Is The Gift of Prophecy Still Valid Today? Q&A for October 3, 2024
Is the Gift of Prophecy Still Valid Today?
From Jennafer –
Can you clarify if you believe that there are prophets today? I think you mentioned that people are unable to correctly communicate God’s word now. At what point did this become the case?
There are really two questions brought up by this that I would like to address.
- Is the gift of prophecy still valid today?
- Are there people who should be recognized as prophets today?
Is the Gift of Prophecy Still Valid Today?
Yes, the gift of prophecy is still valid for today. I don’t believe that our cessationist brothers and sisters are correct. I admire their zeal in promoting the supremacy of the Scriptures, and I applaud them when they expose the freaks and frauds of the hyper Pentecostal and Charismatic world, but I believe that the gifts of the Spirit as described by the New Testament are for today – that God never withdrew them.
There is one “gift” (so to speak) of the Holy Spirit that I believe God does no longer give. I say, “so to speak,” because it isn’t really listed as a spiritual gift, though in some sense it is listed as an office. But the gift to perfectly receive and transmit the word of God with universal authority is a gift no longer given. That gift was fulfilled in the completion of the New Testament.
Ephesians 2:20 speaks of the church as having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone,
Ephesians 2:20
…having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone
So, if you want to say that in that sense, I am a cessationist, fine – I’ll wear that. I don’t believe that God is raising up anyone with the apostolic authority that Paul, Peter, John, and the other New Testament authors had.
But our cessationist brothers and sisters make a huge mistake when they claim that the exercise of the gift of prophecy in the New Testament produced words that were always equal to Scripture. Instead, we see that the gift of prophecy was exercised in the New Testament church apart from authoritative declarations for all God’s people in all times.
When believers spoke through the gift of prophecy in Corinth (1 Corinthians 14:5, 14:29-31), in Rome (Romans 12:6), when Philip’s four daughters prophesied (Acts 21:9), and the prophesies of Agabus (Acts 21:10) were all legitimate prophetic words in New Testament times that were not recorded or regarded as Scripture.
When believers spoke through the prophetic word in the New Testament church, it was to be carefully judged (1 Corinthians 14:29-33, 1 Thessalonians 5:20-21). This was not a practice followed for the authoritative words of the apostles.
Our cessationist brothers and sisters claim a good motive for why they want to deny the current exercise of the gift of prophecy – they claim it takes away from the authority and sufficiency of Scripture. But that isn’t true. Scripture is Scripture and the spontaneous gift of prophecy is of a different category all together and should be judged as such.
Are There People Who Should be Recognized as Prophets Today?
I can’t see any good that comes from recognizing people as prophets today, even if it is understood that they function in a lesser sense, not equal to the Bible.
I think it is undeniable that things just get weird when it is “prophet this” and “prophet that.” In an ideal world, it wouldn’t be like that – and sometimes believers think and act very idealistically. But real harm comes from recognizing people as prophets today. Either the person gets weird, or others get weird towards him.
For me, I am most comfortable with seeing that the gift of prophecy continues, but today it does more harm than good to recognize people with the title of prophet. I won’t deny that some good could come from it, but the harm far outweighs it.
Will the level of persecution we face as Christians be based on the maturity of our faith, on individual circumstances, or both?
I think there are two ways to look at this. Of course, we look at what persecution God will allow in His sovereign wisdom. Now, God does not persecute His own people, but nothing can happen without God allowing it, so God has wisdom in what He allows, to whom He allows it to happen, and to what degree of intensity He allows it to happen. Maybe from God’s perspective, He grades whatever persecution He might allow to come to a believer so that it only fits and corresponds to their particular level of maturity. That would make some sense, in my perspective of what God might allow and not allow.
But from the perspective of the persecutors in general, I would say they don’t care one way or another. They don’t care if they’re persecuting a mature believer or an immature believer. All they know is that person is a Christian, a believer in Jesus Christ, and they don’t fit into what the persecutor wants for society or culture. So, from God’s perspective, I think that God may regulate or allow persecution in some level based on a believer’s maturity, up to a point. However, from the perspective of the persecutors, I don’t think they care about it one bit at all.
