Delivered said:
To CovenantInBlood:
As much as you may not have received my apology for my attitude in the past discourse (owing to the fact that you have not acknowledged it), I did say I was sorry and am taking a calmer approach to this discussion.
I was unable to access my E-mail until this afternoon, but I have now replied to it.
Now I have read the passage in 1Corinthians 13 speaking about all kinds of Spiritual Gifts, among them Profecy and Tongues, Knowledge, Kindness etc. and I do not agree that this passage says that Tongues and Prophecy do not exist at this time as this is still a part of the dispensation of Grace. I do think that it was meant to show the importance of Love over any gift, and I happen to agree with this thought. Love is the primary gift that we get from God. It is Love that motivated Him as stated in John 3:16.
Love is not a
charismatic gift. The distinguishing characteristics of
charismatic gifts was their function as
signs and as
revelation. Tongues, prophecy, and knowledge in I Cor. 13 are revelatory; love is not. The charismatic gifts were signs to confirm the ministry of the apostles, and tongues in particular was a sign that the Gentiles would be included and that the administration of the Mosaic Covenant would cease. With the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem and the completion of the New Testament canon by the end of the 1st Century A.D., the charismatic gifts ceased.
Where we disagree, and therefore, owing to the fact that the idea is a fundamental principle of our theology, is where it is said that God only speaks through the Bible now, I think that this is a serious topic for both of us and we should just agree to disagree since we both hold to our belief on this matter.
Please take some time to read the following article, which explains my position on the matter of God's speaking through the Bible alone more thoroughly: "
Does God Speak Today Apart from the Bible?" by R. Fowler White.
Up to recently there has been much discussion over the period of time before the Letters comprising the New Testament scriptures were written and compiled and this therefore makes it difficult to place the actual time on the publishing (in whatever form) of our Bible. So at what time did the Prophecies and Tongues stop alltogether? Is there a part in the Bible that says it stopped at this point after the last letter was written and which letter is the last.
The last book to be written in the New Testament is John's Revelation. This book was completed in the early-to-mid 90's A.D. None of the charismatic gifts continued after that point, since John was the last apostle alive and Revelation was the last book of inspired Scripture. Thus Paul's words in the last verses of I Cor. 13 were fulfilled, when he predicted the coming of the "perfect" or "complete."
The real question to ask is why God saves anyone. It's not like God is lonely and needs us. It's by God's sheer unconditional mercy and love that anyone is saved.
(See Romans 11:33-36)
Of course, I've never disputed it.
