We have seen in this short series of articles that spiritual gifts existed in the first century. Jesus performed miracles, and so did His apostles, as well as many Christians in the first century church. Their miracles were undeniable (Acts 4:16). They did not heal inward ailments that could not be verified. They did not heal people who came out of nowhere and nobody knew. They healed people who were known in the community, and who were amazed when they were made whole. For example, the man, who was healed in Acts 3, was born crippled, and, for a long time was laid daily at gate beautiful of the temple. He begged to survive so everyone was very much aware of him. Those were the kind of people who were healed.

How did those with miraculous power get their powers? We saw in the last article that it was by having an apostle lay hands on them. A careful study of Acts 8:5-20, as well as Acts 19:1-7, reveals that the apostles were the only ones who could lay hands on a person and give them miraculous powers. The passage in Acts 8 is clear. The apostles had to come down from Jerusalem to Samaria and lay hands on the people for them to receive the Holy Spirit in a miraculous way. Even Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands. “Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money” (Acts 8:18). What did Simon see? The biblical account is clear, is it not? This begs the question, “why could Philip not give the people of Samaria miraculous powers? After all, he was the one who preached the gospel to them, and he had miraculous powers himself. The only answer is that he did not have the ability to do it. As we have already seen, the transferring of miraculous powers was limited to the apostles. If such was not the case, how could it be a sign of an apostle as we have previously seen?

Practical Application

The practical application of our last point is that when the last apostle died, and when the last person on whom one of the apostles laid hands died, miraculous gifts ceased. This is the only logical and/or scriptural conclusion. Is there another way that the average Christian could receive miraculous powers? If so, where is the passage? What we have seen is that miraculous powers came to people only two ways – Holy Spirit baptism, which was reserved for only the apostles, and, through the laying on of the apostle’s hands. Unless a living apostle can be found, gifts have ceased. And it cannot be just anyone claiming to be an apostle. It would have to be one of the original apostles because only men of the first century who were witnesses of the resurrection of Christ could be apostles (Acts 1:22). Can Peter, James, John or one of the other apostles be produced today? No! Thus, miraculous gifts have ceased.

This biblical conclusion should not surprise anyone because Paul told us, by inspiration, that such would be the case (1 Corinthians 13:8-13). What was Paul referring to, in 1 Corinthians 13:10, when he said, “that which is perfect?” Contextually, he was referring to complete revelation. James also referred to God’s Word as perfect (James 1:25). With the completion of the written Word of God, the need for miraculous gifts ceased. Remember, one purpose for the miracles in the first place was confirmation. Now we confirm the Word of God by the Word of God since we have it in written form. John told us this is why he recorded the miraculous signs performed by Jesus in his gospel. Listen to him.

John 20:30-31 (ESV)

³⁰ Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; ³¹  but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

We do not need new miracles to prove that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and to cause people to believe in Him. We have the Word of God for that, and the Word is all we need. Does this conclusion mean that we do not believe in the power of God? No. I personally believe that God can do all things, and that there is no limit to His awesome power. However, whether miracles exist today or not, does not depend on the power of God; it depends on the will of God. His will was for miracles to be a temporary phenomenon for an express purpose and then to cease.

Let us not be ignorant concerning spiritual gifts. They served their purpose well. Now let us allow the Word to serve its purpose.