PASTOR TEACHER

Brian GC Huggett

In Ephesians 4:8 & 11 & 12 we read..."Wherefore he saith, when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:"

There are only twelve apostles in church history and only those who had witnessed the resurrected Christ were qualified.  Paul, "...as one born out of due time", was the last when he was blinded by the glory of Christ on the road to Damascus and he recognized in Christ, the Lord of glory. 

The gift of prophecy was for the forth telling of scripture prior to its being committed to writing, and the inspired Scriptures now supersede that gift.  Any accurate forth telling of scripture today is preaching or teaching.  Any extra biblical forth telling today is blasphemy - is adding and consequently taking away from the Word of God. 

The gift of evangelism, has to some extent been given to us all, for we are all commanded to be the bearers of good news, to take the message of reconciliation to the world.  The true missionary is an evangelist and whether you are called to be a missionary in other lands or in your own, taking the Gospel to the heathen, in the bush or in the concrete jungles, must be the primary purpose of us all, missionaries, laymen, evangelists.

The gift of Pastor Teacher remains to this day, as the Church still needs to be edified and no scriptural teaching does away with the principles of this gift, as in the case with Apostles and Prophecy.  If you notice the simple reading of Ephesians 4:11, “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers"

You will see that it does not read and some pastors and some teachers, but "and some pastors and teachers”. This is a combined gift, a gift whereby a pastor is also a teacher. 

‘Pastor’ is from the Hebrew ‘raw-aw’ and the Greek ‘poy-mane’ which are translated by the words feed, shepherd, pastor, herdsmen, and mean to pasture, to tend, to graze, to feed.

In Jeremiah there is a beautiful and descriptive passage of this idea... "And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding".

So we can see the Pastor leading his congregation into the green pastures of that spiritual nourishment, the knowledge and understanding of the words of God.  'Teacher` is from the Hebrew 'law-mad` and the Greek 'didaskalos` translated as teach, learn, instruct and means simply teacher - one who instructs

By the very authority he has in the role, the pastor-teacher is a bishop or elder of his congregation.  If we look at the office of bishop in 1Timothy 3:2, we see teaching is to be one of his attributes and we also see from a study of Titus 1:4-9 that a bishop and an elder are one and the same office.

“To Titus, mine own son after the common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour.  For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee: If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly. (For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God); not self-willed, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre; But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate; Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.”                                                                                                                                     (Titus 1:4-9)

Titus was to ordain elders in every city and these bishops must be above reproach.

In these passages we see the requirements of a pastor-teacher.  What sort of man must he be?   First and foremost, he must not be a novice. A novice is unskilled in the word, and all the attributes of an elder/pastor-teacher are built over time with the sound doctrines of scripture as the motivation and power for Godly living.  Someone has well said, "You have to know to grow".

A man, born of the Spirit and given the gift of teaching, is not immediately equipped to take on that role; and this for two reasons: his knowledge of the whole realm of doctrine is insufficient to exhort or to convince the gainsayers, those who deny or speak against or contradict the scriptures. 

And secondly, it takes time for any man to be conformed sufficiently to the character of Christ to fulfil all those spiritual and moral requirements of an elder.

This is not to say that a young man can't attain such a character, or that he can't take on the role for which he has been gifted, but we are speaking of novices, not young men.  John Calvin was twenty-seven when he wrote his ‘Institutes’ and the systematic theology of the reformation has run parallel with his work ever since.

A pastor must of necessity be a student:  Of theology, of history, of anthropology, but mostly a student of the Bible. If he does not have the discipline necessary for hours of diligent study, what will he learn from the scriptures to give his flock; milk or meat?

Timothy was a young man with the gift of Pastor Teacher and in the second letter to Timothy, Paul in chapter two, after speaking of the spiritual battle of the Christian, went on to say in verse 14...

"Of these things put them (Timothy’s congregation) in remembrance, charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words to no profit..."

and then Paul charges Timothy himself to...

"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

We can all take Paul’s words as a direct command to us personally, but in the context of the scriptures this is primarily directed to Timothy and consequently to all ‘would be’ Pastors.

"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."

