8.

Commands

Now what about instances involving commands? R. C. Sproul relates an incident when thoughts went sharply through his head, “ ‘Go throughout the world and preach the Gospel to every living creature…. Take Vesta [R. C.’s future wife] with you.’ ”15 Even more controversial are cases when one human being issues a command to someone else: Abe says to Bill, “The Lord says that you are to go and become a missionary in Mozambique.”

To begin with, the language “The Lord says” is inappropriate, confusing, and dangerous. It is likely to be understood as a claim for infallible revelation. Abe should rather say, “I feel that the Lord is laying it on my heart that you should go and become a missionary in Mozambique.”16 Even without the dangerous introduction, a command like this one seems to some people to threaten the sufficiency of biblical revelation. Ps 119:1 says, “Blessed are they whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the LORD.” To be blameless, all that is needed is to “walk according to the law of the LORD.” No further rules or commands are necessary. The “law of the LORD” gives complete instruction in righteousness. Similarly, 2 Tim 3:16-17 indicates that ????ure is sufficient “so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” Any command that adds to the Bible, whether claiming infallibility or not, is illicit (Deut 4:2).

In addition, commands like Abe’s often create excruciating practical problems. Suppose that Abe tells Bill to go as a missionary to Mozambique. But Bill honestly does not have any intuitive impulse of his own to go to Mozambique. Bill is caught. If he does not go, he feels guilty for disobeying something that may be the Lord’s will. If he does go, he feels unhappy because he does not really want to go and fears that his going was not really the Lord’s will.

Moreover, charismatic groups have sometimes had sad experiences where manipulative people have used commands like these to enforce slavish obedience to their whims. Pushy people have used commands to achieve selfish personal purposes. Understandably, some leaders have just banned this form of speech entirely. “This is not what prophecy is about,” they say.

Certainly the practical dangers, as well as the dangers of infringing on the sufficiency of ????ure, urge us to use caution and even a certain amount of suspicion about extrabiblical commands. But apparently extrabiblical commands sometimes deserve closer inspection. In some cases they may not really be additions to ????ure, but rather applications of ????ure. They fall into the area that I call applicatory content. Consider, for instance, the idea that came to R. C. Sproul, “Go throughout the world and preach the Gospel to every living creature.” The language is similar to Mark 16:15. Text critical problems with the ending of Mark prevent us from being absolutely certain that Mark 16:15 is part of the autograph of Mark, but the general idea is biblical, as is shown in Matt 28:19. We do not, then, have an “addition” to the Bible, in the form of some queer, unheard-of demand. Rather, we have a biblical command applied to R. C. Sproul. To make sure that the application is correct, we would of course have to have some information about R. C. Sproul as well—does he have gifts and spiritual qualifications to become an official preacher of the word? But given some circumstantial content about Sproul, the application is a good one.

In general, applications use both biblical commandments and information about the world. Only with some degree of information about the world can we ascertain that the application is appropriate.

Sometimes human mistakes may be made even when both a biblical command and valid circumstantial content are available. Consider Acts 21:4. “Through the Spirit they [disciples at Tyre] urged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem.” This verse is difficult on any reckoning. But perhaps what happened was as follows. “Through the Spirit” the disciples at Tyre obtained information about what was going to happen to Paul in Jerusalem. (Note Acts 20:23, “in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me.”) This information was received through nondiscursive processes. The disciples were also familiar with biblical commandments concerning protection of human life (e.g., Exod 20:13) and concerning prudence (Prov 22:3; etc.). When they put together the biblical norms with information about the world, they inferred that Paul should not go. But the inference was incorrect, because of the special calling of Paul (Acts 20:22-24; 21:14).

When people give unusual commands today, these commands may sometimes be a combination of biblical norms with circumstantial content. For example, the command “preach the gospel” addressed to R. C. Sproul combines the biblical norm in Matt 28:19 with circumstantial content about the gifts of R. C. Sproul. Sometimes both the biblical norms and the circumstantial content may come from nondiscursive processes. Then the people who issue a command are unable consciously to specify where the command comes from. It is simply a command with nondiscursive origin. It is not infallible, of course, but it may still in some cases be a command that is actually a valid application of biblical norms.

