1 Corinthians
Princesa SophiaRead this to understand why i'm making this article: https://telegra.ph/Bible-reading-09-25
CHAPTER 12:
People that know me, knows i'm a continuationist (that means, i believe that it is still possible to receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit: prophecy, healing and etc). This chapter is used in my arguments.
If you want to see a broader resolution of my belief in that:
https://telegra.ph/About-Spiritual-Gifts-11-14
In verse 3:
"Therefore I inform you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit."
That is one of the verses i use for my argument that Jesus will be obvious. I believe the anti-Christ will not consider that Jesus is Lord.
This verse is also one that i use to consider that Jesus is God, because, only God is our Lord, and if Jesus is Lord, he is also God.
In verse 1 and 2:
"Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans, you were influenced and led astray to mute idols."
It is clear that it is being informed to former pagans about the spiritual gifts, so that they know about the existence of those. Why would they be taught of such gifts in such detail and without a warning that there was a cessation?
Also, this is another confirmation of my concept that pagan rites and techniques are useless, and any manifestation that occurs with such stuff is the manifestation of demons and not from the mute idols itself.
Here we can see in verse 6:
"There are different ways of working, but the same God works all things in all people."
It is ALL things and in ALL people, not only apostles, and nothing in this chapter seems to be talking about a cessation, otherwise, the chapter seems to be teaching that this might happen, why this happen and why some people have some gifts and others not.
It also doesn't say if it stopped or not, the lack of this information here is in fact what makes me believe it never stopped.
Let me give an example, if i were to sell you a car that the blinkers doesn't work, but the blinkers are yet installed, i wouldn't say: "this car have blinkers" (although it doesn't work). Talking like this is intuitive to assume the car have working blinkers. If it doesn't work, i would specify this by saying: "this car's blinkers is not working, although i have not removed the blinkers".
In verse 7 is written:
"Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good", consider this was being taught to former pagans (verse 1). So we can discard that gifts were only for the apostles.
The rest of the chapter is pretty clear in everything it wants to say, so i'm not going to bloat this page if i'm to merely parrot what is already written.
But pay attention, the chapter talks that we are part of Christ body, and: "whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free, and we were all given one Spirit to drink". So, it is not just the apostles that can have the gifts.
"Now you are the body of Christ, and each of you is a member of it", that was said to the ones there being taught about it, or better, former pagans.
"Now you are the body of Christ, and each of you is a member of it. And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, and those with gifts of healing, helping, administration, and various tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? But eagerly desire the greater gifts. And now I will show you the most excellent way." (verses 27 to 31).
Very unlikely that there is a cessation and that it was only for the apostles.
It is pretty clear the separation from each category.
It also says to "desire greater gifts" and that Paul is going to show "the most excellent way".
It is very hard for me to not see that the chase for the gifts as the "most excellent" way, and very hard to see that this simple "stopped" and that it was limited to the apostles.
CHAPTER 13:
This chapter is used by cessasionists as [what seems to be] their only "evidence" about cessationism.
However, i think it is pretty hard that it can be interpreted this way one chapter after a chapter that talks about spiritual gifts and everything i said above.
For one to interpret it like this, this one would have to cherry-pick the verse.
Wikipedia highlight this chapter, mainly the verses 8 - 12:
However, this chapter topic is about LOVE. Let's evaluate this small chapter.
At first, it says "if I have absolute faith so as to move mountains", it is already an affirmation that faith is capable of such wonders. This is my belief as a continuationist, that there is a "power of faith" that can bring such gifts. It is not denied in this chapter that such things happens.
The chapter talks that love is above all that.
At verse 8, which is used by cessasionists, i think they ignore the first sentence: "Love never fails", which should be the question here. Because in comparison to love, other gifts can be taken away from you, but LOVE NEVER FAILS.
My interpretation of that is two at once:
1) Gifts comes from the Holy Spirit, and it is by the will of the Holy Spirit that such things happen to said gifts. And so, prophecies, tongues and knowledge, unlike love, is something that can come and go.
2) Some say that "perfect" is in fact "mature". Let's consider both meanings. Some say it is about the Second Coming of Jesus, but i don't think so.
What i believe is that, let's consider the word "perfect", we are not perfect, and if we consider "mature", we are "not mature yet". In this meanwhile, we can fail, we can be given sparks of gifts, but that can be taken from us (unlike love, which depends of us; i mean, of course God can do everything, but you got what i mean), we can be wrong about our knowledge, but love never fails.
However, if we "mature" or if we attain "perfection" (whatever you interpret from it, since i think nobody is perfect), then "the partial passes away". That is what i think it means with "but when the perfect comes". That doesn't mean that prophecies passes away, neither tongues or knowledge, but, what is PARTIAL in that that passes away, and so, it becomes complete. It is not partial prophecy anymore, it is complete prophecy, it is not partial knowledge anymore, it is complete knowledge.