In this verse lies the fulfilment of the ministry of the Pastor-Teacher, "...a workman that needeth not to be ashamed" - a workman who will not be ashamed at the judgement seat of Christ.   Such a ministry depends entirely on his capacity to study, for it is from his own personal study that he learns the secrets of Christian maturity and is able both in teaching and example to lead his flock into the deep things of God.

The English word ‘study’ is from the Greek: Spoo dad zo and is translated throughout the N.T. (depending upon the context), as endeavour - diligence - be forward - labour - study.  Its meaning is ‘to exert oneself’; therefore the pastor is to exert himself in his efforts to be approved of God in rightly interpreting the word of truth. 

As we read further into this letter, Timothy is to be wise in avoiding the foolish controversies of men yet he must be patient and gentle to all.

"... But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes.  And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves..."  (2Timothy 2:23-25)

Another reason this letter is primarily written to a pastor is that phrase ‘apt to teach’, it is not directed to all Christians, for many of any congregation are women and women are not to teach a congregation.

"But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence."

                                                                                                            (1Timothy 2:12-14)

The reasons

"For Adam was first formed, then Eve." And "Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression."

 Also in 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 we read,

"Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law."

However, nowhere in scripture does it speak of superiority or inferiority between the sexes, but it does say a great deal regarding the chain of authority in the spiritual realm.  It is in this spiritual realm that the authority of Pastor Teacher resides. 

Why did Christ give such gifts to His Church and how long are these gifts to remain?

Verses 12 & 13 of Ephesians 4 give us the answer.

Why?  “For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ”:

And for how long? “Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ”

This means that so long as the Church remains, and so long as there are souls being added to the Church, so long will this gift exist.

And how are we perfected?  “By being brought into the unity of the faith, and into a unity of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, which is the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:"

To the end "...That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine; by the sleight of men and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ"

For believers to be brought into a unity of the faith and a unity of the knowledge of the Son of God, they must be taught the unity, the oneness of God's Word.  This requires a systematic continuity of teaching that fulfils the scriptural method...

"Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine?  Them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little".                                  Isaiah 28 

And this teaching is to be taught with intense concentration on the correctness of interpretation.  Scripture must be the interpreter of scripture

2Peter 1: "Knowing this first that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost."    

Such application takes hours of diligent study. 

A correct knowledge of the word of God is vital to the growth of individuals and subsequently to the growth of the Church and you and me as members of the Church depend on such a ministry to fulfil Gods command to “...grow in the knowledge and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ...”

(The pastor has in his care the eternal well being of his congregation and this, in the sight of God, is an awesome responsibility.) 

Scripture as well as common sense dictate the necessity of a full time ministry.  There are those who deny this, yet it can only be said of them: They know not the scriptures.

Galatians 6:6

"Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things."

       

This word communicate is the Greek: Koi non eo and means to fellowship, to share, to be a partner with, to contribute, and it is in the imperative mood.  It is a command.

"Let him that is taught in the word (you and me) communicate (or share) unto him that teaches, in all (our) good things."

And in 1 Timothy 5:17-18

"Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine. For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, The labourer is worthy of his reward."

It can be seen from the scriptures, how much responsibility God places upon the one who is called to be a ‘Pastor Teacher’, it can be seen in the condemnation that is heaped upon those who abuse this office. 

 "Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.          Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the Lord."                                                                                                     (Jeremiah 23:1-2)

"But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction".                                                                                     (2 Peter 2:1)

So much responsibility does a man take to himself when he undertakes to lead and guide his congregation into a deeper and more personal knowledge of their God.  So much dedication to truth, so much discipline to learn and apply that truth to his life, so much fear and trembling is there in such a responsibility.

If we understand the destruction that error brings to the lives of God’s people; if we see the lack of glory to God contained in a lukewarm understanding of Him, we will begin to understand such a responsibility and to give honour and respect to the one who so diligently fulfils his office.

Through unceasing personal study and teaching of that word he will be equipped and will equip his congregation to grow into “the unity of the faith, and into a unity of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, which is the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ”. 

THE WORD MADE FLESH

John   1:1-14

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.  In him was life; and the life was the light of men.  And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.  There was a man sent from God, whose name [was] John.  The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all [men] through him might believe.  He was not that Light, but [was sent] to bear witness of that Light.  [That] was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.  He came unto his own, and his own received him not.  But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, [even] to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.  And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”

Isaiah 9:6

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”

Matthew 1:23

“Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.”