Hence, there is an undeniable possibility that valid commands may issue from nondiscursive processes. But, as we have already observed, caution must be used in assessing such commands. The wisdom of others, both wisdom about the Bible and wisdom about the situation and the persons involved, must be used to judge what response is appropriate. And it should be stressed that we know that the Lord desires service from our hearts (2 Cor 9:7), not slavish obedience to commands that are burdensome or oppressive (Matt 11:28-30; 1 John 5:3). At root, the will of the Lord is always clear:

“ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matt 22:37-39)

People must learn to devote all their energy to obeying the clear will of the Lord. And in the process what is less clear (for example, going to Mozambique) will fall in place.

9.

Welcoming spiritual gifts

Let us return to the main point. In our day God may work both through discursive processes and nondiscursive processes. In the time of the apostles, both kinds of processes occurred in inspired form. In our time, the giving of the canon of ????ure is complete and inspiration has ceased. Modern processes are fallible. But they are analogous to the processes that occurred among the apostles. In understanding modern spiritual gifts, we are to take our clue from what happened in apostolic times.

What, then, are we to do about modern spiritual gifts? Modern gifts include both discursive gifts (e.g., the gift of teaching), and nondiscursive gifts (e.g., people who can give an apt word spontaneously, Col 4:6). The possibility of both kinds of gifts can be inferred from the analogous distribution of different kinds of gifts in the time of the apostles. Moreover, Christ and the Holy Spirit are the source of all gifts (Eph 4:7, 11; cf. 1 Cor 12:11). It is they, not we, who decide when to use discursive and nondiscursive processes as the Holy Spirit works.

In response, we are to welcome spiritual gifts of all kinds, honor them, and receive them (1 Cor 12:14-26). We are especially to pursue love (1 Cor 13) and those gifts that build up the church (1 Cor 14). At the same time, we are to be discriminating (1 Thess 5:21-22). We are to exercise discernment. Modern manifestations are always fallible. Everything is to be ????uated on the basis of ????ure, to which nothing is to be added (Deut 4:2; Rev 22:18-19).

There are lessons here both for charismatics and for noncharismatics. Some charismatics need to become more explicit about the fallible, mixed character of nondiscursive gifts. They need to learn to value discursive gifts. Instead, they have up till now indirectly said, “I don’t need you” (1 Cor 12:21) to discursive gifts, because, supposedly, these gifts are less “spiritual” than nondiscursive gifts.17

Conversely, some noncharismatics need to learn to value nondiscursive gifts. Instead, they have subtly to say, “I don’t need you.” Their basis, supposedly, is that nondiscursive gifts ceased with the completion of the canon of ????ure. What they have actually shown is merely that inspired nondiscursive gifts ceased with the completion of the canon.18

We also need to become clear about one point in Diagram 3 where analogy breaks down, namely with regard to the crucial distinction between teaching content and circumstantial content. The inspired content in the Bible is, according to my definition, all teaching content. By contrast, in our modern settings we wrestle with both teaching content and circumstantial content. Hence, there is no strict apostolic analogue for modern circumstantial content. To be sure, the apostles and everyone else in the Bible had to confront challenges to apply general biblical principles to their particular circumstances. But the applications that the apostles made were themselves inspired and thus comprise part of the divine biblical norm. Apostolically authorized information about circumstances, however “trivial” it may look (2 Tim 4:13!), is divinely authoritative and permanently instructive to the church. In this respect, it belongs on the divine side, while our modern circumstantial information belongs to the created side to which the divine word is to be applied. The relation between our modern teaching content and modern circumstantial content is not symmetrical or balanced. Rather, the modern teaching content is authoritative insofar as it reexpresses ????ure. Modern circumstantial content is not ecclesiastically authoritative at all, no matter how truthful it may be.