This is highlighted on these verses (11 - 12):
"When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I set aside childish ways. Now we see but a dim reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known."
How can it talk about "perfection" (maturity) and about "partial", and then three verses later it compare it as when he was child? And not only that, it says that when he becomes a man, then, he sets aside his childish way (what is partial), which is what makes him "know in part", and then for later for him to "know fully".
What is making it be "in part" for him? And how can he say that he "shall know fully" if the verses cited by cessasionists should mean that this can't happen?
It ends with:
"And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love; but the greatest of these is love."
So we can see here that the point is that he becomes mature, and his gifts becomes complete (fully) and stop being partial (the partial passes away). However, that is not what matter most, because, love never fails, and don't matter the gifts you receive if you don't love. In fact, the chapter seems to point out that you indeed can have gifts, just that you shouldn't forget to love if you attain it.
It also even end up citing from the three that remains that one is "faith", which in the beginning of the chapter was said to move mountains.
So, once again, it is very hard for me to consider that chapter an evidence of cessation [of the gifts].
CHAPTER 14:
I think this chapter is basically a nail in the coffin for cessationists, especially considering that their example in "chapter 13" is within two chapters that are clear about the gifts of the Holy Spirit, that we should chase it, and talks like it is possible for the believer to attain it.
I have nothing much to say about this chapter for the same reasons i gave about the chapter 12, i would only bloat this page with texts parroting a chapter that is pretty clear in what is written.
However, i'm going to point out that it is explicit that we should pursue said gifts of the Holy Spirit.
And going to point out a common argument that speaking in tongues sometimes is not about preaching to others, but also a way for a person to communicate with God personally even if nobody understand this person.
Although i think for each person God may give a gift or more, i think prophecy is a gift we all should seek.
"But if an unbeliever or uninstructed person comes in while everyone is prophesying, he will be convicted and called to account by all, and the secrets of his heart will be made known. So he will fall facedown and worship God, proclaiming, “God is truly among you!” (verses 24 - 25).
I think this is pretty interesting, i think that people that had mystical experiences can relate to a strange sense of awareness of what is in people's heart, even if they can't explain what is up. Maybe if one is at the point of prophesying, things like this would happen. I also think that this is maybe why people are not prophesying, because their hearts are hard by the fact they don't want to be accounted for all they have done and neither speak of what others have done. It is pretty hard for people nowadays to feel the Holy Spirit saying "this is what is happening" and have the faith and courage to say it out loud.
That is why i think Faith is one of the "main ingredients" for wonders to happen, because, one must feel the Holy Spirit talking, and one must have faith it is indeed the Holy Spirit. But that is so hard if we humans are flawed, because, there is always the risk that our personal perceptions of the world mix with the spiritual experience and we end up not saying that which is true.
Another good point in this chapter is that it seems to be a focus point the idea of edification. This is obvious and i don't need to point out, but i wanted to point out because it seems to be of a certain level of importance.
I also have a tendency to pray in spirit and in my mind, like it is said in verse 15, and even towards people i see at the streets and etc... And so, the idea of verses 16 - 17 is interesting to put in my mind.
At verse 29 we can see something interesting, about weighting what one is prophesying. I sometimes believe that we can have sparks / moments of prophesy, which is what i interpret of the "partial" from "chapter 13".
I had moments in my life where i felt a sudden sensibility and feeling of revelation, and my mind simple unrolled things with such certainty and everything biblical, even things i wasn't sure of [or in] the bible. Take in mind, i'm not saying i'm a prophet, however, i think that because humbleness, lot people ignore moments of prophecy that happened to then, but sometimes it was simpler than they thought. I think a prophet is one that have it constantly, and not partially (my interpretation of chapter 13).
I talk a lot that people don't understand the old language, and sometimes i think people lost the meaning of such words and the intensity of such words, at a point people have prophetic revelations and have not even perceived.
This also matched what i talked about the idea that in a mystical experience, i can accidentally (by my flaws) add my personal things over what is being taught to me in my experience, as we can see here, there is the need of someone to keep weighting the one that is speaking from prophecy, that means that, even if a prophecy is perfect, the imperfect human can end up adding from him / her things in-between his prophetic experience. That is what should be weighted, for someone to understand when said person is indeed being fed prophecies by the Holy Spirit, and when it is a feedback of the spiritual experience sensibility fooling this one that this one is yet in an state of prophecy.
Another interesting point is the verse 33:
"For God is not a God of disorder, but of peace - as in all the churches of the saints."
I keep saying that pagans normally live in a religion of confusion, they always have something to do, they never can understand what is left, they are always seeking and never finding. They have a religion of disorder, favoritism, boasting and more...
