Why I Reject Cessationism

by

Jimmy Humphrey

There is a theological position known as cessationism. The basic idea behind this doctrine is the rejection of the contemporary existence of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Now, there are various degrees of cessationism. A few people reject the gifts of the Holy Spirit altogether. But much more common is the rejection of the more “spectacular” gifts, namely that of prophecy. And there are various reasons for this position, namely, it is based on the belief that upon the completion of the canon of Scripture, there was no more need for the gift of prophecy. So, with the Scriptures being complete, the gift of prophecy is viewed as having faded away.

Such is a very short and simplistic overview of the cessationist position. And there are many reasons why, Biblically speaking, we should reject such a position.

One of the main reasons we should reject such a view is because the Scriptures teach no such thing. Proponents of cessationism say that the contemporary existence of the gift of prophecy would undermine the important reformation doctrine of sola Scriptura– that the Scriptures alone are sufficient for our faith. But the main problem with this argument is that the Scriptures do not teach that the gift of prophecy somehow undermines the sufficiency of the canon of Scripture for our faith. It is rather ironic, that while espousing sola Scriptura, those who hold to a cessationist position actually rely on an extra-Biblical argument to make their case. And in doing so, they are actually the ones undermining the doctrine of sola Scriptura.

For instead of teaching about the prophetic gifts fading out of existence after the completion of the canon, the Scriptures teach in Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12-14, and Ephesians 4 that the gift of prophecy actually compliments the revelation contained within the Scriptures, and has a usefulness in the regular life of the church beyond the writing of sacred Scripture. Indeed, in these passages the gift of prophecy is seen as a gift that exists for the purpose of building up others in the faith, and serving as an aid to maturing the body of Christ as a whole. To say that the gift of prophecy existed for the primary purpose of the creation of the canon of Scripture is to employ an argument the Scriptures themselves never make. As central as the Scriptures are to our faith, might I be so bold as to say that its existence is merely a bi-product of the gift of prophecy, and not the main purpose for which the gift was intended?

For the primary purpose of the gift of prophecy is to actively declare the mind of God. The prophet is one who literally speaks on behalf of another. In the history of the prophetic ministry, the Scriptures were so inspired out of men who actively declared what God had to say. And in all their declaring, a body of literature was written down and preserved for all time, and this body of literature contains within it the faith once and for all handed down to the saints. And we must never minimize this whatsoever. But the Scriptures in themselves never contain every prophetic message ever uttered in the history of time. Indeed, Noah was a prophet, but none of his oracles are recorded. The prophet Samuel spoke many times on behalf of the Lord, and all of Israel confirmed Samuel as a prophetic minister. Yet we have hardly any of his prophecies. Likewise, John the Baptist spent quite some time out in the wilderness prophesying, yet we only have a handful of his words recorded. And above all people, our Lord Jesus Christ spent three years on earth ministering as a prophet, yet for all the words He spoke, John reminds us that Christ said and did many more things that were not recorded.

But in saying all of this, and as important as these points have been, I believe there is one major reason alone why we should reject any partial or total cessationist theologies. And that reason is central to all of the Scriptures. We should reject cessationist theologies because our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is a contemporary, modern-day prophet. Indeed, Hebrews 1 reminds us that God has in these last days spoken to us through His Son, Jesus Christ. And Jesus Christ, as a modern-day living prophet, is still carrying out His prophetic ministry that began 2,000 years ago in Judea. The Lord has not grown silent just because the canon of Scriptures is complete. Jesus Christ is still speaking on behalf of God today.

And one of the ways in which Jesus Christ still speaks on behalf of God today is through the Church. Namely, through those who, being a part of His body, share in the prophetic ministry He Himself has. It is my contention that those well meaning brethren who deny contemporary prophetic ministry have a major blind spot in their theology. Namely, they fail to see that Jesus Christ has a present day prophetic ministry. And though they confess Him as Prophet, Priest, and King, practically speaking, they deny the prophetic ministry of Jesus Christ by denying a place for the gift of prophecy in the Church today. For in making no room for prophetic expression today, the ministry of Christ Himself as a prophet is effectively silenced.

And the last thing this world needs is for God to be mute. This is why I reject cessationism.

http://christthinks.com/2011/02/13/why-i-reject-cessationism/

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Jimmy H

What is a "contemporary prophetic ministry", how does it work and what does it do?

In Christ: Phillip

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Phillip

I believe contemporary prophetic ministry is the same as we read from cover to cover in the Scriptures. It is the giving of a supernatural utterance inspired by the Holy Spirit, who gives the prophet the ability to actively declare the mind of Christ. Though not always crouched in the language, it is a gospel-centered declaration of what "thus saith" the Lord.

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Jimmy H

Interesting observation: I noticed there are over 700 views on this thread, but only one reply. That seems to be an awfully wide gap. Feedback welcomed!

