The Apostles were the original twelve to fifteen who were directly commissioned by the resurrected Christ. There are no more. Yet their ministry continues through their writings. They continue to build up the church and move her along to maturity. See this post.
Prophets and prophecy are also continuing gifts in the church. See this post first and then this one.
One gift that I have not addressed is tongues. Tongues are known languages. This too, is a continuing gift in the church, as is the interpretation of tongues.
I mentioned in the comment section earlier that I would explain what is wrong with this question: "Why could Paul or Peter heal someone whenever they intended to and we can not?"
This question is based on two assumptions:
1) The Apostles could heal whenever they wanted to, and
2) We cannot heal anyone EVER.
First, the Apostles could not heal whenever they wanted. I am sure that many Christians in the days of the Apostles died of illness. They probably even died when the Apostles were close by. And yet they were not healed.
Second, the gift of apostle and the gift of healing are two separate gifts. Whereas the Apostles are now gone, the gift of healing as a separate gift did not go with them. We do have a prescription for healing, outlined in the letter of James,
Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. (Jam 5:14-15)This prescription for healing was in effect during the times of the Apostles, and is also available to the church today. If we have not seen the healing of the sick, then we have not practiced God's means for healing the sick.
That's all I have to say about that.-Forrest Gump
8 comments:
So, . . . are your posts on the gifts ceasing? Or would you prefer not to use that word?
They have ceased for the time being. I may, at a later time, bring the gift posts back, but for now we have a more mature blog we can look to.
The question I anticipate based on your post is this: Was it the prayer or the faith that was lacking when Aunt Susie died of cancer?
I would say it was a lack of calling for the elders, lack of prayer, lack of oil, and a lack of faith.
The whole passage has been widely ignored.
On the other hand, we must remember that prayer is according to the will of God as well.
A faulty understanding of what prayer is could lead to a misunderstanding of this passage.
Prayer is not God getting on board with me, it is me getting on board with God.
Amen to your prayer comment in your comments section (check out my today's blog...if I must be self promoting.)
With regard to your picture, please stay happy...please!
I would hate to see how you look when you are unhappy!
Good post, Joe.
David,
I'm adding you just as soon as I get a free moment! It's just hard to keep up when strangers drop in unexpectedly at your work! Know what I mean?
:-)
I crack myself up sometimes.
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