The fact that Jesus Christ is God is not a point of dispute between true believers, though there are many sects including some who claim to be believers in Jesus Christ who do dispute His deity. 

He is perfect God and yet He is also perfect man.

As perfect God He has equality with the Father and in John 10:30 Jesus makes the statement "...I and my Father are one...”

As perfect man He has equality with Adam (as Adam was prior to the fall).  In 1Corinthians 15:45 it is written “...The first Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit...".

To be perfect man He had to be born free from the Adamic or sin nature and born as Adam was created, sinless and without physical blemish.  Therefore He was born of a virgin, born from that "Seed of the Woman" referred to in Genesis 3:15.  He is not said to be born of Adam's seed but of the seed of the Woman, which indicates that it is by the seed of man that the sin nature is transmitted to all.  The Holy Spirit came upon Mary, and the child she conceived was the body prepared for the second person of the triune God to inhabit and to fulfil the role of the Passover lamb “...who taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).

In Hebrews 10:5 the words of the Messiah are recorded, "...Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me,” a body of flesh, prepared in the womb of Mary for the earthly ministry of the eternal Son.

He came as perfect God and as perfect man; yet how can one be equal with Adam whilst having all the attributes of Deity?  How can one have all the finite qualities of man and yet be infinite in His abilities?  How can He be our kinsman, when He is Almighty God; only by the deliberate and constant use of His will.

Hebrews 10:7

“Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.”

John 4:34

“Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.”

John 6:38

“For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.”

Luke 22:42

“Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.”

What was the will of the Father for the Son?  To reconcile man to God, so that ultimately the name of God might be honoured and glorified in His Creation.  Honoured and glorified by the worship and praise of His creatures in their acknowledgement of the perfection of His justice and His love. 

And how could a fallen world have done this?  How could fallen and spiritually dead mankind see let alone acknowledge the infinite and Almighty Spirit.

      

It was for reconciliation that Christ came, to enable fallen man to fulfil the will of God.  It was to this end that Christ gave Himself as a sacrifice for sin, and in that sacrifice display both the justice and the love of God. 

True justice demands that the penalty of sin be met.  If it is not, justice has been circumvented; it remains unfulfilled and therefore imperfect.  With true justice sins must be judged. 

And as there is no greater example of love than "that a man lay down his life for his friends", when Jesus gave his life in payment for the sins of His enemies, divine justice and divine love met as one.

It is the child born, the Son given, the Almighty God and Everlasting Father of Isaiah 9:6, "...Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross...".

He was willing to set aside the power and omnipotence of His Deity so as to live in the weak and vulnerable state of mankind.  To suffer every temptation known to man, yet able, by the indwelling power of God the Holy Spirit, to live a sinless life.

He was sinless in His cradle because of the virgin birth and He was sinless in His life by the power of the indwelling Spirit of God.  It was not because of His Deity that He was sinless in His life, He took no advantage over Adam in that respect but He was sinless in His life because of His obedience to the Father's will.  "...For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous...” (Romans 5:19).

Adam could have been obedient and reliant on God if he chose, as we Christians (new creatures in Christ) are able to be obedient and reliant if we will; but our will seems to be to obey the lusts of our flesh and mind.

Not so Christ Jesus.  His will was to do the Father's will and it was this obedience that set Him apart from the rest of mankind.  Not the fact that He was God in the flesh; for all intents and purposes that had been set aside.  He lived His life on this earth, not as the God-man, but as our kinsman.  Not using the power of His divinity but utilizing the same power available to us as Christians; the power of the indwelling Spirit of God.

If we look at ourselves in the light of God's perfect Law, we see nothing but imperfection in the weakness of our will, the frailty of our flesh and the constancy of our sin.  If we then look at the perfect humanity of Jesus of Nazareth, we gain an understanding of God's character, and the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, in John 14:9 come alive with meaning, 

"...Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?”

These were the words of our kinsman, Jesus of Nazareth, who through obedience to the will of the Father achieved perfect manhood.  Perfect manhood...?  A holiness even as the Father is Holy within humanity, his perfect humanity.

Isn't this what is commanded of us? "...Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect", and "...Be ye holy; for I am holy".