Verse 37 is somewhat clear that one can recognize himself as a prophet and spiritual person.
And verse 39 can be eager to prophesy, and speaks like it was commonly understood at the time, common, and normal.
That is why i talk, people create a hyperbolic view of what is prophecy. As i said, i believe that what is said in Chapter 13 is what lot people once felt, a "spark of partial prophetic capacity".
For lot of things people create a hyperbolic view. This is the same thing i talk about "the Holy Spirit is always talking to us", lot of people don't believe it, and think that when someone think that, this is one is being arrogant, however, i think being arrogant is to deny what someone is experiencing. If our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, then, the Holy Spirit is constantly with us and constantly talking to us. I have a better elaboration about what i think about this here: Voice of God.
Once again, i'm not saying people that prophesy are always prophet, just that people may have a moment of prophecy even not being a prophet, this moment should be weighted for people to recognize when it start and stop happening. Once again, a prophet is the one that is under constant capacity of prophesy.
One example of how this can happen is Numbers 11:25:
"Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and He took some of the Spirit that was on Moses and placed that Spirit on the seventy elders. As the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied - but they never did so again."
Here we can see that it is indeed possible to have sparks of prophetic capacity. The Lord can, by his will, pour his Spirit on people for them to have moments of prophecy, or better, partial prophecy, which is what i interpret out of Chapter 13.
Here we can also see that the spirit is not attained to the body.
Another important point i noticed in my readings, is how different was the attitude inside the church. The church seemed to be more of a communion indeed. Where people were free to express their gifts and to talk. Just like inviting your friends at your house to talk about Christ. People could be free by the church, if suddenly you began to speak-by-tongues, then, just let you do it, but a little away for you to talk with God by yourself and let others have space for communication. Then, suddenly one would have a moment of prophecy, and people would hear this one and weight it. And if you pay attention to that, this mean that people could have a moment for themselves in the church, and not just sitting down and hearing a single person preaching.
I think that if someone have a prophetic revelation during a modern communion, this one wouldn't have the will to interrupt the mass and say "i'm having revelations", and people wouldn't take this one serious. This in fact seems to be a factor that refrains the Holy Spirit talking to said person. And so, the person begins to think he doesn't have sparks of prophetic ability. Or the fact that this one refrains it, little by little interrupts the prophetic flow from this one.
"Do not extinguish the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt "
1 Thessalonians 5:19-20
Can you see? The modern church extinguish the Spirit by not letting it free on their communions. That is maybe the reason some people believe in "cessationism". Because, for them, there is only "a prophet doing prophecy", and not "sparks of prophecy from non-prophets inspired by the Holy Spirit". Because, if someone began to speak-in-tongues, this one would be seem with skepticism. They ignore the "partial prophecies", they interpret the idea of "partial prophecies" as a sign of cessation instead of a sign that everyone can have moments of "partial prophecy" even if not a prophet.
Can't people see? The modern churches, regardless of denominations, are in fact extinguishing the Spirit and treating the gifts of the Spirit with contempt. That is, in my belief and opinion, what makes the frequency of such manifestations to reduce. By extinguishing the Spirit, you have a cessation. By eagerly chasing the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit manifestations have continuity.
What church you get nowadays that people can simple talk what they feel is a prophecy and there are people around weighting this person's talk? What church nowadays can a person talk in communion to begin with (ok, there are some, but it is pretty non-traditional)? Why is there a central preacher? Can't everybody be able to preach and deliberate about God? Isn't God without favoritism (Romans 2:11)? So, shouldn't everybody have a natural conversation and communion without preference? Just like i said before, like friends meeting together to talk about Christ? Something organic and natural?
I have specific beliefs of "what is a spirit" and how it manifest on us. And there is lot of moments i felt in my spirit a will or desire to express something, be it in the church, or with my family (which are religious) and friends. I can do that to my friends; my family would bring me a burden if i talk something out of their traditional customs; and the church, i wouldn't even dare to interrupt the preacher or the mass to talk about my view of Christianity and the Bible. However, reading things that Paul wrote, it doesn't seem at all that this was how it was made. There is no space for you to manifest the Spirit, it is being extinguished! Even if i'm to talk erroneous things, i think, the communion would explain and fix that! The same ones that weights the prophets could be the same ones explaining my natural dialogue that i felt strong in spirit to talk (just like i do with my friends)! The church is not a communion like i imagine reading Paul, but a place of hearing, of quietness and "obedience" (of norms).
People should be free to dialogue, to commit mistakes (not sins), to talk their point-of-view, to be corrected and rebuked, to express, to let the Spirit flow without nothing extinguishing it! Of course, everything with love and peacefully, without harsh arguments, fights, and offenses.