How do you explain when people say, “God spoke to me”?
Thank you for that question. I think it is often problematic when people say, “God spoke to me this” or “God spoke to me that.” Here are some reasons why I see that way of speaking as problematic. First, when people casually say that it gives the impression that people heard from God with an audible voice from heaven. Now, most of the time, the people who say it don’t mean it like that, but when they say, “God spoke to me,” you can’t blame others for wondering if God actually spoke to those people in an audible voice. So, no, that’s normally not the case. When people say God spoke to me, they are trying to say they believe that God communicated to them through the thoughts and impressions of their heart or spirit, or through some inward sense of a thought or an impression. They believe God was communicating to them through that. But I think there’s something problematic with the terminology.
We should make it clear that we don’t expect for God to speak to us with an audible voice. God is God, and there are a few instances in the Bible where God did speak with an audible voice which other people could hear. I’m not saying it’s beyond possibility, but it would be extremely rare, and I would be extremely suspicious of anybody who claimed that God spoke to them audibly in a regular occurrence.
Secondly, when people say, “God spoke to me,” it gives the impression that they have some hotline to God. “God speaks to me. What, doesn’t He speak to you?” Now, friends, I believe that God speaks to every one of His children. God has spoken to the whole world in and through His Word. I say it to people all the time: if you want a word from God, open up your Bible. I say that as someone who does believe that God can and does communicate to people, both believers and sometimes to unbelievers, outside of His word. But the Bible is the true, reliable, certain, trustworthy way that we can know God is speaking to us.
If you believe that God has communicated to you through some inward impression, or a voice in your head, or an impression in your heart or your spirit, you have to discern whether that is from the Holy Spirit or not. Sometimes it’s easy to discern, and sometimes it’s not. You know what’s not hard to discern whether or not it is the word of God? It’s what God has given us in the Hebrew Scriptures and the Greek Scriptures, what we commonly call the Old Testament and the New Testament. This is the Word of God that we can seek.
Now, I believe that God has communicated to me. Sometimes it has been through what I would regard as prophetic words spoken by other brothers or sisters. Sometimes, it’s been through the voice of the Spirit as He’s taken Scripture and very specifically and exactly applied it to me and my life. I do believe that there are times when God has more spontaneously spoken to me, but I think that it’s not good or healthy for believers to walk around saying, “God told me this, God told me that.”
Years ago, there was a dear and beloved sister, who got so casual about saying God spoke to her that one day, literally, she said, “God spoke to me about what laundry detergent I should use when I’m washing my clothes.” Friends, I don’t know. First of all, I highly doubt whether or not God communicated to her about that. But you know what, even if He did, why don’t you just keep that one to yourself? You’re doing more harm from good by taking such a casual approach to the idea of God communicating to His people.
What signs or indicators of reliability should we look for in a modern-day prophet?
The prophets I’ve heard today speak no more specifically than reading a horoscope in the paper. It would take a lot to convince me they’re legit. What signs or indicators of reliability should we look for?
God bless you. I don’t doubt what you say at all. There are a lot of phonies, fakes, and frauds out there who claim to be prophets. A person can gain status and develop a following by claiming to be a prophet. It’s right for you to have your discernment antenna on alert when you hear people talking like this.
What signs or indicators of reliability should we look for? I am suspicious of anybody who either takes or receives the title of “prophet.” That puts me on a suspicious footing with them immediately. Now, let’s say somebody were to come to me and say, “David, I feel that God has given me a word for you.” This has happened to me on a few occasions. Sometimes people have come to me with that, and it’s been nowhere near the mark. There have also been a few occasions where I think it was remarkably demonstrated to be the work of the Holy Spirit in and through that person.