Our Lord Jesus Christ had no sin nature it is true, but His temptations were greater and more intense than any man before or since has had to face.  Examples of His temptations are the temptations of His wilderness experience in Matt 4:1-11, and the temptation to bypass the Cross "...Father, if it be thy will let this cup pass from me; nevertheless not mine but thy will be done...".

He was The Eternal Word the God of Creation, yet whilst on this earth Jesus the man suffered the privations of hunger and thirst.  He had set aside the power of Divinity to be our kinsman.

Before Abraham was He existed eternally, yet it was Jesus the man the Jews were going to stone to death.

He was the Righteous and Holy God, yet it was Jesus the man who bore our sins in His body on the Cross.

He was the source of life itself, yet it was Jesus the man who died on the Cross.

He had set aside the power and majesty of His Divinity to be our kinsman redeemer.

The perfection of the body prepared for Him is within our spiritual comprehension, for the seed that impregnated the womb of Mary was an act of creation: it was God's doing.  But in view of the temptations He suffered (and in this we can have some understanding due to our own experiences), the preservation of His perfect and sinless life was very much a Divine achievement.

Though He is the God-man, while He was on this earth He set aside the use of His power; He did not divest Himself of that Divinity because He could not, but He set aside the use of that power for the sake of being our kinsman.

Hebrews 2:17

“Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people ".  "...Made like unto His brethren..."

He was as truly human as you and I, yet while He was still in the cradle the omnipotence of His Divinity continued to hold the universe together.  His Divinity was not abated but He did not use that power in His role as our kinsman.  As our kinsman He was as dependent on God's word and the filling of the Spirit as we are.

As our kinsman He came to fulfil the Law so that as perfect man he might give his perfect life as the sacrifice for lawlessness; perfect humanity in substitution for sinful humanity, or as 1 Peter 3:18 says...

"...For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:.."

He came to be our Saviour by redeeming us from sin; with the only acceptable means, the only means of propitiating or fulfilling perfect justice; His sinless life.

Let us always praise God for Him who is our Redeemer, our Saviour, our Lord and our God. 

CORINTHIANS on SPIRITUAL GIFTS

Brian GC Huggett

      

The so-called spiritual gifts that many Christians are claiming to themselves today are no longer available to believers.  The Charismatic movement of today is further out of line than the Church in Corinth at the time of Paul's letters. 

The Corinthian church abused the spiritual gifts in their worship; especially the gift of tongues and Paul wrote his letters to correct this.  He laid down the proper attitude believers were to have toward the gifts and each other, (1Corinthians12); and also the control needed for their true spiritual function, chapter 14. 

Believers were not to think of themselves as greater because of a supposed superiority in spiritual gifts, for God the Holy Spirit bestowed those as He willed, they were not the results of human merit.  Nor were they for individual aggrandisement or pleasure but were for the edification of the church.  If the church was not edified then the gifts were misused.  

The believers in the church in Corinth were inflated with pride and treated with contempt those with presumed lesser gifts, their attitude was, "I am greater, and therefore I have no need of you" (1Corinthians 12:15-21).  God the Holy Spirit had given the gifts; therefore no divisions of pride or arrogance should be permitted.  Chapter 13 reveals the more excellent way, the only way to Christian unity.

“If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophesy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing...”

If I have the gift of tongues, even of angels; if I have the gift of forth telling, even of foretelling; if I have the gift of knowledge, even of omniscience; if I have the gift of faith so as to move mountains; if I have all these gifts but do not have love, I am nothing.  Love, that ingredient of personality so necessary to fulfil all the Law and the prophets, is one of and encompasses all the fruits of the Spirit.

Galatians 5: 22,23 "...But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control; against such things there is no law..."

Compare with 1Corinthians 13:4-7. "...Love is patient, love is kind, and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things..."

There are two words in the New Testament that define love.

1.   The Gk. agape is used for the love that initiates beneficial action toward others (God so loved the world).  Christians are told to so love the brethren and their neighbour.

2.   The Gk. phileo is a love of response.  It is an emotional love that is stimulated by the attractiveness of another being.  We are never commanded to phileo anyone, but it is a fact that we do phileo many.

To love - agape the brethren as commanded by God requires something more than human capacity.  Any unbeliever can love - phileo another human being; all it needs is something attractive, something appealing, and something admirable in the object.  This love is an emotional response to the attractive, the appealing, the admirable, and therefore a love of response; it is subject to external stimulation and can therefore be called ‘subjective’ love.

