Are There Miraculous Gifts of the Holy Spirit Today?

Are There Miraculous Gifts
of the Holy Spirit Today?

Starting Points
The Spirit is promised
to all in baptism.

Acts 2:38-39
[38] Peter said to them, “Repent,
and each of you be baptized in the name
of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of
your sins; and you will receive the gift
of the Holy Spirit.
[39] “For the promise is for you and
your children and for all who are
far off, as many as the Lord our
God will call to Himself.”

Starting Points
A passage about the gifts:
1 Corinthians 12:4-11

[4] Now there are varieties of gifts,
but the same Spirit. [5] And there are
varieties of ministries, and the same
Lord. [6] There are varieties of effects,
but the same God who works all things
in all persons. [7] But to each one is
given the manifestation of the Spirit
for the common good.

[8] For to one is given the word of
wisdom through the Spirit, and to
another the word of knowledge
according to the same Spirit;
[9] to another faith by the same Spirit,
and to another gifts of healing
by the one Spirit,

[10] and to another the effecting of
miracles, and to another prophecy, and
to another the distinguishing of spirits,
to another various kinds of tongues, and
to another the interpretation of tongues.
[11] But one and the same Spirit works
all these things, distributing to each one
individually just as He wills.

Do the gifts continue
today?
This is not a question of
God’s power.

today?
This is not a question of God
giving us “gifts.” (Rom. 12)

today?
This is not a question of God
working in our lives.

today?
This is not a question of
whether God can do
miracles.

today?
4 things everyone who
studies this should
consider…

We Should Consider:
Ways They Were Given
1) Baptism of the Spirit.

Acts 1:4-8
[4] Gathering them together, He
commanded them not to leave
Jerusalem, but to wait for what the
Father had promised, “Which,”He said,
“you heard of from Me; [5] for John
baptized with water, but you will be
baptized with the Holy Spirit not
many days from now.”

Acts 1:4-8
…
[8] but you will receive power when
the Holy Spirit has come upon you;
and you shall be My witnesses both
in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and
Samaria, and even to the remotest
part of the earth.”

Acts 2:3-4
[3] And there appeared to them tongues
as of fire distributing themselves, and
they rested on each one of them. [4] And
they were all filled with the Holy Spirit
and began to speak with other tongues,
as the Spirit was giving them utterance.

Acts 11:15-18
[15] “And as I began to speak,
the Holy Spirit fell upon them just
as He did upon us at the beginning.
[16] “And I remembered the word of the
Lord, how He used to say, ‘John
baptized with water, but you will be
baptized with the Holy Spirit.’

Acts 11:15-18
[17] “Therefore if God gave to them the
same gift as He gave to us also after
believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who
was I that I could stand in God's way?”
[18] When they heard this, they quieted
down and glorified God, saying, “Well
then, God has granted to the Gentiles
also the repentance that leads to life.”

We Should Consider:
Ways They Were Given
2) Through the apostles’
hands.

Acts 8:14-19
[14] Now when the apostles in
Jerusalem heard that Samaria had
received the word of God, they sent
them Peter and John, [15] who came
down and prayed for them that they
might receive the Holy Spirit. [16] For He
had not yet fallen upon any of them;
they had simply been baptized in the
name of the Lord Jesus.

Acts 8:14-19
[17] Then they began laying their hands
on them, and they were receiving the
Holy Spirit. [18] Now when Simon saw
that the Spirit was bestowed through the
laying on of the apostles’ hands, he
offered them money, [19] saying,
“Give this authority to me as well, so
that everyone on whom I lay my hands
may receive the Holy Spirit.”

Acts 19:1-7
[1] It happened that while Apollos was at
Corinth, Paul passed through the upper
country and came to Ephesus, and
found some disciples. [2] He said to
them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit
when you believed?” And they said to
him, “No, we have not even heard
whether there is a Holy Spirit.”

Acts 19:1-7
[5] When they heard this, they were
baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
[6] And when Paul had laid his hands
upon them, the Holy Spirit came on
them, and they began speaking with
tongues and prophesying. [7] There
were in all about twelve men.

2 Corinthians 12:12
[12] The signs of a true apostle were
performed among you with all
perseverance, by signs and
wonders and miracles.

We Should Consider:
Purposes of the Gifts
Give and confirm the
message.

John 16:13
[13] “But when He, the Spirit of truth,
comes, He will guide you into all the
truth; for He will not speak on His
own initiative, but whatever He hears,
He will speak; and He will disclose
to you what is to come.