:-)

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Jimmy H

may i speak honestly and clearly from the heart?.....and what i write is NOT meant to be a put down, or "rebuke", as we've set up in theo-speak.

this is just me, but if i see a church, para church, whatever calling itself a "contemporary prophetic ministry", i flee....and quick.

a true prophet NEVER would term himself OR herself a prophet....they just are, it's a God given gift, and it is also a heavy load, you could even call it a curse, because the lot of a prophet, is not shiny caddilacs, or nice suits, with those fancy head sets, and a beautiful church building, and conferences with other all too earnest "prophets".

the lot of the prophet is almost always slim living, poverty, being hated, scorned, lonely, in the human realm.
the lot of the prophet is to have the gift of foretelling, and sometimes the prophet sees the full extent of the coming wrath.

and if we want to delve even further into the lot of the prophet Scripturally, not one of the prophets was even trained in a seminary.

let's just look at John the Baptizer, he didnt wear the finery of the priestcraft, his meals were rather improvised, and when the people came out to the river, he didnt greet them with a smile and a bulletin, he told them straight up, "You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee the coming wrath?"

the seeker sensitive crowd might have a problem with that.

which leads me to just to say something to you, with love...no put down. i love your scholarship, the fact that you would take time, write a paper, speaking of a viewpoint of Scriptures, and God sees this, God sees your earnest heart, and He just loves you for it, but you write in high theological terms....and THATS COOL, but look at Jesus, He spoke very simply to the people in His Earthly Ministry.

Today, we have a LOT LOT of some very frightened scared lost people, and they havent attained that level of theological terminology. Such a paper MIGHT be fine for SI, or maybe your sharing a seminary assigment, which is good, but to speak to people about the Deep Things of God, we really just gotta make it plain.....

....and saints, who should know better, should quit fooling around with God, and refrain from calling themselves "prophets", even if they really are. Same goes for ministries, as Jesus said, My House will be called a House of Prayer.

believe me dear Jimmy, i didnt write this to fuss with you, i wrote this almost as if i was sitting across from you at a table, just talking.

I'm sure you're aware that something afoul is in the air, something dark stirring in the world, and yes, there are very dark days a coming.

We have to band together in the Love of Messiah, and live and love in faith IN Jesus.....AND we have to be a warm pair of outstretched arms to any burdened sinner, desiring to confess Jesus as Lord. (oh and we also have to start stashing and hiding Bibles NOW)

i love you, Jimmy....just talking with you over this internet.

Thanks for writing. I get what you are saying.

"Contemporary prophetic ministry." Don't flee over that. I'm just trying to be specific as possible in talking about the operation of the prophetic ministry in our generation. While there might be much today that would cause one to expel their lunch over in what happens in "prophetic" ministry, I have in mind here Biblical prophetic ministry. Not pop-culture extremes.

Regarding everything else you said though, I think you should go back to the Scriptures and wrestle more with what prophetic ministry is about. I think your notions are a bit "romantic."

While there is some truth to what you say, such doesn't apply very well across the board when put to the acid test of Scripture. For example, Biblically speaking, the prophets regularly identified themselves as prophets, just as Paul regularly identified himself as an apostle. And regarding seminary, Ezekiel was a priest before being sent into exile, and most certainly would've gone through the "seminary" of his day. So, while "seminary" in no way qualifies one, it in no way disqualifies one either. And if you study the Scriptures closely, you will also learn that there is some "formal" theological language used by its authors from time to time. Not everything was, "See the birds of the air!" Words like "propitiation" were just as abstract then as they are now.

And I always attempt to make things as plain as possible. The next few weeks in the high school Sunday school class, I'll be teaching on the gifts of the Spirit. And while I'll be especially sure to make things as plain as possible for those in the class, I am not going to shy away from educating them either, challenging their minds, and sometimes dropping $500 words. We shouldn't be frightened by big words and the abstract language of theology. While we don't need to overdose in the stuff, we don't need to shy away from it either.

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Jimmy H

It would seem that 1 Thessalonians 5:20 is a pertinent scripture to consider in light of this thread.

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Jeremiah Dusenberry

Indeed.

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Jimmy H

Neil wrote:

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Sandra Miller

While poverty, rejection, and being alone are things that often accompany prophetic ministry, it should be noted that these things are the essence of prophetic ministry. The essence of prophetic ministry is speaking on behalf of Christ, from whom we have our prophetic ministry today.

And it should be noted that no matter how poor a contemporary prophet might be in America, even the poorest people in America are in the top 10% wealth of the world. And in a healthy local fellowship, rejection and isolation should not be something the prophet experiences much of. Indeed, in the New Testament, I see no prophet ever lacking for fellowship who is rightly joined to a local assembly of the saints.

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Jimmy H