The vital difference in the two words can best be seen in Ephesians 5:22, 25.  A husband and wife may have phileo love (affection) for each other but it is not obligatory.  Being subject to the leadership and authority of the man (on the woman’s part) is necessary, but the husband, in all fairness, cannot expect that submission if he does not love (agape) his wife.

Agape love does not come easily, especially in men; it is the ultimate virtue and not easily attained.  It cannot be counterfeited nor can it be stimulated; it is the slow and often painful attainment of all the personality attributes delineated in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8.  

Love is patient, is kind; love is not envious; love is not vain, is not puffed up;

Love does not behave indecently, does not pursue its own things, is not easily provoked, thinks no evil;

Love does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices in the truth.

Love quietly covers all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.

Love never fails. 

Christ Jesus lived his life according to the principle of agape love, and believers are commanded so to do.  Works will follow agape love; they will be the result of love, toward the brethren and our neighbour. 

To offer ones works as proof of love, without the inner assurances that such love engenders (joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control) is like putting the cart before the horse, they will not be productive, and we will be seen as no more than a noisy gong or a discordant cymbal.

All human beings, believers and unbelievers alike are capable of subjective love and as nothing the unbeliever does can be classed as the Christian way of life it is obvious then, this ‘subjective’ love is not the love commanded of the Christian.

The mature Christian’s love of the brethren and his neighbour is a supernatural love, a love that requires him to love the unlovely and the ungodly.  This Christian love is beyond the unbelievers capacity, for it can only be fulfilled by the filling of the Spirit, therefore it is not a love from the emotions but a love engendered by God himself in the depths of the human soul; a love brought into being as the soul is conformed to the image of God the Son, Jesus Christ.  As we come to know God we grow to love him, and as we have the word of God instilled in our thinking in all its fullness, we become conformed to his image; we replace human viewpoint with divine viewpoint and we learn to love as God loves.

Ephesians 4:23-24. “...be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”

1John 4:16-17 “...and we have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us.  God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this, love is perfected with us, that we may have confidence in the day of judgement; because as He is, so also are we in this world..."

It is this conformity to Christ’s image that forms in us an ‘objective’ love, a love that depends on the inner resources of integrity, justice and truth; characteristics of God that have become ours.  This business of turning to strangers in the adjacent pew and telling them that you love them is emotional lunacy and not in tune with the scriptural admonition of loving the brethren whatsoever.  You can love strangers, but only when you love as God loves. 

To know God is to love him, for God is attractive, appealing and admirable to an infinite degree.  To have God’s love perfected in us however requires more than knowledge, more than a gift to speak God’s word, more than the gift of tongues.  To have God’s love perfected in us requires obedience to his commands and adherence to his will and way.  Knowing God is to love him; loving God and observance of his commands is essential to loving the brethren.

1John 4:20 - 5:2. "...If someone says, 'I love God,' and hates his brothers, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen, and this commandment we have from Him, that the one who Loves God, should love his brother also. Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God; and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him.  By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments..."

Agape love (objective love) therefore, is the very foundation of Christianity; for it embodies all the Law and the Prophets in the fruit of the Spirit.  Objective love was to be the motivating power and the witness of the Christian, not the interim gifts of tongues, miracles, healing etc.; for, love will never fail; though there have been gifts of prophecy, they have been done away; though there have been gifts of tongues, they have ceased; though there were gifts of knowledge, they have been superseded.  The Christians of the interim knew in part, and prophesied in part; but when the perfect came, that which was partial was done away."

This past tense rendition of 1Corinthians 13: 8-10 is based upon the word ‘perfect’; taken from the Greek teleion and denoting fulfilment, completion, perfection; its significance lies in its gender.  In the Greek we have the masculine, feminine or neuter gender, depicting whether the subject matter is male, female or neither.  In the case of this word teleion it is neither masculine nor feminine, but neuter; leaving us with no other conclusion but that the ‘perfect’ which was to come was not the Lord Jesus Christ at His second coming, but an object.  The ‘perfect’ is not to be ascribed to the event of Christ’s coming; an event is nothing in itself for it relies on a subject or an object to give it substance.