Hebrews 2:3-4
[3] how will we escape if we neglect so
great a salvation? After it was at the first
spoken through the Lord, it was
confirmed to us by those who heard,
[4] God also testifying with them, both
by signs and wonders and by various
miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit
according to His own will.

We Should Consider:
The message was
completely given,

Jude 3
[3] Beloved, while I was making every
effort to write you about our common
salvation, I felt the necessity to write to
you appealing that you contend
earnestly for the faith which was once
for all handed down to the saints.

Luke 16:29-31
[29] “But Abraham said, ‘They have
Moses and the Prophets; let them hear
them.’ [30] “But he said, ‘No, father
Abraham, but if someone goes to them
from the dead, they will repent!’
[31] “But he said to him, ‘If they
do not listen to Moses and the Prophets,
they will not be persuaded even if
someone rises from the dead.’”

We Should Consider:
…and the Scripture is the
best way to confirm truth.

We Should Consider:

[8] Love never fails; but if there are gifts
of prophecy, they will be done away; if
there are tongues, they will cease; if
there is knowledge, it will be done away.
[9] For we know in part and we prophesy
in part; [10] but when the perfect comes,
the partial will be done away.

What is the “perfect?”
“Perfect” is “teleion,”
meaning “complete, mature.”
(See 1 Corinthians 2:6, 14:20
and 5 other times in Paul.)

[11] When I was a child, I used to speak
like a child, think like a child, reason like
a child; when I became a man, I did away
with childish things. [12] For now we see
in a mirror dimly, but then face to face;
now I know in part, but then I will know
fully just as I also have been fully
known. [13] But now faith, hope, love,
abide these three; but the greatest of
these is love.

What is the “perfect?”
It has something to do with
maturity and full knowledge.
Only 2 real options: full
revelation of God, or heaven.

3 Things make me think the
“perfect” is completed
revelation:
1) The maturity (teleion) of
Christian revelation idea is also
in Ephesians 4:11-14.

Ephesians 4:11-14
[11] And He gave some as apostles, and
some as prophets, and some as
evangelists, and some as pastors and
teachers, [12] for the equipping of the
saints for the work of service, to the
building up of the body of Christ;

Ephesians 4:11-14
[13] until we all attain to the unity of the
faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of
God, to a mature [teleion!] man, to the
measure of the stature which belongs to
the fullness of Christ. [14] As a result,
we are no longer to be children, tossed
here and there by waves and carried
about by every wind of doctrine, by the
trickery of men, by craftiness in
deceitful scheming;

revelation:
2) God’s revelation as a mirror
is also in James 1:23-25.

James 1:23-25
[23] For if anyone is a hearer of the word
and not a doer, he is like a man who
looks at his natural face in a mirror;
[24] for once he has looked at himself
and gone away, he has immediately
forgotten what kind of person he was.

James 1:23-25
[25] But one who looks intently
at the perfect [teleion!] law, the law
of liberty, and abides by it, not having
become a forgetful hearer but an
effectual doer, this man will be
blessed in what he does.

revelation:
3) Verse 13 says faith, hope,
and love “remain/ abide”
past the “perfect.”

Hebrews 11:1
[1] Now faith is the assurance of
things hoped for, the conviction of
things not seen.
2 Corinthians 5:7
[7] for we walk by faith, not by sight—

Romans 8:24
[24] For in hope we have been saved,
but hope that is seen is not hope; for
who hopes for what he already sees?

We Should Consider:
The gifts would end when the
gospel revelation was completed.

We Should Consider:
What We See Today

Acts 2:5-8
[5] Now there were Jews living in
Jerusalem, devout men from every nation
under heaven. [6] And when this sound
occurred, the crowd came together, and
were bewildered because each one of them
was hearing them speak in his own
language. [7] They were amazed and
astonished, saying, “Why, are not all these
who are speaking Galileans? [8] “And how
is it that we each hear them in our own
language to which we were born?

[29] All are not apostles, are they? All
are not prophets, are they? All are not
teachers, are they? All are not workers
of miracles, are they? [30] All do not
have gifts of healings, do they? All do
not speak with tongues, do they? All do
not interpret, do they? [31] But earnestly
desire the greater gifts. And I show you
a still more excellent way.

We Should Consider:
What We See Today
Today’s claims are different
from NT descriptions.

My Best Understanding:
Miraculous gifts of the Spirit
had an important, temporary
role in God’s plan.

Are There Miraculous Gifts of the Holy Spirit Today?

Are There Miraculous Gifts of the Holy Spirit Today?

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