In our last article on this subject, we studied about the purpose of spiritual gifts. We learned from the Bible that the miraculous gifts of the first century were for the express purposes of confirming the Word of God (Mark 16:20; Hebrews 2:3-4) and for edification (1 Corinthians 14:26). Why were gifts needed for those purposes? It was because they did not have the written Word as we have it today. If we want to confirm some truth from God, we just turn to book, chapter and verse and show God’s will on the matter. If we are to be edified, we merely need to pick up a Bible and study. First century saints did not have that luxury; thus, spiritual gifts were an essential part of their survival.

Do spiritual gifts exist today? Well, the very fact that there is no longer a purpose for spiritual gifts today would indicate that they have ceased. However, the Bible reveals to us more conclusive evidence for the ceasing of miraculous gifts than just the lack of purpose. In this lesson, let’s see what the Bible says about how Christians received miraculous powers, and that will begin to answer the question about their duration. We know that Christians had gifts of the Spirit, but how did they get them?

The Method of Receiving Miraculous Powers

Miraculous powers came by two methods. The apostles received those powers, at least some of them, by way of Holy Spirit baptism. Two things need to be pointed out about the apostles, Holy Spirit baptism and miraculous powers. First, only the apostles were promised the baptism of the Holy Spirit. In Acts one as Jesus spoke to His apostles, He said to them, “For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence” (Acts 1:5). Notice the word “ye” in this passage. Who was promised the baptism of the Holy Spirit? Whoever the “ye” referred to were the ones to whom the promise was given. Verse 2 makes it clear that the “ye,” as well as all the other pronouns in this immediate text, refer to the apostles. They were the only ones promised the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and consequently, they were the only ones who experienced that baptism. In Acts 2 we find the Holy Spirit falling upon the apostles, and they spoke in tongues. “And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:4). Again, a simple investigation of who the pronoun “they” referred to in the passage reveals that it referred to the apostles (Acts 1:26). Holy Spirit baptism was never promised to all Christians. It was promised to the apostles and fulfilled in them.

The second point to be made concerning these things is that the apostles did not receive all their miraculous powers by the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The apostles could perform miraculous deeds before they were baptized with the Spirit (Luke 10:1-9, 17-19). What miracle did the apostles receive by Holy Spirit baptism then? They received two of them. First, they received the miraculous ability of inspiration. The apostles were guided into all truth by the Comforter Whom Jesus promised to send (John 16:13). When the apostles spoke, they did so by inspiration; thus, their words were not their own, but rather they were the words of Christ (Luke 10:16; 1 Corinthians 14:37).

The second miraculous power that the apostles received by being baptized with the Holy Spirit was the ability to transfer miraculous powers to others. This is a critical point concerning the duration of the gifts, which we will explore in detail in our next article. The gift of transference was a sign of an apostle; thus, only the apostles could do that. Paul referred to the brethren at Corinth as the seal of his apostleship (1 Corinthians 9:2), and later told them that the signs of an apostle were wrought among them (2 Corinthians 12:11-12). What was the primary sign of an apostle, that is, a sign that they alone possessed, and how were the Christians at Corinth a seal of Paul’s apostleship? Remember, all miraculous gifts were not signs of an apostle because more than the apostles could perform those gifts. It was the transferring of those gifts to others that was the sign of an apostle. That is why the Christians at Corinth were a seal of Paul’s apostleship. They came behind no one in spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 1:7). How did they receive those gifts? They received them from Paul. That proved that Paul was an apostle since only the apostles had the ability to transfer the gifts. So then, how did the rest of the Christians, that is, those who were not apostles, receive miraculous powers? Clearly, it was by the laying on of the apostle’s hands. Well, we have already hinted at it. They received them through the laying on of the apostle’s hand. That was the method of receiving miraculous powers in the first century. In the next article, we will make the practical application of that biblical truth.