Another aspect to this point, which disproves the assertion that ‘the perfect’ refers to the event of the Lord’s return, is the fact of the abiding gifts of faith, hope and charity (1Corinthians 13:13).   These gifts abide even after the putting aside of the interim gifts of tongues etc., yet Romans 8:24-25 and Hebrews 11:1 show that both hope and faith are done away with when the substance of our hope and our faith is seen.  This confirms that the interim gifts are removed sometime prior to the return of Christ.   

Now, if the ‘perfect’ were in the masculine then there would be no other application, for the Lord Jesus Christ (the living word), would be the fulfilment of the partial.  The word in question however, is in the neuter gender, therefore must be an object and must have the power and authority of God to fulfil and do away with the ‘partial’ which God the Holy Spirit put in place. 

   

The ‘perfect’ can only be the written word of God, the Bible.  The canon of scripture was not completed until A.D. 95 when John wrote the book of Revelation; Paul wrote his Corinthian letter in 56 A.D. forty years before and for the particular purpose of straightening out the abuse of the gifts, which were designed by God to fill the void between the Testaments.  The gift of tongues in God’s design was to catch the attention of and preach the gospel to Jewish people who spoke other languages (Acts 2:4-11).  It was not to be abused in the Church services, as was the Corinthian custom. 

1Corinthians 14 laid down the rules for its use, there was to be no use of tongues if there was no interpretation, vs. 28; there was to be no more than three speakers, vs.27; and women were to keep silent in the church, vss. 34, 35.  This last was not an injunction against women chattering during the meeting but a command to be silent in the Church; the position of teacher was not for women.  Every use of the verb speak 'laleo' in this passage, is as an authoritative utterance for the edification of the church and women were not to make such utterances.

   

The most definitive reason for the use of the gift of tongues is to be found in vs. 22 and all use of it was subject to this statement. "...So then (a conclusion drawn from vs. 21) tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe, but to unbelievers..."

      

If the gift was abused and all or many spoke in tongues the reason for the gift was destroyed and the people for whom it was designed would say, “...you are mad” vs.23.

The reason for the gifts was as stated, to fill a void, the void between the Old and the New Testament writings.  The death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ prepared the way for an age of grace to be ushered in by the coming of God the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.  In Romans 10:3-4, the age of Law and the age of Grace are clearly distinguished, with the Old Testament revealing a covenant of law made by God to the children of Israel.  It was handed to them at Sinai through Moses, was set in written form by him and is a major portion of Old Testament theology.  The New Testament is a covenant made by means of the blood of Christ, made possible by the atoning work of Christ on the cross and is a covenant of grace (Matthew 26: 28; Hebrews 9:14,15; Ephesians 2:5).

At this time the Old Testament had been committed to writing for many centuries; this new covenant also needed to be committed to writing and over some sixty years by several writers the canon of scripture was finally completed.  The academically brilliant Paul was the main instrument God used for setting New Testament doctrines, and John closed the canon of scriptures with the book of Revelation.  There were some twenty years between Pentecost and Paul's letter to the Galatians and a further forty years to the completion of Revelation.  All this time the infant church was without God’s word on new covenant doctrine, so God in His grace and by the power of God the Holy Spirit, carried the church through these dangerous times by means of the gifts enumerated in 1Corinthians 12.  The church only vaguely understood the truths revealed in this manner, as if seen in a burnished metal mirror, ‘dimly’.  Consequently, the means of this revelation was partial and would be done away when that which was ‘perfect’ was come.

Jesus Christ is the Word of God come in the flesh; He has ascended and is with the Father in heaven.  The Bible is the Word of God written - we have it with us today. They are individually and together the complete revelation of God to man and because they reveal God to man, He has magnified that word beside His name (Psalm 138:2).   The Word of God in both aspects is a marvellous manifestation of God’s love and grace.  So also were His interim gifts; for the void was filled, the partial accomplishing its purpose in spite of human abuse(1Corinthians chapters 12, & 14) with the church surviving to go on into the world to preach the good news, the Word of God, to every creature.

The charismatic movement today is unscriptural in its claims; the gifts claimed are no longer available and all the emotional activity, all the experiences had are at best wood, hay, stubble.  What the worst of it is can only be guessed at.

brianhuggett@bigpond.com