In our day God may alert us to circumstantial content through both discursive and nondiscursive means. We should be appreciative of all that God does in this area through whatever means. But the lack of symmetry between teaching content and circumstantial content indicates that teaching content, based on the Bible, must alone function with authority, and must enjoy preeminence as an expression of the will of God for his people.

10.

The debate about the cessation of prophecy

Now let us look for a moment at a tangled debate. People debate about whether “prophecy” in the New Testament and the early church was divinely inspired and infallible. Did it possess full divine authority? Richard B. Gaffin, Jr., says that it was inspired.19 Wayne A. Grudem argues that it was not.20 Many people believe that the outcome of this debate is crucial for the future of the charismatic movement. But actually the outcome of the debate makes very little practical difference today.

Suppose Gaffin is right. Then “prophecy” ceased with the completion of the apostolic era and the completion of the canon of ????ure. Modern phenomena are fallible and hence are not identical with New Testament prophecy. But modern nondiscursive processes with teaching content is analogous to prophecy, just as modern preaching is analogous to apostolic preaching. Hence the general principles concerning spiritual gifts, as articulated in 1 Cor 12-14 and elsewhere, are still applicable. What charismatics call “prophecy” is not really the “prophecy” mentioned in the New Testament. Rather, it is a fallible analogue. It is really a spiritual gift for speaking fallibly through nondiscursive processes. It contrasts with preaching, which is a spiritual gift for speaking fallibly through discursive processes.

Modern nondiscursive processes with circumstantial content are in a sense not really analogous to inspired biblical prophecy. But they can function positively in the service of the Spirit, just as does circumstantial content through discursive processes.

On the other hand, suppose that Grudem is right. Then “prophecy” continues. But such “prophecy” is fallible. It is not identical with the inspired prophecy of the Old Testament. It is in fact a spiritual gift for speaking fallibly through nondiscursive processes. If the content is biblical, its authority derives from the Bible. If the content is circumstantial, it is not an addition to the Bible (not divinely authoritative). Hence it is just information and has no special authority. Hence Grudem ends up with substantially the same practical conclusions as does Gaffin.

Hence, there is no need for Gaffin and Grudem to disagree about the modern phenomena. They disagree only about the label given to the phenomena (“not-prophecy” versus “prophecy”), and about whether the New Testament phenomena were identical or merely analogous to the modern phenomena.

Both Gaffin and Grudem already acknowledge the fallibility of the modern phenomena. Gaffin needs only to take the additional step of integrating the modern phenomena into a theology of spiritual gifts. Given this theological integration, we find that there is an analogical justification for the use of these gifts in the church today.

Grudem, on the other hand, needs only to clarify the status of “prophecy.” “Prophecy,” he says, is fallible, but still revelatory. It still derives from God, and still is important for the well-being of the church. Gaffin and many others find this sort of de????ion difficult to grasp or classify. How can something be “revelatory” and still not compete with the sufficiency of ????ure? I explain how partly by distinguishing teaching content from circumstantial content. Teaching content must not add to ????ure, but can only rephrase what is already there in ????ure. Circumstantial content has the same status as information received through a long-distance telephone call—that is, it has no special claim to authority. It is therefore obvious that neither type of content threatens the sufficiency of ????ure.

If charismatics and noncharismatics could agree on these points, I think that the debate on modern spiritual gifts would be largely over. But there are practical adjustments. People who value nondiscursive gifts have tended to migrate into charismatic circles, where nondiscursive gifts are prized. People who value discursive gifts have migrated into noncharismatic circles, where discursive gifts are prized. Each group tends to prize only people of its own kind. We all need to learn again from 1 Corinthians 12 the importance of every gift, including those with which we have yet to become comfortable.

We cannot dictate beforehand that discursive gifts or nondiscursive gifts must always be dominant, that they must be the outstanding characteristic of every Christian community. For the Lord “gives them [gifts] to each one, just as he determines,” not as we determine (1 Cor 12:11). On the other hand, we can be confident that the Lord purposes to rule and guide his church through the complete ????ure. He adds no extra divinely authoritative claims. Hence, a natural preeminence belongs to teaching content, whose authority derives from ????ure (cf. Eph 4:11).