UNDERSTANDING THE CASE FOR CESSATION

Before the so-called Charismatic renewal started in the 1960s, talks about baptism in the

Spirit, tongues, prophecies, and miraculous gifts remained mostly perhaps in Pentecostal circles.

But with the Charismatic renewal affecting all traditional and/or mainline churches, such topics

have become the focus of theological and scholarly debates. As in other doctrines, there is no

agreement. There are Pentecostals and Charismatics, and there are “cessationists.”

In this paper, we shall look at the representative arguments of non-Pentecostals and non-

Charismatics. For reasons of space, we shall not critique the thought of these “cessationists.” We

shall be content to describe as fairly as we can their position. In particular, we will listen to their

answers to these two questions: (1) Is there a baptism in the Spirit after conversion? (2) Are

tongues and prophecies for Christians today?

As we start, it may be good to mention that some cessationists agree that “God does heal

and work miracles,” that the “Holy Spirit does guide us,” and that the “Holy Spirit does empower

Christians for various kinds of ministry, and this empowering is an activity that can be

distinguished from the inner-transforming work of the Holy Spirit.”1 They also believe, in a very

qualified sense, in some form of God’s revealing activity to the believer.2 This is the main point

of the cessationist: revelatory or word gifts – which are – “prophecy and its assessment, tongues

and their interpretation, the word of wisdom, and the word of knowledge” – have ceased.3

1
Wayne Grudem, ed., Are the Miraculous Gifts for Today? Four View (38 De Montfort Street, Leicester:
Inter-Varsity Press, 1996), 342.
2
Ibid., 343.
3
Richard Gaffin, Jr., “The Cessationist View,” in Grudem, Are the Miraculous Gifts for Today?, 42.
 Subsequent Baptism in the Spirit?

In his story of the early church in Acts, Luke appears to present a two-stage schema in

believers’ experience of the Spirit. The first stage is conversion: the apostles were already

believers (Acts 1), as well as the Samaritans (Acts 8), Cornelius and his household (Acts 10), and

the Ephesians (Acts 19). Their present Christian life is then followed by another stage, which is

that they received the baptism of the Spirit. These early believers seemed to have believed that

this baptism in the Spirit is shown by speaking in tongues (Acts 10:44-48).

Some Christians read the narratives differently. For them, Luke is not presenting a two-

stage salvation pattern for Christians everywhere at all times. Luke has a very definite purpose

for these stories: they show “Luke’s grand theme of the all-inclusiveness of the New Testament

church.”4 That is, in Luke’s perspective, there would be “no second-class citizen in the kingdom

of God. Jews, Samaritans, God-fearers, and Gentiles all received the baptism of the Holy

Spirit.”5 This conclusion is argued from a source critical analysis of Luke-Acts.6

Others reach the same conclusion by using a redemptive-historical approach.7 God has a

plan to save the world, centered on the Messiah. God is working out his plan in history, from the

calling of Abraham, to the establishment of Israel, and to the eventual completion of His

kingdom. At the center of this plan is the coming into history of Jesus Christ, his death,

resurrection and ascension. Now, the event of Pentecost is part of this once-for-all Christ-event:

[The Day of Pentecost] was the last event of the saving career of Jesus, the long-
promised outpouring of the Spirit consequent upon his death, resurrection and
ascension. As such it completed the inauguration of the new or Messianic age, the age

4
R.C. Sproul, The Mystery of the Spirit (Fearn, Ross-shire: Christian Focus Publications, 1991), 153.
5
Ibid., 153-4.
6
Ibid., 149-53.
7

Sinclair Ferguson, The Holy Spirit (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1996), 82.
 of the Spirit. In itself it is unrepeatable, as unrepeatable as the Savior’s death,
resurrection and ascension which preceded it. But its blessings are for all who belong
to Christ. All Christians since that day, without any exception, have become
participants in this new age and have received the gifts of forgiveness and the Spirit
which Christ made available.”8

In this framework, the experience of the apostles and 120 believers in Acts 2 is due to the

fact that they were living in that transitional period.9 They lived through the end of the Old

Covenant (marked by Jesus’ death) to the beginning of the New Covenant (marked by the

Spirit’s outpouring). In the nature of the case, they cannot but have a two-stage experience.

