I am under the firm persuasion that the miraculous gifts we read of in the book of Acts and 1 Corinthians are *not* normative for the church today, and that these gifts slowly ceased/died out with the completion of the canon of scripture.

There are many reasons why I am convinced that my ‘cessationist’ position is both biblical as well as consistent with experience, some of which I have written about on this blog before.

But there is one chief reason why I am a cessationist; there is one argument for the cessationist position that I consider to be insurmountable: the sovereignty of God.

Though the popular church has largely lost this doctrine in our day, God is absolutely sovereign over the affairs of men. Particularly, He is sovereign in dispensing His saving grace, and in regenerating, justifying, and sanctifying His chosen race. Within the Reformed tradition, which I myself align with, the sovereignty of God is never questioned –as scripture seems to be very clear and explicit in this area. But what baffles me is how some Calvinistic brethren (Wayne Grudem, for example) completely toss out this issue of sovereignty when it comes to the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

If the miraculous gifts were still being granted by the Holy Spirit, then we would not only see them active down through church history (which they weren’t), but we’d see them active in our churches today –and this *despite* the unwillingness of some to admit the gifts continue.

Let me illustrate by giving an example:

John MacArthur pastors a very large church. The gospel is clearly and consistently preached there as it has been for 40 years now. The church is full of thousands of real, solid, Christ-centered Christians who would never grieve the Holy Spirit willingly.

And yet, the gifts of tongues/prophecy/healings are absent from that assembly, as they have been for 40years (and more). Why, in a body of believers that large, would gifts critical to the building up of the church be completely absent?

Of course, non-cessationists will point to the fact that MacArthur is and always has been a firm cessationist, and thus the Spirit doesn’t move when He is ‘quenched’ by unbelief. But I fail to see from scripture where the sin, will, or unbelief of man has ever stopped the sovereignty of God from fulfilling His purposes. And since these gifts are absent from MacArthur’s church and thousands of bible-believing churches like them, we must come to one of two conclusions:

-The church is full of unbelievers devoid of the Spirit.
-The Holy Spirit is not sovereign over the sin/intellect/will of man.

I reject both of these premises, thus I am a cessationist. The Holy Spirit is not hindered from fulfilling His purposes. He is sovereign, man is not. He bestows gifts as He wills; man does not ‘decide’ whether he likes his gift, approves of the practice, or is open to the idea.

Consider this text as I conclude my point:

1 Sam 19:19-24: “Now David fled and escaped, and he came to Samuel at Ramah and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and lived at Naioth. And it was told Saul, “Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah.” Then Saul sent messengers to take David, and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as head over them, the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied. When it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they also prophesied. And Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they also prophesied. Then he himself went to Ramah and came to the great well that is in Secu. And he asked, “Where are Samuel and David?” And one said, “Behold, they are at Naioth in Ramah.” And he went there to Naioth in Ramah. And the Spirit of God came upon him also, and as he went he prophesied until he came to Naioth in Ramah. And he too stripped off his clothes, and he too prophesied before Samuel and lay naked all that day and all that night. Thus it is said, “Is Saul also among the prophets?””

Here we have Saul, breathing threats and murders on his way to kill the Lord’s servant David, and he and all his messengers are overcome by the Holy Spirit when attempting to follow through with their evil deeds.

The the will/desires/inclinations/sin of man is no match for the sovereignty of God, chiefly, the sovereignty of God the Holy Spirit. If miraculous gifts were still active in the church today, God would be dispensing them broadly and equally throughout the church –despite the doctrinal persuasions or refusal of man to accept them.

That’s why I’m a cessationist.

Now, please go easy on me if you disagree with me, for I am still growing, learning, and slightly changing my view on ‘Spiritual Gifts’ as time goes on. It should be noted, however, that I believe that the gift of speaking in tongues, the gift of prophecy (new revelation), and the gift of healing are no longer normative in the church, but ended with the death of the Apostles and the close of the canon of scripture.

Nevertheless, I am going to post my answer to the question: “Is it possible to possess your spiritual gift before conversion, and if so, why are many (both continuationists and cessationists) so resistant to this idea?”

I think people are so opposed to this view because they want to see something supernatural when the Spirit is given to us. ‘If your gift of teaching was given to you before the Holy Spirit, then what is so miraculous about it?‘ –so to speak.

This, I believe, is because there is a widespread misunderstanding in our culture about spiritual gifts and/or the miraculous gifts. Personally, I agree with Martyn Lloyd-Jones in that I believe the book of Acts teaches that there was a baptism of the Spirit that was different and distinct from the indwelling of the Spirit, but I would disagree with him in that it clearly hasn’t continued since the Apostolic times.

But clearly, a teaching ability before conversion isn’t a ‘miracle’, but we *should* see it as a miracle of the Spirit if this one teaches with love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, self-control, Godly wisdom, etc. That is, it is the *fruit* of the Spirit is the *evidence* of the Spirit and the miraculous nature of the Spirit.

People today are just too hung up on seeing something that defies nature. They are so misinformed as to what is true *evidence* of the Spirit, that the *miss* the evidence of the Spirit when it is right in front of them!

Paul, out of that famous passage in 1 Cor, said that speaking with the most beautiful of tongues, prophesying the deepest secrets of the universe, and doing such miraculous wonders as moving mountains is nothing compared to being patient, kind, humble, loving, etc. Our sinful nature is disposed to ‘ooh’ and ‘awe’ at things that defy nature, but if we are truly looking for the moving of the Spirit, there is no clearer picture given to us than love on display.

Thus, the gifts are supernatural in the fruit displayed in the lives of those who teach, preach, administer, etc., but the actual ability to do those things in the physical realm –and do them well, is a matter of God’s normal providence, and could easily show up before salvation.

I’d love to hear your thoughts.