So, I would just say: Judge the prophets and judge the prophecies. It’s really that simple, and we can approach it that way. Judge them first and foremost by the word of God. If what they say contradicts the Word of God, then it’s not to be regarded. Secondly, judge them by the discernment of the elders. Now, these don’t necessarily need to be people who have the title of elder, but usually in any Christian group or gathering, there are people who have greater spiritual maturity and leadership. Any so-called prophetic word should be brought to them, and they should pray about it. They should compare it to the Scriptures, and they should think about it and discern whether or not it’s really from God. Maybe that can be determined on a scriptural basis, or maybe it could be determined on a basis of supernatural discernment. But I think that such judging of a prophecy is not only permitted, it’s commanded in Scripture. Thirdly, if there is a predictive element in their prophecy, does it come to pass? If it doesn’t come to pass, then don’t regard that person as a prophet. You’re absolutely right, a lot of the garbage that goes out under the name of prophecy is obscure, and like you say, it’s no more specific than reading a horoscope in the paper. Such things can and should be disregarded.
Is it wrong for a man to cover his head while praying or prophesying?
What an interesting question. I don’t know if I’ve ever been asked that question directly before. Now, if you’ve never heard me speak on the idea of the head covering, I will summarize my thoughts very quickly. This isn’t intended to be a full examination of the issue, but here is my quick take.
The principle behind the head covering as commanded by God universally is the recognition of the leadership, of qualified men in the congregation. As a recognition of that, the women in the congregation in New Testament times would cover their heads. In that culture, covering the head expressed, “I’m under authority.”
People might ask, “Why don’t women cover their heads today?” First of all, they have the freedom in Christ to cover their heads if they want to; there is certainly no prohibition against it. But I don’t think that the command serves the same place today, because there is no cultural association with the covering of the head and being under authority. That association just doesn’t match anymore. In the first century, when you saw a woman with her head covered, you would say, “Oh, that’s a woman who’s under authority.” When we see a woman with a head covering today, we say, “Oh, that’s a nice hat,” or, “Oh, what’s that doing on her head?” We don’t have the same association.
In the same way, at least four times in the Scriptures are commanded to greet one another with a holy kiss, but I don’t see people enforcing that. Why? Because they rightly understand that it’s the heart behind it. It’s the principle behind it, of giving one another a warm greeting. In that culture, that was done with a kiss of greeting. In our cultures, not so much. Maybe sometimes, but not so much.
So, yes, I would say that if there was an environment where the women should wear a head covering to recognize the leadership of qualified men in the midst of the congregation, then in that same context, it would be wrong for a man to cover his head while praying or prophesying, as Paul gave instructions in 1 Corinthians. That’s pretty much what Paul says himself. But if this more has to do with the recognition of the principle and not necessarily the way that the principle is illustrated, then it wouldn’t matter so much in our modern culture today.
Can you explain spiritual warfare and the armor of God?
The Bible says that we don’t struggle against flesh and blood. We struggle against spiritual beings, principalities, and powers of darkness in the heavenly places. We also struggle against spiritual principles or dynamics, such as my own sinful flesh or the world system around me. Spiritual warfare is a way to describe the struggle that we experience against what is evil and sinful in the world, and our efforts to live godly lives and to proclaim a godly standard in the midst of all of that. We live in a wicked world that wants to form us into its image. Spiritual warfare describes our struggle against the wickedness all around us that wants to shape us and mold us into its image.
The armor of God, found in Ephesians 6, describes aspects of equipment, spiritually speaking, that God has given. God has given us righteousness, that’s like a breastplate. God has given us His Word, which is like a mighty sword. God has given us faith, which is like a shield. God has given us salvation, which is like a helmet. Again, these are just illustrations of true, actual spiritual things that God has given to us. So, we rely on the righteousness that Jesus Christ has given us like a breastplate. We make use of the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. We find protection in the salvation that God has given us as a helmet. These are things that equip us to struggle against the spiritual forces in this world that would oppose not only just ourselves personally, but the work of God’s Kingdom in this world.