The experiences in Samaria, Caesarea and Ephesus are read as an outflow of this

Pentecostal experience in Jerusalem. As the Gospel goes out from Jewish Jerusalem to Gentile

cities, the same manifestation prevailed. Believers in these Gentile places did speak in tongues to

manifest the coming of the Spirit upon them; they did seem to have a two-stage experience. We

would err however if we think that Luke presents such experiences as normative. Luke’s interest

in these experiences lies in their unmistakable message that believers from various races are one

and equal in the Messiah’s kingdom. All partake of the same Spirit:

What is normative about Pentecost is that the Spirit baptizes all the people of God.
That there was a time delay in Acts between conversion and baptism does not
establish this aspect as a norm. There were clear redemptive-historical reasons for
these distinctive “Pentecosts” to occur. They demonstrated clearly the equality of all
four groups in the church. 10

8
John R.W. Stott, Baptism and Fullness: The Work of the Holy Spirit Today (Downers Grove, Illinois:
InterVarsityPress, 1975), 29.
9
Ferguson, The Holy Spirit, 82.
10
RC Sproul, The Mystery, 154. For some “clear redemptive-historical reasons,” one can consult John Stott,
The Spirit, the Church and the World: The Message of Acts (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1990),
156-9, 196-7, 303-5; Stott, Baptism and Fullness, 32, 36; and Ferguson, The Holy Spirit, 83-7.
 Tongues and Prophecies Today?

As far as we can see, the case for the cessation of the gifts of prophecy and tongues may

be summarized as follows: 11

1. Tongues and prophecies are word-gifts, that is, both are forms or instruments

through which God reveals himself, his actions and his plans.

2. Divine revelation is “tethered” to divine redemption. God describes, explains

and interprets what he does in salvation history. He has prepared, gifted and sent

servants to receive, proclaim, explain and record what he does.

3. Now, God’s saving activity has reached its fulfillment in Christ’s death and

resurrection and the consequent establishment of the church.

4. Accordingly, word-gifts (or revelation gifts, such as tongues and prophecy)

were given by God to the apostles and New Testament prophets to describe and

interpret the whole complex of events related to the coming of Christ and the

establishment of the new covenant, church and kingdom.

5. The New Testament is the result of these word-gifts. With the completion of

God’s saving action, there corresponds the completion of revelation in the New

Testament era. Thus, there would be no more need for word-gifts, such as tongues

and prophecies.

Central to the cessationist argument is the “salvation-historical understanding of the

church and its apostolicity.”12 In Ephesians 2:11-21, the church is “pictured as the construction

11
We think that the summary faithfully reflects the line of thought of Richard Gaffin, Jr., Perspectives on
Pentecost: New Testament Teaching on the Gifts of the Spirit (Phillipsburg, New Jersey: Presbyterian and
Reformed, 1979), 55-112. For a similar take from another angle, see O. Palmer Robertson, The Final Word: A
Biblical Response to the Case for Tongues and Prophecy Today (Murrayfield Road, Edinburgh: The Banner of
Truth Trust, 1993).
12
Richard Gaffin, “A Cessationist View,” in Wayne Grudem, ed., Are the Miraculous Gifts for Today?, 42.
project of God…underway in the period between the ascension and return of Christ….In this

church-house the apostles and prophets are the foundation, along with Christ as the

‘cornerstone.’”13

Now, a foundation is laid down at the beginning of the construction project; once done, it

cannot be relaid again. Christ is the foundation of the church-house because all things about the

church depend upon him and what he has done. The apostles and (New Testament) prophets are

foundational in the sense that they provide the foundational witness and interpretation of what

Christ did. “With this foundational revelation completed, and so too their foundational role as

witnesses, the apostles and, along with them, the prophets and other associated revelatory word

gifts, pass from the life of the church.”14 To affirm the continuing presence of tongues and

prophecy today implies affirming the need for apostolic presence or succession.15

Conclusion

Reflecting on the cessationist argument, we are led to say that resolving the twin issues of

baptism in the Spirit and the gifts of prophecy and tongues involves hermeneutical issues. The

cessationist puts a lot of weight in the history of salvation and the revelation that accompanies

that history. We suspect that he has not weighed enough the role of experience in reading the

Bible and, in the process, has tied salvation and revelation too tightly beyond what the Bible

allows.

13
Ibid., 42-3.
14
This paragraph summarizes Gaffin, “A Cessationist View,” 43-4.
15
Ibid., 44-5.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ferguson, Sinclair. The Holy Spirit. Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1996.

Gaffin, Richard Jr. Perspectives on Pentecost: New Testament Teaching on the Gifts of the
Spirit. Phillipsburg, New Jersey: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1979.

_______. “The Cessationist View.” In Grudem, Wayen. Ed., Are the Miraculous Gifts for
Today? Four View. 38 De Montfort Street, Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 1996.

Grudem, Wayen. Ed., Are the Miraculous Gifts for Today? Four View. 38 De Montfort Street,
Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 1996.

Robertson, O. Palmer. The Final Word: A Biblical Response to the Case for Tongues and
Prophecy Today. Murrayfield Road, Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1993.

Sproul, R.C. The Mystery of the Spirit. Fearn, Ross-shire: Christian Focus Publications, 1991.

Stott, John R.W. Baptism and Fullness: The Work of the Holy Spirit Today. Downers Grove,
Illinois: InterVarsityPress, 1975.

_______. The Spirit, the Church and the World: The Message of Acts. Downers Grove, Illinois:
InterVarsity Press, 1990.