Tuesday, October 10, 2023

The Dangers of Cessationism

   


  In my opinion, 
one of the most dangerous twisting of Scripture comes by way of cessationism. This theology declares that the gifts which Christ promised to His church no longer exist because they ceased with the Apostles. Theologians who hold to this way of thinking arrogantly declare that these gifts are no longer needed because we have the Bible and that is enough. This leads to weak, anemic believers who do not live into their full calling or walk with the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. This also undermines the identity we have as believers and can tend to lead some into a Deistic mindset where God is distant and not in the here and now.

      God is alive, speaking, moving, and breathing His Spirit upon His children just as much now as back then. He is a God of love, intimacy, and relationship. Jesus shares with us throughout the gospels of Luke and John specifically that our access to the Father is through the Holy Spirit, made possible through Jesus’ death and resurrection.

      The prophetic is for today, not just yesterday. The canon is indeed closed, but the Spirit is giving words of knowledge, wisdom, and guidance today and when we proclaim these words to others, that is prophetic. Many prophets have arisen in each decade or so proclaiming to the church their need to correct course as well as showing the way forward for that time in that context, words of correction given by the Holy Spirit. Tozer was one such prophet who saw the trajectory of the church in the 50s and 60s and brought correction, warning, and ways to avoid the pitfalls he saw. Prophecy is both foretelling and forthtelling. Anyone who gets up to preach takes the mantle of prophet for they are seeking to forthtell the truths of Scripture. Even those who deny the giftings preach and teach, which is not only blind but hypocritical.


      Tongues, although not everyone’s gift is mostly given as a prayer language of intimacy with the Lord. Why would the Lord stop such an intimate connection? Hospitality, knowledge, prophecy, wisdom, evangelism, shepherding, teaching, and apostolic giftings are all prevalent in today’s church, how could they be utilized today without the Holy Spirit?


      This dangerous theology attacks both the identity of the believer and the identity of the Lord Himself. The church in Laodicea forgot who they were. They did not have a right view of their identity in Christ, or of Christ Himself, and so became useless. I fear too many who lean into a cessationist view of the Scriptures have lost their identity as children of God and have stopped seeing the Lord as an empowering, intimate, loving Father and have believed Him to be far off, angry, distant, and not involved in our day to day lives.


      Christ calls us into intimacy with Himself and the way forward to live in that intimacy is paved by the Spirit. We must get back to a proper theology of the Holy Spirit, His gifts, his fruits and His making a way for us to connect intimately with the entire Trinity. Without this understanding, we will be useless. Without this knowledge and belief, we will be powerless. Without this intimate connection, we will be lost and continue to flounder as a church. It is time to push back a false Deistic view of the Lord and seek after the Lord’s Presence and empowerment by way of the Holy Spirit within us. The Church must stop neglecting or rejecting the teachings of the Holy Spirit and embrace the fullness of their life and calling. Only then will we see a Church of power pushing back the darkness of the enemy. Only then can we finally see a unified Church on mission!

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