Holy Spirit and Church

Are miraculous spiritual gifts for today?

Christians agree that the Holy Spirit equips the church and that every claimed miracle or prophecy must be tested. They disagree over whether revelatory and sign gifts ceased with the apostolic foundation, may still occur but should not be expected as ordinary ministry, continue under careful biblical regulation, or should be actively sought as a normal dimension of Pentecostal mission and worship.

The question

Where the disagreement lies

The debate concerns gifts such as prophecy, tongues, healing, and miracles rather than the Spirit’s continuing work in general. It depends on how the uniqueness of the apostles relates to later church ministry, whether New Testament prophecy carries the same authority as Scripture, and how experience should be welcomed, tested, and corrected.

Key texts

Summary

Cessationists distinguish God’s freedom to perform miracles from the continuation of particular gift-bearing offices or capacities. Apostles and prophets laid a unique foundation and delivered authoritative revelation preserved in Scripture. Prayer for healing remains appropriate, but contemporary impressions or remarkable providences should not be treated as New Testament prophecy or guaranteed gifts of healing.

What this contributes

It strongly protects the final authority and sufficiency of Scripture, recognises the foundational role of the apostles, and offers clear safeguards against manipulative claims of revelation and healing.

Question to keep in view

This view must identify a convincing biblical endpoint for gifts that the New Testament appears to distribute through the wider church and avoid allowing real abuses to determine exegesis.

Predicated on

Interpretive commitments this view depends on

Related ideas

TransparencySources, generation and reviewHuman review pending

AI generation record

System
OpenAI Codex AI assistant
Generated
19 August 2026
Review
Human review pending

The AI synthesized the content from the listed biblical, scholarly, and ecclesial sources. Associations describe broad affinities, not formal endorsements by every person or tradition represented.

  1. Richard B. Gaffin Jr., Robert L. Saucy, Sam Storms, and Douglas A. Oss, Are Miraculous Gifts for Today? Four Views

    A Zondervan Academic comparison of cessationist, open-but-cautious, continuationist, and Pentecostal/charismatic positions.

  2. Assemblies of God (USA), Modern-Day Prophecy

    An official Pentecostal statement affirming contemporary prophecy while requiring scriptural testing and communal accountability.