the revealing of God's will to man. The apostle says that prophecies shall be done away with, tongues shall cease and knowledge (supernatural knowledge) shall be done away. It is wonderfully clear therefore, that these three gifts and by implication all miraculous gifts, were not designed to be a permanent possession of the church. In I Corinthians 13:9, Paul argues that God's will by means of these spiritual gifts was made known gradually; "in part." the expression "in part" translates the Greek to ek merous, literally "the things in part" and it denotes a part as opposed to the whole. And so, we may make the following argument. First, the "in part" things shall be done away. Secondly, the "in part" things are the supernatural gifts by which the will of God was revealed. Thus, the supernatural gifts by which the will of God was revealed were to be terminated.
But the question is, when were these spiritual gifts to cease? The answer is, "when that which is perfect is come." In the Greek New Testament, the expression literally reads, to teleion, "the complete thing." The term perfect here, when used of quantity, is better rendered "complete" or "whole." A noted scholar observes, "In the Pauline corpus the meaning 'whole' is suggested at I Corinthians 13:10 by the antithesis to ek merous." In his Letters to Young Churches, J. B. Phillips renders it, "...when the complete comes, that is the end of the incomplete." So we may reason as follows: (1) Whatever the "in part things" are partially, the "whole" is in completed form. (2) But, the "in part things" were the spiritual gifts employed in the revealing of God's will (Word). (3) Therefore, the "whole" was God's will (Word) as conveyed through the gifts, completely revealed.
Within this context therefore, the apostle is actually saying this: God's revelation is being made known part by part through the use of spiritual gifts and when that revelation is complted, all of these spiritual gifts will no longer be needed and hence, will pass from the church's possession. As W. E. vine noted, "With the completion of Apostolic testimony and the completion of the Scriptures of truth ('the faith once for all delivered to the saints'), 'that which is perfect' had come and the temporary gifts were done away with." Remember this vital point: spiritual gifts and the revelatory process were to be co-extensive. If men are performing miracles today, their messages are as binding as the New Testament record! But who can believe that?!
This theme is similarly dealt with in Ephesians 4 where it is affirmed that when Christ "ascended on high" he "gave gifts unto men" (vs. 8ff). The gifts were miraculously endowed functions in the church. The original word denotes, "complete qualification for a specific purpose" or, as Arndt & Gingrich render it, "to equip the saints for service." Moreover, the duration of these supernatural governments was specified. They were to continue, "till we all attain unto the unity of the faith" (4:13). "Till" is from mechri and it suggest a specification of the time up to which this spiritual constitution was designed to last." The word unity (henotes) basically means "oneness." It derives from the term hen and it emphasized one, "in contrast to the parts of which a whole is made up." The expression "the faith" refers to the revealed gospel system. For instance, "the faith" which Paul once persecuted, he later preached (Galatians 1:23). But that which he preached was the revealed gospel of Christ (I Corinthians 15:1). Thus, "the faith" was the gospel system (cf. I Timothy 5:8).
And so, to sum it up, the apostle contends that spiritual gifts would continue until the gospel system, in its individual parts as in I Corinthians 13:9, came together in oneness. Ephesians 4 and I Corinthians 13 are therefore, wonderfully complimentary.
Objections Considered
Some contend that Paul clearly taught the Corinthians that those confirming gifts would continue to the end; that is, to the coming of Christ (I Corinthians 1:6-8). That is a woefully unfounded conclusion from these verses. We offer the following comments:
1. It is not absolutely certain that spiritual gifts (miraculous) are under consideration here. Professor H. A. W. Meyer argues that "gift" (v. 7) is used, "in the wider sense of spiritual blessings of Christianity generally..." and not, "in the narrower sense of the extraordinary gifts" (Meyer's Commentaries on the New Testament, p. 19).
2. Even if it does include miraculous gifts, the passage no more asserts that miracles will continue to the coming of Christ than it does that the Corinthians would live until the coming of Christ!
3. The word "end" (telos) can mean "to the uttermost" (cf. John 13:1) and thus may not be a reference to the end of time.
4. One may be confirmed (sustained) through the message of the confirmed and inspired Word of God (II Timothy 3:116-17) and hence, be unreprovable in the day of Christ without having to possess supernatural gifts. The fact that those first century miracles were "written" (perfect tense stressing the abiding impact they were to have - John 20:31) clearly shows that their duplication is not needed to produce successive generations of believers!
It is argued that the Lord is as powerful today as He was in the first century and so, He can perform signs today. But it is not a question of His power. It is a matter of His will. Does He will to perform miracles today? He does not will to create men directly from the dust of the earth. He does not will to feed us with manna from Heaven. He is not feeding thousands with a few loaves and fish. He has the power to. Why doesn't He? Simply because He does not choose to operate in that fashion today.
The renowned scholar T. H. Horne has an excellent discussion of this matter and with it we conclude this article: "Why are not miracles now wrought? We remark that, the design of miracles being ot confirm and authorize the Christian religion, there is no longer any occasion for them, now that it is established in the world and is daily extending its triumphs in the heathen lands by the divine blessing of the preached gospel. Besides, if they were continued, they would be of no use because their force and influence would be lost by the frequency of them. For, miracles being a sensible suspension or controlment of or deviation from the established course of laws of nature, if they were repeated on every occasion, all distinctions of natural and supernatural would vanish and we should be at a loss to say which were the ordinary and which the extraordinary works of Providence. Moreover, it is probable that if they were continued, they would be of no use because those persons who refuse to be convinced by the miracles recorded in the New Testament would not be convinced by any new ones; for it is not from want of evidence but from want of sincerity and out of passion and prejudice that any man rejects the miracles related in the Scriptures. The same want of sincerity, the same passions and prejudices would make him resist any proof, any miracle whatever. Lastly, a perpetual power of working of miracles would in all ages give occasion to continual impostures, while it would rescind and reverse all the settled laws and constitutions of Providence. Frequent miracles would be thought to proceed more from some defect in nature than from the particular interposition of the Deity; and men would become atheists by means of them rather than Christians."
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