Schreiner - Spiritual Gifts

Christians today face an array of questions and controversies about spiritual gifts. In this concise book, Tom Schreiner combines faithful biblical scholarship and great love for the Word of God. His arguments are clear, charitable, and compelling. I highly recommend it.

R. Albert Mohler Jr., president The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

Tom Schreiner has written a well-balanced and compelling book on a qualified view of cessationism. His discussions are filled with solid biblical interpretation, biblical logic, wisdom, and an irenic spirit. This is quite a feat, since the subject matter is so debated among evangelicals. Even those who might disagree with Schreiners views will find his discussions profitable to read. I commend this reliable book. I will recommend it to others.

G. K. Beale, professor of New Testament and Biblical Theology Westminster Theological Seminary

In Spiritual Gifts: What They Are & Why They Matter , not only does Tom Schreiner build a convincing case for the cessationist position, he shows us how to address controversies in the church with humble charity, biblical clarity, and theological conviction. This book sweeps away misconceptions, upholds the sufficiency of Scripture, and drives us to reflect again on the biblical text. Even those who dont fully agree will profit from this work.

John Folmar, senior pastor United Christian Church of Dubai (UAE)

Copyright 2018 by Thomas R. Schreiner

All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America

978-1-5359-1520-5

Published by B&H Publishing Group

Nashville, Tennessee

Cover design and illustration by Ligia Teodosiu.

Dewey Decimal Classification: 234.13

Subject Heading: CHRISTIANITY \ SPIRITUAL GIFTS \ SPIRITUAL LIFE

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Christian Standard Bible, Copyright 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible and CSB are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.

Also used: English Standard Version. ESV Text Edition: 2016. Copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Also used: New International Version, NIV

copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Also used: New American Standard Bible ( nasb ), copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation

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To Wayne Grudem, John Piper, and Sam Storms.

Beloved friends and coworkers in the gospel of Christ

Acknowledgments

I would never have written this book if John Kimbell, the preaching pastor at Clifton Baptist Church, had not asked me to speak on spiritual gifts at the Clifton mens retreat. Even after speaking on the issue, I dont think I would have written this book without the encouragement of my dear friend (and my next-door neighbor) and colleague, Oren Martin. He kept telling me to write this book, and I wont blame him if it has a bad reception! I also tried out the material in this book at Founders Baptist Church in Spring, Texas. Richard Caldwell, the preaching pastor, has been a wonderful friend and a pastor whom I have now known for many years. I am thankful to B&H Publishing Group and Devin Maddox and Taylor Combs for their enthusiastic support and encouragement for writing this book. Another dear friend, who is a continuationist, Chris Bruno, read the manuscript and made some helpful observations. One of my PhD students, who is also a continuationist, Jarrett Ford, read the manuscript, challenging me at a number of points. I didnt convince him, and he didnt convince me, but I am thankful for Jarretts careful reading, which helped me sharpen my argument. Jarrett also chased down some details in the footnotes for which I am thankful. I am also grateful to another PhD student, Richard Blaylock, who read the manuscript carefully, saving me from some errors. He also made a number of comments which helped me improve the argument. I also benefited from Richards essay on prophecy, which will I hope be accepted for publication soon. Richard also assisted me by verifying some of the footnotes.

Introduction

I wanted to write a small book on spiritual gifts because I support a position called cessationismat least, it is a kind of cessationism. Still, this book isnt only about cessationism. I also sketch in a theology of spiritual gifts. I hope this part of the book wont be ignored, for we are all prone to concentrate on controversies. In other words, I hope readers dont skip the other chapters and only read what I have written about cessationism. I suppose some readers will do that anyway, but I think they will lose some perspective on the book as a whole, and may therefore read what I say from a distorted standpoint.

Before embarking on the journey, I want to say some personal things. The first is, I could be mistaken in arguing for cessationism . The matter isnt simple to resolve. If it were entirely clear, faithful believers would not come to different points of view. Fortunately, ones theology and perspective on spiritual gifts isnt a first-order issue. We are not discussing the Trinity or the person of Christ or justification by faith.

At the same time, our understanding of spiritual gifts is important because churches have to decide whether the gifts will be exercised in the congregation. In my circles people often say they are open but cautious about the spiritual gifts, but most who hold this stance dont actually practice the spiritual gifts. What I see less often is a defense of the idea that a number of the spiritual gifts have ceased. Often cessationist churches dont talk about the gifts, and many in such churches arent sure what they should think about spiritual gifts.

We should be instructed about the gifts, for Paul said in 1 Corinthians 12:1, Now concerning spiritual gifts: brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be unaware. Some say they are tired of spiritual gifts since there has been significant controversy over them. They dont want to hear about the subject anymore. They have heard so much about them, or argued so long over them that they no longer care. But Paul says knowing the truth about spiritual gifts is important. He doesnt want us to be ignorant about spiritual gifts. So, our study does matter. It is part of Gods revealed Word that we should know.

I have hesitated to write this little book because I dont want to be polemical and divisive. How wearisome and tiring it is to engage in arguments, especially with those whom we love and cherish! The spirit in some discussions has turned many away from the matter of spiritual gifts altogether. Sometimes faithful, Bible-believing Christians have a way of shutting down the voices of those with whom we disagree, even on second- and third-order issues. It is more comfortable for all of us to associate with those who agree with us. Sometimes we harshly criticize those who disagree, but what we need instead is loving and charitable discussion. Respectful discussions on matters where there is disagreement are helpful. Our culture is more and more polarized, and it seems that many cant tolerate those who disagree with them on any matter. They want to live in a space free from any dissenting voices. As believers, we should not follow the same pattern. Strong convictions are good, but we need discriminating judgment so that we dont fall into the error of thinking that every issue is of equal importance. As evangelicals we have to beware of false teaching, but we also have to be on guard against a rigid fundamentalism that doesnt tolerate disagreements. The inability to tolerate some disagreement isnt only found in political circles; we can fall into the same error as evangelicals.