Are There Modern Day Prophets? Q&A for January 16, 2025
Is the Gift of Prophecy Still Valid Today?
From Jennifer
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.
How does Saul’s decision to consult a medium reflect his lack of trust in God’s sovereignty?
1 Samuel 28 describes a time of great desperation and personal spiritual darkness in the life of King Saul. Saul chose to consult a medium, who has often been referred to as The Witch of Endor. A medium was supposedly able to contact the dead and be a voice for the dead. I believe what actually happened is that Samuel was dispatched from the Lord to speak a message to Saul. He brought a message of warning and an invitation to repentance, which Saul absolutely rejected. It’s a strange and unique circumstance in the Bible.
Was it a reflection of Saul’s lack of trust in God’s sovereignty? Yes, absolutely. Saul repeatedly rejected God’s word. In His tremendous graciousness, God gave Saul one last chance to repent. He told Saul, “You and your sons are going to die tomorrow.” Now, if you knew you were going to die tomorrow, you would do everything today to make sure that your heart, your life, and your whole being were in right relationship with God. You would repent of anything you needed to repent of. You would come before the Lord in faith and in submission. In every way possible, you would repent and believe, and you’d seek to get things right with those whom you had harmed. You would use that last day of your life and put it to good purpose. Saul did not do that at all. If you want to call that a lack of trust in God’s sovereignty, I think that’s fair enough, but I think it’s much more than that as well.
As children of God, we are sealed with the Holy Spirit. Can people still walk in unforgiveness or hurt others without a conscience? Do they still go to heaven?
This is a somewhat complicated question. There are biblical principles, yet how they apply to a person’s life can very much be determined on an individual basis. Let me give you some of the broad biblical principles. We know that when a person is born again by God’s Spirit, they are changed.
2 Corinthians 5:17 – Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. We are born again, born from above by God’s Spirit. There is regeneration followed by transformation.
There should be some evidence of change in the life of a person who’s born again. If there is zero evidence of change, there is reason for great concern. However, we also understand that the good changes in a person’s life don’t happen all at once. It’s not like you go from abject sinner to perfect in the snap of a finger or the blink of an eye. No, it doesn’t work like that. The changes don’t come all at once. God often brings some changes immediately and other changes are worked through progressively. In the Christian life, we call this process sanctification. It’s growing in holiness and in good and right behavior before God. So, the changes don’t all come at once, and the changes are not completed until we get to heaven. Nobody leaves this earth in a state of perfection. The changes are not completed until our salvation is complete in glorification.
If there is still sin or weakness or failure in a person’s life, can they still go to heaven? Although there is something wrong happening there, something that the Holy Spirit wants to speak to and deal with, it doesn’t mean that the person no longer goes to heaven. It means that God has a work still to do in them.
Can people still walk in unforgiveness or hurt towards others without a conscience? The hope is that people would not remain comfortable in habitual sin. I think that’s the mark of a true believer: it’s not that they don’t sin, and not that they can’t fall into a season of habitual sin, but that they will not feel comfortable in such a season, and they will feel convicted by the Holy Spirit. If that conviction is at work in your life, praise the Lord. That’s an indication that you really belong to God. The scary place is when Christians continue in sin and don’t feel bad about it at all.
Are we under a curse if we don’t pay tithes? What does the Bible say about tithing as a born-again Christian?
God commands His people to be generous and to be givers. Here’s how I would explain this concept. The Bible does not command tithing in the New Testament, but it does set it forth with approval and as a pattern in the New Testament. The command concerns giving and generosity, not the paying of a tithe. The idea of paying a tithe is not absent in the New Testament, but I would just say it’s not emphasized.
The emphasis in the New Testament is on proportional generosity. I think 10% is a good goal for Christians to use. We endeavor to give at least 10% of our income. It’s a good goal for believers to use, but it shouldn’t necessarily be restricted to it. To put it straightforwardly, there are some people for whom giving 10% would be disobeying God, because God wants them to give more. I don’t think God puts any sort of absolute limit on our giving. He wants us to be givers, and He wants us to be generous.
Your second question is, “Are we under a curse if we don’t pay tithes?” That question sets off alarm bells for me. I can picture some pastor or minister telling you that you’re going to be under a curse if you don’t tithe to that church. Friends, this sort of manipulative pressure upon people to give and to pay tithes is not of the Lord. In the New Testament, and especially 1-2 Corinthians, Paul talks a lot about giving. One of the key New Testament principles of giving is that it should not be done under manipulation. If someone is pressuring you to give to their church or their ministry or threatening that you will be put under a curse, I would not give to him. I’d say, “Pastor, you’re not going to manipulate or threaten me into giving to your work. That’s not how it works.”
So, does the Bible command generosity? Yes, it does. Is there blessing in doing what the Bible commands? Yes. Is there some kind of curse or bad effect that comes from not obeying what God tells us to? Yes, of course. But the way you phrase this makes me fear that somebody is trying to pressure you or manipulate you into giving. I don’t like hearing that at all.
The Bible does present the idea of tithing, of proportional giving at 10%, but I want you to understand that although the New Testament does not speak against the tithe, I don’t think it emphasizes it. It emphasizes the idea of giving and generosity. So, don’t let anybody manipulate you into giving by telling you’ll be cursed if you don’t tithe to them.
If we don’t share the gospel because of pride, will we go to hell?
I heard something that I need clarification about. Someone made the comment that if we do not share the gospel, we’re being selfish, and this is a sin. “Freely you received, so freely give.” If we don’t share the gospel, will we go to hell, because this is pride?
There is no believer who dies on this earth in a state of perfection. The changes that God works in the lives of His people are real, and they should be visible to others, but they don’t come all at once, and they are not perfected on this side of eternity.
Let’s say that there would be somebody who, through pride, refused should share the gospel with somebody else, although God engineered beautiful opportunities for them to do so. They had a so-called “Philippian jailer moment” when somebody came to them and said, “What shall I do to be saved?” but they failed to communicate the gospel in any way towards that person. Is that a sin? Yes, it’s a sin. Yes, it’s a failing. But again, I don’t think a person goes to hell because of that. It just means that’s an area where they have yet to grow and learn, and that God wants to continue working in their life.
My husband doesn’t want to attend church and it has become a challenge to attend. I feel torn between attending and not. Does God see this as choosing my husband over Him?
I’m sorry to hear about this. I’m sorry that seemingly at one time, your husband wanted to attend church, and now he doesn’t want to go to church with you. I’m sorry about that, but I believe that God can and will still work in your life through this. I think it’s important that you show your husband that attending church is still a priority for you.
Now, I think that you should do that in a way which accommodates your husband’s schedule as much as possible. For example, if you’re going to a church that has an earlier service, and by going to the earlier service, you are free to spend more time on Sunday with your husband afterwards, do that. If you can find some way, practically speaking, to do it in a way that allows you to give more time with your husband, that’s good. But it’s important for your husband to see that God is still a priority in your life.
God bless you for your love for your husband. God bless you in your desire to honor him and to see him as special. But I think it’s important that you keep the priority of your Christian life. I hope you understand this shouldn’t just be church attendance. I hope that your Christian life is more than church attendance. You need to be practicing the things that we would do in our normal day of fellowship with Jesus Christ such as prayer, time in His Word, and of course, church attendance is part of that. I think it’s good and important for you to continue to show your husband that, even if he chooses not to attend church anymore, it’s still going to remain a priority for your life.
